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!