Learning Thai

I've been hearing from some of you wondering about how/if the cyclone in Myanmar/Burma has affected Tom and the team who are traveling. I just wanted to let you all know that the team is safe and not in any danger. The cyclone happened in the south of Myanmar along the coast (Rangoon/Yangon). The team is located in Mae Sot, still in Thailand but near the border with Myanmar to the North in a mountainous region. There was a little rain before they arrived but it's been nothing but sunny since they've been there. Please remember all the people in Myanmar who have lost homes and family members- as I'm sure many of you have read, CNN is reporting the death toll at 22,000 with 41,000 still missing, so it's a huge tragedy.

The English camp is going well. The team is working with about 40 kids at the camp with a wide variety of ages and English ability. Pray for lots of energy for them and for creativity as they plan lessons, games, music and skits. Claire is really enjoying the time too- she loves it that she gets to play a part in the skits and is having fun playing with the kids.
Thanks for your prayers and continue to pray for safety as they will be doing some more traveling to visit Thai/Karen villages and a refugee camp later in the week. They return by overnight bus on Saturday.
-Candice

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 11:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Claire and I are leaving this evening for a return trip to Mae Sot. (I talked about my first trip in this earlier post.) We're going along to help introduce the REACH team to the area. They will be putting on an English camp at one of the churches and we're also planning to help out at a new school in the little Karen settlement pictured above.

Claire is excited about this adventure and has her backpack packed and ready to go. We'll return early next Sunday morning. We'd appreciate your prayers over the next week - both for Claire and I as we go and for Candice and Eliza as they stay home.

-Tom

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 06:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Today was a big day for Claire. It was the last day of summer term AND she finally got enough stickers on her behavior chart to earn her new bike! For the last month she's been earning star stickers for doing her jobs without complaining, good work at school, obedience, getting along with Eliza, etc. (and losing a few stickers for the opposite thereof!) After all that hard work, we had a reward date this afternoon that included ice cream at Swenson's and Claire chose her bike (she outgrew her first one and we decided it was time to pass it on to Eliza).

With her reward chart. Oh the excitement with the 30th star went on today!

She thought she was quite the grown-up choosing coffee ice cream with extra chocolate chips!

As you can see, Eliza was pretty happy with her chocolate with sprinkles too.

Claire choosing the perfect bike at the bike shop.

Trying out her tricked out bike on our street...complete with a bell, a doll carrier and handle bar streamers. What more could you ask for? She's thrilled!

We're having a good week around here- finishing up school and getting in meetings and team odds and ends before Tom heads to the Burmese border again all next week. I promise, the next entry is Tom in skirts!
-Candice

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 05:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Today I'm extra thankful for a family that has served God down through generations leading up to me and my kids. I am tremendously blessed to have had grandparents that served and loved Him. Today is Grammy's funeral (my Dad's mom). I'm remembering a lot of times at her house- doing everything from helping make apple butter in a big pot outside to eating her famous pig stomach at Christmas (not sure if I actually ever tried any of that!). I'm missing my family and just wanting to give them all a hug today. If you see them, you can do it for me!

This is one of the parts of being away that just doesn't get any easier. It hurts to be apart when the family is welcoming a new baby or saying good-bye to a grandparent. Last week, my nephew Vincent (Martin and Sylvia's son) was born and I was happy and sad to be away during another big moment in my family's life. Time is going by too fast- I haven't even met his big brother Elliot yet!
Still, God is good and he's comforted me and known what I need. I'm also grateful for the team and support he's given us here.
Thanks for remembering my family, especially my dad in your prayers today.
-Candice

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 11:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Yesterday was Eliza's big day! Happy 3rd Birthday!

Eliza chose the Children's Museum for her day of fun.....She and Claire thought it was cool being inside a bubble in the science building.

Eliza tries out the simulated "womb" at the museum. She liked hearing the mother's heartbeat so much we could hardly get her to come out. She loved imagining what it's like to be her little brother right now.

After a pizza supper, we all enjoyed the turtle cake. Eliza for some reason could not blow out ANY of the candles and Daddy had to step in.

The chair was one of her favorite presents and today she's been having fun reading all her new books in it. Right now she's playing with her new leggo set from Grandma. Thanks to all the Grandparents for the wonderfully fun packages you sent- she's been busy playing all day with all the fun stuff you sent!

-Candice

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 04:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Our God is AWESOME! We had our monthly celebration meeting at our house last night, and it was so encouraging to see what he is doing among us and our friends. Since our meetings have a potluck style meal, and no "leader" for the meeting, we never know quite what the meeting will be like. Last night we had a great turnout of Thai friends and a potluck feast, followed by worship that was a mix of Thai, Spanish and English songs and Bible study and prayer. With 6 nationalities represented, we had a truly multi-cultural worship service. Praise God for the interest and open hearts of our Thai friends. Continue your prayers for them!

There were about 30 of us squeezed into our living room (and spilling over into the entryway) enjoying chicken, grilled pork, fried rice, papaya salad, sticky rice, mango sticky rice, fruit, etc.

The other half of the group.

Worshipping God in three languages. We're so excited to have three more new interns joining us from Nicaragua.....Nixon, Efrain, and Reina.

The children (Claire, Eliza, Tiger, Hope, and Itty) listen intently to the story of "Jesus Calms the Storm" read in English by Reacher Brittany and in Thai by my friend and neighbor Chaweewan.

Breaking out into groups according to language for the Bible study on prayer. Here is one of the Thai groups. We were so happy to have our landlords Urai and Seri attending (on the right, beside Tom). Seri had lots of questions and interest in the scripture and wants to meet again to study more! We are excited about what God has planned for him!

Brittany and Yupim. Brittany and Joelle live with Yupim here in Thippawan and help her with her ministry to slum kids. She is an amazing lady and we were happy to have her at our group for the first time, sharing her testimony with other Thai friends.

Eliza and her friend Dan.

In spite of it being one of the hottest times of the hot season, we had a really wonderful and encouraging meeting and were really blessed!

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 12:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

This past weekend I had the chance to spend several days in northwestern Thailand, along the border with Myanmar. I went to visit my friend Manat, the Thai man who taught English at the first school Claire attended. He is now spending some of his time in this border region, working among the Karen people (many of them refugees from Myanmar). This was a part of Thailand I'd never seen before and I'm grateful that I had the chance.

Manat and his team are working in a number of small villages in that region and it was encouraging to see their perseverance and dedication in the midst of such difficult circumstances.

I'm still processing a lot of what I saw and learned and wondering how we should or can assist in this work. For starters, I'll be taking the REACH team back in a couple of weeks so that they can do an English camp and some work projects.

Here are a few pictures and some more comments...

These are Karen kids. Many of them (and their parents) are not living in Thailand legally. This prevents them from receiving adequate education. Manat is working with a small church to build a very simple school building/pavilion that will serve part of this undocumented population.

We visited the Mae La refugee camp. This is managed by the United Nations and houses 60,000 people. Some of them have been there for years, others are transferred on to a third country. People move to the camp to escape the persecution and unrest that continues across the river in Myanmar.

On Sunday we worshiped with a group of kids in one of the villages. From what I could observe, many of these families are living on next to nothing. The parents and kids can sometimes find work picking corn for $2-$3 per day, but even that is very inconsistent.

One of the traditional Karen handicrafts is woven cloth. I bought a couple of nifty man-skirts while I was there. Candice think that they should be the subject of a future photo-shoot and blog.

And, on a lighter note, this is me making a very brief and unofficial visit to Myanmar. Since one of the villages that we visited was right on the Moei River that divides the two countries we stripped down to our boxers and went for a swim. So, even though my passport won't confirm it, I can now claim to have visited Myanmar (in my underwear, no less).

-Tom

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 08:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)