So we have now been in Thailand for 6 weeks! Things are starting to fall into a predictable rhythm and not feel quite so foreign. Even driving on the "wrong" side of the road in the opposite front seat isn't quite as terrifying anymore! We have enjoyed settling into our home, and getting to know better all of the people who live and work at the base. While I am primarily home with the boys and Mike is often working on various projects at the base, for the past few weeks we have had a couple of evenings a week where our whole family with join in with others who are going out on Bible distribution to give away Bibles and show the recipients a short Thai video explaining what it is and how to read it. The boys like to run up ahead and be the first to give away their Bibles, and the recipients are all very happy to meet them!
We have had some opportunities to see some of the sights close by to where we live. Last Monday was a national holiday so the staff and us all went to the mountain Doi Tung to visit the Mae Fah Luang botanical Garden. This is where the mother to the previous King had her summer home and who was instrumental in helping local villagers to get out of growing poppies for the opium trade, learning to grow other crops and developing useful skills for tourism. The gardens were beautiful and the boys enjoyed all of the space to run around.
A couple of other discoveries very close to our house is a hot springs complete with large dinosaur statues, a hiking trail to a waterfall, and the university botanical gardens. The university also has a fighting beetle museum that hasn't yet been open the few time we have been there, but the boys sure get a kick out of the statues. It is great to have these places close by for the boys to run around and explore.
The boys are all very excited to be just a few days away from Christmas and have been enjoying having their advent countdown. Oscar was overcome with excitement the other day when he saw how few more little Advent tins were left before the big day! While it isn't quite like Christmas at home, we have had a great time getting our home festively decorated, and have been invited to attend a few different Christmas parties. We even hosted our annual Por Christmas party here this past week and were very popular among our guests when they saw the cheese plate we had provided. Cheese in Thailand is rare and expensive so it was fun to see it all get gobbled up with big smiles.
This past Sunday we were invited to go along with another family up to a city that borders Myanmar to a church that is comprised primarily of young girls who are getting sponsored to go to high school and are mentored by a christian couple. These girls are high risk for getting forced into the sex trade by their families who are very poor, and many of them have siblings who have already gone brothels in Bangkok. It was really amazing to be able to participate in church and the Christmas party with these girls and see them so full of joy and so excited to be learning about their bibles. After the church service many children from the village around the church came to play and were all invited to a Christmas program with their parents that evening.
We have been able to make a dent in cleaning up our garden and during the Christmas break hope to get some planting and gardening accomplished. We had made a large pile of dead branches and leaves in our big garden clean up, so in true Thai style last night we did a big ol' burn of the whole thing. The boys loved it.
Overall, life here is going well! Unfortunately our Vancouver home is still vacant after having yet another renter canceled last minute (the day he was supposed to move it) which is disappointing. We have no idea why we haven't had success with finding tenants, but need to continue to trust in God's call for us here in Thailand, and His plan for our home back in Vancouver.
Merry Christmas!!
