Hello everyone and greetings from Thailand!

I'm writing just before supper in a small town in the south of Thailand known at Takua Pa. The weather is hot and humid. This leg of our trip brings us to the tsunami region where Imagine Thailand runs a tutoring center and teaches ESL in the schools. Through these relationships something very special happened today. Two twin sisters and their brother (11 year old twins and 7 year old brother) wanted to give their lives to Jesus a short time ago. They wanted to have our team pray with them and so today we were able to officially lead them to the Lord. It was a powerful time of prayer with tears and prophetic words and a testimony from one of the twins... Recently one of the twins was travelling on a bus from Bangkok to Takua Pa (about a 12-hour journey) and she felt she should pray for her mother. When mother and daughter were back at home together, the mother told her children that she almost died that night. The brakes in her car had failed and she was headed straight for an electrical pole. Just before she hit it, the car stopped abruptly. A miracle no doubt. God sent an angel to stop the car! This happened at the exact time that her daughter was praying for her.

Our trip to Mae Sot was also special. It was so good to see the Hansons there last week. They continue to impact the schools with their focus on installing water systems, providing teacher resources, and creating identification books for stateless children. They led the international church service at their home on Sunday. They have really become a part of their community! They are just moving into the season of the year when a number of teams come from the west. From February to the middle of June, the cycle of teams doesn't end! (And the final team is our own from Emmanuel at the beginning of June! Stay posted for more details).

Even though the sights and sounds are very familiar to Irislee and me, we along with the rest of the team constantly wrestle with the disparity between rich and poor. It is important for all of us to think about these things. It helps us reshape our priorities and look beyond ourselves. We also continue to realize the spiritual warfare that takes place everyday...so many idols, so many spiritually lost people, and we've got the answer. We've seen the power of God and heard the stories of those whose lives have been changed through a loving and authentic group of Christians here in Thailand!

I've been following along with what is happening in Peachland. Are you enjoying the Revelation series? And of course, we completely missed the snow and freezing weather! Can't say I'm too upset about that.

We're all healthy here and we look forward to being back with you all in just over a week!

Pastor Derek

Hey everyone. All is going very well for us in Germany. Thanks for your continuing prayers.

Carrie has started a blog. Please visit it and follow along with how the Lord is leading us. We would really welcome your comments. There's nothing like a word of encouragement to brighten ones day.

Thanks for all your love and support.

In Jesus' love,
Ralph & Carrie

carrielpeters.wordpress.com

Happy New year to everyone!

As the new year begins our thoughts are starting to include preparing to come home in July. Sending things home with anyone we may know, who will be here over the next 6 months, registering the kids in school, what we will do, where we will live…and so on. However, there is a mountain to climb before we can set our sights on that; the time we call, “team season.” I find this time to be both challenging and rewarding. It is actually one of my biggest fears in coming to Thailand. It is to be the leader of the teams, and the life camps…to be the “man”, the guy out front…alone. Actually, not alone. God has been faithful, to the level that I look to Him and depend on Him. He meets my faith every time. This truth has been proven over and over again. Is there fear? Yes! Is there doubt? At times, yes. But God responds to faith. I believe He LOVES responding to our faith in Him. He will do what He says in His Word, if only I will believe it.

We had a donation for a water system from Saskatoon Christian School. We just completed the water system at Maw Ta Lu school, home to 110 students, in a rural area with no electricity. The water source is a small river about 250 meters from the school. It is actually more than just a water filtration system. It includes a hand dug 15ft ground well, a gas powered pump, water storage tanks, 3 washing and bathing stations and underground plumbing to different locations at the school including the kitchen, bathrooms, and each bathing station. I was adding up the hours invested into this system and it would be about 2 weeks, full time work, for our three staff. The school receives not only clean drinking water, but also the relief of being able to bathe in the safety of the school property. During the rainy season, the small river becomes a raging muddy river that is dangerous to bathe and wash in. Thank you to SCS teachers and students for working to provide Maw Ta Lu with this wonderful gift!

It’s funny how we seem to learn best through pain and frustration. After we bought the pump for the Maw Ta Lu system we had some problems getting it to pump water. Picture this — there are about 15 Burmese guys gathered around watching and helping to dig the groundwell because the water is pouring into the well. We need to pump it out so we can dig deeper. The pump is there and I am supposed to be the “guy who knows how to operate it”, so they’re all looking at me to figure it out. We have the intake line in the well and the outlet line ready to expel the water. I start the pump, we wait and wait…and nothing. Li Mei, our Thai staff member, who is knowledgeable about all things (it seems) is up at the school and I am dreading making the call for her to come down and help. Pretty soon everyone is trying to help and it is a real gong show, so I call Li Mei. I can still see her walking down the trail as us men look on. It was humbling, to the very core of my being. She got it going and we were able to finish digging the well. It’s always a good thing when our pride gets a good kick in the butt! The pump, however, was not working properly and we spent 2 very frustrating days trying to figure it out. Finally, after investigating and trying different things we figured it out. The inlet line was sucking air at the connection to the pump which did not allow the water to be sucked up the inlet line. There was great joy when we got it working. Isn’t it the same way in life? In general, we always want the easy way. We do not want the pain and frustration that leads us to real growth and maturity. It’s hard to submit to the Lord’s discipline but it IS for our own good. Believe me, I prayed over that pump that God would just heal it and make it work. In the end, I learned a lesson that I will never forget. Not only was it about the pump but that submitting to God is at times painful and frustrating and produces REAL growth in me.

Emmanuel church (our home church) always starts January with a week of prayer so we decided to do the same. To bring in the new year I decided on a computer fast, nightly devotions and prayer as a family. The kids were not overly thrilled with the idea of giving up the computers for a week but they agreed. The kids all took a turn leading the devotional and prayer times. It was exciting as a parent to see this. I was telling a friend of mine about this and he mentioned that he thought the man should not be called the ‘priest of the home’ but the ‘head warrior,’ trying to keep the family engaged in the spiritual fight. What ever you call it, it is a full time job that is never done.

Dave

Dear HMI Pacific Team,

Happy New Year! Here is the latest installment of what is happening in Hockey Ministries out here in the West. Enjoy the read!

For His honour,
Don Richmond
HMI Pacific

Dear friends of Ralph, Carrie and the CLIMB team,

Blessing you for 2012 with the words from Numbers 6:24-26:

God bless you and keep you, God smile on you and gift you, God look you full in the face and make you prosper.

(The Message)

We're off to Germany for 7 1/2 months on January 8, 2012. We'll stay in touch while we're there. Thank you for all your love and prayers.

With much love and appreciation,
Ralph & Carrie

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the Hanson house, not a creature was stirring not even a cockroach; The paper decorations were hung around the house with care, In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there…

This is our second Christmas here in Thailand. Last year we had family and friends join us on a lovely Island for the week of Christmas and then spent the rest of the season in Mae Sot. It was a very memorable time as we introduced them to our lives here — what a great experience for them and us. We all had a great time. This year is our first Christmas without being with family. We have kept on with our traditions — decorating the tree, making decorations, listening to Christmas music, chocolate fondue, toasts, stocking stuffers, gifts, and we even found eggnog for our eggnog toasts. Every year, since we’ve been married (20 years), Dave has kept with his tradition of giving Lorelie a small little book on Christmas Eve. Last year he got his sister to purchase and bring one and he presented it to her on 2010 Christmas Eve. This year no one was coming and so we expected that this year it would not happen. Tears welled up in Lorelie’s eyes as she opened this little gift wrapped book on Christmas Eve 2011 — the tradition lives. How meaningful for this to happen. How you ask?? God cares for us. This little tradition that was started 20 years ago, God cared to lead Dave to the store where he could purchase it. Dave was at one of the malls, in Bangkok, when he felt led to this big bookstore. He went in and even though he thought it pointless asked if there were any Christmas books. The employee led him to the small Christmas section in which he found one little christmas book tucked in with the other big ones. Amazing!! It was one of a kind and he knew it was for him. The tradition lives on and we see through this God’s faithfulness to us.

Last night we had our staff over for a Christmas Party. We had delicious food (and plenty of it), games, christmas caroling, devotional and presents, of course. We have a Karen intern who helps us with installing and maintaining the water systems. It put smiles on our faces as we watched him open his gifts. He was so excited when he opened them — he would have a HUGE smile on his face, throw his hands in the air with excitement and then after he took them out to show he’d put the gift back in the wrapping paper as if he hadn’t opened it up. That made our Christmas — blessing the ones we love with special gifts and seeing the looks on their faces as they opened them up. It’s truly a BLESS-ED Christmas!

Christmas isn’t a big deal here in Thailand — schools do take a week-long break, but most people don’t take a break from work. It’s just another regular day. Some of the schools we visit regularly have Christmas celebrations which we’ve been invited to attend. We went to our first celebration at Ray Kaw Thoo school yesterday. This is a school Imagine Thailand has been involved in for over 2 years. We were able to see Esther Mu, who attends this school and is famous in West Kelowna because she is on the Emmanuel Church billboard. She was about 2 when the picture was taken and is in kindergarten and is doing very well.

Every 3 months we have to leave the country to renew our visas. In December, we went to Kuala Lampur, Malaysia. It is a beautiful city, more modern than I was expecting. Actually it is very modern (more modern then BKK). It has sub-divisions like we would see in North America (concrete homes), sidewalks, cleaner streets, imported foreigner food, less trucks on the road, and more of a North American feeling. However, in saying that, we missed Thailand – the friendly, smiling faces especially. We stayed an extra couple of days for a Christmas holiday doing some touristy things. One of our favorite nights was sitting together, in a gazebo, in the park at the base of the Petronas Twin Towers. It was a beautiful setting — night sky, the towers lit up, the fountain was spraying water as we sat, talked and laughed together. As a parent it is one of those times that will be remembered and cherished. God has been so good and faithful.

Of course, being here, we miss our families and friends very much, especially at this time of year. We have been truly blessed with your friendship and support while we have been here in Thailand. It is a Hanson Christmas year so Dave’s family is in West Kelowna, at his sister’s place, celebrating this year (we were able to skype in and do our traditional eggnog toasts). We will be attending, via a Skype call, with other family and friends over the next few days. Our church family and many friends are also in our thoughts during this season…actually you always are. We miss you alot and pray that you have a great time with your families and friends. Most of all we give thanks to God for his love and faithfulness, our hearts desire is to be faithful to His call and to keep our eyes on things of eternal value.

Love,
Dave, Lorelie, Courtney, Meghan and Cami Hanson

God has been moving in amazing ways over the last couple months.

• Our prayers about building a mechanic shop that will allow Steve to work more fully in his giftings of mechanics, friendship evangelism and discipleship, and training apprentices is becoming a reality due to some very generous gifts.

• Hayley was able to complete her Doula (birth support) training and is looking forward to helping woman who are pregnant and in labor.

• We are now 3 months pregnant with another child, whom we have nicknamed Goober.

• Our work visas are now being processed because God led us to a wonderful lady who is helping us wade through all the paperwork.

Please pray:

• That we will receive our work visas in January, there is some question as to whether they will give us a work visa because we don’t have degrees but we believe God can do anything.

• That we will find the right piece of land to build the mechanic shop and that God would provide all the money that we need to buy the land.

• For the health and development of our unborn child.

• For wisdom and consistency as we raise Naomi.

The end of August

We traveled to Canada and had a really special time camping with Hayley’s family and many of our Okanagan friends. Smelling the pine trees and going canoeing on the lake was wonderful, but best of all was visiting around the fire and enjoying everyone’s company.

September

In Prince George, Steve worked hard helping a friend remodel a home, while we visited with Steve’s family. Reading a stack of prenatal books and taking care of Mimi filled Hayley’s time there. After work Steve had a great time fixing cars with his dad and we all had fun visiting family. One Sunday we got to give an update about what we are doing in Mexico at the church Steve grew up in.

October

Back in the Okanagan we updated Emmanuel Church about what we were doing in Mexico. It is wonderful to have such a great church. The people were so welcoming and encouraging; we felt very loved. As well, Hayley also did her Doula course and Mimi enjoyed lots of Daddy time. While not busy with Mimi, Steve fixed vehicles and went off-roading with the Nixons. Reconnecting with family and friends made the time delightful.

November

For the first time Naomi experienced snow, at first she wasn’t sure what to think, but pretty soon she decided that it was wet and cold and she didn’t really want anything to do with it. So we headed South. It was a 40 hour trip by airplane and bus but we were so glad to see our home once again. We had missed it and our many friends. Morning sickness slowed us down but did not stop us from getting settled into our home that our friends had fumigated and cleaned for us or from visiting with Sherry (a visiting American midwife who has been teaching Hayley lots online), or from figuring out what we had to do for our visas, and finding Helana, who has been an answer to prayer, as we go through this difficult process.

December

We were all involved in an evangelistic Christmas event that Christian Surfers put on. Along with all of her friends from Moms and Tots, Naomi was an angel. Hayley made Mimi’s outfit and took part in the placard testimonies. Steve did sound and also took part in the placard testimonies. It was an amazing event and a lot of people including most of our neighbours came during the two evenings.

We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and can enjoy the love of God, family and friends,

Steve and Hayley Hasenbank

Dear Family & Friends,

We can hardly believe it, we are just 2 1/2 weeks away from moving to Germany, where we will be helping a church through a challenging time, training young people in church planting and lots of other things. Ralph has pretty much wrapped up his responsibilities with teaching at Summit Pacific College and Carrie has resigned her position as an English teacher with Abbotsford Community Services.

It's been a wonderful privilege living on the college campus and being the "Missionaries in Residence" here. We will dearly miss the students and the amazing Summit team. We are already looking forward to being back in September 2012.

Please check out our website for our latest newsletters and other information...

Praying you have a wonderful Christmas and a fulfilling 2012.

In Jesus' love,
Ralph & Carrie

Greetings from Colima,

Here is the latest news from "Hogar de Amor Y Protección al Niño" here in Colima, Mexico. If you have any questions or thoughts on this latest news, please do not hesitate to contact us*prodigy.net.mx*childrencolima*Question from Emmanuel Website.

We hope you enjoy the newsletter and would be open to any suggestions of topics you would like to see covered in a future issue.

Thanks so much and have a great day!

In Him,
Dennis Unrau

Fall 2011 Update from Colima (1.2MB PDF)

Merry Christmas!

A few years ago, Irislee and I had an epiphany about how we celebrate Christmas.

Living in North America, it’s hard to resist the pull of materialism, the obligation of gift-giving and the hectic peace-less lifestyle. When we first heard about Operation Christmas Child, we wanted to give, but didn’t know how we would afford one more thing during the Christmas season. After a few discussions, we realized we wanted to make Christmas better reflect what we believe about the birth and message of Jesus. He gave up heaven to come to earth and live among us. Surely we could make some sacrifices too! We could use the money we would normally spend on each other and give it away instead. Over the years, we’ve sent boxes to Operation Christmas Child through Samaritan’s Purse, Project Seeds to Guatemala and Boxes of Love to Zambia. Some years, we’ve even chosen Christmas giving gifts from Samaritan’s Purse, Gospel for Asia and World Vision for our extended family members. No one has ever complained, but instead thanked us for giving to those in need on their behalf.

Have you ever heard of Advent Conspiracy? It’s a great idea that has changed the Christmas season for thousands of people! Check it out.

One fantastic idea for this Christmas specifically is the Christmas Giving Catalogue idea developed by Omega Global. Omega Global is a one-year discipleship program (directed by Zach Wylie) from Summit Pacific College, and students in this program are coming to Thailand this spring to volunteer in various parts of the country. As part of their pre-trip planning, they want to raise money for some of the projects Imagine Thailand is currently running and so they’ve put together a fantastic Christmas Giving Catalogue. Follow the instructions on page 4 and make an impact in Mae Sot, Bangkok, and Takua Pa!

On a personal note, thank-you for your interest and support in all things Imagine Thailand. This has been another significant year in Thailand and Burma. The Thai elections, the continually changing politics of Burma, and the devastating floods would top the chart in events followed by the international media.

It has been a significant year for Imagine Thailand as well:

• The many missions teams that visited 1 or more of our 4 regions of involvement (Bangkok, Takua Pa, the Deep South, and Mae Sot) and our interns have been important in creating momentum for our team on the ground.
• We hosted our first Discovery Tour – a humanitarian tour of Thailand for those concerned about social justice and interested in how Imagine Thailand responds to social justice issues throughout the country. Deeply impacted by the experience, some of the tour participants raised thousands of dollars for water systems in Mae Sot upon returning home.
• We began training our first full-time community development directors who will move to the Deep South in 2012.
• Kelvin Chan who interned with us in the fall of 2011 is revamping and expanding our educational process for our tutoring center in Takua Pa…more on this in the spring.
• We established The Pie Shoppe in Bangkok (providing good English meat pies!) to help raise funds for Imagine Thailand.
• We continue to develop the The School of Leadership in Mae Sot, preparing it for a launch in 2012.

These examples illustrate that our directors Peter and Cavelle Dove and our Imagine Thailand team are constantly creating new ways to deepen Imagine Thailand’s commitment to the people of Thailand and Burma.

For our family here in West Kelowna, we have enjoyed another full year of training teams, creating support for projects, and spreading the word on what is happening in Thailand and Burma. We’ve established relationships with a number of schools, churches, and colleges who have graciously allowed us to take away “regular programming” time in order to hear our stories about the thoughts and dreams of people we’ve met in Southeast Asia.

We’re already looking forward to a full slate of plans for 2012 that we will keep you informed about through our blog. By way of reminder, it’s not too late to sign up for Discovery Tour 2012 (January 17-29th).

From us…the Koch Kamotion…
Derek, Irislee, Ellie, Isaac, Hannah, and Olivia…

We wish you and yours a Merry Christmas, filled with the peace, joy and love of Jesus, and a Happy New Year!

During the Reformation period of the church, true followers of Christ asked this question. Opposing the papacy at the time, rejecting what was being practiced and required, the early Reformers were challenged to ask the question, what really makes a church? What is basic? What is essential? What are the fundamentals of being God's people?

They came up with two things that they found were basic: faithful preaching of the word of God, and right use of the two sacraments (baptism and the Lord's supper).  Later Luther specified the keys of authorized ministry, public worship, and suffering under the cross. Charismatics and others today specify the active ministry of every member as another mark of the true church (Eph. 4:7-16). How would you answer this question, what makes a church?

When we kicked-off our Sunday night gathering on campus in September we began with a series titled "Making Room". With many of our students graduating last year, we knew our community would change in dynamic. We wanted to prepare our students to be thinking about how to welcome new students, to be inclusive, and even extend radical hospitality by welcoming the stranger into their lives. The series concluded on Thanksgiving Weekend, when many students tried practicing what we had preached and welcomed others into their homes for a thanksgiving meal. It was amazing to see how many students caught the spirit of 'making room' in their lives for others.

Our second series, which we just concluded this past Sunday, was titled "Basics." Having looked at the "inclusive" part of what it means to be an "inclusive community of God's people on the campus", we wanted to turn our attention to the basics of what it means to be a gathering of "God's people"for a season on the campus. What practices are essential? What is basic to who we are? And in what ways are we different then any other social club registered under the Student Union at UBCO? Below are the visual images we used for each sermon, and might give you a peek into what we were finding.

We found this series especially relevant because of what is shaping in our midst. We have been seeing around 60 students attend consistently - similar to last year. But what has changed is that around 30-40 of them are first-year students or are new to our community. We are witnessing a new wave of students being a part of our community and are now asking the questions of how to equip these new students well, bringing them into maturity, and releasing them to be witnesses of Jesus on this campus.

This coming semester we plan to run two classes during the day time. I will teach a 12 week class on narrative theology again that I initiated last year. I saw 15 students attend that class last year, and almost half of those students ended up taking a leadership role to facilitate leading others in studying the bible through one our 8 Core groups this year. Matt will teach a 6 week class titled "Charismata" in order to help students study and discuss the nature and expression of the gifts of the Spirit in both a personal and corporate setting.

We continue to try to answer this question of what it means to be a church for a season for many students on the UBCO campus. The journey this semester has been fruitful, and as we turn our attention to the advent of Christ, we also are asking what God is calling us to this coming Winter semester. As always, we appreciate your prayers and words of encourage.

James Perreaux

Hi. Please read the attached PDF for the latest on Ralph and Carrie Peters.

Thanks,
Ralph & Carrie

November 2011 Update from CLIMB (0.1MB PDF)

Cami's Thoughts

We went to a Thai Hill-Tribe Village and we did a home stay visit. They are the Lisu Hill-Tribe people. We stayed at a ladies house and her name was Susanan. She was very kind and she made really good meals. I wish we could’ve stayed there longer because I was looking forward to helping her with some things, but I didn’t.

After that we went to Mae Hong Son and we had a good time there. We went to a Long Neck Village. All the women put gold rings around their necks because all the guys think it’s beautiful. After that we came back here and here I am.

Lately we have been installing new water systems at schools and interesting stuff like that. I’m learning the Karen language and I think I’m getting pretty good at the language. My teacher is one of our staff and her name is Day Mu. She is very good at teaching me. I am learning quickly. Nao Mai is doing good. She still has her hearing aid and is starting to say words. She’s said my name once, which is pretty cool. Her mom is pretty excited about Nao Mai speaking.

Courtney's Thoughts

My Dad is teaching me how to ride the scooter. During our trip, up North, my Dad rented a couple of scooters and I got to try it out. I loved driving the bike around Mae Hong Son. Being able to finally drive around a town and get the feel of it was great! In Mae Sot, I just drove around the parking lot of an office building. It was good when you’re just learning but I needed to do more – it was getting boring. When I drove around Mae Hong Son, I actually had to look into my mirrors because there were other people around (walking and scootering wherever they wanted to go). I actually had to stop at a stoplight because there was a stoplight here.

Taking the scooters out was a good time that my Dad and I could spend time together. We don’t really get to spend time together here in Thailand very often. It’s nice being able to do something both of us enjoy and can do that together. Also, though all of my friends, in Canada, are driving cars with their parents in the car – I got to drive a motorbike (scooter) by myself… Suckers! Driving around Mae Hong Son represented a new stage in my life where I got to be more independent. Freedom has finally come to ME!!!

Meghan's Thoughts

Personally I felt really bad when we went to the long neck village. The reason why I felt bad was because people go to that village only to see how they wear rings around there necks. It was good to see how other people live. It was cool to see how the long neck people made scarfs. It looked really difficult but the scarfs looked really nice. We didn’t stay very long as we were feeling sad walking through the village. We stopped at their school and saw some of the children there. They have about 50 in their school.

One lady said that she got her first rings which weighed 5 pounds, when she was about 5 years old. Those things are heavy. I got to try a replica of one on. I can’t imagine having to wear that at the age of 5 and then get more added later on in life. The total weight can be 10+ pounds. Very uncomfortable.

Meghan's Thoughts

Wow, I can’t believe that it’s already mid-November. My family and friends are experiencing cold weather and snow while here we are going into the cooler season of +16, at nights, and mid-20′s to 30ish in the day. Can’t believe that it’s winter. Decorations have begun in parts of Mae Sot — we saw some Christmas lights strung on some trees last night while driving around. We have adjusted back to life here in Mae Sot. We are learning lots again, making changes in our life structures and growing in character and spiritually. We are trying to live by faith and trust — it’s really hard!! Plus we are trying to take the opportunities that are presented to us and go with it. In November, we took a trip to the Northern part of Thailand with the Dove family. I wanted to share a little of what impacted me on this trip.

Cavelle Dove had mentioned the opportunity to stay at a homestay in an ethnic village (the Lisu people – a hilltribe group). We thought this would be a good idea for all of us. It wasn’t truly what I had expected but still good all the same. Living here for one year the experience wasn’t much different than what we’ve seen or encountered. I was expecting to actually live and participate in their activities — work in the field, prepare meals and of course, sleep like they do (that we did). We did eat a traditional supper meal but didn’t help in the preparation of that. It was good and my kids found it tasty too. We slept on a bamboo mat on the wooden floor and it was cooler here because we were in the mountains. We had Peter’s nephew with us (he arrived about a month ago). I asked him what he thought of this experience — he thought that it was interesting, something different; however, it wasn’t as primitive as he had thought and… we had internet. There’s something wrong with that picture. However, in our day and age, I think that most places have internet/cell phones etc… It was a great experience all the same.

In Mae Hung Son, we visited the ‘Long-Neck Village’ which is what really impacted me. I knew before going that it was a touristy spot. This is how they make their money to survive — they get tourists to come to see their product, their village, etc… Cavelle had mentioned to me that some long-neck’s are in the refugee camps hoping to be resettled. They are encouraged to take their rings off if they want to resettle. If they don’t, the Thai Government refuses them because they want them to stay to bring tourists and money — I’m saddened by this. When we got into the boat to head down the river to get to the village, I remembered the novel that Cami was reading for her book study. She was reading about the life of a missionary — Jim Elliott. Do you remember that story? I was picturing myself being a missionary going to a tribe that hadn’t seen white folks before. How it would be to go on a boat having no idea where you are heading and then come to this village. You get out of the boat and head up the path, when you come to the first hut. There she is, a woman dressed in her traditional clothing and with brass rings wound up her neck (approximately 20 of them weighing 10+ pounds). She smiles and asks me to sit beside her. I hesitate and look around. What should I do? She says — “photo, take picture”. Is that what she thinks – that I would just like to have a photo with her? I sit and decide to talk with her as she can speak some English. I want to learn about her; visit with her. I am not a tourist! I live in this country and want to be treated as that. They look at me as a foreigner, a tourist, who has money and will pay them for a photo and buy their items. It was very sad – they are very poor, they are hungry and they are looked at as a strange people group. I love all these people (long-necks, Burmese, Karen, Thai) and want to show them that; but the language barrier hinders me from doing that. I can only sit, smile, give the long-neck village a small donation, buy their product and go away thinking… I am a tourist to them. I’ve done what was expected of me — I come, I look and I keep them here for tourists to look at. What do I do with that?

I’ve given you a glimpse into what I experience here personally. Last night I was out with Cami and struggled again with the language barrier. I so wish to speak with the people that I bump into. The Thai people were talking amongst themselves, then they look at Cami and I and speak to us. I can only say “nit noi Thai” (little) and they smile. They want to talk to me too. Through the conversation they ask where I’m from — I say “Mae Sot”. One guy laughs catching that I answered the question with the here and now. And then I say that I’m from Canada. Through a little English understanding and Thai understanding we make it known that we work with an NGO (non-government organization) and we live here in Mae Sot. They figure out where our office is through my English/Thai conversation. It’s always an interesting/frustrating time when you’re out and can’t speak the language.

During this week Dave and Lay Sheh are in Bangkok helping in the flood relief. This is the first time that Dave has been away while we have lived in Thailand. It’s strange not having him here. Again, I’m dealing with things that I need to overcome – to have faith that we will be protected and trust that God has us in His hands. Putting our faith and trust in God is quite the challenge and we are trying to live this daily. Dave spoke at our International Home Church last week and talked about living eternally. Do we do that? Do we take the opportunities that are presented to us and embrace them as this might be the only chance we have. I challenge you to do that. Walk with us and embrace those moments. Don’t be afraid of what people think or say. Follow the spirit and do what He has intended for you to do. Trust and have Faith that you can do it.

To the wonderful HMI BC team,

I trust that you enjoy reading this latest Hockey Ministries update. I really do appreciate and value your continued prayer for this ministry. I believe that we are seeing the Lord do some great things here, and you are definitely a huge part of what is happening! As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3; some plant, others water, and He gives the increase.

May you know His nearness today!
For Jesus' sake,
Don Richmond
HMI BC