Saturday

This morning I got word from Sambo that he was able to purchase tables, stools and fans for the new school already!

 

Kevin, Jill and Grace picked me up and took me to a resort just outside the city. The staff was so nice to show us some of the rooms they have available. Very cool.  Kevin brought Jill here for their anniversary once.  So, hey, Tim, one time we are both here, we may just have to take a day to rest and refresh here. It is like a little oasis where once a rice field grew. We enjoyed a relaxed and unhurried morning and early afternoon just talking, catching up and encouraging each other.  Grace was delight to have along as she sang songs, enjoyed the flowers and played Cinderella dress up on her tablet.

When I returned to my hotel, I decided to continue to have a refreshing and planning afternoon. SO I took a couple of hours to myself.  Then off I was walking through town again. I stopped in a few shops, met some people setting up for the new night market and decided to hang out in town for dinner.  I went to a new place for me and had Cambodian pumpkin curry with chicken.  Yum yum. I enjoyed getting to chat to the young ladies who worked there and another customer from Germany.

Since the restaurant is on the street, I enjoyed observing people.  Traffic really picked up that evening. Lots of motos on the streets. Funny how I am starting to see the same foreigners I saw yesterday.  Small town. As I walked down by the river, the little park there was full of people.  Many families and friends. Lots of laughter and games.  There was a group of Cambodian men who had welcomed a foreigner to play shuttle cock with them and cheering him on when he was able to knock it back to them. The I came across a place where everyone was just slowly walking around this path.  I noticed they had all taken their shoes off.  The path was stone.  They were walking around barefoot on the stone path to massage their feet.  So, why not. I kicked my shoes off and joined them. Ok, ouch was the word half way around for me.  I do not have my summer feet yet. But it was fun to just join them.

 

Children on the play ground, people exercising on outdoor equipment or just hanging out sitting along to wall. Everyone was dressed nicely and having a good time. I almost missed the three dirty children sitting away from the play ground starring out at the street. Were they waiting for a parent? Where they homeless? Or just poor? I quickly went through a mental list of what I had on me, but I had nothing. I don't speak their language so I was lost at how I could help them. I could pray though. My heart went out to them.  As I turned one last time to see them, the littlest one was laughing and smiling.  Thank you, Lord, for giving that little guy some joy! Please provide for those children tonight.

The rest of my evening was used to prepare for tomorrow at GP.

Friday Night

Well, I challenged myself today to escape my hotel room and explore Battambang on my own. Like I said, you all just think I am adventurous. We, maybe now I am.  I took a walk through town along the river before connecting with my tuk tuk  driver.  I was able to contact him from the hotel phone. I had to laugh when I told him my name, he said, "oh, yes, and your son is Zac". Zac must just be one of those people that are hard to forget. LOL

I decided to head to a café I had visited before (ok, I am playing it a little safe here). If you saw my FB post, then you know about the four young Americans sitting near me and my comment about them. So sad to hear their empty and selfish conversations.  What a contrast  after they left and the next four Americans entered: Kevin and Jill Kane and Gary and Lois Engelhardt. I had a few minutes to chat with them and make plans for that night and the next day (since I don't have that phone yet) before my tuk yuk driver arrived to pick me up.

I asked Mr. Lim if he would stop by a store to see if I could find a shirt for Zac.  Zac loves the styles here for teens.  Unfortunately Zac is already out of the xl size for teens.  But Mr. Lim was determined to help me find something for Zac, so he drove me around to several shops, landing lastly at the best shop in town for quality.  There Mr. Lim even tried on the shirts to help me get an idea if it would fit Zac or not.  We finally found a shirt that fit Mr. Lim in the shoulders and was too long in the sleeves.  That should fit Zac! It isn't the style I was looking for because we had to go to the adult shop and buy an xl there, but Mr. Lim said maybe Zac would be happy that his mom got him something more than it be stylish. So, how many taxi drivers you know who go that far to help their passengers? This guy is pretty cool.  He is the driver Zac and I met last year.  He was a new driver and was just learning the business.  I gave him a few tips on how to make his business a success, especially transporting Americans.  This year, when he picked me up (six months later), he had a new tuk tuk and said his business was going ok.

Mr. Lim then drove me out to Asia's Hope.  As we were driving down their road, many of the students were heading back for afternoon school.  They all waved and smiled as we passed. All this made an impression on Mr. Lim.  Last year I had the opportunity to share with him about AH and what and why it is there.

Sorry, no pics of my afternoon at our GP homes.  I was just enjoying the time playing with all the kids that were there.  I split my time between the two homes and loved every minute.  At five, I had made arrangements to meet up with the DeWitts from Canada here working with Bight Star.  They were teaching a group of brand new English classes.  When we arrived,  one of the teachers was late, so John asked me which group I wanted to teach.  LOL, no materials or anything.  Kind of reminded me of my first teaching job. At least here I had a piece of chalk! So I took the middle group. Luckily for them, the teacher arrived shortly and I went back to John's beginner class to help him.  200 students total in three classes.  They originally thought there would be about 40.  These kids come from the poor neighborhoods and their parents really want them to learn English to give them more opportunities.  They were awesome.  When class was over, several of the girls came to say goodbye and did a 3-cheek kiss goodbye giggling all the time.  Not sure who taught them that as an appropriate greeting for Americans, but no problem because I have many friends from places where that is.  So fun.  There was such delight in the eyes of these children as they were excited to be with us and learn a little English.

After being dropped off at my hotel, I grabbed a bag of clothes for Lois that Connie sent along and walked the few blocks  down the street to another hotel restaurant to meet them for dinner.  The restaurant is on top of the hotel and the food is prepared fresh.  I mean, I watched them cut my vegetables.  Yum Yum.  I had so much fun catching up with Gary and Lois, hearing about the ministry God has given them here and learning a little more about the Cambodian culture.  The food was delicious too.  After dinner they gave me a ride back to my hotel for safety reasons. It is really dark by now.  After my second shower today (the dust here is so fine, you felt like you never really get it off), I dropped into bed. Tomorrow is a day with the Kanes and hopefully with GP kids for a little while.

LOL, I forgot to get the phone!

Friday, Jan 30

I've been traveling for a couple of days and no time or internet to blog, but I am in Cambodia now for a short visit to our Grace Place family here and to also see Jill and Kevin Kane, Gary and Lois Engelhard and a family I know here from Canada. So lots to do in a few days.

Wednesday Faa, Ning and I traveled back down to Chiang Mai. They know a lady who runs like a production studio and produces Christian material.  We met her interns, all American young people, and enjoyed, what else, but food together (snack). I asked the video guy for a few more pointers on video taping because my shots the day before were a little shaky. I think it was too much coffee. Ok, no coffee before the next soot with Faa. I am trying to get footage that can be used to create a new video to submit to FGBC for conference. YIKES, me behind the camera.

Faa and  I then met up with a couple of young ladies living in the DC area.  They work with trafficked women in the US and decided they needed to see the trafficking capitol of the world. What a delightful couple of young ladies.  Their heart for God and bubbly spirits are so encouraging to see among young Christian adults.  I hope to connect with one of them when she travels to the Columbus area.

Thursday morning I hopped on a plane and began my journey to Battambang. I was amazed at the number of nationalities traveling to Cambodia.  It seems to be more and more a place people want to visit.  My entry into the airport in Seim  Reap was fun.  You wait in a long line to get into the building, but when you arrive at the door, they hand you one more paper to fill out.  You already received 3 on the plane.  Then they told you to step aside, complete it and get back at the end of the line.  Well that went over well, especially with the Westerners. Not very efficient.  Then the line to receive a VISA was crazy too, but it gave me an opportunity to meet many people, some form the US, one from Canada and one from Switzerland.  I had the opportunity to share why I was in Cambodia and what our church is involved in. Finally, over one hour later, I made it to the luggage pick up.  That surprisingly took awhile too.  Poor Sambo had been waiting for me for over 1 1/2 hours. He was getting concerned about me. So we got a later start than I wanted, but no problem. After all, this is Cambodia.

Ok, I know I have most of you fooled into thinking I am just some adventurous person, but I have to admit, belong in Cambodia without a set agenda or phone at the moment, by myself is a little nerve racking. I don't know whether to be concerned that people keep asking me if I am here by myself or if they are just being their friendly Cambodian selves. I think the latter, but as an American, it still makes you cautious. I feel completely safe here though, so don't worry.

Today, I hope to meet up with Garry and Lois Engelhard. Maybe some of you remember them from Wooster. They are up in BB for a few days. I also plan to head out to Grace Place to see who is around and hopefully pick up a phone! I have the number of a tuktuk driver we met last year, but no phone to call him to get a ride to GP to get the phone so I can call him. Hopefully I can borrow a phone from someone or ask someone to call Mr. Lim for me.  I hope he is still in the tuktuk business.  See what I mean about "a little nerve racking"?

Ok, well, I never take selfie, mostly because my kids make fun of them.  But I decided to take one anyway for you.  See, I look like those young people hiking around the globe. LOL

PS. I was able to give Sambo money to purchase school tables and chairs for his new school in Poi Pet thanks to a generous donor from our church.  He is very excited and plans to purchase them right away!

Tuesday

Wow, today was a full day.  After driving back to the GROW property (in the fog) this morning, Faa, Ning, Beam and I headed up to the mountains.  We went to Doi Chang way way up in the mountain.

  There we met an Aka pastor named Pat.  This man came to Christ when he was twenty.  He began to have a heart to reach his people.  But he thought, "how can I teach them unless I go to study the Bible myself?" So, he went to Bible college and seminary and became a pastor.  He went to Bangkok and began preaching and teaching at a large church that had money to pay him and money to support church programs.  He worked there many years, but God reminded him why he went to Bible college in the first place and gave him a renewed passion to share the Gospel in his Aka village. So, he obeyed, quit his comfortable Pastor's job and went home.  He saw many old people set in their ways and their beliefs, not willing to change. So, he looked at the younger generation.  He saw many without jobs, doing drugs and drinking.  He thought, "God, are you sure about this?  These people are poor inside and out. How do I help them?" God answered him and showed him coffee as a way to help his village.  His mountain is laden with coffee farms because many years ago, his grandfather, Abonzo, planted the first coffee farm, changing the crop of the village from opium to coffee. Today, Pat owns Abonzo coffee company. 

Pat is friends with a famous Thai movie star who is a Christian and who Faa loves.  Pat had this guy sign a GROW shirt for Faa.

Pat's grandmother and wife of deceased Abonzo.

 

He seeks to buy coffee cherries from the farmers at a fair price so they can support their families.  Then he processes the beans and ships them to roasters in different countries. He is able to purchase from 20 growers now, but has a goal of 100-150 farmers.  But, he has no money.  He sold his own coffee farm to get started: purchasing a machine to shell the berries, renting land to dry the beans and building to store the dried beans. He is trusting God to provide the resources and the people to help with this vision so he can focus on studying the Bible and sharing the Gospel. I told him he is exactly the kind of person I am interested in buying items from to sell in our GROW store, especially our upcoming online store.  I look for people to purchase item from whom we can really help as well as helping to support GROW. I am really excited to hear that he is already selling the beans to a roaster in Columbus.  I asked him to talk to that guy, who is also a pastor, and ask if he would be interested in roasting beans for GROW to sell.  Pat has a trip to Ohio planned in April, so we plan to meet in Columbus and hopefully be able to discuss this with the roaster. After enjoying a better than Starbucks cup of coffee he so craftily prepared for us, we had the opportunity to participate in the process by picking the coffee cherries at his parents' farm.

Sorting the coffee berries

Picking the berries

After 15-20 minutes of work.

This is what we picked. About 2 Kilos, enough for 10 cups of coffee.

Pat's mom

 

Ok, I've learned some things today about coffee that will forever change the way I look at a cup of it:

1. It takes 10 month to a year to process the beans from the day they are picked to the day they are ready to ship to a roaster.
2. It took four if us working for a combined hour or so to pick enough coffee cherries for ten cups of coffee.
3.Coffee coming from Thailand marked "USDA organic" is not organic.  Certificates can be bought and are.  Sorry everybody, they use fertilizer!
4. Coffee marked "Fair Trade" rarely is. Again, certificates can be bought.  Coffee is a business. They might say the farmers are getting a fair price, but according to this expert here in the business as a ministry, it's anything but fair. These two things surprised me very much as we sat at a café of one of the biggest and first companies in the region and read the signs posted all over their buildings boasting of these certificates. Pat says it started out to be true,  but no longer is. Companies buy it cheap, pay for the certificates and sell it high because people are willing to pay for "certified" coffee. They then pocket a nice profit.  Abonzo coffee is marked neither "USDA Organic" or "Fair Trade" because he cannot afford to "buy" the labels. But his purchase price for the beans is more than fair! I will be bringing home a few bags if anyone wants to purchase one.
5. Last thing.  Instant coffee is made from bad beans.  No wonder it taste so bad!

Beans dry for one week being turned over with shovels every 3 hours.

Yes, I am lying in a bed of raw coffee beans. Pat said we could!

Dried beans are bagged and stored for at least 6-8 months. The longer the better.

After seeing the whole coffee process, heading to the top of the mountain, and enjoying another cup, we said our goodbyes and headed down the mountain.

Top of the mountain!

What a place to hang out and think!

 

  We stopped in Faa's village to visit a possible future GROW child.  He is actually a brother of a current GROW child. After a good visit there and a stop at Faa's relatives', we stopped at a resort for dinner.

View from our table!

What a full day! Oh, then I had to drive back to the hotel. LOL

Monday

I was so excited about my driving adventure here that I forgot to write about Monday.  So, I will make two entries tonight.

We began the day with staff meetings at GROW.  I love to see how the staff here each participate.  Each one recognizes that they play a very important role here and need to be heard.  This is really good staff relationship building.  I had the opportunity to give the staff a gift from home as well as present Aaj, the property manager and Faa's brother, with a gift of appreciation for staying on to help on the property after his contract as construction manager ended back last May.  He volunteered to stay and help because he saw how important it was.  Faa paid him when she could, but for the most part, he worked without a salary.  This demonstrated the kind of heart this staff has for the work here with the children. It blessed my heart to see such dedication to God and to GROW. We wanted Aaj to know that we recognized his sacrifice and heart and wanted to show our appreciation. He was very grateful, but oh so humble at the same time.  Again, it says a lot about his character ad his heart.

After lunch, Ning and I looked over application for new children.  They have 18 application complete and seven more onto the way.  We have room for 5 new kids this year.  Wow, what a daunting task it is to choose the children who will be rescued.  In doing so, you are also saying the other ones will not be rescued, and who knows what might happen to them.  We looked over all the applications and prioritized the greatest needs.  My heart broke as I looked at all their pictures and thought about the ones we wouldn't be able to take. Applications are due next month, decisions will be made in March, uniforms will be bought in April and school starts for the year in May.  Please pray for the staff as they finalize the 5 who will be accepted as well as for those they just can't take this year.

The rest of the afternoon and evening were spent meeting with Faa: getting updates on all the kids, discussing items the Thai government suggested or asked that GROW do as a Children's home, and just board business. 

Dinner was amazing at the GROW home: simple, but delicious. One of the girls was getting help with her English homework from Ning. She asked me to look over her homework, so it gave me a chance to teach her a little English.  I noticed in her notes she had some conjugations incorrect, but when I told her the correct way, she said that is what her teacher told her.  To my knowledge, even in other English speaking countries, you never say, "he am".  I also taught her about adding the helping verb when using "ing" words that require it.  EX: "I am walking to the hotel." The next day, her teacher said you don't ever use "walking" just "walk". So the poor child got in trouble because she had the correct sentence.  I told her to tell her teacher that an actual American English teacher was helping her with her homework.  Ok, maybe that isn't the wisest advice.

Then my drive!

First Time Driving in Thailand

Ok, this will be my first time driving in Thailand.  Faa told me to take the truck back to my hotel and then meet them in the morning. Ok, no problem.  I've never driven on the left side of the road, but I've got this.  Well I thought I did.  Then I realized her truck is a stick shift and everything is on the opposite side (except the pedals - thank goodness the pedals weren't opposite. That would be too many opposites at one time for my brain to compute). Oh did I mention it is dark out?  The windows are so dark, I have to roll them down to be able to see out of them at night.  Ok, here we go. "Faa, where are the lights?" Ok, now ready. "Jeana, when the road turns up there by that big tree, make sure you don't get over too far. It's really steep.". Oh, ok, I will keep that in mind.

Here we go. Ok this isn't too hard to shift.  Of course I'm not even out of second gear.  Can't go any faster on this drive though.  There's the tree, AND THE DROPOFF! Oh, no problem.  Ok, here's the worst part, entering the main road on a hill.  At least I can check tragic by looking for lights. That's if everyone is using them. Wow, up on the road. That wasn't too bad.  Ok here we go. First gear, second, now third, whoops back into second.  I have no idea what gear I am in because there is no indication anywhere.  Not use to shifting with my left hand, oh and hey, haven't driven a stick shift in 18 years. Well I must have made it to 5th because I don't hear any gears grinding.

Going along.  Please, Lord, no cars.  It's weird seeing oncoming traffic coming toward your right side. Oh yeah, don't expect that oncoming traffic to necessarily be in their lane.  People really don't stay in lanes.  People now passing me on both sides.  Ok.

Made it into town.  Wonder what the speed limit is.  I hope 60 km/h is ok.  Hate to get stopped by the police.  Halfway through town. Oh, look, a speed limit sign. Or is that a road number sign. No, I think it is a speed limit sign and it says 60. Yeah! Oh, wait it just changed to 40, now to 35, now to 30. Bummer, I have to shift. Ok. now people are flying by me.  It must have changed again.  Ok made it to the next little town.  Hotel is the other side.  What's this? Oncoming traffic coming at me on both sides?  Am I on the correct side? Line check. Wheel closest to the center yellow line. Ok, right side, I mean left side, right!

Ok, where is that road now.  Really dark. Can't see those landmarks I memorized because of the dark.  Was that it? Can't read Thai signs. Wait, yes it is. Break. Wow that is touchy! Ok, that is the windshield wipers. Ob yeah, everything opposite. There's the turn signal. Ok, shift down.  Bummer, people behind me and people coming toward me.  Ok making a right hand turn from the left lane across tragic. Oh great, truck parked on my side of the road.  Going around him. No get back over.  Great, no lines. Hotel in sight.  Made it to parking lot!! Oh yeah. Have to leave it in gear. Not sure this thing has a parking break.  Hope I don't wake to find the truck in the kitchen in the morning.  Maybe I should come back in a few minutes and check on it. Roll up windows, get bag from other side of truck.  Well, I guess you have to close the doors before activating the remote locking devise.  Sorry if anyone was sleeping. Yippy, I made it. Hey that was kinda fun. Oh yeah, I have to do it again tomorrow with heavy traffic. No problem. I've got this. Thank you, Lord, for helping me!

Sunday

Today was a great day of worship with our Grace Pace kids.  I had to laugh as I watched the little boys pouring out their hearts in worship only to immediately be "boys" as soon as the closing "Amen" was said.  Off they went wrestling with each other and just being boys.
 The hightlight of the service this morning was the song that the older boys did. What deep voices they have now.  I told them I remember when they had little boy voices, and now 6 years later, they have young men's voices.  It was beautiful! I was asked to share from the Bible this morning, so I shared on the book of Lamentations.  The book is all about the suffering, pain and desolation of Jerusalem after the Babylonians destroyed the city in 586BC. But in the middle of all the pain and weeping, their is the faithfulness of God. God is in the midst of it all, there with us. He is ethereal, yes, but He is also right here going through the muck and mire of life.  He is even here when we make the mess ourselves as the Israelites had. Lamentations 3:21-25.  Great is God's faithfulness.

After lunch, I pulled out a bunch of craft supplies and put them in the middle of all the girls.  They immediately got creative and had lots of fun.  I also brought fingernail polish, so our house mom and I were busy doing all the girls' nails.  Then, Sutida, the girl we sponsor, wanted to do mine!

I brought some things for the boys to do as well. The girls of course all wanted to give me their crafts, so if anyone sponsors a girl and would like to have one of their pictures, please let me know.  First come, first serve.
The girls took me on a tour of their gardens.  Each child has their own little plot to plant.  They were very proud of how they were taking care of their own little garden.

It was party time at the GROW home as they were celebrating four kids' birthdays and one staff member.We had hotpots for dinner.  A little fire under a special pan cooked a variety of meats and vegetables. Delicious!!! It is the kids' favorite! So the evening at GROW was filled with food, awesome cake baked by Ning, and karaoke. Of course gifts were given and they even enjoyed a birthday message and song from GROW president, Pastor Ivanildo, via Skype.

Sorry, for some reason I cannot attach the picture of the girls' artwork.  I will try again tomorrow. Hope everyone had a blessed Sunday!

First two days in Thailand

Friday was busy of course.  I choose to be busy on the first day to Thailand because it seems to help me with jetlag.  Beam, Faa's cousin, asked her why she kept me out so late when I had just arrived the night before.  But I prefer it this way.  A short power nap later in the day keeps me going though.

Faa took me to meet a couple, husband American, wife Thai, who are missionaries here with Empower.  They are doing some really neat things with local coffer growers and Children's homes here.  His church back home in Texas has a unique part to play as well as he ships unroasted coffee beans to them.  They roast the coffee and market it raising money for the Children's homes and the project.  The farmers get top dollar for their crops and children can work at the farms to learn a trade as well.

After lunch we did some grocery shopping for Ning. She has a favorite store back in Chiang Mai where she can purchase things she can't find in Wieng Pa Pao. After a short power nap, we were off to the market for some authentic pad thai. We stopped to see one of the children's mom's at the market and checked out the newest items for sale. Faa needed to stop and deliver GROW coffee to a few people, so we left the market early.  We visited a Korean pastor and his family (where we were served Korean dessert and juice), then a Belgium couple (and had more juice).

Saturday, we left CM early and headed for WPP.  A local church nearby was having a thanksgiving celebration celebrating what God had done and how the church had been blessed.  Faa and I attended.  To my surprise, our Grace Place kids were there. SO lots of hugs!!! The church had invited our Grace Place kids, GROW kids, and Sending Hope kids to each perform a song for the church.  So what a joy that was! Of course you can't have a gathering like that and not eat, so of course, we ate. Do you get the feeling that all I do is eat?  It is no wonder I gain weight when I come here.

I checked into my hotel, and Faa told me to rest.  I think she really needed to rest. So another short power nap! Well at least I have a little time now to catch you up on the time here. Tonight I will be back at the GROW property with the kids. Tomorrow  I am off to worship at GP.

You can pray for me on Monday as Faa says she is giving me the truck to drive myself to and from the hotel.  Did I mention they drive on the opposite side of the road, and it's a stick shift.  Oh it's been awhile since I drove one of those.  Ok, I've got this.

Just thought you'd all get a kick out of this.  This is a taxi taking a 1 1/2 hour trip up the curvy mountain roads. You know you're not in America when...

Arrived in Thailand

Well, I am thankful for safe travels. I arrived in Thailand late at night. We spent a little more time than usual leaving the airport because one of the wheels on my new suitcase was missing.  I just wanted to get a report from the airline so I could turn it in to my travel insurance.  But the airline told me to return the next day and they would fix it.  Wow! Does that happen in the States? Cool.

Tutu picked me up, and I stayed the night at her house. Great night's sleep.

  Great morning run (it helps with jetlag) in perfect running weather! Omelets, bacon, fruit and some kind of bread stuffed with spicy beef, yum.  Now I am ready for the day!

Just wanted everyone to know that GROW items will be available at the IF Conference the first weekend of February at Wooster Grace Church. Make sure you register for that amazing women's event.  Our store, which I am now calling "All Thai'd Up", will be set up.  I will still be in Thailand, but Melissa is leading the charge for me.  Looking for gifts or something for yourself?  We have scarves, jewelry, bags and more.  Stop by and support the ministry of GROW while picking up some unique and pretty cool items!

Heading out in the morning for another trip to SE Asia. This trip I will be doing some staff training at GROW, getting some video footage for a video we want to put together for GROW, love on the kids while visiting both our Grace Place homes and GROW homes. I will be picking up items to put online at our new and upcoming GROW store, "All Thai'd Up". Look for it soon at www.grow-worldwide.com.

Prayer:

I am experiencing a lot of pain in my TMJ which in turn is causing a lot of pressure in my ears.  Pray the flight doesn't cause more pain with the change in air pressure.

Good health of course so I can accomplish all that is needed to be done.

Strengthen and encouraged relationships.

More later! Thanks for following me.

Jeana