Life on a tropical island!

Sorry for the recent lack of updates but it's difficult to find Wi-Fi when you're staying on a beach on a tropical island!


After a 4 hour journey down to Koh Chang, we arrived to find the only way to our accommodation was via the raft crossing! Ajaan Bu had found a real gem for us, with huts right on the beach!


After a relaxing first afternoon, on Tuesday we decided to go on an adventure, it consisted of riding elephants and then going swimming with them! It was a fantastic experience that I'm sure we'll all remember for a very long time!


We spent quite a lot of the time away just relaxing and enjoying the stunning views. Kate and I treated ourselves to another Thai massage on the beach.


Pi Kung continued to provide us with outstanding Thai food with a vast selection of sea food served with a beach view!


We're now back in Chon Buri again enjoying great food before flying out at 9am in the morning.


Our time here has been a brilliant experience, we've met so many kind and generous people and it will be a shame to leave them. Thank you to everyone who has helped make this trip possible, we've really appreciated your support!

Sam

Last day at Power Church

Yes, there was no blogging yesterday. I was too busy preparing my sermon for today i'm afraid.

So, today was our last day at Power Church and i was about to make my 'preaching via a translator' debut. In some ways its been quite a sad day, because there will be some people that we probably won't see again for a very long time. Our time with everyone at Power Church has been an amazing one. I think about all the westerners who travel through Thailand every year. I imagine that their experience of Thailand is very much as a spectator. i don't think that any amount of money could have bought the experience that we have just had. Being able to live with a Thai family and be part of their lives for the last week has been so much fun.

Anyway, back to today. Sunday's are always an earlier start with breakfast freshly prepared by the assistant at Seven Eleven. We then had an hour of games and songs with the children before joining the adults for the main church service. Today was the Thai Queen's birthday, which means that it is mothers day here. To celebrate this the church had a special service for all the mothers. It was really nice to see the church honouring all of the mothers and encouraging their children to thank them for everything that they'd done. Next up was me. I was a bit worried whilst preparing my sermon. I didn't want to say anything too complicated as i didn't want it to get lost in translation, but i also wanted to bring something fresh and new. I think it went alright, although you're never quite sure what the translator is saying. He may have been telling the congregation to get their rocks ready for a good old fashioned stoning!!

After lunch was more games. Tim and i had the older youth building towers out of newspaper, whilst the girls got the younger kids to make a mess. I think that their was a purpose but no one can really remember.

Our hosts have literally paid for everything for us all week, and have run around after us like the best parents you could ever ask for. So tonight was our turn to go some way to repaying their kindness. We took them to this amazing restaurant. The whole table was litterally covered in dishes - most of them fresh out the sea that day! So dinner for 12 people, of the freshest seafood possible, all for £35!!!

Tomorrow's our holiday. We thought that today was going to be the day that we would have to say goodbye to everyone, but instead Ajaan bu and Pi Kung are come on holiday with us too. Pastor Bu has offered to be our driver and Kung has offered to be our chef. Seriously, these people never stop giving!!! We're off to Koh Chang to see the elephants, which Kate is quite excited about. I think we're all really looking forward to a few day RnR after a very busy week.

Martin

That time we nearly lost Sam...

Today was our last day of teaching in school, in a different school today - the children at this school were a little bit more rowdy than we have experienced so far, but they were all really enthusiastic and willing to take part, which was good. We had lunch at the school, with the principal, which was nice, although he did suggest that Sam might like to stay in Thailand a bit longer (which our Thai friends thought was very funny). She did turn him down though, and is still with us!

In the afternoon we went to Ang Sila, a small fishing community a near the church. We did a bit of shopping, and walked down to the sea, but it was very interesting to see this side of Thai life - with some of the not-so-attractive bits (an old man drunk in the middle of the day and a snooker hall that we have heard has girls as young as 11 or 12 working as prostitutes). It really made me think about the struggles and problems this country faces, even though much of it is hidden behind welcoming smiles and superficial fun.

In the evening we went to the church prayer meeting, with worship, fun and friendship, and then went to the market with some people from the church - it was great just to enjoy being with people and have fun with them. One thing that really struck me tonight was how everyone in the church was engaged with what was going on - from six-year olds to elderly people. Everyone joined in with the worship in different ways - some sitting quietly and reflecting, some singing, some playing instruments, children making up actions to the songs and adults joining in with them. When it was time to pray for each other, everyone was involved, with children praying for each other and for adults. When it was time to share testimonies or ask for prayer, children were speaking at the front without being seen as "cute" - what they had to say was just as valid as anyone else. The church also has leadership weekends for the children, mixing fun with Bible studies and training, to prepare them to be the future leaders of the church. It really made me think about church being a family and what that really looks like...

Hannah

Masaman

Numbers 1 to 20, days of the week, months of the year and bingo. That's what Kate and I taught in school today to a class of 16 Thai children all wearing what looked liked scouts and guides uniforms, very smart. The first farang (foreigners) to visit that school for 5 years, a shame we were only there for one day. Tomorrow we're going to a different school.

We had a pretty relaxed afternoon, lunch in a cafe, walk round a market and then home for a few hours to chill out. We were then served another great Thai speciality, Masaman curry, really good. Every day we get to try a new dish, all of which are delicious. Masaman is a muslim curry from southern Thailand, if you ever get the chance, you're in for a treat.

This evening we went along to a house group, which was interesting to see, lots of energy, smiles and fruit. So far I think we're all having a great time, Thailand's a great country, our hosts are really friendly and accomodating and always wanting to spoil us, we're all working hard and the food is well worth writing home about!

Tim

School, sun, sand, sea, songs, silly games and som tam

So, day two in the primary school teaching English. We swapped classes so we could teach the same lesson as we did yesterday which gave us a boost of confidence. After we finished our lessons, and had lots of pictures taken with the pupils, we were summoned to the head teachers office! But it was ok, we weren't in trouble; she just wanted a picture taken with us as well!

After another experience of a new Thai dish for lunch we headed off to the local beach for a few hours, where we enjoyed the sun, sand and sea (which was a cool 32 degrees!). The girls went for a paddle, while the boys went for full submersion!

This evening we went out again to another community. The ride in the back of the pick-up is one of my favourite parts of the day, to sit in the open back watching the world go past, waving to other motorists, smiling at the four people on the motorbike and enjoying the breeze! The evening consisted of singing more kids songs, playing games and giving a testimony. On the way home A (yes, that really is someones name) was asking me what poor people look like in England. What has hit home over the last three days is that actually even those who are 'poor' in England really have far more than some of the people we've visited could ever imagine!
Sam

Our first day at school

So, today was our first day at school. Up we got, showered and smartly dressed in our Sunday best, all ready to go help the Thai children to learn some more English (although they know quite a lot already). I don't know about the others, but I felt quite over dressed by the time we got to the school, as everyone else was in jeans and t shirts, but it was ok, and fun nonetheless.

We taught two classes, me, Hannah and Tim in one group and Sam and Martin in the other. We did a lesson on meeting and describing people, and the other class did describing things. I'm not sure we taught them anything new, but they had fun running around and causing havoc in their classrooms. The school kids were great and all identical in their matching uniforms, they were really enthusiastic and had a go at everything we asked. As it is Hannah's birthday today (Happy Birthday Hannah) we were taken out for lunch after school and Ajaan Bu ordered the most food I have ever seen. We did our best to eat it all, but even the boys were beaten by it!

We then had a look around a brand spanking new shopping centre, which was nice. We didn't really buy anything as it was all about the same price as the UK which was quite disappointing as I was looking for some bargains.

This evening was another village outreach including dinner with our village hosts. We sang some songs, played some games and Tim gave his testimony, it was a really fun evening, but a bit too hot.

When we got home it was more birthday fun, which included birthday cake (and candles), made for Hannah by one of the ladies from the church. Altogether a good day!

Kate

Our "day off"

Ok, so today was our "day off". Well that's what we thought. Yesterday we were beginning to plan what we might do - go to the beach, go to the zoo, etc.. But Ajaan Bu had other plans. Tim and i were going to help him shift a couple of tons of sand from the front of his house to the back. To be honest, Ajaan Bu and Pi Joy have done so much for us that it is the very least that we could have done to repay their kindness. So Tim and I expelled our body weight in sweat, whilst being kept topped with ice cold Pepsi by Pi Joy - Pepsi has never tasted so good!

Whilst we were breaking our backs the girls continued their training in becoming experts in Thai cookery. I think that they especially enjoyed preparing the raw prawns. This generally involved ripping its head off and tearing off its legs. This was all in preparation for the amazing prawn curry that we were to later enjoy. Our hosts have invited Pi Gung, who is an amazing cook, to come to their house and cook for us all week. This means that we are being treated to some of Thailand's best home cooked cuisine.

After all that hard work we were treated to an amazing lunch before being whisked away to receive some much needed Thai Massage. This was Tim's first experience, and i'm glad to say that it was a positive one. If you have never experienced this delight, it can best be described as "enforced yoga". There was one moment when i was being folded in half and sat upon! This might not sound like everyone's cup of tea but believe me it is extremely relaxing.

Our "day off" then continued with a visit to a local village where many of the children who come to Power Church are from. This was a real experience. The people of this village are obviously very poor. Many of the houses consist of only one room where extremely large families all live. We walked around the village and invited many people to come and hear us sing and listen to Ajaan Bu talk. It was a really great evening. We were able to give out gifts and show people that they are loved. We also saw a massive flock/swarm/herd(?) of giant bats fly directs over us. Seriously, there were thousands of them, all the size of chickens!! On another note, i nearly didn't make it out of the village. I was propositioned by a lady looking for a husband for her daughter. Pi Gung had to quickly point out that i was already married to Hannah. I thought that this was have put her off the scent, but as we were driving out she grabbed my arm to try and hold on to me. A lucky escape i feel!!

Our "day off" has been nicely rounded off with that amazing prawn curry that i mentioned earlier. We're all having an amazing time and really looking forward to the rest of the week.

Oh yeah, if any of you have been trying to post comments to any of our posts but have failed, its because we hadn't turned that function on. It should all work ok now, so comment away.

Martin

All you need is love (and a pirate lion mask)...

Hi everyone, it's Hannah here - writing after a long day at church! We left for church at 8am, got some breakfast (toasted sandwiches!) at the corner shop, listened to worship until 9am, then at 9:30 we started Sunday school, while the adults had a Bible teaching session. Our theme was Noah's ark, which involved a lot of games about animals. We also tried to learn some Thai songs - which was a challenge! Kate and I had the pre-school class, which was chaotic, but the kids are very cute - one brought Kate a mini pizza as a present. We also made animal masks in the afternoon, which the children really enjoyed (hence the pictures).

We're definitely making the most of the time here, with every minute filled with something! Tomorrow Martin and Tim are doing some building work (not sure exactly what - something to do with sand) and in the evening we are going out to a village to share testimonies and songs and play games - Pi Joy told us we must tell everyone that Jesus loves them. This reminded me of the heart of what this is all about - it's not about us having an experience, or even teaching children English or playing worship songs or preaching - it's about people knowing that they are loved - by God and by people.

gaeng kaewan

We just ate a proper Thai green curry whilst sitting on the kitchen floor. It was really tasty and pretty spicy, even our Thai host (Ajaan Bu) said so, just before he went back out to coach another one of 5 of his youth teams play football in the local tournament. Hannah, Kate and Sam cooked it under direction from Pi Joy and her friends. So, if you ever fancy a spot of Thai cuisine you know who to ask. Martin and I got to watch another one of 5 of Ajaan Bu's teams play, so don't ask us, we could only tell you the finer rules and strategies of 5 a side football.

Before our culinary delights, we spent a day singing Thai songs, singing English songs, playing games and teaching English at The Power Church with about 40 Thai children, who all seemed to have lots of fun so that's good and I think they all learnt something too, although I'm not sure how qualified I am to teach English looking at how long this last sentence is. Here's a few pictures of the team being swamped by our happy Thai pupils.

Tim

Fun at the market

Ok, so apparently the pictures I loaded last night didn't actually count for a 'proper' blog, so here's a slightly longer entry!

The TLC5 had a relaxing morning at the hostel, before heading off after lunch to Chon Buri. The journey by bus took just under two hours, which gave me an opportunity to see some of the Thai country side (the others slept for much of the journey!). When eventually arriving in Chon Buri the bus driver wasn't content to take us to the bus station but wanted to drop us off where we were actually going which was great except we didn't know where we were going! And then the police got involved! It was soon sorted by a phone call to Ajaan Bu (the pastor of the Power Church), and we were picked up by his wife Pi Joy.

After briefly visiting their home to drop off our luggage we headed off to the Power Church, and had a bit of time to wander around the market before the church prayer meeting. Upon entering the market we found an elephant which needed feeding, and well, it would have been rude not to!

We then wandered around with Pi Joy and one of her daughters Peal, who brought some fried Meal worms and offered them to us, which we accepted, well, it would have been rude not to!

The prayer meeting at the church was a good evening with about 20 adults and another 20 kids. Here, I need to point out, in case you weren't aware, Thai's don't use the normal alphabet, but script, which is completely illegible, so for many of the songs we hadn't got a fighting chance of singing along so simply hummed along with the tune, but joined in with classic songs such as Jesus, we enthrone you, singing English along with their Thai!

We're now back at Ajaan Bu's house watching Thai TV and cramming for our first set of English lessons tomorrow!

Sam

Day of firsts

Which included...


...fanta in a bag!


...ride in a tuk-tuk (yes we did all manage to fit in...just!)

Bangkok sightseeing

Having had a lovely long sleep last night, the team all seem a bit more with it today and able to cope with the heat a bit better. Today we have spent the day in Bangkok. We started off at the Grand Palace with a guide named Tip and having looked around there, and learnt about all the gold stuff the Thai's have borrowed from around the world, we went on a boat to eat at the best restaurant in Bangkok. It was not a usual touristy place and the food was great (nice one Martin and Hannah for knowing about that one!). We then went to see the reclining Budda, the biggest Budda in the world (I think) and it is pretty massive and reclining (not suprising). Hannah tells me that it is supposed to be Budda about to die and having reached Nirvana, well he looked quite pleased with himself, so that's nice.

The girls decided that we would quite like to have a Thai massage, so that's what we did in a very reputible place in the grounds of the reclining Budda temple. The boys were not quite so interested and went off to do something manly. I've never had a Thai massage before, it was nice, a bit firm, and a bit concerning when a very strong little lady is pulling at your neck and back, but I think I would have another one. Now we have all regrouped before we go off to find some evening food.

Today has been a good day. I have tried loads of new fruits (right now it's a dragon fruit), and we have experienced loads of what I feel is Thai stuff. All good. Ready to move on to Chon Buri tomorrow.

Kate

Hi-Sukhumvit

We is here!!! Well, after what seemed like the longest plane journey ever, we arrived safely in Bangkok at 7.30 this morning (Thai Time). We nearly lost Tim in Mumbai. It seems that in India they like to have about 5 people all doing the job of one person, and they all like to do their job very thoroughly. This meant that it took us ages to get through security. And after they had given Tim's bag a thorough going through, they only went and forgot to stamp the paper work. This meant that as we went through the next check point (there were many!!) I turned around to find that Tim had vanished. The girls had already gone on ahead, so i waited in the hope that Tim would (like the shop keeper) miraculously reappear. At this point we only had abouut 10 minutes until our flight was due to leave, so i was beginning to contemplate having an extended stop over in India. As the last bus was preparing to take the remaining passengerss to the plane, Tim appeared with a very frustrated look on his face. He'd had to go through the whole process for a second time. Anyway, at least Indian airport security could never be accused of being lazy.

The place we're staying at for the next couple of nights is really nice. Hannah and i took the team out for a little bit of exploring, but not having slept properly for over 24 hours is taking its toll, so we're all back at the hostel for a bit of a siesta. Later this afternoon will go and enjoy some air-con releif at one of the shopping malls.

Martin

1 more sleep to go...

Hannah here, writing just before doing a final check and heading off to bed - we are being picked up at 5:30am tomorrow (thanks Peter for your sacrificial offer of a lift to the airport - and to Reg who is taking Sam, Tim and Kate).

Apart from that nagging feeling of having forgotton something (and it's not my passport, tickets, wallet, phone...) I'm feeling excited and apprehensive about the next few weeks.

Excited because we are going back to the country we love and miss! We are seeing friends, catching up with church out there and doing something meaningful and useful to support the work of the Power Church.

Apprehensive because this is all new - we've been as part of a team, been on our own, and even co-led a team, so surviving in Thailand is no problem, but actually leading a team? that's a new one. Fortunately our team are some of our best friends, and the best team we could hope for, so they make it easy and share the load.

It's also an opportunity for us to explore our future in Thailand, and the possibility of longer-term life and work there - again exciting and terrifying in equal measure!

The next time you hear from me I'll be on the other side of the world, so Kho Phra Jao ouay phra pon kha gap laew pop gan mai (God bless and see you soon!)

Hannah

hoovering and pistachio nuts

Took Red to Kate's mum and dad's today. That's our cat, who's name is Red, not Reg, he's kindly taking us to the airport at 5.30am tomorrow morning (Reg that is not the cat, who's called Red). I reckon he'll have a great holiday, chasing rabbits and birds, the likes of which he wont have seen before (Red that is). Not sure how Kate's mum and dad will take to all the fun a cat can bring, so if you're reading this you have all my sincerest apologies (if he does anything bad, which of course he might not) and I hope you enjoy having him, I'm sure you will. I had better go and finish getting ready, back to the hoovering...

Tim

Llamas Bread

A few people were asking me yesterday about the recipe for the bread i used. well here it is. Enjoy!

Lammas Loaf

Lammas celebrates the harvest and this recipe from Real Bread Campaign co-founder Andrew Whitley combines two (or more) cereals in a light loaf with a rustic crust and chewy crumb. This is a longer ferment Real Bread, made with a two-stage ‘sponge-and-dough’ process for a great flavour and additive-free keeping quality. Makes one large or two small loaves.

Note: 1 millilitre (ml) of water weighs one gram (g). If you have a set of digital scales, it is often easier to weigh small amounts of liquid than to measure them in a jug.

1. The sponge
5g Fresh yeast (or 3g active dried yeast/2g quick-acting yeast)
140g Water (at about 20°C)
160g Brown flour (i.e. around 85% extraction)
305 g Total

Dissolve the yeast in some of the water and add it to the ?our with the rest of the water. Mix until the dough has ‘cleared’, i.e. all the ingredients are thoroughly combined.

Put the sponge in a bowl large enough to allow it to expand to at least three times its original size. Cover with a lid or polythene bag and leave it at room temperature for at least 4 and up to 16 hours.

2. The soaked grains
Meanwhile, set up the following mixture:

100g Cracked wheat, jumbo oats, pinhead oatmeal or other grains or flakes
100g Water
200g Total

Stir the water into the grain(s), cover with a polythene bag and leave at room temperature while the sponge rises.

3. The dough
300g Sponge (from above)
260g Brown flour
6g Salt
170g Water (warm to the hand, i.e. 30-35°C)
200g Soaked grains (from above)
936g Total

Mix the sponge, flour, salt and water together into a soft dough. You may need to adjust the water to get the right consistency of dough. Knead, without adding extra flour, until it is stretchy (about 15 minutes). Cover and leave to rise for 1 hour. Then gently fold in the soaked grains until they are evenly incorporated into the dough.

Grease one large (900g/2 lb) tin or two small (450g/1 lb) ones. Shape the dough into either one large or two small loaves. Spread some cracked wheat/pinhead oatmeal/jumbo oats on the worktop and roll the dough piece(s) until completely covered. If the grains don’t stick well, moisten the surface of the dough with a little water and try again.

Put the prepared dough into the loaf tin(s). Cover loosely with a polythene bag (making sure that it doesn’t touch the dough) and let the loaf/loaves rise in a draught-free place until they have roughly doubled in size. Bake in a moderate oven (190°C) for 25-35 minutes, depending on your oven.

Reality Bites

So here it is! My first ever blog!

Getting the final bits and pieces together along with this mornings meeting means it's actually here, we're going to Thailand! We've spent so long planning, and now in three days we'll be there!

I've now printed my list of things to take and have got the whole day tomorrow to pack, but am sure I'll still end up doing right at the last minute!

Thanks for logging on, we really appriciate your support. Bye for now, my next blog will be from the other side of the planet!

Sam :-)

The programme

Above is the programme for us while we are away, now you can keep track of where we are and what we are doing while we are away.

Varying degrees of readiness

'Ready' can mean many things, and sadly for me it currently means, not ready at all!!! I'm still at work for today and then i have to jet off to Salisbury to pick up a new engine for my car. So as you can see, my Thailand readiness is being somewhat thwarted. Thankfully Hannah is fully aware of my lack of 'readiness' skills and is trying to be ready for both of us.

Martin

The team are (almost) ready to go

So this is us... the TLC 5, and we are almost ready to go to Thailand. Final plans are being made and panic is starting to set in (for some of us) about trying to teach English to Thai children. Hopefully our blog will keep you up to date with our journey and maybe will give you a bit of insight into our adventure. Enjoy!