What Do We Do Anyway?

I've often been asked variations of the question, "What do you do in Thailand?" and I've never gotten around to posting an answer because I'm busy doing it:). Today, however, is different. I haven't been feeling too well today and stayed home from the office, so perhaps I can fill in a few blanks for you!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now that it is 11:30 at night and I can't sleep, how 'bout I finish what I started? :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm too tired to go find the post now, but I think I have mentioned in the past that a big chunk of time is spent working on the Good and Evil Project. Basically it's a 320-page comic book that tells the story of the Bible in an incredible way for people who don't know a thing about the Bible. This comic book has been translated into dozens of languages and my job (along with three other ladies in our office) is to take the translated text and place it in the bubbles. I don't speak any of these languages (I wish!), but I do often communicate with the translators as we work in getting a particular language completed.

We have a numbering system in place so that the translator and the text placers (I believe our technical title is "graphic artists" - wow) can easily understand what the other is talking about and it really makes for a quick reference. I've been in Thailand for 11 months and have had the great privilege and opportunity to work on over 30 languages. That's an incredible amount! How I praise the Lord for diligent and faithful translators who labor endlessly in their tasks so I can do my job.

In addition to working on the Good and Evil project, we also have two translators in our office. Berm, our Thai translator, is translating the Bible Institute curriculum from Oak Harbor, Washington. He has been working on this project for the last 18 months and has three more books to translate into Thai. This is quite the undertaking, but will be worth it when it is completed. Many churches and pastors in Thailand are weak in the faith because good materials were unavailable to them in Thai.

There is another translator in the office who is working on the New Testament in his language. I have to be vague for a reason, but suffice it to say the Lord has used this man in tremendous ways!

Our regular office staff consists of eight people, including the missionary and his wife. Right now the missionary's wife is in the midst of scanning the entire Bible for a regional language. The missionary (Bro. Tom) is always running in 20 different directions, with all of them demanding his attention immediately:D.

We also have other people periodically join us in our office and they are known as "short-termers" who normally stay a month or so. For us, a month is short term! We had a couple come in February who were a huge asset in getting all of our computers back up and running. Another man who came in May was able to travel around a bit with Bro. Tom to nearby countries and also take care of some things like plumbing issues. Yes, missionaries on the field do have things break and it's nice to have someone come along who is a "jack-of-all-trades" and handle that stuff for us. Never underestimate your abilities and talents on the mission field - God can use you!

We currently have three "short-termers" with us, although two of them are heading home next Thursday. Heather (mentioned in the post below) has been a great help in dropping the text in one language that needed to be done asap (translation = it was needed two weeks ago)! While Heather dropped the text in the bubbles, the rest of us came up behind her and fit the bubbles around the text and cleaned up the graphics. If she hadn't done that, we would still have quite a bit of work ahead of us! In addition to that, Heather has been scanning several books onto the computer to be worked on at a later date.

Aaron (who is also from Heather's church) has been put to work by printing some tracts and the Gospel of John in Nepali. When I first joined the team last August, I spent a good two months doing printing. In October, a young man came to work with us and took over the printing from me. He left in January and we haven't had the opportunity to print since then --- too much to do! So Aaron's been working on getting a few printing projects out of the way. He didn't come here knowing how to do it, but one afternoon and a good instruction book soon helped him out:).

Ben (who is from my church) is planning on making a video for Bro. Tom and right now is in the filming process. He does excellent work (those of you who have seen his videos would agree!) and we can't wait to see the finished product.

I haven't even touched on the CD aspect of this ministry. We had a lady help us out during November/December in burning hundreds upon hundreds of "Light of the World" and "God's Story" CDs. Of course these CDs are in regional languages, so that means a filing system needs to be in place for them:). You never know when Bro. Tom is going to come in and say, "I need God's Story in ___________ language" so it's always good to be prepared!

Lest you think we run ragged 24/7, we do operate our office Monday - Friday, 9ish-5. Saturdays are normally our "whatever" day - sometimes that means hanging out at home doing nothing and other times that means going to do tourist things. Sundays are always a busy day: we leave the house at 8:45 and usually get back around 2:30. Every now and then, we take a day off and do something extra fun:).

So there you have it! It's our routine, but it's never predictable, I can promise you that:).

*Insert Creative Title Here*

We've had lots of pictures taken recently because three "short-term" workers joined us. Why is it we never think to take pictures at any other time? Anyway, I thought I would share a few pictures that have been taken within the last week or so... enjoy!

Our office lineup, well, some of the office lineup! Do you see the distance between Pookie and I? We often use Instant Messaging (IM) since we both listen to music. I know, we're strange - you would think we would take the earphones out of our ears or something:).

Heather joined us 2 1/2 weeks ago and has been a great roommate and a lot of fun getting to know! Unfortunately she will be heading home next Thursday night... we don't like to see people leave Thailand!

At the Korean bar-b-que with Heather and Pookie. Since we got there so late, we girls were placed at a table away from the rest of the team.

In the van heading home.
Ben (middle of the picture) is from my home church and joined us that evening.

(Me, Heather, Pookie, Ben, and David)

Several of us went to a huge weekend market on Saturday, and then on to the Jim Thompson House, which also had a museum. Now this might sound weird, but it's the first time I've been in a museum in almost a year, so I was super-excited! I love going to museums and actually want to go to Washington DC soon after I get home.

These girls were at church on Sunday and are the daughters of missionaries to another country. Their mom is in Bangkok to have her baby, and we girls enjoyed spending times with these sweeties (and their older brother).

~~~~~~~~~~~

If you think of it, please pray for a majority of the team who are making a trip to the border over the next few days. Please pray for safety, renewed vision, divine appointments, and open doors. Krinny, Carolyn, and I opted to stay home and press on with the office work here:).

Gaudet Team 2009 - Ladies:).

The Lord has blessed me with some great co-workers! These ladies are very precious to me and I am so thankful for them. We were given the day off on Friday, so where do most ladies go with free time??? To the mall, of course:). What a good day spent with good friends.

(Left to right: Pookie, Bunga, Carolyn, Krinny, and I)

A Simple Truth.

Over the past two months, my Bible reading has been focused in the Psalms. I just flipped through my journal and saw countless verses from the Psalms the Lord fed me with on any particular day. As I think and meditate on His Word, I've noticed a reoccurring theme that really has changed my outlook on day-to-day happenings.

This simple truth the Lord has taught me is just that: simple. I won't say I've conquered this area in my life, but I am more aware of it, which is a good place to start! There are so many verses I could share, and even now as I look for one verse that sums up the lesson the Lord has taught me, I'm torn with which one to share. The very last verse of the book of Psalms does a good job expressing this important truth:

"Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD."

Psalm 150:6

In essence, the command from my precious heavenly Father is to praise Him. With all my being. To all people. At all times.

Now I don't know how it is for you, but usually when the Lord shows me something that I need to implement in my life, He'll also give me an opportunity to implement it in my life. Strange, I know!

For instance, last week I thought I was done with a very important project and was relieved it was finished. My surprise was great when I found out that not only was I not done, there were seven pages of corrections that needed to be made to the project. Not good. I was working under a major time constraint, and started to vent my frustration:

"I can't believe he did this to me. He told me everything was correct last week! Now I'm going to have to re-do the whole thing...[complain, complain, complain]."

My attitude was less-than-pleasing to the Lord (and the people around me), and I'm sorry I had that little venting session. The good news is that the Lord did get through my thick head with that still, small voice: "Are you praising me or are you complaining?'

Oh. Right.

Another opportunity came up to praise the Lord in all things when I found out there's a problem with my cell phone in the States. My first thought was, "oh no! All that money I still have to pay." But my sweet Saviour gently prodded and reminded me about praising Him. The situation still hasn't been resolved (that I know of), but you know what? I know that the Lord still wants to be praised regardless of how things turn out.

I hope this is an encouragement to you today as you meditate and rejoice in the Lord. Praising the Lord is the best thing to do in the midst of any circumstances!

"I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works."

Psalm 9:1

Funeral Thoughts.

Today I've posted some of my thoughts on a Buddhist funeral over at KJV Blog Directory. I experienced my first one last Wednesday when my co-worker's grandmother died. Only Christ can make a difference!

Elephants On Sukhumvit.

"A lumbering grey shadow can often catch your eye as you drive along one of Bangkok's most polluted and congested streets, Sukhumvit.

And so it is that spotting a huge elephant, dodging the tuk-tuk motorcycle rickshaws, the ubiquitous taxis and blizzard of traffic is nothing out of the ordinary."

(Read the rest of the article)

I can definitely understand this news article I found at CNN, as I've seen these elephants around Bangkok (like the one pictured above).

Just another instance of life as usual in Thailand!

Love Found Me!

Two of my favorite songs are Near The Cross and My Jesus I Love Thee. Both were sung during the Sunday morning service and my heart just rejoiced in my Savior.

As we sang Near The Cross, I thought about the second verse, specifically the second line:

Near the cross, a trembling soul,
Love and mercy found me;
There the bright and morning star
Sheds its beams around me.

It's true that love and mercy found me. Not because I was "worth finding" or a great catch. I often think on how I must be one of His most stubborn children that needs to be constantly straightened out by the Word. Yet He still found me and made me His own! Because of that, I want to glory in Him for ever. His goodness, kindness, and love overwhelmed me anew today. Praise His Name!

~~~~~~~~~~

Jesus, keep me near the cross,
There a precious fountain
Free to all, a healing stream
Flows from Calvary’s mountain.

Refrain: In the cross, in the cross,
Be my glory ever;
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river.

Near the cross, a trembling soul,
Love and mercy found me;
There the bright and morning star
Sheds its beams around me.

Near the cross! O Lamb of God,
Bring its scenes before me;
Help me walk from day to day,
With its shadows o’er me.

Near the cross I’ll watch and wait
Hoping, trusting ever,
Till I reach the golden strand,
Just beyond the river.

Test!

I am such a follower.

I saw this on three different blogs (Mary, Abbey, and Melissa), and thought I would give it a try. Now don't laugh, but one of my favorite things to do when I was younger was to type on my mom's typewriter - yes, before computers became popular! One rule my mom always insisted on was proper typing and not just the jabbing a finger here and there kind. Typing class was always my favorite and it really became useful years later when I was a secretary:).

So, give it a try and let me know what you get!



83 words

Typingtest

Staying On The Good Side.

One of the things I "get" to do every 90 days is traipse to a border of Thailand and renew my visa so I will be legal in this country and not be shocked at the airport by having to pay $200 to get out of Thailand. (Yes, that did happen to someone a few months ago).

So.

I prefer to stay on the good side of the law and Thursday was the day Carolyn and I went to the border to renew said visa. There's a bus service in the middle of Bangkok that will take care of all the visa details if I shell out a little baht, so that's exactly what happened. Of course we don't actually live in downtown Bangkok, so that meant waking up super-early to get there in time:).

I don't believe a trip is really a "trip" until it involves coffee...


... or in my case, hot chocolate. For the record, this was some of the best hot chocolate I have ever tasted!

While it's typical to see these things all around Thailand, I've never seen one quite like this.

Some people think that Thailand is a backwards, third-world country, so perhaps these buildings clear things up a bit. Maybe:).

I've got to work on my timing, but in my defense this was taken from a bus going about 50 mph:). In the distance is a wat.

I think I sat on the wrong side of the bus the last time I went because this time the scenery was much more interesting:).

Being the perpetual tourist, here's the "I was in Cambodia" picture:). Carolyn and I did actually cross the border and we were hoping to buy something from Cambodia, but the only things we could buy in the "tourist section" was something to drink, smoke, or postcards. No thank you!


Little Asian kids are so cute, are they not???

Our chariot awaits! Seriously though, I'm so glad the colors are mild and toned down compared to some other buses that just scream loud colors! Thai people have a fascination with stuff like that:).

The building on the left is the passport control on the Thai side. This makes my stamp official:).

A checkpoint of some sorts... not quite sure what or why:).

Another pretty mountain of Thailand:). Oh, and a telephone pole - because we're experts of taking pictures of them:).

The Flip Side - There Always Is One:).

Today I was reading Nina's post on things she misses in America and it got me thinking about some things I've been missing too. I can tell you right away what tops my "missing" list:

1. Car. As in, my little Toyota Corolla. I miss the ease and accessibility of jumping in my car and zooming off to wherever I have to go. But on the flip side, I absolutely love the convenience of public transportation. After church today, Pookie and I took a little trip via taxi to the Siam Paragon and thoroughly enjoyed an authentic Mexican meal (thank you Sunrise Taco!) and topped it off with a stop at Starbucks. Once we were done there, we rode the sky train -- a train that runs above the road -- to Mo Chit where we got off and took a taxi home. Sooo simple and we weren't stuck in the endless traffic that is known as Bangkok:).

2. Pennsylvania food. Yes, I miss sweet lebanon bologna, swiss cheese, pork and sauerkraut, Philly cheese steak, hot dogs, baked beans and more. Seriously. The other day at lunch time, someone's meal smelled like baked beans and my excitement level jumped at the thought of enjoying some... until I realized it was a basil and beef dish:). But on the flip side, I've been able to enjoy lots of Thai food (and other regional cuisine) since coming to Thailand. I always laugh whenever we order food off the street and I hear the price: 25 baht. That works out to be about 75 cents and the meal is very filling and satisfying. I went to a Thai restaurant in the States in December 2007 and ordered a very simple meal: chicken fried rice. Here in Thailand the price is 60 cents. At that restaurant? $7.00!

3. Church service. I am so thankful for my church and my pastor and try to listen to as many messages as I can on the internet. It's a pleasure for me to listen to my pastor preach in English and to understand illustrations and "Americanisms" used during the message. But on the flip side, there is such an incredible feeling in participating in a service that is done in another language. It's given me a very tiny insight to what heaven will be like hearing people from every nation, kindred, tongue, and people praise the Lord! Another thing is the Thai church service is actually translated for us by my co-worker Berm. We sit off to the side in what is called the "farong section" and Berm sits right in the middle of us all so we can hear the message. Very nice!

4. Fellowship. There are about 250 people at my church, so that leaves plenty of room for fellowship, parties, get-togethers, showers, events, spending time with friends, etc. Here in Thailand, there are about 10 or so people that I get to interact with on a daily basis in English. Let me tell ya, that's a bit small:). But on the flip side, there are pretty much no secrets on our team. The good, the bad, and the ugly all come out when you sleep, eat, work, and breathe together 24/7. We're pretty much one big family here and yes that also means that there are tears along with the laughter. But I love this team so much and am extremely grateful to the Lord for allowing me to come work here in Thailand for a year!

5. English. A few months ago, we were at the airport picking someone up and while we were waiting for the person to arrive, I went to the restroom. As I was washing my hands, I heard several conversations in English going on and I just wanted to stop and speak to each person:). Also two weeks ago I was sitting in the mall waiting for one of our team members to get done with something and as I was waiting, a man walked by and said, "hello. How are you doing?" After a brief 15-minute conversation, the man (who was from New Zealand) continued on his way but it made my evening to talk with a perfect stranger in English. But on the flip side, I do realize that English really is a global language and I can "get by" with my limited Thai and their limited English.

Although I miss many things from home (and I didn't even get into the nephews and nieces!), I know I'm right where God wants me to be. And I wouldn't trade that for anything in the world.


Besides, how many people can say, "let's go to another country this week?" and just go? That's what we're going to do this week:).