Khao Yai National Park

A few weekends ago we were invited to join in on a youth retreat to nearby Khao Yai National Park, just a few hours outside of Bangkok.  It was a simple overnight trip and we were happy to be asked to join them.

It really was a great few days.  We visited some nearby waterfalls, saw some of the local Thai wildlife, had one heckuva cookout, a time of worship, games, etc…  What we found to be the best part of the weekend was the ability to connect with some of the other young people in the church outside of the normal Sunday morning setting.  I mean, you can’t get to know someone much quicker than when you are all yelling at each other in a heated game of Dutch Blitz!

Nothing like starting your Sunday morning with a rowdy game of "Dutch Blitz". http://t.co/bHxd6Vp

March 19, 2011 9:37 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@two10eleven

Brook Sarver

One thing in particular that I enjoyed was being able to chat for a few hours as we drove to the park with a young Thai guy that I really didn’t know all that well.  I was a bit apprehensive at first.  The idea of speaking in Thai non-stop for a few hours while I drove down the highway was daunting and seemed more dangerous than a 16 year old texting her girlfriends while driving.  But in the end it was a great time.  We joked.  We talked about the Bible.  Talked about the church.  We even enjoyed those awkward silences from time to time…

The first night we were there we had a time of worship and prayer.  Being around these young people who love the Lord in deep ways was very encouraging to me.  After our time of sharing I busted out my guitar and began playing.  Throughout the next few hours I worked my way through a song book of Thai worship songs.  It was great to be able to play and learn these songs in Thai…

We’re so grateful for the opportunity to spend a few days away with this young group of people.  We were also encouraged by the fact that we both feel that we survived with our broken Thai and that we built deeper relationships with those who were there…

It’s nice to have some good news to share every now and then!  If you’d like to see more pictures from this weekend, check out Sara‘s Facebook Album here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2025593&id=153800143

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This past month has been filled with quite a bit really.  In early February we spent a week at a marriage course put on by the OMF Medical Adviser for Thailand and her husband.  Sara and I have had our fair share of marriage evaluations, counseling, etc leading up us moving overseas, but it was nice to get away for a week and once again reflect on the things we do well and things we could do better–which is all the more important when we find ourselves living our lives so far removed from the support of family and friends back home.

The weekend following the marriage course we were once again off to another retreat.  This time it was a retreat for all first-term missionaries with OMF still in the language program.  At first we were less than looking forward to this retreat.  Sara hadn’t been feeling the best due to Baby Sarver and the idea of another several days away from our own bed didn’t make us too excited for this adventure.  And, as often happens during those times, we were pleasantly surprised.  It was a great weekend!  We got to catch up with old friends from Language School days and meet some of the new students that have come to the field since we left Lopburi many months ago.

Then that next weekend we were once again off to another Thai province.  OMF in Thailand runs two guesthouses primarily for missionaries serving around Asia.  We had been asked to help fill in at the guesthouse for 4 or 5 days so the couple that usually runs the holiday home could have a bit of holiday themselves.  We looked forward to seeing a new area of Thailand and being right next to the sea.  Sadly we didn’t have much free time to play around in the ocean as the guesthouse was completely filled!  But even then we were able to have a few minutes to take a walk on the sandy ocean-side and soak in the view so different than the concrete playground that is Bangkok.

A beautiful sunrise in Prajuab, Thailand

Finally we are back home here in Bangkok.  I’m still figuring out life having a pregnant wife…  Still figuring out how to navigate day-to-day problems such as broken water pipes, oil changes in the motorbike and being locked out of our own home…

But the key is just that…  We ARE figuring out… Thanks for your prayers!

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Back in December we took our (semi) secretive trip home to the States.  This was the first time in a year and a half that we had been home…. …and it was amazing!  We got to spend Christmas with family, New Year’s with friends and snow up to our knees throughout most of our trip!

It really was a great trip.  Once “home” in the US we realized just how much we probably needed a break from the daily grind of Thailand.  For the first time in a long time we were actually able to completely relax, let loose and just “be” around family and friends…  And honestly, it’s helped us get a new passion for the work we are doing here in Thailand.

Christmas with Sara's family

My Mom's side of the Family

You can see more photos of our trip home via Sara‘s Facebook album here:  http://www.facebook.com/saraj.sarver#!/album.php?id=153800143&aid=2024629

So, what else is new?  Oh yeah, WE’RE GOING TO HAVE A BABY!!!!

We found out early in December but have waited to tell everyone until just recently.  Since coming back to Thailand we’ve chosen a hospital, met the doctors there and have had one of our first ultrasounds…  To say that we are excited/nervous would be an understatement.  We are completely filled with both of those combating feelings!

So, yeah, that’s what we’ve been up to!  Now that we are back and getting settled in, stick around for many more updates on life, ministry and that little Sarver baby that is soon to come!

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It’s not always this way.  But it happens surprisingly more often than we had anticipated experiencing a year and a half into.  Sure, we can joke with our neighbors, translate parts of the sermon on Sunday and bargain for lower prices at the market, but every week we make some sort of a mistake that makes us feel just like this:

So many things can go wrong just when you need it the most!  Yet we keep at it every week.  Studying more.  Practicing more.  Communicating more..  Overall it’s been a frustrating sort of fun.  As people come and visit us in Thailand we get a sense of just how far our Thai language ability has come along.  We can translate for them.  Help them in nearly any situation that arises.  And yet I still struggle with the correct tone to use when saying “behind” or “downstairs” (they are literally only a voice inflection away from each other…  Which doesn’t help when I try to tell people where they can find Sara!)

Another thing that we have encountered are Thai people who pretty much refuse to speak Thai to us.  I’m sure they want to practice their English and in some instances it really does help, but other times I ask someone a question in Thai and they answer in such broken English that I have no idea what they are trying to say.  Then, when I ask them again in Thai, they give me the same broken English answer!  I CAN SPEAK THAI PEOPLE!!!  (on some occasions better than others…)

And still in other instances all of us are speaking Thai, but none of us have any idea what each other are trying to say.  All too many conversations wind up a lot like this:

In just a few days we will travel back to Lopburi for our periodic language tests.  We’ve both been working this week to prepare for these tests.  Please continue to pray for us.  Pray for an increasing ability to remember things we’ve already learned and for stickiness of mind as we study new vocab and sentence structure.  Pray also that this hard work in language study in the past year+ would translate into increased meaningful relationships in our new community and ability to be involved in ministries at the Thai church we are partnering with.

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Video courtesy of the Tourism Authority of Thailand – www.loikrathong.net

As you can see from the video above it really can be quite beautiful.  But, as we made our way through the massive crowds of people this year to get a few pictures of the local festivities (this was our first Loy Krathong here in Bangkok), the darkness began to creep into the cheerful scene.

Yes, the lanterns and floating krathongs are quite beautiful, but the people releasing them believe that in doing so also goes their bad luck and misfortune.  The people floating their krathongs are also doing so to ask for forgiveness from Phra Mae Khongkha (the goddess of water) for using and dirtying the water and to wash away their sins.

I’m frustrated with how complacent we have become sometimes.  Language learning is important.  Partnering with the local church is important.  But how in a year and a half have I come to the point that people believing that floating a banana leaf raft down the river will wash away their sins doesn’t just break my heart?

So much of Thailand and the Thai people is so beautiful.  The rich culture, festivals dating back 1,000+ years, etc.  But this culture and these Buddhist/Animist festivals go to further show just how far removed the Truth of Jesus Christ is from this place.  We’re excited to be a part of God’s work here in SE Asia, but sometimes I wonder how on earth the job will get done…

I guess we’ll just hang on for the ride and keep stepping out in faith…

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Ummm... I just found a 7-8 foot King Cobra snake in our yard! Blargh!

November 18, 2010 1:10 am via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@two10eleven

Brook Sarver

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Remember the last time we had a snake in our house and Sara ran around the house like a scared 7 year old?  Well that was more snake experience than we ever really wanted to have.  I mean, I’m not scared of snakes.  I just don’t like them.  They creep me out.  Not to mention that snakes in Thailand are no garter snakes like we were used running over with the lawn mower growing up.

King Cobra

Sadly, our first Thailand snake saga wasn’t our last.  Last week I was back behind our new home here in Bangkok tending to some laundry that Sara had put up to dry in the intense Thai sun when I heard some rustling in some weeds around our water tank.  This isn’t the first time we’ve heard animals messing around under our water tank, so I went to have a closer look.  Usually we would find an assortment of frogs and lizards (and to be honest, probably even a rat or two).  But this would be no usual day.  It didn’t take long to see the dark color of a snake starting to take off across our yard as I came closer….  And this was no small snake either.  At least 7 feet long and probably closer to 8 feet in length!  Not only that, but it’s body was nearly as big around as my wrist!

As soon as I saw it, I knew it was a King Cobra.  After our previous snake encounter I did quite a bit of reading up on my Thai snakes trying to figure out why in the world a snake would come in our home.  At least this time it didn’t come into our home, but seeing as King Cobra snakes are one of the most poisonous in the world, it could have done a lot of damage had I got in a wrestling match with it.  In fact, they have even proven able to kill a water buffalo and elephants with a single bite!

I quickly ran inside yelling for Sara to bring the camera but by the time we both got outside with our cameras, the snake had left.  And, like any good & curious missionary, we spent the next 40 minutes in the Thai sun looking all over for it.  We tore through our yard, bushes, pots, our neighbors’ yards, drain pipes, etc.  Still, it just seemed to vanish before our eyes.  And, honestly, I can say that I’m glad.  I’d rather believe that it was just visiting our yard and is now gone for good rather than find out it has a nest and 14 little snake babies under the bush in our front yard!

So, just when we thought our lives in one of the largest cities in Asia would help keep all the snakes away we find out we were mistaken.  And come to find out, I guess they aren’t all that uncommon here in our area of the city.  Most of our friends and neighbors said that this wasn’t the first time they had heard of or seen a King Cobra…  Oh boy!

So I guess now we should start a checklist of creepy crawlies that we’ve had deal with in Thailand.  It seems like ThaiPulsedotCom’s YouTube Channel would be a good place to start.

Here’s hoping our King Cobra snake friend doesn’t come back anytime soon, but if it does, we’ll have the camera ready…

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I have to admit.  I’ve closed my eyes on more than one occasion while reading people’s posts to Facebook about the first snow, frost on their cars in the morning, and the final yard mowing of the year.  Coming from the Midwest in the US, I grew up enjoying 4 distinct seasons and some days even managed to experience all 4 of them in a 24 hour period!  The problem is that, here in Thailand, it’s always Summer…

Our newly manicured yard

Just today I was outside working in the yard and it just felt like Summer.  The sun was beating down.  My shirt was soaked in sweat.  I was cutting the grass and pulling weeds.  I was listening to my Country music playlist on the iPod.  It just felt like Summer.  And, in fact, it was 97 degrees out with about 75% humidity.  Yep, it was Summer.  Problem is that this is supposed to be the cool season.

Now we’ve been around in Thailand long enough to know that the only true seasons here are “Hot”, “Wet Hot” and “Really Freakin’ Hot”; and I thought we had adjusted by now… until I pulled up Facebook and saw a photo of my sister at Purdue bundled up in a hoodie for a football game.  Then it dawned on me:  we’ve once again missed Fall and it’s colors, the first snow, seeing our breath on a crisp morning, snuggling up in three blankets just to take away the chill after an afternoon outside.  And it’s a bummer.

Now, I like Summer as much as anyone.  But I guess we still have a ways to go before we are truly adjusted to the fact that it is always Summer in Thailand…

Also, I’m not the only one in our home whose heart is confused by the fact that it is mid-November and still nearly 100 degrees out.  Just last night Sara cranked down the air conditioner in the room and watched Elf on her laptop.  And today she sweat through two shirts putting up our Christmas tree.  She’s confused…  …or crazy…

Leave us a comment and make us jealous of the weather you are having.  That should help, right???

(click the image above to be taken to the actual Operation World page for more details)

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But, it doesn’t take an expert to soon see upon arrival in Thailand that Thai Buddhism isn’t clear-cut Buddhism by the books.  While the original teachings of Buddha don’t speak at all to the spirit realm, Thailand is engrossed in fear of and want to appease the spirits that surround them.

OMF recently published a short video showcasing how Folk Buddhism has taken over in Thailand and what that means for its people.  I’ll show the video below, but do be warned that it contains some graphic material…

The People’s Buddhism from OMF Media on Vimeo.

Please Pray…

Ever since moving into our new place my hands look like this and hurt after just 5 min shower. Anyone know why? http://twitpic.com/2f8hh7

August 16, 2010 1:03 am via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@two10eleven

Brook Sarver

Old Man hands?

I recently posted the Twitter / Facebook message above in hopes to find an answer to an issue I’ve been having since moving into our new place here in Bangkok.  I literally spend 5 minutes in the shower or helping do the dishes and my hands wind up looking like I just swam a triathlon in January…

I really don’t know what is going on.  Could it be this country boy’s reaction to Bangkok’s Chlorinated water?  An allergy of some sort?  Fungal infection?  Leprosy?

I’m not ruling out any possibilities at this point.  Still, I thought it best to post up on my blog in case some SE Asian, missionary doctor happens to come across this blog and save my hands’ lives….

Oh, and it hurts when it turns this way.  Not a sharp pain, but an aching pain as if to say “Ouch!  It hurts when my skins folds up on itself into deep crevasses and pretends it is those little Silica Gel packets in the toe of your new pair of shoes you just bought!”…

…Yeah, I may have issues…

Any thoughts?