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This video is worth watching…

From the Compasio website:

The Heart of Compasio

Seeing a need, feeling compassion and acting with practical love on behalf of those who are poor, needy and at risk, this is the heart of Compasio.   See.Feel.Act

This is good stuff that they are doing!  We need more ministries and ministers willing to come and get dirty as the step out in faith and serve the underprivileged here in SE Asia…

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Thanks for your ongoing prayers and support…  Life has been crazy over here and we look forward to better sharing whats going on when our traveling is finished!

Blessings!

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The Story of Thai Rice

Read more: Photo gallery: From Thailand’s Rice Bowl to Bangkok’s dinner tables  |  CNNgo.com

As the world’s largest exporter of rice in the world, Thailand is famous for its top quality, long-grain jasmine white rice, prized over the lower grades that are grown in other regions of Asia — and even the United States.

CNNGo headed into the ‘rice bowl’ of central Thailand to a farm outside the town of Khiri Mat in Sukhothai province to see how rice is cultivated, harvested and then shipped to Bangkok and beyond.

From the fields to the warehouses, it’s backbreaking work.

In Central Thailand, pre-germinated seedlings are grown in wet soils and then transplanted to irrigated rice paddies.

Rice Farmers in their bare feet pull out each seedling.

Central Thailand rice farmers grow varieties of rice that yield three crops a year.

Urban sprawl poses an ongoing environmental as well as geographical threat to rice farming.

A rice farmer readies fertilizer for distribution in her field.

After transplanting seedlings into the rice paddy, fertilizers are spread by hand.

A rice farmer proudly shows off her rice seedlings that are ready to be transplanted.

A shop worker bags rice for sale.

Warehouse workers carry 50KG sacks of rice to waiting trucks that will deliver rice to restaurants and canteens.

Rice wholesale workers take a rest between hauling bags to trucks.

The rice will be sold at lower prices to local Sukhothai customers due to the lower quality of the rice and simple packaging.

Higher quality rice is put in nicer bags and sent to the bigger cities like Bangkok and also exported abroad.

The simplest way to serve rice is steamed. This plate of rice at a Bangkok restaurant is served with stir-fried eggplant, seabass, chili and basil.

Rice is also used to make flat noodles, such as those in this dish stir-fried with Chinese broccoli and eggs.

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11 of the craziest Thai TV commercials this decade

Read more: 11 of the craziest Thai TV commercials this decade | CNNGo.com

Although most Thai TV commercials are only 30 seconds long, the talented, creative and, yes, sometimes mildly disturbed writers manage to come up with some very original stuff.

We’ve scoured Youtube.com looking for 10 of the best from the past decade but we’ve ended up with 11, as we couldn’t bear to leave any of these out. The range of emotions they cover is stunning, from goofy and tragic, to sexist and downright gross. These are the ones that made us laugh, spam our friends with them on Facebook and shake our heads with bemusement. Enjoy!

1. Politically incorrect toothpaste

Thailand generally lacks the fine lines that Western countries use to define political correctness, as this ad by brand Twin Lotus Herbal shows. It’s a noble message — appearances can be deceiving — but it would have made more sense had Terry Gilliam directed it.

2. High quality ceiling tiles

The ubiquitous gecko takes center stage as a lizard romance that is tragically interrupted by cheap ceiling tiles. The men at the end take their anger out on their friend as they choke him. “Why are you so cheap!?”

3. Sylvania lights

Thais are famously afraid of ghosts and can recognize several hundred different types of them to prove it. This brilliant ad for Sylvania lights shows that nothing’s really scary. As long as the lights are on.

4. Diet tuna

An oft-forwarded classic that plays with the legendary beauty of Thai females and, again, how appearances can be deceiving.

5. Thailand: Land of (painful) smiles

This ad takes aim at the famous Thai smile and how it brings in tourist dollars. But in order to offset how much oil Thailand burns, those smiles would need to get a whole lot bigger. A sweet ad with a macabre edge.

6. Staying healthy for the lads

Another example of Thailand’s refreshing lack of political correctness shows Thailand’s male/female demographics with a bit of visual flair. Too bad the ad is for fish strips, which smell bad enough to keep the boys away no matter what you look like.

7. Cheers Beer

Cheers Beer came out with a series of ads that showed how the little things in life can be cause for celebration. Not sure what that has to do with beer, but it’s well done.

8. Pay your bills!

A straightforward story with a slight Tarantino-esque edge, this is a good example of Thailand’s love affair with goofy visual humor.

9. My car! Eh, nevermind

A hotel valet gets a bit too excited behind the wheel of a nice car with disastrous results. Not to worry though, the car’s owner has some pretty good insurance.

10. Smartpurse Debit Card

A reliance on physical money can often be a liability, as this very funny but slightly distasteful ad shows.

11. Bad Eyesight

Possibly the most tasteless and/or funniest Thai commercial in history (depending on where you draw the line). A clearer example of the need for proper eyewear simply cannot be made. Best part – the look of ‘oh my God, they wouldn’t…’ on the guards’ faces at the 0:37 mark.

So, which one was your favorite/least favorite?

A young boy practices his Takraw footwork

Takraw is a sport native to Southeast Asia.  Earliest historical evidence dates the sport as early as the 15 Century and murals depicted in Wat Phra Kaew in Bangkok (built in 1785) shows the Hindu god Hanuman playing takraw with a group of monkeys!

Takraw is a what I would consider to be a mixture of Hacky Sack, volleyball, badminton and some martial arts kicks thrown in as flavor.  Usually, a team consists of three players who attempt to score points by causing a woven ball to touch the opponents court in-bounds.  (Think volleyball).  The catch is that you can only use your feet, legs, head, chest… well, anything except your hands and arms. (Think Hacky Sack).  It’s played on a small court with a net.  (Think badminton).  And, since you can’t use your hands, you’ll have to spike the ball down with your feet…  which usually consists of aerobatic flips and kicks and a sure fire way for me to find myself in a hospital if tried…

In the evenings here in Thailand you’ll find your average Thai boy kicking around a soccer ball or a takraw ball.  Quite often you’ll see nets and makeshift courts set up in neighborhoods or across little back alleys where boyhood dreams of being a high-flying kick-spiker develop.

I’m sure the idea is confusing most of you, so here, watch this 1 minute video.  Some of the stuff these guys can do without breaking their faces is astounding!

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• In January and February of this last year it was “business as usual” in many ways.  I was pastoring at Olive Branch Church of God while Sara was still working at a local elementary school.  Among other things, we were in charge of planning our weekly KidStuf ministry, getting scripts to actors, music to singers, making sure audio clips and visual elements to the services were there waiting for our tech crew, and Sara and I had lines to memorize ourselves (usually done while watching SNL each Saturday!).  We’d usually have a read-through with our actors mid-week and then get to the church bright and early Sunday morning (5:30) to make sure it is unlocked, lights on, coffee brewing, and everything all set for 7 AM rehearsal…
• In March things started to change for us.  We both quit our jobs to focus full-time on support development for our Thailand plans.  But first, my Dad took Sara and I on a vacation cruise throughout the Caribbean.  It was AMAZING!  If I close my eyes I can still feel the ocean wash away all the stress I had built up in me.
• In April we started our travels to visit many of you in our numerous churches in several states.  In fact, by the time we left for Thailand we had visited nearly 40 churches and had visited 8 states!  I didn’t really record how many miles I had driven those months…  but let me tell you, we got to know that car quite well as we zipped to and from much of the Midwest!
• June of this past year we traveled out to Colorado to get to know OMF, the mission organization we will be working with in Thailand.  We loved Colorado!  Maybe someday we’ll find ourselves a little cabin in a woods somewhere to waste away in!
• By the end of July we were on our way here, to Thailand.  Must of late June and July is a blur for us.  We began saying our goodbyes and preparing our lives to move overseas for the next several years.  So many hours were put into tying up financial loose ends before leaving.  We thank God that in July we were able to pay off the remaining amount on our student loans!  That’s right, by God’s power and grace alone, we were able to pay off nearly $22,000 USD in student loans!
  • July also had us saying goodbye to our dog Lilly.  She was our baby substitute for our first several years of marriage.  It was SO hard to say goodbye to her…
  • July had us saying more difficult goodbyes to our families.  We never believed it would be so hard to leave the Midwest for the adventure in Thailand.  We were wrong.  It was TOUGH!
• August until now has been spent getting settled into our new lives in Thailand…and it is getting a bit easier as time moves on.  Stresses come and go, just like life anywhere in the world.  We’ve been studying Thai constantly for the past 5 months and it shows!
  • We praise God that we just heard that our yearlong Missionary Visa has come in which means we can now apply for our work permits!
  • We praise God that we have had the loving support of all of you in this past year.  Your continued notes of encouragement, care packages and prayers have been such a blessing as we get settled into life so different from what we know, so far away from friends and family.  Our support family rocks!

Ok, so that’s just a glimpse of our past year.  I could definitely type more, but I’m pretty sure most of you haven’t read up to this point anyways!  Anyways, thanks again for your love and encouragement!  So, what’s the biggest thing that happened in your life in 2009?

First off, we finished up our first “semester” in language study.  We’ve been hitting the books hard for 5 months now and it shows.  We are learning as much as our brains will allow us to cram in there!

Children's Christmas song in a Bangkok Church

Secondly, Christmas-time in Thailand and Thai churches is used mostly as a time for outreach.  Where we often use the Christmas season to solemnly reflect on the gift that is Christ, in Thailand we found ourselves handing out tracts and invitations to learn more about Christmas in a neighborhood where a new church plant is getting started, dressing up in all sorts of ridiculous costumes to act out the Christmas story to kids and youth in local schools, watching Thai kids put on a Christmas program, and Sara baking Christmasy things for our neighbors.

Local Thai students line up to learn about Christmas around the world and a bit of English along the way. See the dog lying there? Yeah, that's common here!

Thirdly, we spent nearly a week in Bangkok looking at possible ministry locations for us once we finish up out Thai language studies here in Lopburi.  We met a lot of cool people, Thai pastors with aching hearts for the Thai people, Bangkok universities and university students, just recently started church plants, and got to know several missionaries working in Bangkok quite well.  It was a great time and rejuvenating for us as it is easy to lose track of “what’s next” for us when all we have been doing is cramming new Thai vocab down our brains’ throats!

Christmas decorations at MBK, one of Bangkok's most well known shopping centers

Finally (but not really…  so much more has been happening!), we also took some time during this two-week break from language school to relax and have some time for each other….  AND IT HAS BEEN AWESOME!  While in Bangkok we took the time to watch a movie or two (in English) at a movie theater there.  We walked around and saw the Christmas lights and decorations (yes, despite not believing in Christ, the Thai people really do jump right into the decorations, Santa, light-up snow flakes, etc.).  It was so nice just to spend some time together and have some “us” time.  Despite not yet having kids and ALWAYS being around each other, enough “us” time has still been difficult to find lately…

Here’s a short clip of the commercial side to Thai “Christmas” taken by one of our friends also working in Bangkok.

We’re now back in our home in Lopburi and have a few more days before school starts back up.  We have plenty coming up to keep up just as busy.  The next few months we’ll start back up at the language school, travel to Malaysia to pick up our year-long Religious Affairs visa from the Thai embassy there (Praise God!), spend a week on on a Thai beach as after six-months on the field OMF suggests/strongly urges their workers take a vacation, more Thai studies and finally we will travel to Singapore for a month long Orientation course at OMF’s international headquarters.

So, there you have it.  We hope you all have had a great holiday time with family and friends so far.  So, tell us, what have you been up to?

Here are a few of my favorites:

There are several more that I haven’t posted here but will invite you to see at our Flickr site:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelsarver

So my question for you now is, what do you do to relieve stress?

We invite you to join with us as we pray these nine blessings for Thailand. If you want to know more, or get hold of the prayer guide – visit www.nineblessings.org.

Will you join us in praying for Thailand?

This video is not produced by me, but rather just a re-upload of a video produced by OMF Media. I simply added a background track as there was none in the original video.