After my initial 3 days of settling in I finally made contact with some of my old friends. Fay who has been in Thailand for many years had sent me an email asking ‘where are you? Have you arrived safely?’ She was in town for a short time and had tried to find out where I was by contacting some of my friends and where I had originally planned to stay at The River Guest House. She was the first person I called once my SIM was connected. We made plans to meet for lunch on Wed. I then called the next number on my list but thinking it was Mariaana (from the River team) not Miriam who I’d called arranged to meet her on Tuesday which was the following day. I was surprised to hear their church, where I was to meet them, was in the same muban (suburb) I was living in and I had more than likely jogged past it that morning.
The following day while on my morning jog I kept my eyes out for the church but didn’t see it so when I walked to where I thought it was, another church, I met the pastor who is an Australian citizen from Lao. She drove me to the City Gate Church at the other end of the road. Here I was delighted to see my old friends Gumpon and Miriam. I told Miriam that I was sorry I couldn’t stay as I was meeting Mariaana for lunch at 12 and it was now 12:30. Miriam said their church was quite some way away and she would take me. I was confused! In my phone conversation I was told it was in this muban. Then it clicked. I asked Miriam had I spoken to her on the phone and did she have a meeting somewhere else at 1:30pm today. She confirmed it was she I had spoken to and I was having lunch with her today. We laughed. I now knew where the confusion had come. Fay had spoken about Miriam and The River Guest House in the same email and I misread the name to be Mariaana (who was at this time in QLD, Australia).
With all that sorted we sat down for lunch of typical northern food which I so enjoy. Over lunch we caught up with al
l that had happened over the past 20yrs before I was taken to the new church construction which is just around the corner. Hang Dong also has World Vision and The Well which serves cross-cultural workers in Asia and around the world through Clinical Counselling, Pastoral Care, Training and Events.
Wednesday, Calvin dropped me at the Big C shopping centre where I caught up with Fay for lunch. We had a lovely time chatting about all sorts of things before she took me back to the house. Fortunately I checked the door to see if it was unlocked as Calvin’s ute was not there. It was locked. We kept forgetting to get spare keys cut. I suggested Fay drop me outside the Big C where I could contact Calvin and wait for him there. Walking across the carpark I tried dialling Calvin but no rep
ly. Then, to my surprise there he was having just parked his ute. I walked up behind him and asked ‘why aren’t you answering your phone?’ He spun around, startled to see me. We laughed. The Lord is so good. Calvin had left his phone at home so would have missed my call. He was just coming to do some last minute shopping for tonight’s hot pot. What were the odds that we would see each other just when I was needing a lift home.
That night Calvin invited Ann, who is Burmese Shan and Young, his Singaporean friend to feast with us over a hot pot, a bubbling pot of vegetable soup to which we added chicken, tau, pork meat and ribs.
I was alone all the next day and decided it was time I ve
ntured out on my own again. I contacted my friend Sook in Chiang Rai to say I was coming up which was perfect timing as it was a labour day holiday Friday till Wedneday. Although Calvin had arranged for me to go to Han on Monday it was later rescheduled for Tuesday. Sook said I should catch a green bus. So on Friday I left the house before 8am, walked with a small backpack to the main road, and took a yellow song tao to the arcade where the green bus station was. I eventually found the counter and booked the earliest ticked which was at 1:30pm. I found a nice coffee shop with aircon to help me bide my time for 3 hours before boarding the bus. The bus was air-conditioned too which made the 3 hour journey bearable although the exterior temperature was 36 degrees the interior was only 11 degrees. I was sorry I hadn’t brought something to keep me warm!
As we entered Chiang Rai I found out there were two bus sta
tions and rang Sook to ask which one they were waiting at. Fortunately I didn’t alight at the new station as Sook and Som were waiting for me at the old bus station. It was so nice to see Sook and his family. We then heading to Sook’s favourite Larp shop. I really enjoy Larp and Chiang Rai Larp didn’t disappoint me. We had sticky rice with chicken and fish Larp which was slightly different to Larp elsewhere as it was topped with crunchy fried red onion. I was then driven 7 km out of town to a large property where they live. It had become very run down and neglected due to lack of funds. Six years ago the property was handed over to Thai ownership and from that day very little has been done due to greed and corruption. Overseas support had continue to come in till it was realised that the money, instead of being spent on the orphanage, was spent by the new owner’s family. The orphanage was closed and the place soon became neglected. Basic maintenance is done by those who continued to live here. Their prayers are that the Lord will convict the owner to restore the place to a functioning operation to provide help for the needy. It is such a shame it has fallen into rack and ruin as it holds so much potential.
That night I met t
he other members of the community for fellowship, praise and worship and prayer.
My little room was basic but clean with an attached wash/toilet room. I could call it a bathroom with toilet but that would only conger up ideas of a western bathroom. This was more of a small room with a squat toilet and large bucket which contained water for washing. A dipper is used to splash water over one’s self, soaping up then washing it off. I shared this room with a resident gecko who sang out several times during the night to make sure I knew it was there. Every time I entered the bathroom I turned the light on before entering to give it time to hide under the roof beam. Down one of the walls was a string of pearly white egg the size of large marbles. These geckos are the large ones which are VERY noisy at night especially if they are in the roof or near the house. They usually live near or in buildings where the light attracts flying insects. There are also smaller transparent looking gecko (around 6 centimetres) which scurry around the walls and ceiling and are less noisy.
My room was one of four. Ah Tak (from Malaysia) and Pranee, 
his wife, lived in the far room next to mine and helped me out with all the little things I needed including bedding, a fan and towel. My room was bare except for two beds. My bed had a very thin mattress, pillow, fitted sheet and a blanket. On the other bed, without a mattress, I placed my belongings of which I had brought only the basics. There were no screens on the windows or doors which meant at dusk the room was closed up to keep the mosquito’s out. This made it quite hot at night and the corrugated roof made it very hot during the day. The best place to escape the heat was under the trees of which there were many. Fruit trees of many kinds including, pawpaw, lychee, starfruit, jackfruit and others.
On Saturday I was shown around many places within driving distance from Chiang Rai. We went to Nang Lae to see the Black House where all the building were painted black. The owner had been a great artist, his paintings, sculptures and carvings were displayed through many of the black structures. We then visited a renowne
d tea plantation before driving to Mae Sai where we stopped for lunch at a well-known Kaw Soi shop. Kaw Soi is the Thai version of the Malay Laksa. While in Mae Sai we visited the sight of a cave, on this property were monkeys, huge gold fish and cat fish. From here we went further north to the Golden Triangle where Burma, Laos and Thailand meet at the Mekong River. Then back to Chiang Rai strolling along the crowded streets of the night market looking at the amazing collection of foods and products for sale. Choosing something to eat we headed to another night market where we bought a hot pot and iced fruit drinks to add to our dinner.
Sunday we attended a small fellowship and joined them for lunch before heading off to see the White Wat (temple). Here some local university students wanted to inte
rview me in English for a project on migraines. It was here that I noticed Calvin had sent me a message to say I wasn’t needed back till Tuesday. I had already purchased my ticket so we rushed off to see if it could be changed. On arriving, the attendant said we were too late but after checking he saw there was a seat free which he offered me. Thank God, now I could stay another night. We went on to the market to buy our dinner before returning home to share it with the members at the foundation before watching the movie Son of God.
Monday 4 May was a lazy day. I slept in to 7am before packing up and joining my neighbours for breakfast under 
a little hut. This was our usual breakfast place as it is lovely and cool at this time of the morning. The rest of the day after sharing lunch together we lazed around in the coolest spot we could find, some chatted, I wrote my blog and others slept. Then at 5:30 I took the bus back to Chiang Mai where I was picked up by Calvin. That night I crashed out and didn’t wake till 7am. Too late for a jog as I needed to do some washing, pack my belongings before the Family Fun day.
It was an interesting morning of which I mostly chatted to the older attendance who didn’t want to join in all the games. It is here I met Pastor Sombat and later together we collected my things before meeting up with another long-time friend who had recently returned from Brisbane with an order he had kindly brought back for me.
Pastor Sombat and I then drove to Hod (or as some call it Hot- and yes it is very hot here) a small town 90km south of Chiang Mai.
More about Ps Sombat and the Nurture the Kids Foundation in my next blog update.
Map of Thailand’s Northern Provinces.
Pictures: 1. Tea Plantation 2. Shopping 3. Hot Pot Dinner 4. Song Tao 5. Our breaky hut 6. Gecko (photo taken by missionary friend in Northern Thailand) 7. Black House 8. Mother and baby 9. Golden Triangle 10. Dinner at the market 11. Fellowship lunch
Prayer & Praise Points:
Please pray for all those working here both the missionaries and the locals who are faithful to His calling.
Praise the Lord for His leading and guidance since my arrival in Chiang Mai for open doors and open hearts.
Praise the Lord for ongoing good health and safety on the roads during my travels last week.
Please pray for the owners of the foundation in Chiang Rai that they will repent and come back to the Lord so that His work can be done through the foundation to reach the poor and needy.
Please continue to pray for me to hear the Lord’s leading on where to go from here. It seems He is often leading me one day at a time. People have asked, ‘when will you be coming to …..’ I tell them the Lord hasn’t revealed the dates or times. Pray that I will know where He would like me to serve.
Please continue to pray for my mother’s ongoing health. She has just had her 88th birthday.
Thank you all for standing with me in prayer as I continue on my adventure.