home...

Just a brief one to say that after 18hours of transit we made it home. The trip home was interesting but we made it! More to come when I've woken up!

Home Tomorrow

Latest update from Thailand:
"Most of us have colds now or at least sore throat. Pray for good wise informal debrief/chats on the plane and logistics for travel home goes well."

They will be arriving in Melbourne soon after 7am tomorrow (Wed) morning.

Thanks for praying and don't stop yet!

Mike

Nearly Finished

Hi All,

Got an email from Dad yesterday saying that a few days ago their cook had a cold and now most of the team have colds. Please remember to continue praying for them and particular for their health. Even though their ministry part of the trip may have finished, there is still a lot of travelling to go and decisions to be made. So please don't fall in the trap of stopping to pray for the team as can be easy to do near the end of these trips!

Thanks again all for your support of the team.

Regards,

Mike

Bangkok

Update from Chirs on Sunday night:
"Made it OK to slum. Catching up with Chris and Jodie tomorrow (Monday). Just did a prayer walk from tourist central to shopping centre with Porche in shop front on level 4. I am leading a study tonight on Isaiah 6 and call to mission. Thanks for the prayers. It's been a long day and last official ministry tomorrow."

Lifehouse Play Tonight

Hi All,

As Chris doesn't currently have internet / email contact, I've been in touch with him to get an update for you all so you can continue to pray specifically for them.

Tonight they are doing the Lifehouse play (the same one they did last year) but with one of the translators travelling with them as the girl in the play (sorry to those that don't know the play) to try and make it even more relevent for the people of Thailand. At Urban Summer at Mitcham Baptist last year this had a huge impact on the youth resulting in a number of them decided to get baptised. Pray that this play can have the same impact on the locals there watching it and that it makes sense to really allow some open discussion with the team members.

On Sunday, Chris will be leading the team down to Bangkok while Dad stays in Chiang Mai. Chris and the team will then be returning back to Chiang Mai on Monday arvo. Pray for Chris as he leads the team down into this currently politically sensitive area of the land and for safety as they travel as a team.

Team wise, continue to pray for each of the guys on team.

• Leonie as she continues to experience God challenging her in many ways... pray for discernment for her.
• Sonya as she experiences the Thai culture and the
• Dan as he gets acustomed to the flexible times required of being on a mission trip
• Dave - is going well and finding a good balance between spending time with the team and outreach activities.
• Chris - daily leadership decisions and leading the group down to Bangkok and back
• Dad - daily leadership decisions and guidance and direction while meeting with locals and the missionaries they are going over there to support and encourage.

There are effectively 5 days left for the team over in Thailand. Continue to pray for the team as a whole and for tiredness as they are continually on the move.

Thanks all for your valued support. They really appreciate it and can tell there are people praying for them. Keep it up!

Mike

Chiang Mai-Judy & day off

Judy in front of her church with our team

Hi Guys, well we've had a great last few days. 2 days ago we were able to catch up with Judy for most of the day which was great! We went out to lunch with her then went back to her place and she showed off her apartment and office where we took lots of snaps for the people back home. We then went and worshipped with her at her church and then had dinner with her too. To finish it off Sonya had some quality 1:1 time with her which was invaluable. Thanks for the prayers for this. As we were leaving Judy was so appreciative of all that we (or more the fact God through us) had done for her, and she commented on how uplifted and genuinely encouraged she had been.

Success!!!!

Yesterday was team day off so most of us spent the day just lazing round the motel, one or two went off on a day trip, but it was a relaxing day for all and also refreshing.

Today we catch up with Sarah this morning for a couple of hours then have a windy 3 hour bus trip to Chiang Rai then catch up with Susie this arvo/evening, so a pretty full day.

Following this we'll be heading up to do some different sort of night ministry with Asholi& Puii, we're not sure what that will entail so I'm thinking we'll be kept on our toes.

The next week is going to be more intense with living conditions and also what we'll be doing. There may not be too much internet access so i may have to sms for some others to update the blog too.

Well I'm late for brekky, blessings to all, and thanks for the prayers- cause they're working!!!!

Dave in front of where he lives

During our study time. We're doing a study series on young people of the Bible. Dad has previously done David and this morning Sonya covered Joseph. Tomorrow I'll be doing Jonathan. Others which we'll cover include Ruth, Timothy, Isaiah, Josiah, Hannag and a couple of others.

Chiang Mai- Dave P

After catching up with the staff from Elpis school the other night (which went really well and we were able to both encourage and be encouraged) we caught the bus to Chiang Mai the following day. It was an early morning so after the 6 hour bus trip we were pretty zonked again so we pretty much had dinner, had a quick look around Chiang Mai and went to bed.

Today we caught up with Dave Prior and had a good time seeing where he lived and taking plenty of pictures of the place so that we can show his family when we arrive back in Melbourne. I was able to have a good chat to him also to be able to find out how things are going in a bit more detail and how we can best be praying for him.

Tomorrow we'll be catching up with Judy at 12 and going to her church in the arvo. So we're all looking forward to that as well. Trust everything is going well back home with beachmissions and coffeeshops and whatever else! Blessings from Thailand :)

happy new year!

It was to the sounds of fireworks at 10pm that most of us went to bed last night!

Although it was midnight in australia so we figured that was good enough. We had a really good chance to chat with Neill & Dianna last night and a great time of encouragement and support was had going both ways. Dans now over his tummy bug and almost up to full strength again. Give thanks that it only knocked him out for 1 day, as normally it could be a bit longer.

We're about to have a cultural lesson from our cultural advisor Mimee (translator) and then catch up with the staff from Elpis School. They school mainly illegals from Burma and have roughly 200 in the school and what we'd normally fit 25 students into they manage 80 so the classes can be quite large.

Tomorrow we're heading back to Chiang Mai on the 6hr bus trip so prayer we can be open to divine appointments all along the way would be fantastic. thanks for the encouragment and sms's!

mae sot bugs

We had a good trial run at some kids games at a small orphanage

Houses overlooking the Burmese border where we did a prayer walk today

Hi Guys,

we're into another day and Dan wins the prize for the first person to get sick. He had it going both ends and has been out of action all day. We've confined him to barracks (the guest house) to try and give him a chance to recover. Its always hard though when you go somewhere to do mission, you want to be where God wants you but you get layed low with sickness. So its been a tough day for Dan. Be praying also for Sonya.

Today we went on a prayer walk with the team from Brisbane who we met on board the plane to Chiang Rai. Funny how our paths continue to keep crossing!!! We walked with Philip and he showed us the area he's ministering to.

This arvo we went to meet Niell and Dianna and to see an orphanage they run. Tonight we're catching up with them over dinner to hopefully get some insights as to how their ministry is going and also how long term missionaries function.

Yesterday we managed somehow to get away with double booking oursevles for new years eve parties (both a day early-go figure!), and we were able to encourage those we saw at both events also.

Thanks for your prayers, they're really useful. Blessings, to all and hope your new years eve celebrations are an encouragement to all!

Maesot

We arrived last night in Maesot after a 6 hour-ish bus ride, met up with Mimee at the bus stop and made our way into Maesot (I got to ride on the back of Mimee's motorbike!). Thankfuly David and Chuilian managed to catch the last bus of the night from Tak to meet us at the hotel shortly after not being able to catch a direct bus from Bangkok . We are staying on the highway (105) that leads into Maesot at the Pin Guest House.
Last night was an early night and we had a guided tour of Maesot today with Mimee, mainly looking around at the market (lots of interesting sights and smells... pigs heads, fish paste and live frogs :S ) Tonight we will be heading out to two different churches New Years / Christmas parties (we managed to double book because the two invites we accepted were thought to be for the same party...) of the local churches. Over the next few days we shall be having some cultural and Thai lessons from Mimee as well as catching up with many missionaries that Peter and Chris know in the area from previous trips.
Prayer for quick adjustment for the whole team to Thailand and also for some good team time over the next few days as they are expected to be a bit more relaxed than later on in the trip...
I believe that Mike has all of our Thai phone numbers if you want them or I have my normal number as well. Until the next post :)

Chiang Mai in transit...

Ok so we've been able to see God at work already. All flights and baggage got to Chiang Mai tonight on time (except Dave but he was on a different flight and we'll hopefully catch him tomorrow).
We caught up with Judy to collect our bus tickets for the next leg tomorrow and we were able to spend just an hour chatting and providing her with some stuff for her sore throat that we brought from Aus with us, along with some hopefully comfy ear plugs!
Randomly we bumped into a guy at Chiang Mai airport waiting to pick up a group from Brisbane and he just happened to start speaking to us and saw I was wearing a 'gutenberg bible' t-shirt and said he was into that kinda stuff too. Turns out he works for a mission organisation that we'll be visiting and we'll be meeting his co-worker next week in Mae Sot. To top it off his crew of 6 people are on the same bus going there tomorrow. Random- I think not- God ordained - I think so.

Teams dead tired so i'm off too bed!

singapore...in transit...

free internet at singapore airport so thought we'd make the most of it.- we're in the middle of our small 10 hour stopover here before flying to Chiang Mai to catch up with Judy briefly tonight. Just thought we'd let you know we're still alive :)

And they're off...

Last night at 9:30pm, a farewell crew of nine of us went out to Melbourne Airport to make sure Peter, Chris, Dan, Sonya and Leonie left the country without any problems. There were no hitches or delays and by 11:55pm they were taxing out for take off for an on-schedule arrival in Singapore.

Dave Keen will be flying over separately and leaving today. He has been told his flight has been delayed 4 hours.

Pray for safety as they travel and that they can all meet up together in Thailand OK with any further delays.

prayer calendar/itinerary

Thanks Mike for that last post, For those who want to know here's a copy of the prayer calendar/itinerary for our trip.

Team Update

Hello all, here's a visual of the team members for this trip including their 2 translators.

They are departing tomorrow night (Sat 27th) at 11:55pm from Tullamarine Airport. Feel free to come and join us in bidding them farewell. We will be meeting at the airport from 9:30pm. They are scheduled to be returning at 7:15am on Wed 14th Jan back to Melbourne.

Cheers,

Mike

Thailand: trip for blessing

So another journey is about to begin:
A team of 6 this time are heading out to Thailand to visit about 15 different people/couples/ministries with the primary aim of encouraging, supporting and blessing those we meet.
The team consists of: Leaders Chris & Peter Ford, Leonie Hosken, Dan & Sonya Sullivan and David Keen.
I hope in the next day or so to have a copy of the prayer calender up for your perusal while we're away. We leave on the evening of the 27th and arrive back on the 14th.
Until next time...
MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Home-back in Aus!

OK, so we made it home today safe and sound, and while some of us slept a bit others of us went to work! But we made it back. Dave, Howard, Mel, Roy, Di and Kim are also (or should be) back home now, leaving just Steve and Chee in Malaysia. More updates/feedback to come when we're a bit more awake. I'll try and get a few other team members to put their contributions up also so you don't always have to hear from me. (so if you're one of those team members feel free to email me something to put here!)

Once again thanks heaps for all your prayers and support and concern and encouragment while away. It was certainly really appreciated by everyone and we were able to see God move in even the small things. Thanks again!

rounding up

Ok guys, We made it to singapore airport and i have 3mins to update this blog. Kids min stuff ended up going really well. And I managed to break both Sherida and Leonie's heart (but they'll get over it!) The medical side of things was a bit slacker over the last week or so but it meant we could focus a bit more on developing relationships with the kids for that side of the ministry.
We still have to try and get Dave and Howard on the same flight back as us, so that's the next job. Anyway thanks heaps for your prayers and i'll update more when i get home.
Chris :)

Now the work is done, it's time to have some fun!

The team finished up the kids ministy and medical stuff today. Just doing the final meetings with the local tonight. The translators that were accompanying the team are both coming down south to Phuket with the team for a team debrief which should be good. Thanks for all prayers. It's going to be an early morning tomorrow and flight connections are going to be tight. Thanks for all prayers. Sherida and Leonie say Hi to all.

Ok so its the first time that we've been able to access the internet while away in Thailand. We are in a little internet cafe about 20 metres from the northern Thai/Burmese border. Some of the team members are currently in Burma(I think)...
We are all being pushed to the max with language challenges, learning new skills on the run and not always getting enough sleep. Although we'd expected to be able to use internet earlier, plans have always change or time run short. Plans changing and our schedule being a moving target has been something that everyone on team has had to learn to deal with, as it has happened a few times and sometimes at short notice. We are all much more flexible now...
Anyway, we're off to Phuket Sunday morning for a relax and debrief before flying home Wednesday morning.

One Team Member Coming Home

Today (Mon) Chris dropped Peter off at the airport as Peter had to return home to Australia for work. Pray for Steve, Roy and Chris as they take up the leadership roles Peter was undertaking.
Apart from tiredness, the team is doing well but Mel is not feeling 100%.
The kids ministry is going freat. They were able to run kids church yesterday with only 30 minutes warning. They've got 2 different drama's they're doing too.
The medicine is going well also.
Thanks again for your interest. Keep the prayers and words of encouragement coming as you never know what impact it can have on people serving overseas!

Some long days ahead

The team is doing OK with a few flat days in between but overall doing very well. The team is going out to a different village tomorrow and staying overnight so they are expecting some long days ahead burning the candle at both ends of the day, so prayer against tiredness would be really appreciated.
The kids ministry is going well and so is the medicine with the team having just the right amount of medicine on hand.
Chris gave his testimony the other night and Chee and Howard were giving theirs tonight as well as a native Aka (Thai) woman.
The drama they've been doing has also been going really well with the Thai people really enjoying it.
Thanks for your prayers, support and encouragement. They are all greatly appreciated.

Luxury

The team have now moved from Chang Rai to Mae Chan and they are quite happy to no longer have to use a squat toiler but have a flushable one. At the time I spoke to them, they were currently in Banana Village eating oranges! They are learning lots of languages (they have been in 3 tribes each of which have their own language) plus Thai as well. Sleeping is OK as they have improved their sleeping arrangements from bamboo floors (apparently not all that comfortable), onto concrete floors. They are getting to bed around 9:30pm-10pm each night and geting up when the roosters crow around 6:15am!
The team still really values their prayers. They are getting a real spiritual workout. Overall it is all going well but a few of the team have colds but nothing worse thankfully. Keep praying for the individuals on the team as well as some of them are feeling a bit burdened with lots of things on their minds.
Thanks for your prayers!
(Mike)

Tiredness

The following was sent through from Chris yesterday (5th Jan):
"The team is getting a bit tired. We left Paya Pai 2 days ago and went to Semiko yesterday. We caught up with a previous translators sister and did medical work there. Today's our day off and we're in transit at the moment from there to a village we haven't been to before. Feel free to send messages back. The prayer ministry is doing well and some days has its work cut out for it."

They do have limited internet access over there depending on where they are and can check this blog site so feel free to post any comments so they can read them when they get a chance and can pass them onto the rest of the team.

Keep up your prayers for the team as it's not easy of there.

Chang Rai

The latest news from Thailand... the group arrived with no problems into Bangkok. They got the medication through customs without any problems although they wanted to check every one of the 17? boxes of medication they had. They picked up Mel in Singapore and after arriving in Bangkok, set off for a 10 hour bus ride up north to Chang Rai. 13 hours later they arrived at their hotel at 1am and had a rest day the following day after more than 24 hours of non-stop travelling! The team all managed to get 8 hrs sleep which was great considering the travelling required.
Since being in Chang Rai, they have visited one of the villages where they had 'Yudanese' converts, another 'Aka' (excuse my spelling) village where there were only 4 or 5 Christian familes and they felt a need to have an outreach time at mid-day after their clinic. Surprisingly a few witch doctors were challenged and questioning things. (An awkward time for the witch doctors considering their role and status in their society.) Another Thai interprettor (Joe) who has been with them on previous trips has now joined them. He relates well to all people, especially the young ones.
If you've heard any more, please feel free to add any comments or email me so I can post it on this site. The team want to thank you all for your prayers so far and those still to come.

They're Off!!

Well, the group is finally on their way! We have just returned from the airport after seeing off the 11 people travelling to Bangkok from Melbourne (Mel is already up in Bangkok and will be meeting them up there). After a pretty hectic day for a few today they had no troubles getting through their numerous boxes of medications and didn't have to pay anything extra for any excess baggage... (Prayer point number 1 answered). The second and third big praise points today also included Leonie having to get a new passport today after realising last night (the night before they left that she had lost her passport. Steve (team leader) accompanied her into the city and after explaining to the passport people that Leonie was an 'integral part of the medical team', they issued her with a new passport within an hour. Howard (from Crossway) today also managed to get onto a return flight home with other team members after still being waitlisted up till today.

So that's the update for now. I'll be keeping you up to date as much as possible on behalf of Chris while he's away. Thanks for your prayers so far and keep praying, especially for sleep and rest on their way up to Chang Rai as they'll be flying through the night and will be hitting the ground running when they arrive.

Best wishes.

Mike (on behalf of Chris and the Thailand Mission Team)

Group Mug Shots

Here are the pictures of the team to pray for:

Steve (team leader)

Peter (co leader)

Roy (co leader)

Me (Chris co leader)


Mel Sherida

Leonie

Di

Howard

Di

David

Chee

Trip details

Ok so here is the basic plan of where we're going on this trip. Just click on the image to enlarge it! This is also the prayer calendar for the trip. Enjoy.

Next Adventure details...

OK, So it's been a very long while between posts, and since my last post I have returned, started uni and am now planing a return medical trip.
The date we're looking at leaving for the next trip is 26 December for 3 weeks. We have a meeting Sunday week (16th) about it, so if you want to come and haven't told me yet, let me know!!!

Phuket- explaination

Oh, and by the way- the reason Phuket- is that that is where she works when she's not translating for us, so it was easier for me to go visit her!

Phuket- how do i explain this as a mission???

Hey guys,
Sorry its been so long between posts! Things are going really well here and are starting to wrap up. I've just spent 1 day in Chiang Mai after catching up with our other translater in Chaing Rai for a few hours, then 3 days in Phuket with our translater from our previous mission trips. 3 days of speaking broken English/Thai/Chinese often mixed up with each other- fun, but tiring. Tomorrow I head back to Bangkok, and then from there to Melbourne mid next week!
Lookig forward to catching you all soon, but at the same time sad to say bye!
Catch ya,
Chris

Songkran II

Sorry guys this was meant to be the photo for the last post.

The call would go out... "Farang" (meaning foreigner), then 2 seconds later the water would come down my back, front or all over! This went on for 30mins every 30sec or so- hence the wetness!

Thanks heaps for all your comments too! I love staying up to date with whats happening back home!

Songkran

Chiang Rai

Hey Guys, i'm in some dodgy internet cafe in Chiang Rai so i'll just be quick. Just spent 3 days touring the Akha hill tribes with a bunch of Austrian musicians. That was fun! Tell you more about that later. ALso caught up with our translater form our previous trip. Also the water festival is on at the moment, so when I walk back from here i am going to get saturated, as they particularly love throwing water on foriengers! They drive along the street in the back of utes and throw water on people on the side fo the road, on other utes, and on motorcylists. they also have people on the side of the road just throwing water back. The streets look like it's rained. It's insane. Tomorrow i'm bussing down to Chiang Mai at 230 and then 2 days later i'm flying down to Phuket to catch up with one of our other translaters who's working there. Anyway better go. Chris :)

Pix info

The pictures below:
Top left: Easter Sunday breakfast
Top right: Easter Sunday church service
Middle left: In Bangkok one of the English Classes
Middle right: In Bangkok- kids bathing at Community Centre
Bottom: View from motel window (not bad for $7/night- and that price included mozzies!!!)

More pix

Nelson, his wife Be and daughter Carolynne in Sangkhla Buri

This was the family I went to Sangkhla Buri to visit

Kids at church on Easter Sunday