There is still a LOT of unknowns having to do with the protests, the government crackdown on the redshirts, and the deaths/injuries that came from the month + long rallies held in downtown Bangkok a few months ago.  Many Thai people still don’t know how to react and many are still hurt from all that happened during that time.

It’s difficult to explain all that happened during that time and the deep, deep tensions that drive apart the Thai people.  But today I came across this great story that explains both sides and the “what’s next” for our new city and this country.  Yes, it is long at 45 mins., but break it up in segments and watch it all to get a better understanding of the conflicts and please continue to join us in prayer for the Thai people and Thailand.

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I’ll be honest.  I don’t know where to start.  Last time I posted on here I was dealing with a snake that climbed walls and our final exams at the language school in Lopburi…

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Our new house!

But, here we are several weeks later.  Happily settling into our new home.  We love our little place.  The neighborhood is great and the people are even greater.  Kids playing in the street in front of our house every afternoon before dinner call me out to play soccer or badminton nearly everyday.  Neighbors who are anxious to get to know us and what we are doing in their backyard.  A Christian Thai family from the church we are partnering with has all but adopted us as their long lost children and have been SUCH a blessing.  They helped us navigate our rental agreement, purchase furniture, get internet in our home.  They’re so close that they even feel total welcome coming in our front gate and front door without warning! :-/

Seriously though.  We are so blessed to be here.  Sara has been able to sleep.  Our neighborhood is AMAZING!  The church we are partnering with is slowly getting to know us and we’re getting to know them….

We feel so blessed.  Thank you for your prayers through yet another time of transition in our lives.  We’ve not had a solid year of just “being” in quite a while…  We hope and pray that our new little nest here in the North side of Bangkok proves to be that little bit of “being” that we’ve been looking for lately…

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I even got to ride my lang. tutor's 4-Wheeler for a bit. Sweet!

The exam went well today also.  Spent nearly the entire time just talking about the little victories I have had lately in using my Thai and getting things fixed or done.  It’s nice to once again… finally …feel useful.

Coming from the States I felt useful.  I was involved in a lot of things, I was effective at what I did, had a lot of things on my plate (as is my personality).  So, coming to Thailand has been a bit rough in some ways.  Without a good amount of Thai, I felt useless.  I couldn’t tell the mechanic that I needed my motorbike tire changed without both getting a headache and handing them out to everyone I was trying to talk to.  If something needed done at our home, I didn’t know how to give directions to our home and describe what the issue was over the phone. Early on, I couldn’t even describe how short or long I wanted my hair cut when going for a trim on the ole’ Fohawk.  But, finally, I am able to do all of these things… and once again feel a bit useful here.  I bought the parts needed and replaced a sink drain in our bathroom yesterday afternoon, I’ve helped move air-conditioning units at a local church, I’ve taken our washing machine to get repaired, I’ve called for a professional to come and service our Air-con unit when it stopped working…  Oh, and I’ve ordered pizza over the phone and it was successfully (after them calling nearly 4 times because they were lost) delivered.

So, maybe, just maybe, we’ve turned a bit of a corner in our language learning and our lives here after 10 months.  And in good time.  We’re looking to buy a vehicle soon, next weekend we will be traveling to look for housing in Bangkok for when we move next month, and the following week we will sit before the church board in Bangkok to finalize details of us partnering with them to plant a church in the coming years.

Thanks for all your recent prayers and encouragement.  Maybe we’ll be able to do this missionary thing after all…

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I’m sure most of you have heard at least something about the political turmoil brewing in the past month or so here in Thailand.  What started as a peaceful, large gathering turned violent–leaving police, protesters, army men dead and injured.  It’s a sad state that Thailand finds itself in.  Now more and more people are gathering in the nation’s captial of Bangkok to protest other redshirt protesters, defend their political parties and show support in numbers either for or against the current government.  This video clip by CNN does a good job to give a bit of the background of these protesters and images from Bangkok in recent weeks.

(RSS readers, click through to see the video)

If you’d like to read more about the details of the clashes, the bombs going off in and around Bangkok, or stay up to date on what’s currently happening here in Thailand, check out a few of the links below…

CNN news stories on Thailand
The Bangkok Post – Thailand’s main English newspaper

Twitter – the best way for up-to-the minute updates
@bangkokpundit
@terryfrd
@veen_NT
@tulsathit

And of course, you can always find up-to-date info from my twitter feed @two10eleven or Facebook page.

Thanks for all your prayers for us and the Thai people.  This nation could sure use them about now…

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I happened across this short video clip produced by OMF (the organization we are partnering with here in Thailand) which helps paint a picture of life in Bangkok, the people living in this HUGE city and ministries that are taking place there.  The video is a few years old now, directors mentioned here have changed positions, but life in the City of Angels is still much the same.

If you have a minute or two, this will be worth watching!

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