Gracie asked me to write a blog for her. These are her words reworked by me for the blog.
Grace says:
It's so awesome here, although i'm sick
like the stomach flu... but we don't know what caused it... maybe the water, though I've been REALLY careful, but i threw up once this morning, and then again at 3. bleck...
The wireless connection, is really bad. I have one bar, but the most its let me do "internet" wise is skype
so thats pretty lame, I hope you get this when you wake up.
I'm currently in my bed upstairs, and just woke up from sleeping for a few hours...
if you get a chance can you let people I had a good birthday, and that if I get better internet connection I'll try to update the blog, though we never seem to have any time... its been busy busy busy...
Everyone else is working with the kids, and I'm all alone bored
but everytime I try to stand up, I get light headed and then feel like throwing up
so I'm more or less bed ridden... and I want to be helping woth my kiddos... there are 8 of them, and we've overcome many obsticals...
4 of the kids speak other languages as their primary language... so they can speak English but rarely do... so its alot harder then we thought it was going to be.
Heidi is also sick, though to a much greater degree then me, and Christin got sick last night as well... though she's doing much better today.
Lisa was sick on and off yesterday I think too...
if you could possibly, write a quick blog, telling people that we've been really busy and will write a blog whenever we have time, =]
Can you ask people to pray for the team's overall health? so that others don't get sick and that Heidi and I feel better.
The skits are going.. ok... definately should and could have been better.
The teenagers don't think there "that" dumb... and actually we, Loryn, Emily, Heather, Lauren, and I have all been hanging out with them, the teenagers durring free time... there really awesome and super fun.
They love to play "football" and everytime I say that I say it in a British accent.
yay... it's there version of soccer... and even I've joined in the fun... and today we went swimming...
I started to feel compleatly better after lunch... so we went swimming and then played football. I started feeling sick so I stopped.
Well, that is all she wrote. She said she hoped it made sense.
Thank you all for your prayers for the group. I'm thankful they aren't all sick!
We'll probably hear more after they are done with the teaching week and go back to Chang Mai. It will be fun to hear from them and see pictures when they return.
I know the whole team would send their love if they were able to be online.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Sunday, February 17, 2008
A Note from Heidi
Hey everybody!
Grace tells me we're a little behind in terms of updating you on our recent excursions. On February 16 we went to the Chiang Mai Cultural Center in the evening for a meal (on the floor) and a traditional show (also on the floor). We ate fried banana, fried chicken, red curry and chicken with sticky rice and for dessert, a "cookie". The Thai people use sugar for making spicy things mild, and that's about it. This cookie was like a rice krispy treat with out the marshmellows.
Speaking of food, the Sep-Song (12) of us went to a farm and learned how to cook
Thai food like Pad Thai, curry/chicken dishes, chicken and cashew stir fry, and for dessert, sticky rice with fresh mango and coconut milk with bananas. It was really neat to see the farm where herbs, fruits and vegetables are grown and then we picked them to cook with. I was so proud of myself for cooking edible meals! :)
Our teacher at this Cooking School was named Sue and she was just wonderful. And so tiny and sweet. We all loved her.
And don't worry, we are bringing home lots of spices from the market and books of recipies!
To my parents: You'll be glad to know I am still doing tons of laundry here, even if you cannot benefit from my labor. I wash clothes everyday in the sink and use my hair clips for clothes pins. Things dry incredibly fast even though it is rather humid.
Now of course we have to stop playing and begin the reason why we came here. Our team meeting was very productive and we are preparing to serve these missionaries with our children's program. We have already had opportunities to meet some of the parents and children. The teenage boys are a little shy.......:)
Well, I have to go now because we are leaving the Lotus PSK Hotel and heading to the Belle Villa resort for the conference and the bus leaves at 2pm. It is about 1:30, but due to the insane traffic, it must take ten minutes to cross the street. The Thai people do not understand the concept of pedestrians, cross walks or speed limits.
Hoping to write again soon and miss you all!
Love Heidi
Grace tells me we're a little behind in terms of updating you on our recent excursions. On February 16 we went to the Chiang Mai Cultural Center in the evening for a meal (on the floor) and a traditional show (also on the floor). We ate fried banana, fried chicken, red curry and chicken with sticky rice and for dessert, a "cookie". The Thai people use sugar for making spicy things mild, and that's about it. This cookie was like a rice krispy treat with out the marshmellows.
Speaking of food, the Sep-Song (12) of us went to a farm and learned how to cook
Thai food like Pad Thai, curry/chicken dishes, chicken and cashew stir fry, and for dessert, sticky rice with fresh mango and coconut milk with bananas. It was really neat to see the farm where herbs, fruits and vegetables are grown and then we picked them to cook with. I was so proud of myself for cooking edible meals! :)
Our teacher at this Cooking School was named Sue and she was just wonderful. And so tiny and sweet. We all loved her.
And don't worry, we are bringing home lots of spices from the market and books of recipies!
To my parents: You'll be glad to know I am still doing tons of laundry here, even if you cannot benefit from my labor. I wash clothes everyday in the sink and use my hair clips for clothes pins. Things dry incredibly fast even though it is rather humid.
Now of course we have to stop playing and begin the reason why we came here. Our team meeting was very productive and we are preparing to serve these missionaries with our children's program. We have already had opportunities to meet some of the parents and children. The teenage boys are a little shy.......:)
Well, I have to go now because we are leaving the Lotus PSK Hotel and heading to the Belle Villa resort for the conference and the bus leaves at 2pm. It is about 1:30, but due to the insane traffic, it must take ten minutes to cross the street. The Thai people do not understand the concept of pedestrians, cross walks or speed limits.
Hoping to write again soon and miss you all!
Love Heidi
Friday, February 15, 2008
Feb 15th. and 16th.
The 15th, was a very full day! We ate breakfast at 8:30. and boy that food was great! everyone found something to eat, that they liked! its currently 2:45pm on the 16th. as were in "Buddies Internet". this great little computer place very close to the hotel! Yesterday, 15th, we had a team meeting where as we prayed and did our devotion. Then we had a large amount of free time, after, we visited the market where all of us baught some interesting things and gifts. Then we all treaked back to the hotel. This won't be quite as long or detailed as the other ones, becasue i'm writing this while on the internet! Its so exciting here! and were all looking forward to tomorrow's trip to go cook thai-food, and then eat it!!!
and then on monday afternoon leave to go to the bella villa!!!
Tonight were going to the culteral center, and are going to experiance some of the authentic thai culture.
And about 2ish hours ago we got back from a boat ride to this little farmers market thing. where we were informed rambo, was filmed. or part of it. We watched how they sifted rice, and ate fresh pinapple, watermelon, and bannanas. Very good! Everything we ate was grown feet away from where we ate it. =]
I forgot to say, if any of our bags go lost. Well 1 did. Gracie's ministry bag. Once we relized it was gone, the people checked and found it was lost in seattle. but was only going to take to 2 days to get it. So after our boat tour i got to the room. and there it was!!!
God is good!!!
Love you all lots... and we will be sending more soon!
Gracie!
and then on monday afternoon leave to go to the bella villa!!!
Tonight were going to the culteral center, and are going to experiance some of the authentic thai culture.
And about 2ish hours ago we got back from a boat ride to this little farmers market thing. where we were informed rambo, was filmed. or part of it. We watched how they sifted rice, and ate fresh pinapple, watermelon, and bannanas. Very good! Everything we ate was grown feet away from where we ate it. =]
I forgot to say, if any of our bags go lost. Well 1 did. Gracie's ministry bag. Once we relized it was gone, the people checked and found it was lost in seattle. but was only going to take to 2 days to get it. So after our boat tour i got to the room. and there it was!!!
God is good!!!
Love you all lots... and we will be sending more soon!
Gracie!
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Loryns Short Blog!!!
We're here! If only you guys were all here to share it with us! We arrived safely, on time, and VERY tired. (By the way... we skipped the 13th of February...) We've taken so many random pictures of city life! Its soooooooooo cool! And very different...
See Ya Soonish!
Lauren Cosgrove
See Ya Soonish!
Lauren Cosgrove
Kathy's Blog!!!
Hello, Friends! I'm writing my first Thailand Team Blog entry somewhere over the sea between South Korea and Taipei . . . we have about two hours left on our nearly 14 hour flight . . . and we are all doing well. I am sitting in Row 9 next to Gracie, our Blog Master, which is why I get to write one of the first entries! It is 12:15 pm Pacific Daylight Time, and 4:15 am Taiwan time on February 14th – so Happy Valentine's Day! They fed us dinner about 2:00 am your time, and we just had breakfast! The food is pretty good, especially compared to the tiny bag of pretzels you get when flying in the US. Everyone slept at least five or six hours – or more – and we are all feeling remarkably refreshed.
God's hand of care was strongly evident on us as we checked in at the Spokane Airport as Brandon Kafflen was at the Alaska ticket desk and checked us in through the First Class station with loving care. He arranged for us to leave on an earlier flight, which ended up leaving the same time as our original flight which left even later. When we actually boarded our “numero uno” plane, Brandon was at the gate blessing each one of us as we went onto the plane. Before going through security, many friends from Garland – besides family members – came to the airport to say goodbye to us, and Ricky Kienholz blessed us and prayed for us before going through security. Thank you, Ricky, for helping to organize such a loving farewell for our team. We feel loved!
When we got to the China Air gate in Seattle, a couple with three young children got in line behind us as we waited to get our boarding passes. When Heidi Anderson saw them, she did a double-take because the woman looked so much like a woman who came to Garland's Celebrate Recovery for awhile and for whom she has babysat. The man heard us say Chiang Mai and asked us where we were going. Amazingly, this young family is headed for Chiang Mai from Spokane on all the same flights we are on to attend a conference for the ministry Unreached People Groups. And, his wife is the twin sister of the woman Heidi and Sally know from Celebrate Recovery.
All of us are excited and thrilled to be on this adventure, but it is especially fun for me to see the sense of thrill and eager anticipation of the teenagers. They are exclaiming over every new sight and experience, gluing ticket stubs in their journals and recording their thoughts and feelings, reading their Bibles . . . So, moms and dads, be at peace. Your tears at the airport touched your girl's hearts (and the rest of ours, too), and they are all doing well.
Bye for now! If you're lucky, we may post some pictures of how we look after being up for over 24 hours already.
Love and blessings,
Kathy
God's hand of care was strongly evident on us as we checked in at the Spokane Airport as Brandon Kafflen was at the Alaska ticket desk and checked us in through the First Class station with loving care. He arranged for us to leave on an earlier flight, which ended up leaving the same time as our original flight which left even later. When we actually boarded our “numero uno” plane, Brandon was at the gate blessing each one of us as we went onto the plane. Before going through security, many friends from Garland – besides family members – came to the airport to say goodbye to us, and Ricky Kienholz blessed us and prayed for us before going through security. Thank you, Ricky, for helping to organize such a loving farewell for our team. We feel loved!
When we got to the China Air gate in Seattle, a couple with three young children got in line behind us as we waited to get our boarding passes. When Heidi Anderson saw them, she did a double-take because the woman looked so much like a woman who came to Garland's Celebrate Recovery for awhile and for whom she has babysat. The man heard us say Chiang Mai and asked us where we were going. Amazingly, this young family is headed for Chiang Mai from Spokane on all the same flights we are on to attend a conference for the ministry Unreached People Groups. And, his wife is the twin sister of the woman Heidi and Sally know from Celebrate Recovery.
All of us are excited and thrilled to be on this adventure, but it is especially fun for me to see the sense of thrill and eager anticipation of the teenagers. They are exclaiming over every new sight and experience, gluing ticket stubs in their journals and recording their thoughts and feelings, reading their Bibles . . . So, moms and dads, be at peace. Your tears at the airport touched your girl's hearts (and the rest of ours, too), and they are all doing well.
Bye for now! If you're lucky, we may post some pictures of how we look after being up for over 24 hours already.
Love and blessings,
Kathy
SINCE SPOKANE!!!!!
Current traveling.
Tuesday, 12th 10:35
I, Grace jorgens, am sitting in the airport terminal. Waiting to bored the plane, to Taipei. We board in about 5 minutes. Loryn, Lauren, Heather, Emily and I, went and got dinner at Seattle's best coffee. Good stuff, we shared turkey wraps and I got an iced coffee. We were all craving food, but the “sweet” stuff didn't sound to appealing! We board the plane soon, so i best be going.
No idea, what time. Or place for that matter.
On the flight, to Taipei. I think the whole team is asleep. The flight so far has gone great, a little turbulence. But nothing to really worry about. Were about 8 hours from getting there! About an hour into the flight they served us dinner. Fish and pasta, or Chicken and rice. They said they would serve us “breakfast” 3 hours prior to landing. So in about 5 hours. Which means i should go sleep. Before I'm woken up for breakfast. =]
Flying somewhere, 3:18 minutes from landing in Taipei. We should arrive at about 6:03 am, Taipei time. And 5:03am Thailand time.
The flight has been uneventful on my part. Sleep, wake up, go back to sleep. Do a bible study. Sleep. And I've been up for about an hour now. Kathy too. Its really hard to tell who is up and who's still sleeping. Since it hard to see them...
In Taipei, we got bottled water, and had to go through security again. The smell of Taipei, smelled gross. A mixture of Sweaty people, Cigarette smoke, and old people. Ick! The flight to Thailand was delayed. But we arrived within a few hours.
The hotel is amazing, though we are amazed at the heat!!! We really wanted to get out of our sweaty clothes! =]
It is now, Friday, the 15th.
We woke up this morning to a “haze” like fog. It was harder to see the sun, if at all... We had a lot of communication issues yesterday. We got in and arrived at the hotel. We quickly changed out clothes and went into the “mall” to get calling cards and bottled water. We planned on eating dinner at 6. And had the rest of the time to, take showers and call parents. Little did we know, the calling weren't working!!! So... eventually, the calling cards worked that we bought here. Though the ones from the US. Still don't. Dinner was at pizza hut! And we all enjoyed it a lot. Then Loryn, Lauren, Kathy and I. Looked for the wireless Internet place. In the “mall”. We didn't find it and were all tired. So we just when back to the hotel and went to bed.
This morning we ate breakfast! Oh yeah! We were all Starving. And enjoyed the buffet style breakfast that the hotel, provided for us. There was a lot of things to choose from. And we all found something appetizing to eat. We then met, for our devotional, and figured out what we were going to do today...
We all ate so much this morning, that we decided on a late lunch around 2pm. And are then going to the day market and then the night market!! until about 8-9pm. We are all feeling great! And are excited about the upcoming days!
Continue praying for our health. And hope to receive “comments” on these blogs!
Check your emails, for specific emails from your children. For they will be sent, buy either, Gracie's or Cherrie's emails.
=] we will write more later!
Tuesday, 12th 10:35
I, Grace jorgens, am sitting in the airport terminal. Waiting to bored the plane, to Taipei. We board in about 5 minutes. Loryn, Lauren, Heather, Emily and I, went and got dinner at Seattle's best coffee. Good stuff, we shared turkey wraps and I got an iced coffee. We were all craving food, but the “sweet” stuff didn't sound to appealing! We board the plane soon, so i best be going.
No idea, what time. Or place for that matter.
On the flight, to Taipei. I think the whole team is asleep. The flight so far has gone great, a little turbulence. But nothing to really worry about. Were about 8 hours from getting there! About an hour into the flight they served us dinner. Fish and pasta, or Chicken and rice. They said they would serve us “breakfast” 3 hours prior to landing. So in about 5 hours. Which means i should go sleep. Before I'm woken up for breakfast. =]
Flying somewhere, 3:18 minutes from landing in Taipei. We should arrive at about 6:03 am, Taipei time. And 5:03am Thailand time.
The flight has been uneventful on my part. Sleep, wake up, go back to sleep. Do a bible study. Sleep. And I've been up for about an hour now. Kathy too. Its really hard to tell who is up and who's still sleeping. Since it hard to see them...
In Taipei, we got bottled water, and had to go through security again. The smell of Taipei, smelled gross. A mixture of Sweaty people, Cigarette smoke, and old people. Ick! The flight to Thailand was delayed. But we arrived within a few hours.
The hotel is amazing, though we are amazed at the heat!!! We really wanted to get out of our sweaty clothes! =]
It is now, Friday, the 15th.
We woke up this morning to a “haze” like fog. It was harder to see the sun, if at all... We had a lot of communication issues yesterday. We got in and arrived at the hotel. We quickly changed out clothes and went into the “mall” to get calling cards and bottled water. We planned on eating dinner at 6. And had the rest of the time to, take showers and call parents. Little did we know, the calling weren't working!!! So... eventually, the calling cards worked that we bought here. Though the ones from the US. Still don't. Dinner was at pizza hut! And we all enjoyed it a lot. Then Loryn, Lauren, Kathy and I. Looked for the wireless Internet place. In the “mall”. We didn't find it and were all tired. So we just when back to the hotel and went to bed.
This morning we ate breakfast! Oh yeah! We were all Starving. And enjoyed the buffet style breakfast that the hotel, provided for us. There was a lot of things to choose from. And we all found something appetizing to eat. We then met, for our devotional, and figured out what we were going to do today...
We all ate so much this morning, that we decided on a late lunch around 2pm. And are then going to the day market and then the night market!! until about 8-9pm. We are all feeling great! And are excited about the upcoming days!
Continue praying for our health. And hope to receive “comments” on these blogs!
Check your emails, for specific emails from your children. For they will be sent, buy either, Gracie's or Cherrie's emails.
=] we will write more later!
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Packing Party!
And it indeed was a party! Emily turned 15 today! As a result we all got to eat this very yummy cake! We all enjoyed it very much, after spending 2-3 hours packing and stuffing bags.
[All accounted for!]
[She sure likes packing!]
[Lisa packing her suitcase!]
[Emily, Lauren, Heather, Gracie, and Loryn]
[Emily and her yummy birthday cake!]
The day started off by praying, and then went full force into checking our personal bags and weighing them! Which were already packed and inventoried, but needed to be "inspected".
The hardest part came next, packing the ministry supply bags. We filled 12 big suitcases with all sorts of supples. There was a bag for everything, Drama, Preschool, Teens, and days corresponding for each lesson taught that day.
After every single bag was packed and weighed and accounted for, we locked 'em up. The rest of the time was spend eating Emily's birthday cake and taking about things that still needed to be done.
Overall, we got alot of things accoplished and finished an hour before planned. God is good.
[She sure likes packing!]
[Lisa packing her suitcase!]
[Emily, Lauren, Heather, Gracie, and Loryn]
[Emily and her yummy birthday cake!]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)