You Know You're in Thailand When...

You know you're in Thailand when:

The market sells every part of the animal...even the blood!

Your electricity periodically goes out due to massive power overload

The sign for the bathroom indicates how you really feel when looking for the bathroom

People push their pets in baby strollers, carry them in the basket of their bicycle, or wear them in a harness

Your coffee or tea is served to you in a bag with a straw

You become an expert in using the "squatty potty" and packing toilet paper in your purse

Every Ronald greets you with the traditional Thai wai

These are just a a few of the things we have been getting used to over the last few months and I thought it would be fun to share some of our Thai life with you. The call of autumn is beckoning and I am missing my Ohio home even more this time of year. I love this season with all of its beautiful colors, the cooler weather, and delicious fall aromas. There’s just something about wearing a sweatshirt to a football game or curling up in a blanket with a cup of hot spiced apple cider that makes you feel content and cozy. They say Thailand has 3 seasons (rainy, hot, and cool) but in reality it only has one – hot and humid! Thankfully I have gotten quite acclimated to the heat but there are some days when I wish I could walk more than 10 feet out my front door without starting to sweat. 

This time of year has also brought along a precious addition to my family. My beautiful little niece, Eliana Lynne Heeres, decided to finally grace us with her presence on October 8^th making me a proud and elated aunt once again. I was blessed to Skype with Emily and Landon and meet little Eliana just a couple of hours after was born. I am thankful for this age of technology as I know this is the only way for me to get to know Eliana for the first few years of her sweet life. Both my sister Emily and Eliana are doing well and I am praising Him for a healthy and strong little girl.

Things are quite busy in this corner of the world. I am getting a lot of good exposure to this new language through the different serving opportunities I am involved in. I recently started working at a women’s foundation called The Goodwill Group Foundation. The foundation’s mission is to improve the quality of life of young Thai women via skills training and career services. The organization empowers disadvantaged women by providing personal and career development training. I am heading up their self-defense program and helping teach a resume and interview workshop. I really appreciate working with Goodwill and its amazing staff. I am privileged to meet so many women who have migrated to Bangkok from the different parts of Thailand in search of work or a better life. In teaching the self-defense course I get a small glimpse into just how tough some of their lives have been. I am often reminded to give thanks to the Father and appreciate what I have been blessed with!

April and I have found a wonderful fellowship that is actually within walking distance from our house. From the first day we set foot in the building they welcomed us right into the body. The fellowship meets on the upper level of a media store and we "just happened" to see the sign as we were walking past on our way home from the grocery store one day. The people we have gotten to know during our time here have a genuine heart to serve and love others and have been such an encouragement to both April and I. We were so thankful that they pushed through their fear of the language barrier and made the effort to get to know us. There are about 100 people in the fellowship and only one other foreigner. Needless to say, we get a lot of Thai practice on Sundays but our brothers and sisters are so gracious with us. It's neat to see how the common bond of the Father can give you that sense of belonging even though you can't fully communicate with one another. I would love for you all to come and meet them one day!

On another note, I am finding myself getting a bit discouraged these days with the language learning process. I understand more of the language every day but I am still struggling to speak it with all of its crazy tones and vowels. I like to joke and say that often get tongue Thai’d! Over the past few months I’ve realized that I am not a natural language learner. I definitely have to work hard at it to make even the slightest progress. My comprehension has definitely improved in the last few months. I just have a difficult time trying to make my mouth produce those unusual sounds that are so foreign to the native English speaker. I am trying to focus on the One who formed my mouth and trust that He is doing a greater work than what I can see in this present moment. I have no doubt that He will accomplish in and through me that to which He has called me. I constantly give this area over to the Father but I still often get discouraged since this is something I face every day I step out my front door. I would appreciate your thoughts as I continue to press forward and look beyond my struggles to what He wants to teach me during this time. I am thankful for the progress that I have made and I truly can see the fruit (however small) of these long days of studies as I interact with my friends and neighbors. As I have mentioned before, when our Father confused the languages He sure did a good job!

Thanks for remembering me and the people here as you talk with the Father. I am encouraged to have you faithfully standing with me. I, too, am remembering you and I sincerely hope that you and your families are doing well. You are greatly missed and thought of often. Wishing you a bright and beautiful fall season! I love you!

Eliana Lynne

Eliana Lynne Heeres

8lbs.,15oz., 21” long

Silas, excited and proud to be a big brother

Gabe adoringly looking at his new baby sister. Gabe was the first to call and excitedly tell me that she had arrived.

Goodwill Group Foundation

First Self-Defense Class

Helping the women practice their techniques

Demonstrating how even the smallest women can fight back

Proud to have completed the half-day course. Unlike other classes I hope these women will never have to use what they learned.

Helping April teach the Resume and Interview workshop

These women are trying to learn skills that will give them and their families a better future

Language Studies

We've begun to practice typing in Thai. Right now it takes us a very long time to type just one word. Doesn't it look fun?

Practicing reading and writing. I am thankful for the improvement I have been able to see in this area. Being able to read the Thai words helps a lot with my pronunciation.

Language class with our new language tutors, Mei and Pim. They are so patient and encouraging. A huge blessing!

At this stage in our learning we practice by watching videos of daily Thai life activities, such as ordering food from a food cart, making Cha Yen (Thai tea), going to the post office, washing dishes, taking public transportation, etc. We record the girls as they narrate what is happening in each video. Next we listen to the recording and pick out any words we don't know. The girls will help us write down the words in Thai and then we will go back and review the video and our new words. We will do this same process for 40 different videos. After we have watched and listened to the 40 videos several times we will switch to speaking mode and have a turn at narrating these same videos to the girls.

Our other language tutor, Putt. He is trying to teach me a Thai tongue twister. I told him I was already tongue-tied trying to speak regular Thai sentences. :)

Birthday Celebration

I'm sitting on all the packages sent from home that arrived just in time - on my actual birthday!

This is our co-worker's daughter Talia. She was so excited to help me celebrate my special day. I was blessed to have many friends join in my birthday celebration. We had a Mexican Fiesta night. Yum!

April made me a delicious apple pie served with ice cream. I think apple pie is one of the best foods ever invented!

Much love and thoughtfulness sent from home! Thank you to all of you who sent cards and notes my way. It was so much fun to open everything and receive your sweet words and thoughtful gifts.

April found a real cajun restaurant in the middle of Bangkok! It was fun to eat some American food on my birthday.

Some friends took me bowling. The bowling alleys here are quite the hi-tech operation. It was a blast!

Teaching English

The crazy boys in my English class. Some of the kids I teach live in my neighborhood so teaching has really provided an open door to meet some of the families who live near me.

This is my advanced English class. I was explaining some English idioms, many of which the girls found quite funny.

Many of these kids have been learning English since kindergarten but they often lack in their pronunciation because they learn from Thai, Korean, or Filipino teachers and don't get much practice with a native English speaker.

We have been blessed with an amazing opportunity to teach English by using the Word. It is part of an outreach of our fellowship and many of the students in our class are from the surrounding community who don't go to the fellowship.  April and I have been teaching from the very beginning of His Book and our students really seem to want to know more. Some of them have even brought friends since we started. Please keep them in your thoughts as their Buddhist roots go very deep. We are thankful that they have a desire to learn more. (We teach downstairs in the media store.)

Bangkok Life

Many Thai have Chinese in their background as well so they often celebrate both the Thai and Chinese festivals. We went with some friends to Chinatown to get some food for an upcoming Chinese holiday of paying respect to the ancestors. It was quite an experience! It was overly crowded because everyone was coming to get the special food needed for the holiday meal. The two older women we were with knew exactly how to navigate the maze of streets and alleyways. At one point we were so far back in these alleyways that I thought for sure we were lost but after many twists and turns we came out right in front of the shop they needed and we bypassed all of the busy streets! I'm never going to Chinatown without them. It was incredible!

Making treats for our neighbors. Most people don't have ovens so they love it when we bring them baked goods.

Grass! Real grass! I was finally able to make a trip to the city park and it was such a nice reprieve from the bustling cement city. It was wonderful to walk barefoot as I breathed in the pure nature and breathed out the city pollution.

This park is a popular spot for monitor lizards. Some of them were quite long and they ran incredibly fast.

Everyday life during rainy season here in Thailand

Some friends sent a box full of fun fall treats. We are enjoying the autumn scents we miss from home.

Our friend Ly is holding a box full of paper "money" that she folded to offer as a sacrifice to the ancestors. She burned the money as an offering of gratitude for the wealth the ancestors have provided. There are so many little rituals that have to be preformed and daily prayers that must be said. We are constantly getting more pieces to help us fill in this worldview puzzle and the longer we live here the closer look we are able to get into this overarching area of their lives.

Fun with Friends

Some of our friends took us to a "Bowling Buffet" - all you can bowl!

Eating Suki. This is a popular meal here - you cook the food as you eat. This was the first time we were invited to have a meal in a Thai home. It is not very common for the Thais to have people in their homes so we were excited to get the opportunity. I am bringing this meal with me to share with you all when I come visit!

A fresh seafood feast! We were invited to take a quick trip to the ocean with some friends and the food was amazing!

Our friends' condo had an awesome karaoke system. They were pros and knew more English songs than I did!

The Gulf of Thailand

I have never been in a body of water that was as warm as this one. We had fun body surfing in the waves.

Thais love to eat! Our language tutors and their dad took us out for lunch one afternoon. I love eating the Thai way. Everyone just orders a bunch of different dishes and you put them all in the middle of the table and share everything. My family would fit right in as we already often steal bites from everyone's plate.

These girls are so sweet and fun. We are thankful for their friendship and help as we learn this difficult language.

This is Book, the son of the lady who cleans the language school where I help teach. He is 3 and reminds me a lot of my nephews. I love to joke around with him. The other day I was helping him count to ten in Thai. He still gets the order confused. I understand how he feels. :)

This is our good friend Ly. She speaks English very well so we are grateful that we have been able to develop a deeper friendship with her. It's nice to have a friend to talk with beyond the confinements of our limited Thai.

Some of the fun girls in our fellowship. Thais love to take LOTS of pictures and they LOVE to pose. April and I have to practice our poses so that we can be prepared when they ask us to jump in the pictures with them. This fellowship has been a huge blessing and we really feel at home here. The woman in the middle (in white) is actually a famous Thai singer. Her name is Saranya. She became a believer about three years ago and started to use her voice and influence to give glory to the Father. She has a beautiful voice.

**Be sure to check out the videos in the side bar. These videos are just another glimpse of the different sights and sounds of Thailand. Enjoy!