The last 2 weeks have been pretty typical. We talked about relationships for 1 week. Last week we talked a little about Worldview. We’ve also spent a lot of time getting ready to go on “outreach”. We’ve learned a few new dramas and dances to use as entertainment and tool to share the gospel.
Last Saturday, Jonathan went to Chiang Mai and ate Mexican food with a couple guys. It was good, even though the meal was 10 times as expensive as the typical Thai meal. He had a burrito, plate of nachos, and a lot of salsa. It was a little reminder of home. Meanwhile Ashley went to Kwan’s Lisu village, Chiang Dao. We were able to attend their church service and to share a scripture. Since the village had just celebrated Harvest, we read James 1:17-18 that confirms everything that is good and perfect comes to us from God, who created the heavens and earth. In His goodness He chose to make us His children and choice possession. Ashley played with the local kids at an abandoned school while Kwan and her sister sewed Kwan’s outfit for our dances.
Lamphun Outreach
The school divided up into 3 groups for the final outreach trip. 1 group is going to Phetchabun, 1 to a village in the Chiang Rai province, and our group is going to Lamphun province, just south of Chiang Mai. We will spend most of time in or near the town of Li.
There is a pastor in Li that we are going to help. He says that in that area, there are 5 villages that have churches that were built by a Korean missionary. One of these churches has only 2 families, one has no Christians. So, we are going to go to these villages for the next 7 weeks and try to encourage the Christians in any way we can. I think we will actually be sleeping in the church in Li for most of the time.
We leave this Saturday, December 15 and will come back on February 2. We’ll get one day off per week to get on the internet or make a few phone calls.
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Saturday, November 24, 2007
More about China
I thought we should describe a little more about what China is like, since we Americans have trouble understanding a Communist country. China is big, and where we were was southern China, so it may be different in different places, but this is how it was where we were.
For the most part, China looked like any other country we’ve been to. The people seem friendly, the transportation systems work well, and the buildings seem to be in good condition. We didn’t see any areas of terrible poverty. We didn’t ever feel threatened by crazy looking locals. It was a nice place to visit (except the public restrooms). But, as we talked to people we realized that it is a little different than most countries.
Religious Freedom: The people are free to believe whatever they want, but not free to worship however they want. It is okay to be a Christian in China. Chinese Bibles are sold at many bookstores. It is okay to have one, but not okay to give out. There are even Christian churches occasionally. But, the pastors of the churches are controlled by the government. They are only allowed to preach on certain subjects, and Christians are not allowed to worship God publicly or talk to their friends about God. Christians are only allowed to meet in these churches on Sundays. Most of these churches do not grow and have become religious ceremonies.
Because of this, many Christians have begun to meet in home churches even though it is illegal to gather without the government’s permission. If the police find a group of Christians meeting in a home, they can arrest the leaders of the meeting. It is okay to tell someone what you believe if they ask you, but it is not okay to “preach” or “witness” to people. Missionaries and missionary organizations are also not allowed in China. Therefore, missionaries either study in school, teach in school, or start businesses. This gives them a reason to be in the country so they can get a visa. We met several businessmen in China who have been there for a long time and enjoy the work they do.
We also met a few Chinese believers who are involved in home church. They had an amazing faith to meet with other Christians for fellowship with the possibility of getting arrested. The areas we were are not too closely watched by the government for illegal meetings, but people were still very guarded about talking about many things. There are stories of "spies" who try to find out where home churches meet and who the leaders are, so people are guarded about what they say. A week later, we still find ourselves looking around before we say anything about Jesus or prayer or church.
The other lack of freedoms we saw was that the Chinese are not allowed to travel as tourists alone. They must be part of a tour group to go outside the country for tourism. The Chinese are only allowed to have 1 child per family. If they have a 2nd, they must pay a big fine that only the rich can afford.
This week
This week was good. We talked about having a clean conscience, before God and man. Basically, it was about the importance of taking responsibility for your mistakes and sins.
Loi Kratthong
Today is the Loi Kratthong festival in Thailand. It is a Buddhist holiday where they send there hopes, dreams, and regrets to god by writing them down and attaching it to a mini hot air balloon. They also float prayers down the river in little floats they make. There will be some parades and also a lot of fireworks shot off. People everywhere are putting up decorations and preparing food for this holiday. I don't really know the origin of it, but we are in Chiang Mai today to see what happens.
For the most part, China looked like any other country we’ve been to. The people seem friendly, the transportation systems work well, and the buildings seem to be in good condition. We didn’t see any areas of terrible poverty. We didn’t ever feel threatened by crazy looking locals. It was a nice place to visit (except the public restrooms). But, as we talked to people we realized that it is a little different than most countries.
Religious Freedom: The people are free to believe whatever they want, but not free to worship however they want. It is okay to be a Christian in China. Chinese Bibles are sold at many bookstores. It is okay to have one, but not okay to give out. There are even Christian churches occasionally. But, the pastors of the churches are controlled by the government. They are only allowed to preach on certain subjects, and Christians are not allowed to worship God publicly or talk to their friends about God. Christians are only allowed to meet in these churches on Sundays. Most of these churches do not grow and have become religious ceremonies.
Because of this, many Christians have begun to meet in home churches even though it is illegal to gather without the government’s permission. If the police find a group of Christians meeting in a home, they can arrest the leaders of the meeting. It is okay to tell someone what you believe if they ask you, but it is not okay to “preach” or “witness” to people. Missionaries and missionary organizations are also not allowed in China. Therefore, missionaries either study in school, teach in school, or start businesses. This gives them a reason to be in the country so they can get a visa. We met several businessmen in China who have been there for a long time and enjoy the work they do.
We also met a few Chinese believers who are involved in home church. They had an amazing faith to meet with other Christians for fellowship with the possibility of getting arrested. The areas we were are not too closely watched by the government for illegal meetings, but people were still very guarded about talking about many things. There are stories of "spies" who try to find out where home churches meet and who the leaders are, so people are guarded about what they say. A week later, we still find ourselves looking around before we say anything about Jesus or prayer or church.
The other lack of freedoms we saw was that the Chinese are not allowed to travel as tourists alone. They must be part of a tour group to go outside the country for tourism. The Chinese are only allowed to have 1 child per family. If they have a 2nd, they must pay a big fine that only the rich can afford.
This week
This week was good. We talked about having a clean conscience, before God and man. Basically, it was about the importance of taking responsibility for your mistakes and sins.
Loi Kratthong
Today is the Loi Kratthong festival in Thailand. It is a Buddhist holiday where they send there hopes, dreams, and regrets to god by writing them down and attaching it to a mini hot air balloon. They also float prayers down the river in little floats they make. There will be some parades and also a lot of fireworks shot off. People everywhere are putting up decorations and preparing food for this holiday. I don't really know the origin of it, but we are in Chiang Mai today to see what happens.
Friday, November 16, 2007
We’re home from China!!!
We had a great time in China. We’re not supposed to name the places we went or people we met, so it will be a little hard to describe, but we’ll try. Also, we posted a few pictures on our picasa website.
The school split up into 2 groups. Our group of 16 people flew to southern China and then took a 12 hour night train and then a 4 hour bus ride to a beautiful city of 100,000 people surrounded by limestone karst towers. We stayed in a dirty motel on the outskirts of town. The city is small enough that you can walk all over the city, and that is what we did.
We spent 10 days in this city, which is made up of mostly Zhuang people. The Zhuang people are a minority group in China. Their language has many common words with the Thai language. We took 3 Zhuang language lessons for 2 hours each day so that we could communicate some with the people. This was a great tool to use to meet people. Jonathan practiced it everywhere he went.
#1 High School
We went to one of the high schools a few times. The students range from 16-19 years old and study from 7am-11:30am, 2pm-5:00, 6:30pm-9:30pm every day. It was not hard for us to make friends there. The kids were very excited to meet people from America or Thailand. Jonathan went straight to the basketball courts, which ended up being surrounded by hundreds of students watching. The kids are pretty good at basketball, but Jonathan didn’t have much trouble showing off. It was a fun way to experience the local culture. Ashley met a few girls who spoke good English and went on a tour of the campus. The campus is very much like a small college campus, with dorms, a lake, a mountain, and a temple. It is very nice. Ashley got to meet a few teachers as well.
TV Station Tower
We got up early one morning and hiked up a mountain with a TV Station on top. The path was 1000 concrete steps. The view from on top was beautiful. You could see mountains everywhere. It reminded us of walking up Mt. Sanitas in Boulder.
The Plaza
There are 2 plazas in the city that the people come to at night from 8-10 and dance and hang out. The big plaza will have around 500 people all doing the same dances. The dances are line dances, couples dances, freestyle dances, a little of everything. The small plaza was a little more quiet, and we went there a few times and practiced our zhuang language on the old men. Once they figured out we were speaking there language (as opposed to mandarin, Cantonese, or English) they would get so excited and crowd around each of us. Jonathan learned how to make his limited language turn into a 1 hr conversation. For example, “have you eaten yet? How much did it cost? Good food? What did you eat? I ate this. I ate there. It was this much. How old are you? How old is your dad? How many years did you live in Jingxi?” They enjoyed talking to foreigners and would laugh everytime we mispronounced something.
The Lingxiao family
One night while practicing the language, a lady came up and spoke English to Jonathan. It was so surprising. She then invited us to her hotel next door for coffee and tea. We ended up talking to her and her family until 11:30 that night. The hotel was very nice. Her family is Zhuang, and has lived in the area for a long time. Her dad is an explorer/adventurer. He discovered a big cave nearby and made it into a tourist attraction. He also discovered a 600 ft waterfall and canyon that is now a major tourist attraction in China. The family just started the hotel last month, but it looks like they have very good business principles. We had a very good time talking about our families, business, and cultures.
We went back the next night to invite them to dinner, but they invited us to their grandfather’s 97th birthday party. It was in a banquet room in the hotel. There was maybe 10 tables of 8 people with food everywhere and a big cake at the front of the room. The grandfather was too tired to come, but we had a good time anyway. The food was good. We quickly found out that they like to drink beer, and tried to force us to by raising their glasses in honor of something every minute. We sipped our glasses a few times, and then quickly found a bottle of orange juice to refill it with.
After the party we went downstairs and had more tea with the family. They sang a few traditional songs for us. We got to talk to her about her spiritual beliefs and share ours with her.
Overview
There were many other experiences as well. We walked through the families beautiful cave. As a group we visited a nearby village then broke into pairs and small groups. We were invited to an old man’s home who proceeded to cook us a gourmet meal. We saw lots of dogs being sold at the market alive and ready to eat. Ashley got to make a few dumplings. We ate lots of different foods (some good, some bad). Jonathan got a haircut and a shave for 75 cents. Most of our meals cost 75 cents or less. Jonathan was excited to hear Ashley say that something she wanted to buy for $1.50 was too expensive.
We also got to meet a group of Christian workers who just recently started reaching out to the people in this area. It was very neat to hear about their process of church planting, struggles and successes.
Overall, it was a great experience. There was not as much culture shock as we expected. The worst thing about China was the very dirty bathrooms with no doors and stalls that go up to your waist. Actually, China seemed very friendly to travelers. The food, the people, the scenery, and the spiritual needs of this unreached people made us hope we can come back.
The school split up into 2 groups. Our group of 16 people flew to southern China and then took a 12 hour night train and then a 4 hour bus ride to a beautiful city of 100,000 people surrounded by limestone karst towers. We stayed in a dirty motel on the outskirts of town. The city is small enough that you can walk all over the city, and that is what we did.
We spent 10 days in this city, which is made up of mostly Zhuang people. The Zhuang people are a minority group in China. Their language has many common words with the Thai language. We took 3 Zhuang language lessons for 2 hours each day so that we could communicate some with the people. This was a great tool to use to meet people. Jonathan practiced it everywhere he went.
#1 High School
We went to one of the high schools a few times. The students range from 16-19 years old and study from 7am-11:30am, 2pm-5:00, 6:30pm-9:30pm every day. It was not hard for us to make friends there. The kids were very excited to meet people from America or Thailand. Jonathan went straight to the basketball courts, which ended up being surrounded by hundreds of students watching. The kids are pretty good at basketball, but Jonathan didn’t have much trouble showing off. It was a fun way to experience the local culture. Ashley met a few girls who spoke good English and went on a tour of the campus. The campus is very much like a small college campus, with dorms, a lake, a mountain, and a temple. It is very nice. Ashley got to meet a few teachers as well.
TV Station Tower
We got up early one morning and hiked up a mountain with a TV Station on top. The path was 1000 concrete steps. The view from on top was beautiful. You could see mountains everywhere. It reminded us of walking up Mt. Sanitas in Boulder.
The Plaza
There are 2 plazas in the city that the people come to at night from 8-10 and dance and hang out. The big plaza will have around 500 people all doing the same dances. The dances are line dances, couples dances, freestyle dances, a little of everything. The small plaza was a little more quiet, and we went there a few times and practiced our zhuang language on the old men. Once they figured out we were speaking there language (as opposed to mandarin, Cantonese, or English) they would get so excited and crowd around each of us. Jonathan learned how to make his limited language turn into a 1 hr conversation. For example, “have you eaten yet? How much did it cost? Good food? What did you eat? I ate this. I ate there. It was this much. How old are you? How old is your dad? How many years did you live in Jingxi?” They enjoyed talking to foreigners and would laugh everytime we mispronounced something.
The Lingxiao family
One night while practicing the language, a lady came up and spoke English to Jonathan. It was so surprising. She then invited us to her hotel next door for coffee and tea. We ended up talking to her and her family until 11:30 that night. The hotel was very nice. Her family is Zhuang, and has lived in the area for a long time. Her dad is an explorer/adventurer. He discovered a big cave nearby and made it into a tourist attraction. He also discovered a 600 ft waterfall and canyon that is now a major tourist attraction in China. The family just started the hotel last month, but it looks like they have very good business principles. We had a very good time talking about our families, business, and cultures.
We went back the next night to invite them to dinner, but they invited us to their grandfather’s 97th birthday party. It was in a banquet room in the hotel. There was maybe 10 tables of 8 people with food everywhere and a big cake at the front of the room. The grandfather was too tired to come, but we had a good time anyway. The food was good. We quickly found out that they like to drink beer, and tried to force us to by raising their glasses in honor of something every minute. We sipped our glasses a few times, and then quickly found a bottle of orange juice to refill it with.
After the party we went downstairs and had more tea with the family. They sang a few traditional songs for us. We got to talk to her about her spiritual beliefs and share ours with her.
Overview
There were many other experiences as well. We walked through the families beautiful cave. As a group we visited a nearby village then broke into pairs and small groups. We were invited to an old man’s home who proceeded to cook us a gourmet meal. We saw lots of dogs being sold at the market alive and ready to eat. Ashley got to make a few dumplings. We ate lots of different foods (some good, some bad). Jonathan got a haircut and a shave for 75 cents. Most of our meals cost 75 cents or less. Jonathan was excited to hear Ashley say that something she wanted to buy for $1.50 was too expensive.
We also got to meet a group of Christian workers who just recently started reaching out to the people in this area. It was very neat to hear about their process of church planting, struggles and successes.
Overall, it was a great experience. There was not as much culture shock as we expected. The worst thing about China was the very dirty bathrooms with no doors and stalls that go up to your waist. Actually, China seemed very friendly to travelers. The food, the people, the scenery, and the spiritual needs of this unreached people made us hope we can come back.
Friday, October 26, 2007
We're going to China!!!
We added a few pictures to the picasa website. You should check them out: http://picasaweb.google.com/jowallac/YWAMDTS02
This week we learned about the true meaning of the Church. The speaker, David Frantz,
was really interesting. Many of the Thai students enjoyed hearing him as well, cause they have seen first hand that many missionaries have brought Christianity to them, and then quickly turned their focus to building a church similar to most traditional churches in America. And, the traditional church in America just doesn't quite fit here.
To build a church means to disciple believers, fellowship together, pray together, and share life together. As a group of believers shares with each other what God is doing in their lives and takes care of each other and discusses their beliefs, Their faith will grow. The focus is not on finding a pastor, or building, or meeting on sunday morning. The focus is on loving God and loving each other.
We feel like we've experienced this in America as well. The Sunday Church services have been good and encouraging, but we've both grown in our faith the most when we have had real relationships with other Christians and have been open with each other about what God is doing in our lives and what we're struggling with.
We leave for China on Nov. 1 and come back on the 15th I think. We won’t be able to use the internet while we’re there, so this will be the last you’ll see from us till we get back. Keep us in your prayers.
This week we learned about the true meaning of the Church. The speaker, David Frantz,
was really interesting. Many of the Thai students enjoyed hearing him as well, cause they have seen first hand that many missionaries have brought Christianity to them, and then quickly turned their focus to building a church similar to most traditional churches in America. And, the traditional church in America just doesn't quite fit here.
To build a church means to disciple believers, fellowship together, pray together, and share life together. As a group of believers shares with each other what God is doing in their lives and takes care of each other and discusses their beliefs, Their faith will grow. The focus is not on finding a pastor, or building, or meeting on sunday morning. The focus is on loving God and loving each other.
We feel like we've experienced this in America as well. The Sunday Church services have been good and encouraging, but we've both grown in our faith the most when we have had real relationships with other Christians and have been open with each other about what God is doing in our lives and what we're struggling with.
We leave for China on Nov. 1 and come back on the 15th I think. We won’t be able to use the internet while we’re there, so this will be the last you’ll see from us till we get back. Keep us in your prayers.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
It’s so hard to describe what this school is like and what we are learning, but we’ll try to just give a general overview of what’s going on. First off, we found some pictures online of the students: http://www.ywamcmthai.org/idts/student.htm, and http://www.ywamcmthai.org/idts/2007pg_001.htm. We just bought a camera, so in the future we'll have more pictures, but for now, this will have to do. We’ve been taught lots of things, but that’s not the biggest part of the school. The biggest part (so far) is that it is a chance to see God work in your life and grow closer to Him. Everything is centered around that.
The teaching helps us focus on specific areas of our lives. Then, the Holy Spirit works in us individually. It may sound weird, but it really works. The Holy Spirit is given to every Christian, and he has been working in our hearts to help us forgive others who have hurt us, release bitterness, heal emotional wounds we have, show us sinful areas in our lives, and show us that God does love us more than we can imagine. It’s easy to say that God loves us a lot, but He has really been convincing each person here that He loves them and has good plans for their lives.
Last week, we learned about the Father Heart of God and how He cares for us like the perfect father would. This week we learned about Hearing God’s Voice and different types of ministries to the poor.
Kob
I think if we tell you about some of the people here it will give you a better picture of what we’re up to. So, I’ll tell you about Kob. Kob is 32 and from Chayaphum, which is in northeastern Thailand and is the poorest region of Thailand. His family is Christian. His parents have a rice farm. His older sister runs a Christian Orphanage. His older brother is a preacher. His younger sister Raem is staff at this DTS.
Kob speaks as much English as I speak Thai, so I don’t know much about him. He was an electrician before coming here. He made about $130/month. He has built a reputation here as the hardest worker and the class clown. He can fix everything, cook, clean, fish etc. Anytime we’re not sure of the best way to do something during our “worktime”, we ask Kob to do it first and then we copy him. He can make the whole class laugh by doing a dance or singing a song or making a comment.
God has been working in his life too. We’ve seen him cry out loudly as he realized he had held onto some bitterness towards his parents the last few years. Later, he told me “I feel very good, God released me from it”.
Ami
Ami is the leader of the school. She is Thai. When she was 4, she saw her dad kill her mom. She lived in complete poverty with her great grandparents until she was 10 because everyone else in the family thought she was a curse. At 10, because her great grandparents health declined she was put in a Christian orphanage in Chiang Mai. She went to college and studied tourism. Her first job after college was as a translator/tour guide for YWAM teams that came to Thailand. She then “scammed” her way into getting a visa to go to America and went to Colorado Springs for DTS. Since then, she has been through several other schools with YWAM. She has also forgiven her dad for what he did, and they’ve started to have a relationship again.
She has very good English with a Thai accent. She is constantly busy. She translates for all the lectures, leads our Bible Studies and Prayer Times, and leads all of the Staff meetings as well. She is amazing.
Her passion is for business in Thailand. As a business person, she can show God’s love to drivers, translators, tour guides, everyone she does business with. She can use profits to help support Thai ministries. She owns a tour company called Lighthouse Excursion. After this DTS is over, she plans to start a Mountain Bike Tour company and maybe a Coffee Shop. The Mountain Bike Tour company would be focused on Christian bike riders, who she would lead on multi day trips to visit remote villages. At these villages they would help encourage ongoing Christian work. It sounds cool, and she has the ability to make it happen. We might get to help her get started. Yesterday, there was supposed to be a meeting in Australia to discuss whether to donate money for her to start a coffee shop.
Visiting Kwan’s Village
Last weekend, Kwan took a group of us to her home village. As we approached she told us that it was the first time she had ever brought foreigners to her home. It is a Lisu village about 2 hours from here in the mountains near Chiang Dao. It is beautiful there. To celebrate Kwan’s visit and guests her family slaughtered a pig, cleaned it, sliced it open, and separated all the inner parts. They even took the bladder and turned it into a balloon for the kids to play with. While the food was being cooked, we went into their field and picked peanuts to bring back to YWAM. It’s hard to describe everything, but her family gave us the best they had and were really nice to us. We didn’t do much for them except sing a few songs, did a Thai dance and share a few Bible verses. However, this visit was very special for Kwan’s family because she was able to apologize for some things she has done in the past and they forgave her. It was a great and healing time, we were privileged to get to see it.
The teaching helps us focus on specific areas of our lives. Then, the Holy Spirit works in us individually. It may sound weird, but it really works. The Holy Spirit is given to every Christian, and he has been working in our hearts to help us forgive others who have hurt us, release bitterness, heal emotional wounds we have, show us sinful areas in our lives, and show us that God does love us more than we can imagine. It’s easy to say that God loves us a lot, but He has really been convincing each person here that He loves them and has good plans for their lives.
Last week, we learned about the Father Heart of God and how He cares for us like the perfect father would. This week we learned about Hearing God’s Voice and different types of ministries to the poor.
Kob
I think if we tell you about some of the people here it will give you a better picture of what we’re up to. So, I’ll tell you about Kob. Kob is 32 and from Chayaphum, which is in northeastern Thailand and is the poorest region of Thailand. His family is Christian. His parents have a rice farm. His older sister runs a Christian Orphanage. His older brother is a preacher. His younger sister Raem is staff at this DTS.
Kob speaks as much English as I speak Thai, so I don’t know much about him. He was an electrician before coming here. He made about $130/month. He has built a reputation here as the hardest worker and the class clown. He can fix everything, cook, clean, fish etc. Anytime we’re not sure of the best way to do something during our “worktime”, we ask Kob to do it first and then we copy him. He can make the whole class laugh by doing a dance or singing a song or making a comment.
God has been working in his life too. We’ve seen him cry out loudly as he realized he had held onto some bitterness towards his parents the last few years. Later, he told me “I feel very good, God released me from it”.
Ami
Ami is the leader of the school. She is Thai. When she was 4, she saw her dad kill her mom. She lived in complete poverty with her great grandparents until she was 10 because everyone else in the family thought she was a curse. At 10, because her great grandparents health declined she was put in a Christian orphanage in Chiang Mai. She went to college and studied tourism. Her first job after college was as a translator/tour guide for YWAM teams that came to Thailand. She then “scammed” her way into getting a visa to go to America and went to Colorado Springs for DTS. Since then, she has been through several other schools with YWAM. She has also forgiven her dad for what he did, and they’ve started to have a relationship again.
She has very good English with a Thai accent. She is constantly busy. She translates for all the lectures, leads our Bible Studies and Prayer Times, and leads all of the Staff meetings as well. She is amazing.
Her passion is for business in Thailand. As a business person, she can show God’s love to drivers, translators, tour guides, everyone she does business with. She can use profits to help support Thai ministries. She owns a tour company called Lighthouse Excursion. After this DTS is over, she plans to start a Mountain Bike Tour company and maybe a Coffee Shop. The Mountain Bike Tour company would be focused on Christian bike riders, who she would lead on multi day trips to visit remote villages. At these villages they would help encourage ongoing Christian work. It sounds cool, and she has the ability to make it happen. We might get to help her get started. Yesterday, there was supposed to be a meeting in Australia to discuss whether to donate money for her to start a coffee shop.
Visiting Kwan’s Village
Last weekend, Kwan took a group of us to her home village. As we approached she told us that it was the first time she had ever brought foreigners to her home. It is a Lisu village about 2 hours from here in the mountains near Chiang Dao. It is beautiful there. To celebrate Kwan’s visit and guests her family slaughtered a pig, cleaned it, sliced it open, and separated all the inner parts. They even took the bladder and turned it into a balloon for the kids to play with. While the food was being cooked, we went into their field and picked peanuts to bring back to YWAM. It’s hard to describe everything, but her family gave us the best they had and were really nice to us. We didn’t do much for them except sing a few songs, did a Thai dance and share a few Bible verses. However, this visit was very special for Kwan’s family because she was able to apologize for some things she has done in the past and they forgave her. It was a great and healing time, we were privileged to get to see it.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Scientists speak another language
even though it sounds like english, it's not understood by us. This week the lecturer was a American scientist who spoke about creationism. It was interesting to see his perspective on a lot of things, but, I came away with the feeling that I am glad I am not a scientist and that I can kind of communicate with the majority of english speaking peoples.
We also were visited this week by 2 YWAM dancers from Bangkok, who taught us 3 dances that we will use during our outreach events to attract attention to ourselves. 2 are Thai dances, very graceful with lots of hand movements, and 1 is a hip hop dance. It made for a tough week. At 6:30am, we would dance for 30 mins. at 4:30, we would dance for 1.5 hrs. 2 nights we also danced from 7pm-9pm. I spent all my free time this week washing clothes and taking showers. But, it is kinda fun to know these dances (And I use the word "kinda fun" very liberally).
Last weekend we bought 2 bikes. A Gary Fisher and a Trek, each for $300. They're about the same price as in the US. Today, we rode them from the base here. We rode about 12km up a semi paved road through the mountains and countryside. It was beautiful. There were fields of rice, banana trees, some elephants, cliffs, creeks, fog, and a couple little villages with people who looked very different than us.
We found out that we will go to China on Nov. 4. We're excited to check it out.
We also were visited this week by 2 YWAM dancers from Bangkok, who taught us 3 dances that we will use during our outreach events to attract attention to ourselves. 2 are Thai dances, very graceful with lots of hand movements, and 1 is a hip hop dance. It made for a tough week. At 6:30am, we would dance for 30 mins. at 4:30, we would dance for 1.5 hrs. 2 nights we also danced from 7pm-9pm. I spent all my free time this week washing clothes and taking showers. But, it is kinda fun to know these dances (And I use the word "kinda fun" very liberally).
Last weekend we bought 2 bikes. A Gary Fisher and a Trek, each for $300. They're about the same price as in the US. Today, we rode them from the base here. We rode about 12km up a semi paved road through the mountains and countryside. It was beautiful. There were fields of rice, banana trees, some elephants, cliffs, creeks, fog, and a couple little villages with people who looked very different than us.
We found out that we will go to China on Nov. 4. We're excited to check it out.
Friday, September 28, 2007
DTS Week 3
We added some pictures to our picasa site.
This week a missionary from China was here speaking on the Fear of God. It was very challenging. Everyone here is a little worn out now from the intensity of the week, but we are also very excited at what God is doing in our lives. The fear of God is essentially 2 things: 1. to hate sin like God does and 2. to respect and recognize God as God in every area of our life.
The highlight of the week was when we all were asked to confess our sins to each other in our small groups, believing that confessing them to God in front of people would bring them into light and release us from any shame or guilt. It was a little scary, but it did have a very freeing feeling. It brought each small group closer together. It is a good feeling to know that you can share your darkest secrets with friends and that their opinion of you is not lessened. It was painful, but it allowed a healing and purifying process to take place that was very good. God was faithful to give each of us a renewed sense of forgiveness, and also worked in us to point out some different areas in our lives that we need Him to renew our minds.
We have finalized plans for going on our outreach trip to China now. We will fly to Kunming in southern China on Nov. 4-Nov.18. Then we will split into 2 groups. Some will stay in Kunming and some will go to a different city by bus. We’ll get more details this week.
We finished the smell less pig pen finally. It was hard to communicate with everyone when there was 7 different people in charge and everyone spoke a different language. But, it was fun to build anyway. The pig is named Tinkerbell, and right now it is small and strong. We built the wall of the pen about 2’ high at first, and the pig climbed out of there pretty easily. Today, after an engineering analysis of how many bamboo “dowels” to use, we built the wall 8” higher. We just need to get the pig fat so that he can’t jump any more.
Another highlight was watching the movie Mr. Bean in Thai. It seems that they dubbed the words over into thai, and then translated the thai back into English for the subtitles. The translated subtitles had so many mistakes. “Go he to popcorn ate”, was what it would say for He went to eat popcorn.
This week a missionary from China was here speaking on the Fear of God. It was very challenging. Everyone here is a little worn out now from the intensity of the week, but we are also very excited at what God is doing in our lives. The fear of God is essentially 2 things: 1. to hate sin like God does and 2. to respect and recognize God as God in every area of our life.
The highlight of the week was when we all were asked to confess our sins to each other in our small groups, believing that confessing them to God in front of people would bring them into light and release us from any shame or guilt. It was a little scary, but it did have a very freeing feeling. It brought each small group closer together. It is a good feeling to know that you can share your darkest secrets with friends and that their opinion of you is not lessened. It was painful, but it allowed a healing and purifying process to take place that was very good. God was faithful to give each of us a renewed sense of forgiveness, and also worked in us to point out some different areas in our lives that we need Him to renew our minds.
We have finalized plans for going on our outreach trip to China now. We will fly to Kunming in southern China on Nov. 4-Nov.18. Then we will split into 2 groups. Some will stay in Kunming and some will go to a different city by bus. We’ll get more details this week.
We finished the smell less pig pen finally. It was hard to communicate with everyone when there was 7 different people in charge and everyone spoke a different language. But, it was fun to build anyway. The pig is named Tinkerbell, and right now it is small and strong. We built the wall of the pen about 2’ high at first, and the pig climbed out of there pretty easily. Today, after an engineering analysis of how many bamboo “dowels” to use, we built the wall 8” higher. We just need to get the pig fat so that he can’t jump any more.
Another highlight was watching the movie Mr. Bean in Thai. It seems that they dubbed the words over into thai, and then translated the thai back into English for the subtitles. The translated subtitles had so many mistakes. “Go he to popcorn ate”, was what it would say for He went to eat popcorn.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
DTS, Week 2
The first week was a little long and intense, but now we are used to the schedule and the people and are enjoying it here. This week, a Hmong pastor from Northern Thailand spoke all week about Salvation. It was very good. He has a phenomenal memory. He had no notes and often nearly quoted chapters of the Bible, showing us how many things in the Old Testament point toward Jesus coming as Savior, and how Jesus life, death, and resurection fulfilled all the requirements for our sins to be forgiven and to be seen as holy and blameless before God. All this, to anyone who believes in Him and follows His teaching. He was very interesting because of his humility, humor, and his stories of christian friends in SE Asia and how they have responded to the persecution they have faced.
Also, a missionary couple from the Burma border visited us. They led Bible study and also taught us how to build a smellless pig pen. Jonathan, Kob, and a few other guys work hard about 2 hours per day, digging a 6'x6' x 33" deep pit, filling it with rice husk, salt, and a mixture designed to eat bacteria, building a 2' high block wall, and building a little roof to cover it all. It is actually fun. We should finish by wednesday. The goal is to breed pigs, either to sell (about $20/baby pig), or to grow to eat.
Kob
Kob is jonathan's new friend. He speaks about as much english as we speak thai, so they spend a lot of time pointing at things and repeating the name of it in both languages. It is working well, they are both learning how to communicate and learning each others language. Kob is a hard working man, who amazes everyone with how he can fix things and build things. Kob even took Jonathan hunting, for ciccadas (big grasshopper looking things). At night, they crawl out of there hole and make a loud noise, so we walked around with a flashlight and a hoe and crushed there hole before they could jump back in it. then we'd catch the bug with our hands and put it in a coke can. Kob fried them up later, and we ate them as a snack today. They kinda taste like chicken, seriously. I'm excited to go catch more.
Waterfall
Today, they loaded us all into a sawngthaew (a big truck with seats in the back) and took us to a waterfall. It was cool. It was a creek that runs down the steep hillside, depositing this white mineral that turns in to rock. The rock was very grippy, so you could run up teh waterfall and not be afraid of falling. From top to bottom, it was maybe 300 vertical feet. It was fun. We should be able to steal some pictures from our friends and post them next weekend.
Running
The weather has cooled off lately, and we've gone for several runs. It is pretty out here. This morning we ran up a long hill to a temple, and had a good view of the countryside and the surrounding mountains. Ashley's actually convinced a group of girls to go running tomorrow.
Ping Pong
We have a ping pong table, and we've been having a great time playing each other on it.
Also, a missionary couple from the Burma border visited us. They led Bible study and also taught us how to build a smellless pig pen. Jonathan, Kob, and a few other guys work hard about 2 hours per day, digging a 6'x6' x 33" deep pit, filling it with rice husk, salt, and a mixture designed to eat bacteria, building a 2' high block wall, and building a little roof to cover it all. It is actually fun. We should finish by wednesday. The goal is to breed pigs, either to sell (about $20/baby pig), or to grow to eat.
Kob
Kob is jonathan's new friend. He speaks about as much english as we speak thai, so they spend a lot of time pointing at things and repeating the name of it in both languages. It is working well, they are both learning how to communicate and learning each others language. Kob is a hard working man, who amazes everyone with how he can fix things and build things. Kob even took Jonathan hunting, for ciccadas (big grasshopper looking things). At night, they crawl out of there hole and make a loud noise, so we walked around with a flashlight and a hoe and crushed there hole before they could jump back in it. then we'd catch the bug with our hands and put it in a coke can. Kob fried them up later, and we ate them as a snack today. They kinda taste like chicken, seriously. I'm excited to go catch more.
Waterfall
Today, they loaded us all into a sawngthaew (a big truck with seats in the back) and took us to a waterfall. It was cool. It was a creek that runs down the steep hillside, depositing this white mineral that turns in to rock. The rock was very grippy, so you could run up teh waterfall and not be afraid of falling. From top to bottom, it was maybe 300 vertical feet. It was fun. We should be able to steal some pictures from our friends and post them next weekend.
Running
The weather has cooled off lately, and we've gone for several runs. It is pretty out here. This morning we ran up a long hill to a temple, and had a good view of the countryside and the surrounding mountains. Ashley's actually convinced a group of girls to go running tomorrow.
Ping Pong
We have a ping pong table, and we've been having a great time playing each other on it.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
We started DTS!!!!!
Sunday, Sept. 7, Chiang Rai
The Bus
We decided to try out the ordinary night bus for the ride to Bangkok because it’s a little cheaper. It all turned out to be $38 for both of us. We got on at 7pm, and everyone quickly fell asleep to the sound of Thai music videos that were playing at the front. The bus was pretty nice at first. It was pretty similar to a greyhound bus in the USA, except the seats are a little skinnier and shorter. After a while though, we realized that something wasn’t quite right with the seats. No matter how we tried to rest our heads to sleep, it wouldn’t work, and would leave us with a stiff neck. After about 10 hours of trying to figure out how to look as comfortable as everyone else looked, we decided it was because we were Big Fat Americans, and the seats weren’t made for us. The bus stopped 3 times at little plazas to let everyone out to use the bathroom and buy some snacks. The trip went pretty well, so we decided to try another bus to Chiang Rai. This bus was supposed to only be 10 hours. We got tickets for the next bus, waited for around 2 hours, and then left expecting to arrive around 9:30pm. Around 1:00 am, we finally arrived in Chiang Rai and were happily greeted by Art and his friend ZhuFong, whom we are staying with.
Chiang Rai
This week we are visiting our Thai missionary friend, Art. We have just told him of the financial support that many of you have offered to help him start the teenage dormitory for Akha village boys. He is very excited and is now able to take firm steps to make his vision/dream happen! We are spending some time this week to develop those plans and the budget with him. We have added some info to his website, www.akhadorm.blogspot.com.
Sunday night Sept. 2 we went to the International Church and met some wonderful people and heard Nancy, the woman who runs the Akha Outreach Orphanage, speak about sacrifices. She spoke from her heart about her own recent loss. One of the kids named Manoon at the orphanage was hit by a car on his way to school and after about 2 weeks of battling, he passed away. It was hard to fight the tears as she described the boys determined character and that during this hard time God brought peace and compassion to Manoon’s family and guidance to the orphanage staff. Nancy said that because of their attitudes the medical staff continued working to save Manoon past when they would normally give up. She also mentioned how the bible students at the orphanage had been able to reach out to many people while they were visiting Manoon at the hospital and even in his village during his funeral. Nancy said that she never thought she would have to sacrifice one of her own kids but that God used Manoon in life and even through is passing to bring many people to God.
Here are a few good quotes from Art in Thaienglish:
1. “I have to use the bathroom, but, if I scratch my calf muscle, it helps me hold it. I can hold it for up to an hour”. I tried this, and it didn’t work. Let me know if it works for you.
2. “It is sprinkling outside. I don’t want to go outside. Everyone get sick when they go outside when it is sprinkling. I would rather it be raining hard”
3. “The egg can do many thing, you can grill, fry, skewer, boil, bake. Many thing”
Chiang Mai DTS, Sept. 10-15
We made it through our first week at DTS. There are 23 students and 9 staff. The students are from Thailand (9), Australia, US (10), Ireland, Phillipines, and Canada and range in age from 18-39. We include missionary kids, Bible School Graduates, computer programmers, new Christians, and former drug and alcohol addicts. It is a good mix of people, and we are having a good time getting to know everyone.
We’re not having too much fun, though. Here is our schedule for Monday – Friday.
6:30-7:00 Exercise
7:00-8:00 Shower, Breakfast, clean dishes
8:00-8:45 Individual Quiet Time
8:45-9:45 Worship or Group Intercessory Prayer
9:45-12:45 Lecture
1:00-2:00 Lunch
2:00-3:30 Work Duties (Jonathan helped make a few benches, moved piles of wood, sharpen knives and machetes. Ashley helped prepare dinner and clean bamboo curtains)
3:30-5:30 Free Time (we spend most of this showering, reading books, and washing clothes, but we also went for two runs).
5:30-6:30 Bible Study
6:30-7:30 Dinner
7:30-9:30 Lecture or Small Group Time
10:30 Lights Out
In addition to all this, we have several books to read and write book reports on. Also, we must keep a journal and turn it in each week. This week, Tom Hallas from Australia spoke to us on the Character of God. It was good. He went over lots of things, but the main topics were God’s description of himself in Exodus 34:6-7, and His great plan for our adoption as sons through Jesus Christ. He often went over his allotted time, once lecturing for 3:30 straight hours with only 15 minutes of break time. Because of that, we only had a 30 minute lunch!!!
Being the only married couple on base, the staff has gone above and beyond to give us some privacy. Instead of dorm style bunk beds with 6 people per room, we were given a little 10x15 room with cute lime-green homemade curtains, a double bed with a broken mattress, a dresser that we’ve cleaned up and most importantly…a fan! The bathrooms are Thai style, which means you wear the bathroom slippers, have no hot water, you don’t put the toilet paper in the toilet, instead you dump water into the toilet to flush it. It’s not bad once you get used to it.
New Experiences:
-Hand washing all of our clothes, then running to the clothes line when it rains
-No air conditioning, internet, tv
-Hitchhiking to town (in a large group…don’t worry mom)
We are very excited about our time here. Keep us in your prayers.
The Bus
We decided to try out the ordinary night bus for the ride to Bangkok because it’s a little cheaper. It all turned out to be $38 for both of us. We got on at 7pm, and everyone quickly fell asleep to the sound of Thai music videos that were playing at the front. The bus was pretty nice at first. It was pretty similar to a greyhound bus in the USA, except the seats are a little skinnier and shorter. After a while though, we realized that something wasn’t quite right with the seats. No matter how we tried to rest our heads to sleep, it wouldn’t work, and would leave us with a stiff neck. After about 10 hours of trying to figure out how to look as comfortable as everyone else looked, we decided it was because we were Big Fat Americans, and the seats weren’t made for us. The bus stopped 3 times at little plazas to let everyone out to use the bathroom and buy some snacks. The trip went pretty well, so we decided to try another bus to Chiang Rai. This bus was supposed to only be 10 hours. We got tickets for the next bus, waited for around 2 hours, and then left expecting to arrive around 9:30pm. Around 1:00 am, we finally arrived in Chiang Rai and were happily greeted by Art and his friend ZhuFong, whom we are staying with.
Chiang Rai
This week we are visiting our Thai missionary friend, Art. We have just told him of the financial support that many of you have offered to help him start the teenage dormitory for Akha village boys. He is very excited and is now able to take firm steps to make his vision/dream happen! We are spending some time this week to develop those plans and the budget with him. We have added some info to his website, www.akhadorm.blogspot.com.
Sunday night Sept. 2 we went to the International Church and met some wonderful people and heard Nancy, the woman who runs the Akha Outreach Orphanage, speak about sacrifices. She spoke from her heart about her own recent loss. One of the kids named Manoon at the orphanage was hit by a car on his way to school and after about 2 weeks of battling, he passed away. It was hard to fight the tears as she described the boys determined character and that during this hard time God brought peace and compassion to Manoon’s family and guidance to the orphanage staff. Nancy said that because of their attitudes the medical staff continued working to save Manoon past when they would normally give up. She also mentioned how the bible students at the orphanage had been able to reach out to many people while they were visiting Manoon at the hospital and even in his village during his funeral. Nancy said that she never thought she would have to sacrifice one of her own kids but that God used Manoon in life and even through is passing to bring many people to God.
Here are a few good quotes from Art in Thaienglish:
1. “I have to use the bathroom, but, if I scratch my calf muscle, it helps me hold it. I can hold it for up to an hour”. I tried this, and it didn’t work. Let me know if it works for you.
2. “It is sprinkling outside. I don’t want to go outside. Everyone get sick when they go outside when it is sprinkling. I would rather it be raining hard”
3. “The egg can do many thing, you can grill, fry, skewer, boil, bake. Many thing”
Chiang Mai DTS, Sept. 10-15
We made it through our first week at DTS. There are 23 students and 9 staff. The students are from Thailand (9), Australia, US (10), Ireland, Phillipines, and Canada and range in age from 18-39. We include missionary kids, Bible School Graduates, computer programmers, new Christians, and former drug and alcohol addicts. It is a good mix of people, and we are having a good time getting to know everyone.
We’re not having too much fun, though. Here is our schedule for Monday – Friday.
6:30-7:00 Exercise
7:00-8:00 Shower, Breakfast, clean dishes
8:00-8:45 Individual Quiet Time
8:45-9:45 Worship or Group Intercessory Prayer
9:45-12:45 Lecture
1:00-2:00 Lunch
2:00-3:30 Work Duties (Jonathan helped make a few benches, moved piles of wood, sharpen knives and machetes. Ashley helped prepare dinner and clean bamboo curtains)
3:30-5:30 Free Time (we spend most of this showering, reading books, and washing clothes, but we also went for two runs).
5:30-6:30 Bible Study
6:30-7:30 Dinner
7:30-9:30 Lecture or Small Group Time
10:30 Lights Out
In addition to all this, we have several books to read and write book reports on. Also, we must keep a journal and turn it in each week. This week, Tom Hallas from Australia spoke to us on the Character of God. It was good. He went over lots of things, but the main topics were God’s description of himself in Exodus 34:6-7, and His great plan for our adoption as sons through Jesus Christ. He often went over his allotted time, once lecturing for 3:30 straight hours with only 15 minutes of break time. Because of that, we only had a 30 minute lunch!!!
Being the only married couple on base, the staff has gone above and beyond to give us some privacy. Instead of dorm style bunk beds with 6 people per room, we were given a little 10x15 room with cute lime-green homemade curtains, a double bed with a broken mattress, a dresser that we’ve cleaned up and most importantly…a fan! The bathrooms are Thai style, which means you wear the bathroom slippers, have no hot water, you don’t put the toilet paper in the toilet, instead you dump water into the toilet to flush it. It’s not bad once you get used to it.
New Experiences:
-Hand washing all of our clothes, then running to the clothes line when it rains
-No air conditioning, internet, tv
-Hitchhiking to town (in a large group…don’t worry mom)
We are very excited about our time here. Keep us in your prayers.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Deep Sea Soloing!!!
We had an eventful few days at Ton Sai on the Railay Peninsula. We went deep water soloing on Tuesday with our 8 newly acquired friends. We all climbed aboard a longtail boat and drove out to an island about 20 minutes away, anchored the boat 50 feet from a huge overhanging wall with lots of holds, and then 2 by 2 they put us in a kayak and paddled us to the base. There was a little rope to help us get on the cliff. I traversed right and then climbed up to a big stalagtite, climbed onto it and then realized I was 30 feet above the water, so I jumped in. There was lots of routes to climb, all overhanging with big holds. They took us to another cliff where 3 of us ended up climbing about 5.10a up to 40 feet high, traversing 15 feet to a ledge, and then (after a lot of thought & encouragement) jumped off. I didn’t quite land right, and ended up having a sore neck the next day. We all climbed around 4 routes, then took the boat to a little secluded beach for lunch and to do some steep bouldering and snorkeling. It was quite an experience, especially for about $15/each.
The next day, we all decided to rent sea kayaks and explore the deep sea soloing nearby. We didn’t realize how hard it is to kayak, and also that the first storm in a week was about to start. The waves got big (3 feet tall) right as we got out to the island, and it was almost impossible to paddle back against the wind. We found a calm spot of water sheltered from the wind by the island, and waited for about 20 minutes for the storm to pass by holding onto the cliff. It was a little scary, but the storm passed and we found a big stalagtite hanging about 4 feet above the water with a rope hanging from it. The hardest move was from the kayak to the stalagtite, and then to get your feet onto it. Once you did that, you could climb as high as you wanted, even circling the stalagtite, and then jump off. We found a few other spots as well, but we mainly enjoyed kayaking around and fighting the wind and the waves. We realized how powerful the ocean is, even in the calm waters at Ton Sai.
We took it easy that night and ate and talked with our friends. They are from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and luckily they all speak some form of English. It was very interesting hearing all their stories. We even got to share a little what Christianity really is. Their view was really tainted by the Roman Catholic Church. They sounded really excited at the idea of a church like Flatirons and the gift of love and grace that Jesus gives us.
Today, we took a boat and then a bus back to Phuket (Nai Yang Beach), picked up Ashley’s bag (it showed up!!!) and will stay here tonight. In true ashley style, we now lost the camera so, no pictures for a while. Tomorrow we will take the bus to Bangkok (13 hour trip). We decided we’d try it since we have time and it’s a lot cheaper. We can take a plane from there or, if we like the bus, we can take another 10 hour bus to Chiang Rai.
Another good experience we didn’t mention yet was my foot. I sliced my pinky toe on some coral. We tried to clean it, but it was deep. By the next day it was swollen and red and my foot started getting red as well and I even started to feel pain in weird places on my leg. The cut was obviously infected, & I’d never had anything like this. We found a pharmacy and the girl spoke good English and said, “you take this pill 4 time a day for 5 day, clean the cut 2 time a day with betadine, and, don’t worry, it get better. I have seen this many time”. And, it worked. The antibiotic pills, bandaids, antibiotic cream, betadine, and ibuprofen cost $18. That’s a good deal.
The next day, we all decided to rent sea kayaks and explore the deep sea soloing nearby. We didn’t realize how hard it is to kayak, and also that the first storm in a week was about to start. The waves got big (3 feet tall) right as we got out to the island, and it was almost impossible to paddle back against the wind. We found a calm spot of water sheltered from the wind by the island, and waited for about 20 minutes for the storm to pass by holding onto the cliff. It was a little scary, but the storm passed and we found a big stalagtite hanging about 4 feet above the water with a rope hanging from it. The hardest move was from the kayak to the stalagtite, and then to get your feet onto it. Once you did that, you could climb as high as you wanted, even circling the stalagtite, and then jump off. We found a few other spots as well, but we mainly enjoyed kayaking around and fighting the wind and the waves. We realized how powerful the ocean is, even in the calm waters at Ton Sai.
We took it easy that night and ate and talked with our friends. They are from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and luckily they all speak some form of English. It was very interesting hearing all their stories. We even got to share a little what Christianity really is. Their view was really tainted by the Roman Catholic Church. They sounded really excited at the idea of a church like Flatirons and the gift of love and grace that Jesus gives us.
Today, we took a boat and then a bus back to Phuket (Nai Yang Beach), picked up Ashley’s bag (it showed up!!!) and will stay here tonight. In true ashley style, we now lost the camera so, no pictures for a while. Tomorrow we will take the bus to Bangkok (13 hour trip). We decided we’d try it since we have time and it’s a lot cheaper. We can take a plane from there or, if we like the bus, we can take another 10 hour bus to Chiang Rai.
Another good experience we didn’t mention yet was my foot. I sliced my pinky toe on some coral. We tried to clean it, but it was deep. By the next day it was swollen and red and my foot started getting red as well and I even started to feel pain in weird places on my leg. The cut was obviously infected, & I’d never had anything like this. We found a pharmacy and the girl spoke good English and said, “you take this pill 4 time a day for 5 day, clean the cut 2 time a day with betadine, and, don’t worry, it get better. I have seen this many time”. And, it worked. The antibiotic pills, bandaids, antibiotic cream, betadine, and ibuprofen cost $18. That’s a good deal.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Tonsai at Railay Thailand
Here we aer, at the ton sai bungalow resort just a 30 second walk from the beach, climbing, & restaurants. The climbing here is good and fun and steep and also very humid. It is fun to climb completely on a stalagtite or tufa, very different than the US. From our porch we can watch the waves crash, climbers climb, & monkeys fight in teh trees. Ton Sai is very relaxing and laid back. Very different from where we came, at Koh Phi Phi Don.
We arrived at the Phuket airport after 2 day of travelling, but our bags didn't make it. So, we stayed at Nai Yang beach near the airport for 2 days to wait for our bags. We watched kitesurfers, rented a motorbike for 6$ and rode all over teh place. We got our first ticket because we didn't know you neeeded a helmet. It cost $15 and a 6km ride to the police station. We also picked up some helmets. We met a man at dinner that night who just became a christian this week, and he told us his tsunami excperience. It was his day off from work at Khao Lak beach, but everyone he worked with died that day. Now, you don't see many effects of the tsunami, but I'm sure there are many stories like his.
Finally our bags showed up, well, almost, all but ashley's clothes, so we took off for the island of Kho Phi Phi Don, the most densely populated area we've ever been too. We climbed a little, sweated a lot, and played b. volleyball with Joy (a Thai "girl" who hit and jumped like a man) and some other thais. They were good. Even though the island was destroyed by the the tsunami it has been completely rebuilt with little shacks, waiting for the next wave. The busyness there encouraged us to move on to Ton Sai, a paradise for climbers.
We'll stay here in Ton Sai a few more days, hopefully climb and deep sea solo, and then head back to phuket to get our last bag and fly to Chiang Mai. Hope y'all are well. The computer here is kinda slow, so that's why there are some spelling mishtakes.
We arrived at the Phuket airport after 2 day of travelling, but our bags didn't make it. So, we stayed at Nai Yang beach near the airport for 2 days to wait for our bags. We watched kitesurfers, rented a motorbike for 6$ and rode all over teh place. We got our first ticket because we didn't know you neeeded a helmet. It cost $15 and a 6km ride to the police station. We also picked up some helmets. We met a man at dinner that night who just became a christian this week, and he told us his tsunami excperience. It was his day off from work at Khao Lak beach, but everyone he worked with died that day. Now, you don't see many effects of the tsunami, but I'm sure there are many stories like his.
Finally our bags showed up, well, almost, all but ashley's clothes, so we took off for the island of Kho Phi Phi Don, the most densely populated area we've ever been too. We climbed a little, sweated a lot, and played b. volleyball with Joy (a Thai "girl" who hit and jumped like a man) and some other thais. They were good. Even though the island was destroyed by the the tsunami it has been completely rebuilt with little shacks, waiting for the next wave. The busyness there encouraged us to move on to Ton Sai, a paradise for climbers.
We'll stay here in Ton Sai a few more days, hopefully climb and deep sea solo, and then head back to phuket to get our last bag and fly to Chiang Mai. Hope y'all are well. The computer here is kinda slow, so that's why there are some spelling mishtakes.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Missouri & Thailand
We've spent the last 2 weeks in Colorado, Kansas City, and mostly Missouri. We should have some cool pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/jowallac/ that would explain the story. We went to Justin & Krista's wedding, said our final goodbyes to all our friends, gave away the Silver Bullet (Jonathan's Car), then spent some time in Missouri with Ashley's family. We bouldered some in Kansas City at Swope Park with Ashley's Sister Katie (bouldering is fun in 100 degree heat), Floated down the Meramec River with Ashley's Mom, went to a Grape Stomping festival and a Reggae Festival at 2 different wineries, and ate lots of good food with lots of good friends and family. Jonathan even caught 7 fish, 1 was big enough to filet and eat for breakfast.
Now we're in Chicago, where we are not supposed to be. We're supposed to be in the air on the way to Tokyo, but, as fate would have it we're staying in the Westin Hotel tonight and we should make it to Phuket Thailand about 14hours late. That's not too bad. It could be worse. Here we have free internet, a pool, weights, TV, and $34 in vouchers for food from United Airlines. And, it's not like we have any appointments in Thailand that we're gonna miss. Really, Ashley's mad cause her Thai massage is getting delayed.We're excited to be on our way to Thailand. We're very grateful to so many of you who have encouraged us and helped us in so many ways. The YWAM Discipleship Training School starts on Sept. 10 in Chiang Mai, and we hope you will keep us in your prayers. Also, please email us. We'd love to hear what is going on in your neck of the woods. It'll help keep us from getting too homesick.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
We Climbed the Grand!!!!!
We’ve done a lot since we last blogged. We went hiking with Andy near Eureka, Montana and then drove to the Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and climbed the Grand Teton. We also added some pictures to our Picasa photo album. If you don’t like to read, you can go straight there http://picasaweb.google.com/jowallac/NorthWestRoadTrip
A Day in the Life of a Fastpacker
Ashley’s friend Andy Skurka is in the middle of hiking “The Great Western Loop”. He started this April in the Grand Canyon, hiked the Pacific Crest Trail through California, Oregon, Washington, then linked up with the Pacific Northwest Trail from Washington toward Glacier National Park. He hopes to finish by hiking through Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and back to Arizona.
He showed up in Eureka at about 9:30pm after hiking 38 miles that day in 90 degree heat. His first order of business was to eat as much as possible, which included 2 big pieces of pizza and 3&1/4 PINTS OF BEN & JERRY’S ICE CREAM. It is his self proclaimed “Half Gallon Challenge”. He was disappointed that he failed, and I was happy to eat his unfinished ice cream. But, he did wake up in the morning and buy another quart and finish it quickly. After his ice cream, he also ate 2 pints of yogurt, a huge omelette, hash browns, and a bagel while at the post office resupplying with new maps and food.
We had camped next to a fun group of 6, 40ish year old friends who met annually to bike ride a section of the Great Divide Trail. They seemed to have a great time and said that it was crutial for them to have good beer at the end of each day so they carried a collapsable cooler with them. We hope that we’re able to continue enjoying the outdoors with our friends like this group!
A Day in the Life of a Fastpacker
Ashley’s friend Andy Skurka is in the middle of hiking “The Great Western Loop”. He started this April in the Grand Canyon, hiked the Pacific Crest Trail through California, Oregon, Washington, then linked up with the Pacific Northwest Trail from Washington toward Glacier National Park. He hopes to finish by hiking through Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and back to Arizona.
He showed up in Eureka at about 9:30pm after hiking 38 miles that day in 90 degree heat. His first order of business was to eat as much as possible, which included 2 big pieces of pizza and 3&1/4 PINTS OF BEN & JERRY’S ICE CREAM. It is his self proclaimed “Half Gallon Challenge”. He was disappointed that he failed, and I was happy to eat his unfinished ice cream. But, he did wake up in the morning and buy another quart and finish it quickly. After his ice cream, he also ate 2 pints of yogurt, a huge omelette, hash browns, and a bagel while at the post office resupplying with new maps and food.
We had camped next to a fun group of 6, 40ish year old friends who met annually to bike ride a section of the Great Divide Trail. They seemed to have a great time and said that it was crutial for them to have good beer at the end of each day so they carried a collapsable cooler with them. We hope that we’re able to continue enjoying the outdoors with our friends like this group!
We set off for our hike with Andy at about 10:45am. He felt rushed because he typically starts hiking around 6:30am. We hiked through town and then down a long road for about 6 miles before turning off onto a old logging road. The logging road was so overgrown that you could not tell where it went, so we got out the map & compass and bushwhacked uphill for about 2.5 miles until we finally hit a real road that led us to a real trail. We then hiked steadily uphill for another 5 miles when we finally made it to a nice stream. This is where we took our first break, after 13 miles of continuous hiking. We filled up our water bottles, took a few pictures and said goodbye to Andy. We had a good time talking with him and hearing about how he has hiked an average of 37 miles a day for the last 3½ months with only 1 rest day over the most rugged terrain in the U.S. It was also good for Ashley to smell someone much worse than Jonathan. His smell was unique, and we named it “FishBait”. After bushwhacking with him through the weeds we kind of smelled like FishBait as well.
We turned around at that creek 3:45, and made it our goal to make it to the famous milkshake shop before they closed at 7pm. We ran through all the sunny areas, bushwhacked through the woods, and ran down the road through 90+ heat into town to complete our marathon day just in time for the best huckleberry shake ever. It was a rough day for us, and we woke up sore everywhere the following morning. For Andy, that would have been a very easy day.
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone is mostly known for it’s geysers and sulphur springs, but it’s also known for having a lot of wildlife. While driving to our campsite, we saw bison roaming everywhere. They were even walking down the road. We stopped at one pullout and watched a grizzly bear far off in the valley below. We borrowed people’s binoculars and watched him roll around in the sagebrush. A few minutes later, we stopped and watched a black bear cross the road right in front of the car in front of us. We also watched a coyote swim through a river. It was amazing the amount of wildlife that was roaming around. We camped 1 night in the park, went for a slow run in the morning (we were still recovering from the hike) and then drove to the Grand Teton National Park.
Grand Teton National Park
The Grand Teton’s are very inspiring to anybody that goes nearby. As we got closer, our aspirations went from going for a few short hikes and climbs to climbing the Grand Teton. We showed up on Saturday and went straight to the Ranger Station and got a permit to camp at the base of the Grand Teton on Sunday night.
Sunday
We packed our bags with camping gear and climbing gear and drove to the Trailhead. The elevation at the trailhead is 6,600’, more than 7,000’ below the summit of the Grand Teton (13,770’). We hiked 6 miles up to our base camp at the Moraine Campground at 10,500’. Ashley hiked so fast up some of the hills that it left Jonathan behind and hallucinating. We ate some food, set up camp, drank water straight from the melting glacier, and went to sleep (or tried to) at 8:30 pm.
Monday
We woke up and started hiking in the moonlight at 4:45am. The moon was so bright you almost didn’t need a headlamp. There was many other groups of climbers ahead of us.
5:15am We reach the Lower Saddle (11,500’), the sun starts to light the sky. The route gets steeper from here, but we still stay unroped and scramble up a gully.
6:30am We reach the Upper Saddle (12,800’). This is where Jonathan turned around 5 years ago because of a hail and lightning storm. We put our harness and climbing shoes on and rope up to climb the Owen-Spaulding route. This route is only 5.4 and most people climb it in 2 pitches and scramble unroped for the last 700’.
8:45am We reach the SUMMIT. At this elevation, each step takes your breath away. The view from the top is amazing. We can see the parking lot way down below. The summit is a 20’x20’ platform of small boulders. The weather is great as well, with not one cloud in the sky. It’s exciting to be on top, but also daunting to look way down at the parking lot and know that we are hiking there today. We started scrambling down the same way we came up. We did 2 rappels over the steep climbing sections.
11:45am We finally reach our base camp after scrambling and hiking downhill forever.
We eat some lunch, drink some water, and hide in the shade. We immediately start talking about celebrating with a burger & fries in town, which motivates us to pack up and start hiking. We eventually made it to the car at 3:30pm after 11 straight hours of hiking and climbing.
4:30pm Engulf 1 large pizza and then drive to a motel (our second of the trip). After not showering for more days than Ashley cares to think about, any private bath and bed would feel pretty classy. However, since we got the last available room which was the only one that hadn’t been remodeled so we got a 20% discount!!!
We turned around at that creek 3:45, and made it our goal to make it to the famous milkshake shop before they closed at 7pm. We ran through all the sunny areas, bushwhacked through the woods, and ran down the road through 90+ heat into town to complete our marathon day just in time for the best huckleberry shake ever. It was a rough day for us, and we woke up sore everywhere the following morning. For Andy, that would have been a very easy day.
Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone is mostly known for it’s geysers and sulphur springs, but it’s also known for having a lot of wildlife. While driving to our campsite, we saw bison roaming everywhere. They were even walking down the road. We stopped at one pullout and watched a grizzly bear far off in the valley below. We borrowed people’s binoculars and watched him roll around in the sagebrush. A few minutes later, we stopped and watched a black bear cross the road right in front of the car in front of us. We also watched a coyote swim through a river. It was amazing the amount of wildlife that was roaming around. We camped 1 night in the park, went for a slow run in the morning (we were still recovering from the hike) and then drove to the Grand Teton National Park.
Grand Teton National Park
The Grand Teton’s are very inspiring to anybody that goes nearby. As we got closer, our aspirations went from going for a few short hikes and climbs to climbing the Grand Teton. We showed up on Saturday and went straight to the Ranger Station and got a permit to camp at the base of the Grand Teton on Sunday night.
Sunday
We packed our bags with camping gear and climbing gear and drove to the Trailhead. The elevation at the trailhead is 6,600’, more than 7,000’ below the summit of the Grand Teton (13,770’). We hiked 6 miles up to our base camp at the Moraine Campground at 10,500’. Ashley hiked so fast up some of the hills that it left Jonathan behind and hallucinating. We ate some food, set up camp, drank water straight from the melting glacier, and went to sleep (or tried to) at 8:30 pm.
Monday
We woke up and started hiking in the moonlight at 4:45am. The moon was so bright you almost didn’t need a headlamp. There was many other groups of climbers ahead of us.
5:15am We reach the Lower Saddle (11,500’), the sun starts to light the sky. The route gets steeper from here, but we still stay unroped and scramble up a gully.
6:30am We reach the Upper Saddle (12,800’). This is where Jonathan turned around 5 years ago because of a hail and lightning storm. We put our harness and climbing shoes on and rope up to climb the Owen-Spaulding route. This route is only 5.4 and most people climb it in 2 pitches and scramble unroped for the last 700’.
8:45am We reach the SUMMIT. At this elevation, each step takes your breath away. The view from the top is amazing. We can see the parking lot way down below. The summit is a 20’x20’ platform of small boulders. The weather is great as well, with not one cloud in the sky. It’s exciting to be on top, but also daunting to look way down at the parking lot and know that we are hiking there today. We started scrambling down the same way we came up. We did 2 rappels over the steep climbing sections.
11:45am We finally reach our base camp after scrambling and hiking downhill forever.
We eat some lunch, drink some water, and hide in the shade. We immediately start talking about celebrating with a burger & fries in town, which motivates us to pack up and start hiking. We eventually made it to the car at 3:30pm after 11 straight hours of hiking and climbing.
4:30pm Engulf 1 large pizza and then drive to a motel (our second of the trip). After not showering for more days than Ashley cares to think about, any private bath and bed would feel pretty classy. However, since we got the last available room which was the only one that hadn’t been remodeled so we got a 20% discount!!!
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Banff National Park, Canada
Revelstoke
Wow, it feels like so much has happened since last time we wrote! We drove from Squamish through the rain to Revelstoke, a small little town near Revelstoke National Park. It is well known (or so they say) for it's great heli-skiing, with the most vertical drop in BC. It's also well known for Mt. Biking. We celebrated Jonathan's birthday by staying in a little motel in Revelstoke. It was a good relief from the constant rain.
We woke up early and rode some trails. First, we rode a loop together, trying not to slide on the wet roots. The trail was fun. Then, Ashley dropped me off at the top of a popular downhill trail that winds down the mountain through the forest. This was the steepest trail I'd ever ridden. It constantly had dropoffs that I even had trouble walking down. It was made a little harder because of the rain, but I still have trouble imagining ever riding down this stuff. Several spots I tried to make myself ride, but couldn't. I'd look at it, convince myself to do it, back up and ride to the edge of it, and then.... step off my bike in fear. Even though I was cautious, I still managed to do 2 endo's (front flips), because it was so steep. There was also several log crossings, where I rode on a log with a 6" wide platform for 20'. There was several crazy jumps and platforms built as well, that I rode around. I was finding cuts and bruises on myself for days afterwards, but it was well worthit.
Then we drove to nearby Glacier National Park, and went for a hike. There was a huge glacier that we hiked up to. It was 3500' vertical in 3 miles. It was beautiful, even though we were engulfed in clouds and rain as soon as we got up above treeline. We were gonna camp nearby, but because of the rain decided to keep driving to Banff Nat'l Park.
Banff National Park
is pretty cool. Huge peaks all around it and a nice big clear river running through the valley. We relaxed one morning and walked around the town of Banff, and then did a few sport climbs nearby. Sunday we went to a little presbyterian church in Banff. It was a cool group of people, mostly from out of town, but all excited to be around other believers.
We went for another bike ride on a recommended trail by the river. This trail was the last straw for my bike. 5 miles from the trailhead I broke my rear derailler and then my seat. Here's the list of broken parts (items that need to be replaced) on my bike: Front Shock, Seat cushion, bottom bracket, chain, pedals, derailler, cassettes, chainrings. Basically everything except the frame and wheels.
Monday and Tuesday we climbed. We found some really unique limestone sport climbing in Canmore called Grassi Lakes. Tuesday we climbed some trad and sport climbs at Lake Louise. The climbing at both these places was great, and the views were spectacular. We met more climbers from Boulder than from any other place.
Then we drove to some Natural Hot Springs on the edge of a river. It was fun running back and forth from the hot pools to the freezing icemelt water. We also had a few long interesting conversations with some canadians.
Wow, it feels like so much has happened since last time we wrote! We drove from Squamish through the rain to Revelstoke, a small little town near Revelstoke National Park. It is well known (or so they say) for it's great heli-skiing, with the most vertical drop in BC. It's also well known for Mt. Biking. We celebrated Jonathan's birthday by staying in a little motel in Revelstoke. It was a good relief from the constant rain.
We woke up early and rode some trails. First, we rode a loop together, trying not to slide on the wet roots. The trail was fun. Then, Ashley dropped me off at the top of a popular downhill trail that winds down the mountain through the forest. This was the steepest trail I'd ever ridden. It constantly had dropoffs that I even had trouble walking down. It was made a little harder because of the rain, but I still have trouble imagining ever riding down this stuff. Several spots I tried to make myself ride, but couldn't. I'd look at it, convince myself to do it, back up and ride to the edge of it, and then.... step off my bike in fear. Even though I was cautious, I still managed to do 2 endo's (front flips), because it was so steep. There was also several log crossings, where I rode on a log with a 6" wide platform for 20'. There was several crazy jumps and platforms built as well, that I rode around. I was finding cuts and bruises on myself for days afterwards, but it was well worthit.
Then we drove to nearby Glacier National Park, and went for a hike. There was a huge glacier that we hiked up to. It was 3500' vertical in 3 miles. It was beautiful, even though we were engulfed in clouds and rain as soon as we got up above treeline. We were gonna camp nearby, but because of the rain decided to keep driving to Banff Nat'l Park.
Banff National Park
is pretty cool. Huge peaks all around it and a nice big clear river running through the valley. We relaxed one morning and walked around the town of Banff, and then did a few sport climbs nearby. Sunday we went to a little presbyterian church in Banff. It was a cool group of people, mostly from out of town, but all excited to be around other believers.
We went for another bike ride on a recommended trail by the river. This trail was the last straw for my bike. 5 miles from the trailhead I broke my rear derailler and then my seat. Here's the list of broken parts (items that need to be replaced) on my bike: Front Shock, Seat cushion, bottom bracket, chain, pedals, derailler, cassettes, chainrings. Basically everything except the frame and wheels.
Monday and Tuesday we climbed. We found some really unique limestone sport climbing in Canmore called Grassi Lakes. Tuesday we climbed some trad and sport climbs at Lake Louise. The climbing at both these places was great, and the views were spectacular. We met more climbers from Boulder than from any other place.
Then we drove to some Natural Hot Springs on the edge of a river. It was fun running back and forth from the hot pools to the freezing icemelt water. We also had a few long interesting conversations with some canadians.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Squamish, Canada
We just left Squamish Canada, the outdoor capital of Canada. It was beautiful. The place is known mostly for it’s climbing, but also has great mountain biking, kayaking, cliff jumping, hiking, and camping. Sounds great for us, right. Well, Squamish also gets about 80 inches of rain per year, and even though july is supposed to be pretty dry, Squamish was covered in clouds and mist and rain the entire time we were there. The sun came up long enough for us to boulder a little and then climb 1 route. It was a little disappointing to look at all the big cliffs and soaked bike trails and not be able to use them.We did happen to bump into Dave, a friend of Jonathan’s from Boulder. Dave now lives in Durango and got to Squamish the same night we got there with his friend Timmy. Dave and Timmy are a unique combination, which provided us with non-stop entertainment. They were constantly changing into ridiculous costumes, making fun of each other, throwing coffee grinds at each other, and anything else that they thought might pass the time.
After hearing that the forecast called for 5 more days of rain, we decided to pack up and leave and head towards Banff National Park. We added a few more pictures to the Picasa site again.
Clash Alert
Jonathan is pushing the limit of the maximum allowed different blue shades in one outfit, consistantly! See our photos for evidence....
Car Update
Our power steering fluid is still leaking. It got a little better once we got out of the heat of Idaho, but it’s still leaking. We took our car to a repair shop in squamish and found out that our racks & pinions were leaking, and that it would cost $1100 dollars and would be a week before they got the part. So, off we went, with a few more bottles of power steering fluid.
The Budget
Many discussions were had about our budget for this road trip, especially among our Colorado friends. Well, the budget has worked pretty well as a guideline. We did even better than our budget while back East, thanks to the hospitality of a lot of family and friends. The budget has worked well the last few weeks while camping as well. Campsites have been cheaper than expected, and, of course, we’ve spent more money at gas stations than hoped.
Our power steering fluid is still leaking. It got a little better once we got out of the heat of Idaho, but it’s still leaking. We took our car to a repair shop in squamish and found out that our racks & pinions were leaking, and that it would cost $1100 dollars and would be a week before they got the part. So, off we went, with a few more bottles of power steering fluid.
The Budget
Many discussions were had about our budget for this road trip, especially among our Colorado friends. Well, the budget has worked pretty well as a guideline. We did even better than our budget while back East, thanks to the hospitality of a lot of family and friends. The budget has worked well the last few weeks while camping as well. Campsites have been cheaper than expected, and, of course, we’ve spent more money at gas stations than hoped.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Seattle, Scum, Nelson, & Pictures
We added more pictures to our Picasa Album. You should check it out at http://picasaweb.google.com/jowallac/NorthWestRoadTrip.
We met up with Nelson at Mt. Rainier and camped and hiked. It's a huge mountain, 14,411 feet tall, and lots of people were hiking up it to attempt to climb it. There were lines of people with huge backpacks, skis, snowboards, crampons, axes, ropes, plastic boots, and everything else all hiking up towards Camp Muir, the base camp for most summit attempts. It was fun watching these people struggle with each step up while we ran up & down the trail.
We then followed Nelson back to Seattle to his 8'x8' room he shares with another guy. Nelson showed us their plans of building a loft in the room, so that they can open the door without moving his bed. He then took us to his church, Scum of the Earth http://www.scumchurch.com/. It was cool, and the exact opposite of the church we went to in Tennessee. The name comes from I Corinthians 4:11-13. They served us dinner (tortilla soup, salad, and raspberry banana pudding), and then had church in a small room. About 30 of us sat on couches and the floor. The preacher is a former bank robber and was very open and honest about his shortcomings and how God's grace has gotten him where he is. He spoke about living a life of integrity, and that doesn't mean that you are perfect but that you are honest about who you really are. Afterwards we met Zach and Alex, who grew up in Chiang Rai Thailand and whose parents are good friends with Aje and Nancy (the couple who run the orphanage that we support). They have a friend who will be in the DTS with us this september. It was fun and encouraging to talk to them about our next steps. It was crazy how God arranged our meeting and conversation.
Now, we're heading north to Squamish, Canada to camp.
We met up with Nelson at Mt. Rainier and camped and hiked. It's a huge mountain, 14,411 feet tall, and lots of people were hiking up it to attempt to climb it. There were lines of people with huge backpacks, skis, snowboards, crampons, axes, ropes, plastic boots, and everything else all hiking up towards Camp Muir, the base camp for most summit attempts. It was fun watching these people struggle with each step up while we ran up & down the trail.
We then followed Nelson back to Seattle to his 8'x8' room he shares with another guy. Nelson showed us their plans of building a loft in the room, so that they can open the door without moving his bed. He then took us to his church, Scum of the Earth http://www.scumchurch.com/. It was cool, and the exact opposite of the church we went to in Tennessee. The name comes from I Corinthians 4:11-13. They served us dinner (tortilla soup, salad, and raspberry banana pudding), and then had church in a small room. About 30 of us sat on couches and the floor. The preacher is a former bank robber and was very open and honest about his shortcomings and how God's grace has gotten him where he is. He spoke about living a life of integrity, and that doesn't mean that you are perfect but that you are honest about who you really are. Afterwards we met Zach and Alex, who grew up in Chiang Rai Thailand and whose parents are good friends with Aje and Nancy (the couple who run the orphanage that we support). They have a friend who will be in the DTS with us this september. It was fun and encouraging to talk to them about our next steps. It was crazy how God arranged our meeting and conversation.
Now, we're heading north to Squamish, Canada to camp.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Backpacking in the Olympic Nat'l Park
We just got done hiking for FOREVER. Well, it felt like forever and our legs are real tired now. The Olympic NP was beautiful and lush with huge trees covered in moss, waterfalls, big slugs, bears, deer, elk, and not many people. It's so different from the CO mountains because of all the vegetation. Even though the highest point we hiked to was 4700', the trail was very rugged. It went straight up & down (2000' vertical gain in 1.5 miles). Our first night out, we hadn't seen any people and were a little terrified at the thought of a bear snooping around our tent (Ashley made me go to the bathroom with her in the middle of the night). We didn't see any bears, but we saw plenty of fresh bear scat (pooh), and one guy we passed (who camped at the same places we did), said he had seen 4 different bears playing in the water & eating berries.On the hike out this morning, our legs failing us, the only thing that kept us moving was jonathan's serenade to ashley of every cheesy song he knows (Bed of roses by bon jovi, I'll be there for you, Redneck woman by gretchen wilson, all of the guns & roses classics, and of course, the grand finale of Peculiar by SFC (soldiers for christ).
We wish we could have spent more time there, but now we're headed to Mt. Rainier to meet our friend Nelson from Flatirons Church.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
July 12, somewhere near Mt. St. Helens
Well, Monday morning we left Boulder and drove to City of Rocks in Idaho. We drove past one huge fire (55,000 acres) that was started by lightning in Southern Idaho. The fire had come all the way to the road in some spots, and you could see the flames far away in the mountains.
The camping there is so beautiful. You are in this valley with all these big rocks sticking up around you, and the sunsets every night were beautiful. It’s a nice place to relax. We did some climbing. We did a few classic 1 to 2 pitch routes from 5.6-5.10. Ashley has decided that she really doesn’t like trad climbing. She doesn’t like taking out the gear, and she thinks it takes too long. We also went for a run at sunset through a cow pasture. We would try to scare the cows off our path, but they just kept running the way we wanted to go. Cows aren’t that smart. One cow (a huge one) tried to hide behind this little bush. He acted like he was peeking his head around the bush to watch us, not knowing that we could see his ENTIRE body.
Southern Idaho is very hot. Like 100 degrees hot. While not as sticky & sweaty as the heat we encountered in Florida & Tennessee, it left us looking & longing for a pool or lake. We found a pool, but it’s only open from Wed. – Sunday. We were there Monday & Tuesday. We did find a cute little Outpost that had some great food and pies and service. We stayed there (inside) during the hottest part of the day and sipped lemonade.
For you climbers out there, Castle Rocks State Park is now open and has quite a few routes at it. The rocks & routes look very similar to the City.
Apparently this little area is becoming developed. They are widening the road to City of Rocks. This was quite a pain. As we tried to leave, we had to wait 20 minutes for a pilot car to come drive us through all the road work. We had a conversation with the lady who holds the stop sign there. I’ve always wanted to talk to one of them. This is what we learned: she works 8am – 5:30pm min. (sometimes 10pm), she can’t sit on the job or use an umbrella, she must wear pants no matter the temp. She lives in her fifth wheel so that she can relocate each summer to her new jobsite. But this sign holder is not just a rough & tough construction worker, she also works as an accountant during the winter. She is a nice lady (with 3 huge “pimping” rings on one hand) and now we have new respect for stop sign holders.
After our conversation with her, we proceeded to drive through Idaho on I-84, through more construction delays (with no real work being done), then drove along the beautiful Columbia River and watched the sunset. We knew we had a little leak of power steering fluid in our car, but it has gotten worse. We talked to a mechanic in Idaho who said it could take some time to find the leak, but that as long as we kept it full we wouldn’t damage the car. Well, the leak is getting worse, and we hope to stop soon and get it fixed.
Now, we’re camped at a little St. Park near Mt.St. Helens. We just went for a Mtn. Bike ride through th forest. It is a beautiful forest with big tall trees and ferns and moss. This afternoon, we’ll drive to the Olympic Nat’l Park and backpack for 2 nights from the Staircase trailhead.
The camping there is so beautiful. You are in this valley with all these big rocks sticking up around you, and the sunsets every night were beautiful. It’s a nice place to relax. We did some climbing. We did a few classic 1 to 2 pitch routes from 5.6-5.10. Ashley has decided that she really doesn’t like trad climbing. She doesn’t like taking out the gear, and she thinks it takes too long. We also went for a run at sunset through a cow pasture. We would try to scare the cows off our path, but they just kept running the way we wanted to go. Cows aren’t that smart. One cow (a huge one) tried to hide behind this little bush. He acted like he was peeking his head around the bush to watch us, not knowing that we could see his ENTIRE body.
Southern Idaho is very hot. Like 100 degrees hot. While not as sticky & sweaty as the heat we encountered in Florida & Tennessee, it left us looking & longing for a pool or lake. We found a pool, but it’s only open from Wed. – Sunday. We were there Monday & Tuesday. We did find a cute little Outpost that had some great food and pies and service. We stayed there (inside) during the hottest part of the day and sipped lemonade.
For you climbers out there, Castle Rocks State Park is now open and has quite a few routes at it. The rocks & routes look very similar to the City.
Apparently this little area is becoming developed. They are widening the road to City of Rocks. This was quite a pain. As we tried to leave, we had to wait 20 minutes for a pilot car to come drive us through all the road work. We had a conversation with the lady who holds the stop sign there. I’ve always wanted to talk to one of them. This is what we learned: she works 8am – 5:30pm min. (sometimes 10pm), she can’t sit on the job or use an umbrella, she must wear pants no matter the temp. She lives in her fifth wheel so that she can relocate each summer to her new jobsite. But this sign holder is not just a rough & tough construction worker, she also works as an accountant during the winter. She is a nice lady (with 3 huge “pimping” rings on one hand) and now we have new respect for stop sign holders.
After our conversation with her, we proceeded to drive through Idaho on I-84, through more construction delays (with no real work being done), then drove along the beautiful Columbia River and watched the sunset. We knew we had a little leak of power steering fluid in our car, but it has gotten worse. We talked to a mechanic in Idaho who said it could take some time to find the leak, but that as long as we kept it full we wouldn’t damage the car. Well, the leak is getting worse, and we hope to stop soon and get it fixed.
Now, we’re camped at a little St. Park near Mt.St. Helens. We just went for a Mtn. Bike ride through th forest. It is a beautiful forest with big tall trees and ferns and moss. This afternoon, we’ll drive to the Olympic Nat’l Park and backpack for 2 nights from the Staircase trailhead.
Sunday, July 8, 2007
We're Home
The sight of the Rocky Mountains was VERY welcome after driving through all of kansas & eastern Colorado. It definitely feels like home, to look out the window and see the Flatirons. It's hard not to be motivated to go run or climb or bike when everywhere you look you see mountains. It also felt like home to go back to Flatirons Community Church. After visiting churches in Michigan, NC, and TN, it was nice to come back to Flatirons Church. We've heard better preaching, been in nicer buildings, but Flatirons just seems like home to us.
We visited Ashley's Mom in Hermann and her dad, step-mom and sister in Kansas City, and have been in beautiful Boulder for 1 full day. Tomorrow, we'll get an oil change and drive to City of Rocks in Idaho. We'll be back in Boulder around August 5 for Justin and Krista's wedding.
We visited Ashley's Mom in Hermann and her dad, step-mom and sister in Kansas City, and have been in beautiful Boulder for 1 full day. Tomorrow, we'll get an oil change and drive to City of Rocks in Idaho. We'll be back in Boulder around August 5 for Justin and Krista's wedding.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
July 4!!!!!
We were reading today in Phillipians 3 and it made us think of that church we went to last Sunday. Phillipians 3:3 says, “For we who worship God in the Spirit are the only ones who are truly circumcised. We put no confidence in human effort. Instead, we boast about what Christ Jesus has done for us.” It reminded us that it says many times in the Bible that it is not what we do or wear or say that makes us saved, it is by grace that we have been saved, through faith in Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:8-9 is a good verse as well. So, if anyone ever tells you that you need to wear a certain dress or suit, go to a certain church, or act a certain way to be a Christian, you can refer to these verses and tell them that these “works” will get them no closer to God.
We had a great July 4!!! We spent the last few days at the Riddle Retreat visiting with family. We also ran, swam, rode bikes and waverunners, wakeboarded, fished for catfish and brim, played ping-pong and poker. We were in the annual july 4 boat parade, where about 20 boats decorated with USA flags troll around the lake and wave to all the people on their docks. Later that night we went out on the pontoon boat again and watched some fireworks. It was fun, but not as fun as 2 years ago. 2 years ago on july 4 at the same place was when we first talked about getting married.
We had a great July 4!!! We spent the last few days at the Riddle Retreat visiting with family. We also ran, swam, rode bikes and waverunners, wakeboarded, fished for catfish and brim, played ping-pong and poker. We were in the annual july 4 boat parade, where about 20 boats decorated with USA flags troll around the lake and wave to all the people on their docks. Later that night we went out on the pontoon boat again and watched some fireworks. It was fun, but not as fun as 2 years ago. 2 years ago on july 4 at the same place was when we first talked about getting married.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
New Pictures Posted
Check out our Picasa Web Album on the right hand side of the page to SEE what we've been up to.We drove from Florida Keys to Chattanooga Tennessee. We bouldered and went for a run at RockTown, then climbed a few routes at Foster Falls. It is very hot & humid. We got up at 5:30am to "beat the heat" and climb, and, we still were dripping sweat after 1 climb.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
SHARK!!!!!!
We're now in the Florida Keys,visiting uncle Jerry & aunt Jean. We went snorkeling yesterday and Ashley saw a 6ft Nurse Shark swim right underneath her. I swam over to see what she was screaming about and saw a large barracuda, staring us down. I've never seen Ashley swim so fast back to the boat.
We got here monday night. We've been sea kayaking, snorkeling, hog-fishing (fishing with a hand line and live shrimp inside your glove, while snorkeling) and today we went deep sea fishing for dolphin fish. We caught about 20 small dolphin fish, none big enough to keep but we had a fun time catching em. On the way back, we fished some more and caught enough snapper to feed us all for dinner.
We had a great time in Fayetteville. We relaxed and spent some quality time with friends and family. We had a blast 4wheeling with mike & gloria. We also spent a few days at the beach and surfed, canoed in the cape fear ocean, and played in the sand with our nieces & nephews (Lauren, Ali, Wesley, Elijah and Isaiah). Ashley & Elijah got stung by a little jellyfish, but were tough (the sting is comparable to a wasp sting).
We got here monday night. We've been sea kayaking, snorkeling, hog-fishing (fishing with a hand line and live shrimp inside your glove, while snorkeling) and today we went deep sea fishing for dolphin fish. We caught about 20 small dolphin fish, none big enough to keep but we had a fun time catching em. On the way back, we fished some more and caught enough snapper to feed us all for dinner.
We had a great time in Fayetteville. We relaxed and spent some quality time with friends and family. We had a blast 4wheeling with mike & gloria. We also spent a few days at the beach and surfed, canoed in the cape fear ocean, and played in the sand with our nieces & nephews (Lauren, Ali, Wesley, Elijah and Isaiah). Ashley & Elijah got stung by a little jellyfish, but were tough (the sting is comparable to a wasp sting).
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Fayetteville, NC
We're Home!!! just kidding, but it's nice to be at my parents house with a real bed and a place to put our stuff (besides our car). We need to clean out the car soon cause it stinks like ashley's shoes.
We posted some pictures of our trip. http://picasaweb.google.com/jowallac/EastCoastRoadTrip
Yesterday we helped put up a pool at Gloria's (my sister) house. Hopefully it stands up. If not, we'll have 5 energetic & disappointed nieces & nephews to deal with. Gloria & Mike's new house in Raeford is really nice, much more fitting for a family of 7 than their old home. We also made them grilled cheese for lunch, which consisted of using 1.5 loaves of bread & a ton of cheese. A loaf of bread lasts us about a week, but for them, it lasts, 1 MEAL.
We posted some pictures of our trip. http://picasaweb.google.com/jowallac/EastCoastRoadTrip
Yesterday we helped put up a pool at Gloria's (my sister) house. Hopefully it stands up. If not, we'll have 5 energetic & disappointed nieces & nephews to deal with. Gloria & Mike's new house in Raeford is really nice, much more fitting for a family of 7 than their old home. We also made them grilled cheese for lunch, which consisted of using 1.5 loaves of bread & a ton of cheese. A loaf of bread lasts us about a week, but for them, it lasts, 1 MEAL.
Friday, June 8, 2007
Rocky Top Retreat, The New River Gorge
We're sitting on a picnic table at Roger's Rocky Top Retreat Campground at the New River in WV. We just saw a beautiful sunset and are relaxing feeling like bums. Jonathan used to camp here 10 years ago when he started climbing, and Roger remembered him and all the friends he used to climb with.
We've had a good time the past 2 days biking, climbing, swimming and bouldering at the local spots. Jason Marshal just met up with us this morning. He's a fun guy and challenges Jonathan a little especially since he's 6ft4! The atmosphere at the campsite is really laid back. Many climbers come here for the easy access to the climbing, cheap nights stay but most of all for Roger's quirky personality. He lives here and jokes around with everyone sharing tall tales, trash talk, beta on climbs, the weather and any other topic. Yesterday after hearing about Ashley's efforts to avoid poison ivy, oa
k and sumac he warned her that there's just no way to avoid it, it's everywhere...YIKES!!! However she's still trying with alcohol pads, sanitizer and showers that makes us stand apart from the rest of the stinky dirt bag climbers. Jonathan's even taken more showers in the last week than ever.
Saturday, June 2, 2007
WE'RE BUMS!!!!!!
Yes, we are now homeless & jobless, living out of BamBam (our car). Thanks to a lot of y'alls help, we gave away alot of our stuff and put the rest of it in our storage shed or our car. We both quit work May 23. We sold our house May 25. And, now we're in Michigan visiting family. Thank you so much to those of you who have helped us and encouraged us. We have been blessed by many of you. It has been amazing how God has been with us every step of the way for the last year as we visited Thailand, sold our house, quit jobs, and a lot of other steps that have all gone soo smoothly. He has definitely grown our faith & trust in Him.
We have had a good time so far, despite surviving 3 hailstorms, a lot of rain, ashley losing her cell phone (my # is 720 335 1418), not getting cell phone service at all in South Dakota, getting less than 20mpg driving through South Dakota, and gas at 3.69/gallon. We've had a great time visiting family and drinking 5cent coffee & 99 cent donuts in the world famous Wall Drug store in SD.
Be sure to check our pictures at the link over there and also don't forget that you can subscribe to this blog so that it emails you when we update it.
God Bless You,
Jonathan & Ashley
Thursday, May 10, 2007
We're IN
We just found out we got accepted to the YWAM DTS in Chiang Mai. Yeah. It starts Sept. 10 and lasts 5 months. Look at the link over there for more info if want it.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Our real summer plans
Obviously, these plans are tentative, but, this should give you an idea of what we'll be doing this summer.
May 25, sell house
may 25-30, hang out in boulder area with Amy & Eric
May 30-June 2, climb in South Dakota around Mt Rushmore
June 2-5 Hang out in Gaylord Michigan with family
June6-7 Hang out in Kalamazoo Michigan with Angela & Justin
June 8-11 climb/camp at the New River Gorge with friends
June 12- hang out in NC with friends & family,
June 15-17 Ashley flies to KC for Jen's wedding
June 27-30 drive to the Keys in Florida to visit family
July 1-4 Drive to Jackson TN
July8, leave for the NW roadtrip. Spend a few days climbing at City of Rocks, Idaho (july 8-11), visit friends in Portland (July 12), Backpack in Olympic NP (July 13-15), Visit Nelson in Seattle, Backpack in the North Cascades (July 16-19), climb and bike in squamish and whistler (July 19-23), then stay a week in Banff NP (July 23-29). Drive through Glacier NP (July 29-30), the Tetons(July 30-31), then climb at (aug. 1-4)Wild Iris or Tensleep in Wyoming.
Aug. 5, try to make it to Keystone for Justin & Krista's wedding.
August 20? Fly to Thailand, explore the beaches of southern thailand, then make our way to Chiang Mai
Sept. 10, YWAM DTS Chiang Mai starts. this stands for Youth With a Mission, Discipleship Training School. It is a missionary training school for 5 months. it includes a lot of time in a classroom, and a lot of time doing outreach activities in Northern Thailand and China. It will be a good opportunity for exposure to lots of different things (orphanage work, building projects, and many other outreach activities)
Visit Tim & Joann in Guam
Feb. Stay in Northern Thailand, try to get settled a little, learn the language, and start trying to figure out what, how, and where we could serve most effectively.
November 2008. Return to America to visit for Christmas
May 25, sell house
may 25-30, hang out in boulder area with Amy & Eric
May 30-June 2, climb in South Dakota around Mt Rushmore
June 2-5 Hang out in Gaylord Michigan with family
June6-7 Hang out in Kalamazoo Michigan with Angela & Justin
June 8-11 climb/camp at the New River Gorge with friends
June 12- hang out in NC with friends & family,
June 15-17 Ashley flies to KC for Jen's wedding
June 27-30 drive to the Keys in Florida to visit family
July 1-4 Drive to Jackson TN
July8, leave for the NW roadtrip. Spend a few days climbing at City of Rocks, Idaho (july 8-11), visit friends in Portland (July 12), Backpack in Olympic NP (July 13-15), Visit Nelson in Seattle, Backpack in the North Cascades (July 16-19), climb and bike in squamish and whistler (July 19-23), then stay a week in Banff NP (July 23-29). Drive through Glacier NP (July 29-30), the Tetons(July 30-31), then climb at (aug. 1-4)Wild Iris or Tensleep in Wyoming.
Aug. 5, try to make it to Keystone for Justin & Krista's wedding.
August 20? Fly to Thailand, explore the beaches of southern thailand, then make our way to Chiang Mai
Sept. 10, YWAM DTS Chiang Mai starts. this stands for Youth With a Mission, Discipleship Training School. It is a missionary training school for 5 months. it includes a lot of time in a classroom, and a lot of time doing outreach activities in Northern Thailand and China. It will be a good opportunity for exposure to lots of different things (orphanage work, building projects, and many other outreach activities)
Visit Tim & Joann in Guam
Feb. Stay in Northern Thailand, try to get settled a little, learn the language, and start trying to figure out what, how, and where we could serve most effectively.
November 2008. Return to America to visit for Christmas
Monday, April 23, 2007
1 month to go
So, we now have a skype name. It is jonathanashleywallace. have you heard of skype. it is an easy cheap way to call internationally from your computer. cool. I just called ashley from this computer for 2.1 cents per minute. would have been cooler if she wasn't in the same room. Another cool thing is if you had a skype name, you could call me from your computer for free, if we were both on the internet & skype & somewhere in the WORLD.
COOL.
We're getting excited to get outta this crazy town. A lot of stuff has come together, and a lot is left to do.
See ya.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Getting Ready to Leave
This is really just a test, but, we're leaving here for Thailand. Here's a quick summary of our plans for the summer.
May 25, quit work, sale house, leave boulder for a long roadtrip.
June-July: roadtrip through KC, Hermann, Jackson TN, climb in the Obed, backpack in the smoky mtns, drive through Charlotte, Fayetteville, and then return back to CO. somewhere along the way somehow we want to go to Gaylord MI and to the Keys in FL to see family.
July - August: Roadtrip to the NW to climb, bike, run, backpack
May 25, quit work, sale house, leave boulder for a long roadtrip.
June-July: roadtrip through KC, Hermann, Jackson TN, climb in the Obed, backpack in the smoky mtns, drive through Charlotte, Fayetteville, and then return back to CO. somewhere along the way somehow we want to go to Gaylord MI and to the Keys in FL to see family.
July - August: Roadtrip to the NW to climb, bike, run, backpack
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