Bangkok Beats #7

Living radically in Khlong Toey Slum
Brendan, Fiona and Menchie had the privelege this morning to meet Aussie misso's Ash & Anji Barker and the team from Urban Neighbours of Hope (UHOH), who live and work in Khlong Toey Slum. It is Bangkok's biggest at 80,000 people. They are one of many NGO's assisting the resident's with health, education and friendship...but these guys also do it in the name of Jesus!
We shared communion, information, connected them with the IT Team who also work in the slum and had walk around.
Please pray for UNOH as they work in this area; their gospel witness; that a solution will be found for an alternative church building (urgent) and travel for Ash & Rod as they begin the 'Wild Ones' Tours around Australia...see the tour at St Pauls, Castle Hill, sometime this year!

Bangkok Beats #6

WHAT TO EXPECT IN A THAI MASSAGE

1. PAIN !
2. Elbows, fingers, and feet digging into various parts of your back, feet and arms.
3. Some serious contortionist action. I never knew my big toe could bend so close to my knee
4. A cup of tea

Jayme

Klong Tan Toddlers

Had the privilege to spend some time again with some of the most loving and beautiful children you could ever meet. Even though we did not speak the same language, a smile and laugh transcends all language barriers. I had such an amazing morning being everything from an elephant for rides to a swing set to a tunnel to a bridge, my shirt even got used as a place to hide. What amazed me most was the intelligence of these children. They would repeat the words we spoke to them when reading a book in English, they packed up their own toys and went and got their own beds and bottles when it was time for bed time. These kids had the most beautiful smiles and the best dance moves I have seen.
It is great how singing "Jesus Loves Me" will put a child to sleep anywhere in the world.
Hope all is well back home, make sure those Aussies start winning the cricket
Brendan

Floating Markets, Bridge Over River Kwai and some Waterfall

On Monday we took a bus trip to the floating markets. We crammed 11 people into a van for 10. After enduring 3 hours of the girls singing everyone song they knew we arrived at the floating markets.
Here we were tossed into a boat and rowed around some markets...they were just like the night markets but on water.
After this we went to the river kwai and a war memorial honouring all those people (Australians) who were taken from japanese concentration camps to build the railway. It was a very moving and emotional place.

Our final stop was a waterfall that we looked forward to swimming in but boxers and undies would not have been a good look in thailand.

Our final 3 hour trip home we endured some more singing from the girls but it slowly died down as they ran out of songs to sing.

At night Pastor Rony invited us to his house for dinner. The boys went swimming and played water rugby, westling and marco polo whilst the girls watched some romantic movie inside. Thanks Joshua for lending us your board shorts, but stay off the pepsi.

Sunday Night in Bangkok

On Sunday Night we went to the Lighthouse International Church which is the missionairies home church. The Photo is of Menchie the Worship leader who would Rival Darlene Zschech with her vocal talents and is an amazing English teacher as well. After Church we went to the Vientiane Kitchen to enjoy some Thai food and culture.

Time to pray...

Brendan was given the opportunity to share about prayer at a prayer meeting last night...he reminded us of Philippians 4...not to be anxious about anything but bring our concerns, issues, fears to our great God...and give thanks!

Thanks...

-Good start to English classes at Santisuk Seacon Square School
-Jason's sore throat has been soothed
-Rachel accompanied an IT member for a visa renewal...and it went smoothly
-Encouragement from IT members to do things out of our comfort zones...like teaching english for the first time & sometimes to big classes!
-No major tummy upsets (yet)...a few of us have had little tummy-twists but no big 'D'!
-Safety and protection in travel, with our stuff, no one has gotten lost in this big city
-For meeting Thai friends


Join with us in asking for...

-Continued good health and safety for the rest of our time away (Jo, James, Jason are travelling after)
-Wisdom for best way to keep encouraging & supporting IT misso's here
-That Thai's would register for Santisuk fee-based english classes starting 6th February. They have a bible-based curriculum. Pray for teachers for these classes and the on-going staffing of the school
-The rest of the english camps in the schools (Touch Thailand team) would go well and connections made

Thank you for your partnership!
:0) Fi, James, Jason, Jayme, Jo, Rachel, Meagan & Brendan

Bangkok Beats #5

Looking out the bus window, we caught a glimpse (and had to look twice!) as we saw a man taking his baby elephant out for an evening stroll...or was the elephant taking him for a walk...

Brendan's Bangkok Banter

Hi Again. I will give a quick update then try and upload photo's. I am on a keyboard with only Thai letters so I am using my Touch typing skills. So please forgive any typo's. Today I taught my class on the side of the River. They were smaller today so I only taught 50. I had Jo from the other team to help me though so that relieved the pressure of teaching them about actove and Passove sentences when some of them dodn't even know the alphabet.
Yesterday we had the great experience of seeing the opther teams work. We sang on a bridge and I bashed out some Down Under on the guitar.
Anyway all is going great guns. Tmrw is our day off so we are heading off to the bridge over the river Kwai. I expect to be moved by this experience.
Thanks agaon for your support and Prayers I have been able to acomplish things I never thought I would be able to, like teaching 80 students or givong a talk to Missionaries on prayer, which went well and I have had some positive feedback from so Thanks God for your guidance and thanks guys for your prayers. Well that's about it I will now try to ipload some Photo's
(In the words of the great Jeff Fenech) "en neh I Loves you all"
Brendan

Class Photos

Say Cheese!

1. Jason teaching one of the first english classes at Seacon Square English School
2. Meagan & Joe (ITeams) and the other first english class.

First Class

Yay!
We have had the first two days of free, promotion classes at the new Seacon Square English School!
The classes are mostly made up of young adults - older high schoolers, workers & uni students - with varying levels of english.

Challenges:
1. Remembering our grammer...whats the difference between a 'verb' and 'adverb' again?
2. Teaching speaking-techniques for different sounds such as 'th' as in 'that' and 'thing', and 'l' and 'r' - some of the sounds the thai language doesn't have! Students have found it tricky...and so have we 'novice' teachers. We are very thankful for tips from our 'speechy' Meagan (training to be a speech pathologist).

Fun stuff:
1. Making new thai friends
2. Singing songs with silly actions...
3. Having a laugh together

Things to take to Him:
1. Praise for a new beginning...the classes are part of a longer term prayer & planning process that has been happening over the last few years!
2. That friendships might develop between us (Aussies) and Thai's but that we may also be a bridge to Thai's developing longer-term friendships with the IT misso's
3. That locals might come to the fee-based classes (cheaper than other English schools), hear the gospel, have lives changed and that a Seacon Sqaure church will be established.

Bangkok Beats #4

Good Glorious Food...
Please, sir, I want some more!

Maybe not of those deep fried chicken feet or battered grasshoppers...

But we would love some more tom yum soup, pad thai, Khao phat('cow-pat'...not the moo-moo variety...more like fried rice), banana fritters and... waffles!

Yummmmmmm.

And we don't even have to go into a restaurant. We can get it all from street venders - just a couple of metres outside PP House to get something delicious
(And having 7-Eleven on every corner is very handy too).

We have even found one that does a decent 'hot' cappacino!

Some Banter from Brendan

Hi All,
This is my first posting so I will fill you in on what I personally have been doing and show you some of my photo's. Well I am on the team that is at the already established English Centre, and working at the Day care in the Slum. We have had an exhausting day today running an English camp at a local High School and we will be doing the same tomorrow. I have really found it amazing how even though I have had no experience in English training, God has enabled me to teach students in groups from 1 to 80. God is so great how he equips us with the resources to do what he has asked us to do.
Yesterday I had the privelidge of working in the Day Care in the Slum. The children there are so loving and I had such a great time just caring for them and playing with them.

I have also enjoyed the English lessons at the centre. These give you more opportunity to form relationships then teaching large groups. With two girls, Debby and Pamela, I have been able to share my Testimony and the Gospel. I did not bring this up in conversation instead God just moved the conversation toward these topics.
Now my thoughts on Bangkok. I have described it as having many faces.

1. The first face is the face of the Royalty. You can not turn a corner without seeing a face of the King and the Queen. Thai's have such respect for their King that driving in a taxi the driver Waied (The Thai show of respect) a statue of the King ion the middle of the road. This meant he had to take both hands of the steering wheel to complete his act of Respect. The royalty live in such extravagance, we took a tour through the grand Palace and wow it was Grand. Mix the respect for Royalty with the respect for Buddhism and you have a mixture of extreme reverence displayed through extravagant buildings, shrines and statues.
2. The second face would be the tourist face. This has two sides, the clean and western Shopping malls with all the best brands like Ralph Lauren and Levi, and then the seedy Tourist of the red light district where the women wear numbers for western men to call out and take them away. This is also matched by the Karaoke bars which are just fronts for another service provided.
3. Then your have the Busy face, the face of thousands of people traveling constantly on buses, trains, taxis, trucks, vans, push bikes and motor bikes. I am yet to discover where they are going, but they are always going somewhere.
4. Lastly the face we see every day. The face of the average Thai person who lives each day selling their food or home crafts or drinks to try to make ends meet and feed their family. They then go home to houses that would fit easily twice in the Garages of the McMansions you find in Kellyville. These people still manage to smile their way through life and have extreme respect for their King who is light years away from their situation. These are the people that you can't have anything but respect for because they live their life with the warmest smile and serve you so well, and still give you a discount if they like you.

Well that is my two cents worth, well probably 20 baht's worth. A big hello to all of you guys that supported me and are still supporting me in Prayer. Thank you so much for giving me this experience to see God's people in another country and how God is working in them.

Love to Mum and Dad, Grandma and Grandad, Nanna, Sime and Beth, Amanda, Karina and the Blundy's and Barney. I hope you are all well and I am healthy and eating very well. The Thai's love it that I love their food.

Sorry guys need to go teach so can only upload a couple of pics
I will try to do more next time
Sawadee Krap

Seacon Square Team Cont.

1. Megan, Zeny & two local thai girls
One is a christian - they are both volunteering at the school
2. The Seacon square team and volunteers promoting the english classes
3. A thai christian volunteering at the school

Colour Change

From pink background to green & orange...reflects more of the colours we are seeing...and that's just the food!

Bangkok Beats #3

1. Clothes drying outside a hut
2. Doing a 'Wai' with Mr Macca's himself

Touch Thailand English School Team

Brendan
Rachel
James
Jayme

Located 15mins from PP House (our accommodation), 25mins from Centre of Bangkok (if it has a centre...its one big sptawl really...)

We are helping the IT Team with teaching english to adults, teaching english in primary schools, teaching clsses from 60-80 at a week-long english camp for primary schools & teaching sunday school.

Rachel writes...

ahh... hello from the land of thai... well rumour has that 8 'forang' (foreigners) are cluelessly running across streets, jumping off moving buses, dangerously sweeping in and out of traffic on the back of motorbikes, squezzing inbetween the sweat of the locals on the canal boat and courageously directing taxi drivers to sukumvit 71 soi 45 (P.P house)... and well... im not gonna lie the rumour is true.... the transport system, though highly reliable (at least compared to sydney)... well, its not all that safe.... however im sure its been been highly entertaining for the locals. and well, we are here to serve.. now the food is DELICIOUS...from food fresh form the street to the highly reliable 7/11, we have a vast variety.... the more adventurous among us opting for street food... and well no ones sick yet so hey it mustn't be all that bad.... oh and can i say to anyone who may be expecting us to come back skinny.. think again... yep expected some chubby forang... well keep safe all... and remember theres no need to look both ways when crossing the road.. just close your eyes and run....

Bangkok Beats #2

Bangkok is a place of juxtapositions. There's no denying that Bangkok is a very...let's say aromatic place. Every three seconds that you walk down the road, you experience a different smell. These can vary greatly...from the delicious BBQ smell of the street vendors to something that is reminiscent to someone that haven't taken a shower for a week. It's also not unusual to see established apartments and slum squatters right next to each other. Bangkokians have a quiet complacency to this contrast...will we be like that too one day?

Santisuk English School Team

Jo
Jason
Meagan
Fiona

Located at Seacon Sqaure, 40mins bus ride from downtown Bangkok.

We are helping set-up new classrooms & promote the new english classes with the IT Team ( 5 Philipino missionaries). We will assist with teaching free english classes from 18-27th Jnuary. Fee-based classes start on 6th February.

Walking near the school (2 'shop-front' classrooms)

Megan with some local kids...we hope their parents will come to English class!

Megan writes...

Hey Hey all Kup Khun Ka,
This means thanks in Thai and I am using it interchangeably as sorry!! WHich I tend to require 90% of the time. SO Its almost been a week and I am slowly adapting to the Thai culture, the smells, the heat and the smog! The Philipino missionaries that we are working with are beautiful ( they are really fun loving and sometimes just as hyper and energetic as me when im tired LOL) and I have only been told off by Thai guards on three occasions. One for laying down in a public tourist location (who would have thought), one for asking the guards if I could run through a public water feature at a shopping centre (not really told off but told NO NO with flailing arm movements) and once for trying to have my photo taken with them in the golden palace ( apparently they are camera shy LOL)! The transport and traffic is crazy, generally I run across the road with my eyes shut (sorry mum) but the crossings mean nothing to the Thai drivers. You get on and off the buses whilst they are still moving (particularly the green buses) and I almost got on the wrong bus once (year 1 worst experience relived! AHHH but kayles wasnt here this time lol). English classes start tomorrow and I am nervous and excited! I pray that we are able to teach appropriately as it is important for this new ministry! Finally my most exciting experience so far would be the motorbike ride. Even if Josh (philipino missionary friend who is 12) did laugh at me for not riding side saddle in a skirt! HOw else was i sposed to hold on. I hoiked it up with style LOL! Ne ways missing everyone from home terribly! God Bless Meags! xxx (ps Rach has only kicked me once in bed!) PPS, i think i got ripped off purchasing some DVDs- ie they closed u and shop shut in mid afternoon about 5mins after my purchase! LOL! silly "farang!" MWAH! xxx

PP House - View from roof

Bangkok Beats #1

life can be difficult in Bangkok. At every street corner or available space on the road, there are people trying to make money by selling some type of food or service. At a school we were visiting, we saw a young man, no older than 20, making pink and yellow lollipops. That was his livelihood and he was selling them to the students for one baht each. that is less than half a cent in Australia. we'll never take one baht for granted!

jayme

Sawadeeka!

Hello all!!

We're in Bangkok and getting used to the sights, smells, buzy-ness and crazy
bus drivers.

Since arriving on Wednesday, we have been really busy & I expect it will
continue. Ogroup is split into 2. Four are helping out with English classes
and scripture in schools around the area where we are staying. Quite built
up, street venders everywhere. Slums just down the road.

The rest of us are at the new Seacon Square English school (a partnership of
ITeams and Santisuk 'peace' School set up by the Baptist Convention
misso's...connected with Piper's church in MInneapolis). We are working with
the Phillipino IT missionaries - 2 couples and a single woman.

Seacon Sqaure inself is a massive shopping centre. We have to catch the bus
for 30-45mins to the area from where we are staying. It is less built up,
but with much building taking place as they are building a new airport not
so far away.

The school is across the road from the shops in a new building (I thought I
would be getitng away from shopping centres over here!!!). We been helping
set up with designs on the walls, setting up furniture etc. We have also
been promoting the school around the shopping centre - lots of young people
hang out as there is a hospitality college and university not far away - a
lot of them want to learn or imrpove their english. Classes will offcially
begin in February but as a trial, they are offering free classes, starting
Wednesday 18th Jan for 7 days, with the 'fulang' (foreigners/us as the
teachers - a real draw card apparently as we're native english speakers).
So we have been promoting the school, preparing lessons, riding buses,
motorbikes and taxi's to get around, visiting Santisuk Thai church, a cell
group this morning, meeting Thai, Phillipino & American christians and
eating lots of yummy food!!

Last night we visited some night markets, tonight we go to the Lighthouse
International Church (mostly made-up of Phillipino workers and misso's) and
tomorrow is our team day off and we're visiting the big palace and temple.
We have been catching up as a team in the mornings as its the only time
we're together and not exhausted! We've had some good sharing and prayer
times. The studies wevare all doing each day have been good. I do my quiet
times on the roof of our accomodation...a garden oasis and pool area. The
city is just waking up at 7:30am...a mist/smog hangs over the buildings and
its a bit quieter!

As you can see, the blog is now working. We'd love to hear from you.

Thank you for your prayers - our teaching english, conversations with locals
, encourgaement to the misso's.
YSIC,
:0) fi