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)
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Friday, December 28, 2007
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 Monday, December 24, 2007
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.Wednesday, September 5, 2007
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!!!
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!!!
Saturday, April 21, 2007
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
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!
Monday, April 16, 2007
Sunday, April 15, 2007
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 :)
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
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!!!)
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!!!)
Nelson, his wife Be and daughter Carolynne in Sangkhla Buri
This was the family I went to Sangkhla Buri to visit
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
In transit- Sangkhlaburi-Chiang Rai
Hey guys, I just realised i made a boo boo on my last post- i was meant to say english teachin is now finished instead of 'not' finished. he he whoops!
Anyway, i made it back from Sangkhla buri today after a great time there. I spent only 3 days there but it felt like i got to know all the people there really well. I visited a school that was being built, and heard the frustrations of building it, i visited a hospital where a New Zealand person showed me round, that was cool to get their perspective of it all. They were on placement.
I had to suffer in a lakeside resort overlooking this scerene lake, which is where i stayed. The food was good, the company was great, and I managed to write up 39 pages of my journal from just 3 days. i think my hand is about to fall off! Thank goodness for keyboards!
The 6 hour van trip back to BKK from there was an adventure. A Christian guy met us in burma and asked us if we'd like a lift back to bangkok to day. we accepted and took the 7 seater van back to the city, although the aircon wasn't working, and so we were all a ball of sweat for the entire time. when we got out in bangkok, the outside temperature was around 30 and it felt like we'd just jumped into the beach at wilsons prom in the middle of winter! Ahh the funs of travelling. Mozzie count- not bad, Food assessment- Nelson- (the guy i was visiting) his wife is an excellent chef.
Anyway- off to the airport for a 640am flight tomorrow to Chiang Rai. HOpe you all keep having fun!
Chris :)
Anyway, i made it back from Sangkhla buri today after a great time there. I spent only 3 days there but it felt like i got to know all the people there really well. I visited a school that was being built, and heard the frustrations of building it, i visited a hospital where a New Zealand person showed me round, that was cool to get their perspective of it all. They were on placement.
I had to suffer in a lakeside resort overlooking this scerene lake, which is where i stayed. The food was good, the company was great, and I managed to write up 39 pages of my journal from just 3 days. i think my hand is about to fall off! Thank goodness for keyboards!
The 6 hour van trip back to BKK from there was an adventure. A Christian guy met us in burma and asked us if we'd like a lift back to bangkok to day. we accepted and took the 7 seater van back to the city, although the aircon wasn't working, and so we were all a ball of sweat for the entire time. when we got out in bangkok, the outside temperature was around 30 and it felt like we'd just jumped into the beach at wilsons prom in the middle of winter! Ahh the funs of travelling. Mozzie count- not bad, Food assessment- Nelson- (the guy i was visiting) his wife is an excellent chef.
Anyway- off to the airport for a 640am flight tomorrow to Chiang Rai. HOpe you all keep having fun!
Chris :)
Sunday, April 8, 2007
In Sangkhla buri
Hello and thanks for all the updates. They are very useful. Congrats Dan on being dunked (insert exclaimation mark here- im using a german keyboard so i cant find it)
English teaching is not finished and it was a great time. Everyone has now shipped out of bangkok either to Melbourne, Phuket, Malasyia or where i am.
I left at 730 yesterdaz and made it to the bus station at 929 and bought mz ticket for the 930 bus. Just made it. Then a 6 hour bus trip and got in at 440. It was a nice long daz then to top it off i got asked to preach this morning bz mz contact here Nelson- so I did. Small congregation but still gave me something to do/prepare last night.
Iäm stazing at a place called sangkhla buri which is on the border of burma and thailand and i leave here on tuesdaz. (sorrz z is a y on this kezboard) There is a house here where some people from Swityland and New Yealand are stazing. One is a doctor and the others are looking at helping the burmese.
God is looking after me verz well with things just falling into place at the right time and thanks for all zour prazers. Iäm being eaten bz moyyies alot but other than that its great.
Oh zear, the pictures were of camp and Chris and Jodie in case zou were wondering.
Catch za,
Chris :)
English teaching is not finished and it was a great time. Everyone has now shipped out of bangkok either to Melbourne, Phuket, Malasyia or where i am.
I left at 730 yesterdaz and made it to the bus station at 929 and bought mz ticket for the 930 bus. Just made it. Then a 6 hour bus trip and got in at 440. It was a nice long daz then to top it off i got asked to preach this morning bz mz contact here Nelson- so I did. Small congregation but still gave me something to do/prepare last night.
Iäm stazing at a place called sangkhla buri which is on the border of burma and thailand and i leave here on tuesdaz. (sorrz z is a y on this kezboard) There is a house here where some people from Swityland and New Yealand are stazing. One is a doctor and the others are looking at helping the burmese.
God is looking after me verz well with things just falling into place at the right time and thanks for all zour prazers. Iäm being eaten bz moyyies alot but other than that its great.
Oh zear, the pictures were of camp and Chris and Jodie in case zou were wondering.
Catch za,
Chris :)
Friday, April 6, 2007
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
teaching
Hey guys,
i'm writting this from between teaching gigs today. its the usual high 30's and the area we taught at this morning had a lovely aroma of sewerage and dog do do! lunch is about to be called with the traditional thai meal there. it's great to see the kids actually taking some of the english stuff in!!!
feedback from camp: it was the best experience of my life- from one of the boys
i'm writting this from between teaching gigs today. its the usual high 30's and the area we taught at this morning had a lovely aroma of sewerage and dog do do! lunch is about to be called with the traditional thai meal there. it's great to see the kids actually taking some of the english stuff in!!!
feedback from camp: it was the best experience of my life- from one of the boys
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Back from camp
Ok, so I returned from camp after eating rice for breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper, and went straight to Maccas for a Chris triple hamberger special.
Camp went great, 50ish kids some who'd never been to the beach before all going on a party bus (disco music, bass thumping for 3 hours, dancing up the back of the bus) was a great experience. Taught english for only 4 hours, but spent time with the team and kids. This morning I also counted 12 mosquito bites on my right hand- I guess i forgot about the aeroguard on that one hey! Today is the day off and had a good sleep in- better than getting up for 'exercises' on camp at 630 or even 5am! Plenty more camp experiences but I'll tell you when I get home.
Next week will be teaching English to some of the guys who went on the camp so that should be fun! Teaching in both the morning and evening. Well, keep me posted on how things are going in chilly Melbourne (apparently its meant to be 41 degrees here today!) Hope you're all keeping well
Chris
Camp went great, 50ish kids some who'd never been to the beach before all going on a party bus (disco music, bass thumping for 3 hours, dancing up the back of the bus) was a great experience. Taught english for only 4 hours, but spent time with the team and kids. This morning I also counted 12 mosquito bites on my right hand- I guess i forgot about the aeroguard on that one hey! Today is the day off and had a good sleep in- better than getting up for 'exercises' on camp at 630 or even 5am! Plenty more camp experiences but I'll tell you when I get home.
Next week will be teaching English to some of the guys who went on the camp so that should be fun! Teaching in both the morning and evening. Well, keep me posted on how things are going in chilly Melbourne (apparently its meant to be 41 degrees here today!) Hope you're all keeping well
Chris
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Off to the Beach!
Ok so after I made it, I relaxed for a day or two. The team arrived in dribs and drabs over the last 2 or so days. The 7 people from Blacky Church of Christ arrived 2 days ago then the other 9 or so arrived yesterday.
We went to church yesterday- and you had to laugh as they sang their own songs then they sang choruses from the '80s in Thai but we could sing along in English- well i found it humerous anyway!
Had an orientation day today and I am know going on a sports camp to the beach from tomorrow (Tuesday) through to Friday, which should be fun (thanks mum for packing the sleeping sheet!!!) What I'll be doing: teaching English with 4 others Robyn (from YFC), Ella from Blackburn, Rob from Swanston Street COC and Ash- UNOH director. We'll be one of 4 workshops the 8-14year olds do each day so we'll be teaching English for 4 hours each day- (the same session 4 times over for the 4 different groups!) When we're not doing that we'll be leaders on the camp with the locals from the church, it also means I wont (probably) have internet access for the next few days.
Weather is still muggy as anything and despite being a ball of sweat by the time i've even entered the slum, I still managed to play soccer with the young boys and then go for a 5km run with one of the UNOH workers- it was fun and a good chance to chat and see what their really on about. (aparently it got down to a mild 30 last night!)
Caught up with Chris and Jodie today and Grace and Ruby, and visited their house today. Quite spacious really- a 3 room plus toilet house about the size of our lounge room and varanda.
So, hope you're all keeping well. Sorry this is such a long post, but you wont get one for another couple of days! Thanks for all your prayers as well. Really appreciate them. From here on in I think i'm required to get up and be ready for action at 730, so no sleepins for Chris (until saturday!)
Catch ya!
Chris
We went to church yesterday- and you had to laugh as they sang their own songs then they sang choruses from the '80s in Thai but we could sing along in English- well i found it humerous anyway!
Had an orientation day today and I am know going on a sports camp to the beach from tomorrow (Tuesday) through to Friday, which should be fun (thanks mum for packing the sleeping sheet!!!) What I'll be doing: teaching English with 4 others Robyn (from YFC), Ella from Blackburn, Rob from Swanston Street COC and Ash- UNOH director. We'll be one of 4 workshops the 8-14year olds do each day so we'll be teaching English for 4 hours each day- (the same session 4 times over for the 4 different groups!) When we're not doing that we'll be leaders on the camp with the locals from the church, it also means I wont (probably) have internet access for the next few days.
Weather is still muggy as anything and despite being a ball of sweat by the time i've even entered the slum, I still managed to play soccer with the young boys and then go for a 5km run with one of the UNOH workers- it was fun and a good chance to chat and see what their really on about. (aparently it got down to a mild 30 last night!)
Caught up with Chris and Jodie today and Grace and Ruby, and visited their house today. Quite spacious really- a 3 room plus toilet house about the size of our lounge room and varanda.
So, hope you're all keeping well. Sorry this is such a long post, but you wont get one for another couple of days! Thanks for all your prayers as well. Really appreciate them. From here on in I think i'm required to get up and be ready for action at 730, so no sleepins for Chris (until saturday!)
Catch ya!
Chris
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Made it!
Hey Guys. Made it safely to BKK (at midnight Melb time) 8pm Thai time and by the time I got out of the airport I decided to take it easy (as I had a headache too) so I booked into the motel i'll be staying in for the next 2 weeks, and did not much except go up the street and buy food and check out the motel. I've attached a picture of my plane food (being jet star had to bring my own) but it was quite a nice spread.- Picture may not work as internet is really slow here!
Now for the deeper stuff:
How's this for a saying- i thought of this morning!
"First in order to work most effectively...you must first confront your own demons"
So feel free to be praying for that!
Ok enough deep stuff- The rest of the crew get here tomorrow or Sunday so that should be good to catch up with them and get to know them. Hope all is well with all of you!
Thinking of you (while melting in 35 degree heat!)
Chris
Now for the deeper stuff:
How's this for a saying- i thought of this morning!
"First in order to work most effectively...you must first confront your own demons"
So feel free to be praying for that!
Ok enough deep stuff- The rest of the crew get here tomorrow or Sunday so that should be good to catch up with them and get to know them. Hope all is well with all of you!
Thinking of you (while melting in 35 degree heat!)
Chris
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Melbourne- Bangkok
Ok, so I leave in 5 minutes. I hope to be able to access this as frequently as possible to keep you updated, but no promises as who knows when I'll have internet access!!!
I seem to have everything packed at the moment, including my lunch for the plane!
In terms of preparation, I think i am ok. I have got maps of Bangkok and I'm staying on Kho San Rd tonight, although I haven't booked accomodation yet, that's half the fun of just walking up and seeing if there's any room!
In terms of bags- I'm taking one backpack and one bag full of goodies to be left at the slum and one carryon bag. Thanks for all your prayers. They're always appreciated.
2 Corinthians 1 first bit on comfort, was a scripture that also stuck out to me as I was preparing.
Catch ya soon!
Chris
I seem to have everything packed at the moment, including my lunch for the plane!
In terms of preparation, I think i am ok. I have got maps of Bangkok and I'm staying on Kho San Rd tonight, although I haven't booked accomodation yet, that's half the fun of just walking up and seeing if there's any room!
In terms of bags- I'm taking one backpack and one bag full of goodies to be left at the slum and one carryon bag. Thanks for all your prayers. They're always appreciated.
2 Corinthians 1 first bit on comfort, was a scripture that also stuck out to me as I was preparing.
Catch ya soon!
Chris
Monday, March 19, 2007
3 Days to go!
As of today (Monday) there are now only 3 days to go before i jump on a plane and scoot off to Bangkok. And it hit me tonight that I'm still not really prepared to teach English, but at the same time God's got everything under control. (Good thing that too!)Wednesday, March 14, 2007
One week and one day to go.
Well the Adventure to Thailand is only 1 week and 1 day away now, and I'm attempting to learn at least some Thai so that when I'm teaching English to the Thai kids I can at least say something to them they'll understand!
My itenerary at the moment is as follows:
Thursday 22 March: Depart Melbourne
Saturday 24 March- Sunday 8 April: Teaching ESL in the Klong Toey slum with UNOH
Monday 9 April- Thursday 12 April-ish: Heading west to Sanklaburi
Friday 13 April-ish- Saturday 21 April-ish: Catching up with Pastors/missionaries in Chiang Rai
Sunday 22ish: Head back to Bangkok
Monday 23: Leave Bangkok for Melbourne
Tuesday 24: Arrive back in Melbourne
Of course this in Thailand so pretty much only the departure dates from Mel & BKK are set and the ESL teaching. All the rest of it is pretty fluid at the moment!
My itenerary at the moment is as follows:
Thursday 22 March: Depart Melbourne
Saturday 24 March- Sunday 8 April: Teaching ESL in the Klong Toey slum with UNOH
Monday 9 April- Thursday 12 April-ish: Heading west to Sanklaburi
Friday 13 April-ish- Saturday 21 April-ish: Catching up with Pastors/missionaries in Chiang Rai
Sunday 22ish: Head back to Bangkok
Monday 23: Leave Bangkok for Melbourne
Tuesday 24: Arrive back in Melbourne
Of course this in Thailand so pretty much only the departure dates from Mel & BKK are set and the ESL teaching. All the rest of it is pretty fluid at the moment!
Sunday, March 4, 2007
Welcome!
Welcome to the first of I don't know how many postings that will keep people up-to-date with the travels and fun of Chris!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
