A day at the Chatuchak market

Chatuchak market is open only on the weekend in northern Bangkok. If you can't find what you are looking for at Chatuchak, you probably didn't really need it. It's a huge market that sells everything from jewelry, pottery, home decor items, to antique buddhas (if that's your thing), hippie clothing (no kidding), pets of all kinds, textiles, antiques... I think you get the picture. Speaking of pictures, here are few pics of the day. I did go along this morning for a couple of hours, but after that, I bailed out and let Caitlin and Claudia enjoy the rest of the day on their own.
This is the Sky Train station near our apartment; Chong Nonsi.

Caitlin and Claudia are into "full contact" shopping. Fortunately, no one got hurt with this aggressive move...a move that she apparently learned well from her mother. Anyway...as I always say, "no blood, no foul."

a bunch of beautiful orchids

after a long day of shopping, it's time to come home. Claudia's probably thinking of either taking the Sky Train back home, or maybe the elephant taxi in the background. I'm not sure the elephants could carry the heavy load that Claudia is trying to bring home.

Apartment Pictures

Our living room
living room

Master bedroom
Master Bedroom

Caitlin's room

Week 3: Assimilation improving & Getting Around "Thai style"

At the end of week three we have now moved in our apartment...praise the Lord for that! It will take us awhile to really get settled in, but at least we have unpacked and hung up our clothes.

On the day we moved in (Sept 11), I knew our comfort level of being in Bangkok had improved when Melinda (who is an old pro in living in Bangkok; she's been here for 2 years) ordered 3 motorcycle taxis to save us a bit walking (about 1/2 mile). It was indeed quick and a cheap thrill ! It only cost 10 baht each or about 30 cents US money. On this particular day, the only casualty of speeding down the street and over a few speed bumps was Claudia's hair! Well, let me just say that the humid air and brisk ride on the back of a motorcycle was all Claudia need to add some volume to her hair. Just think about it...people pay good money for "volumizing shampoo" and Claudia did it for as little as 30 cents. LOL!

Well, that's all it took...just one trip on the back of a motorcycle and now we've done it several times since then. I guess we are getting braver day by day, or maybe we've just lost all common sense.

The problem with Bangkok is TRAFFIC! There are 10 million people in Bangkok and I think everyone drives a car plus about 5 million taxis. I've never seen traffic like it. And, if it rains (which it does often now that we are in the rainy season), the streets flood and you can imagine what that does to traffic. It puts a whole new meaning to the word "GRIDLOCK" in a Swamp!

Our modes of transportation varies depending on when, where and how fast we want to get there. The quick and easy way to get around if your not going but just a few blocks (less than a mile) is to take a TUK TUK (a small motorized type of golf cart) or a motorcycle taxi. The advantages of taking the motorcycle taxi is it's fast, and can go around cars (even in a traffic jam), but the obvious draw back is...it's not really that safe! I find myself praying more when I'm on the motorcycle but so far there have not been any accidents...just a close call or two.

Speaking of assimilation...Claudia is doing much better this week than last. I only say that because one evening last week that we were heading back to our apartment and walking down a busy sidewalk of vendors, cooking booths and along with hoards of people a small elephant(maybe about 5 foot tall) was passing by on the sidewalk with it's owner! The owner had food for sale that you could buy to feed the elephant as means of financial support. The elephant was so close to us that you could have easily reached out and touched it...if you dared. Or, if you weren't paying attention you could have been a casualty of an elephant "hit and run." I'm not sure when it comes to the law in Thailand in such matters, who has the legal "right of way?" So, as the elephant passed by I commented to Claudia about the elephant and she said, "what elephant? Where?" Things are, at times, so chaotic and busy and there are so many things to distract your attention, that you can, indeed, miss an elephant in your pathway. Enough said about that. Claudia is now on full elephant alert.

Pray for us...sounds like we need it! Thank you guys for your friendship and your prayers. Miss you guys. We'll keep in touch. Love you!

Gary

Moving next week; our new address plus more...

After being in Bangkok for 2 weeks, we have finally found a permanent apartment. It's a spacious furnished 3 bedroom in the downtown area. Actually, we are in the same apartment building as Melinda Burnette (BSF teaching leader) who has been living in this apartment building for a year. So at least we know one neighbor in the building. We are pleased to have finally landed on something and very much look forward to moving in on Thursday Sept. 11 and getting out of our suitcases and getting settled.

Of course after moving in, Claudia will enjoy making our apartment feel more like home even though it's already fully furnished. Claudia's already scheming how to improve it by moving some furnisher around and she's already commented on how the lamp shades are too small for the lamps so I'm sure that will change as well. We still need to buy sheets, towels, dishes, etc, and of course, she will most likely add some "fresh flowers" to make it feel more like home. She's is awesome at making a home feel special. I'm looking forward to seeing it transform.

Our new address is:
Baan Thirapa
11 Soi Phra Pinijt Tung-Makamake
Apt 202
Sathorn, Bangkok 10120
Thailand

Cell: 084-349-6655 (Gary)
011-66-84-349-6655 (outside Thailand)
Cell: 084-349-6633 (Claudia)
011-66-84-349-6633 (outside Thailand)

Up coming this week, Tuesday Sept 9, the BSF Women's class will be starting for the new year. This year's study is "The life of Moses" (Exodus, Lev, Nu and Duet.) Claudia will be joining the leadership team as a childrens leader.

Also, this week Caitlin's school will be on holiday Thursday and Friday which will be a nice break for her. So as not to waste this "out of school" holiday, Caitlin will be going with a youth church group to Koh Ta Lu (an island) for a beach retreat Sept 11-13th! Sounds nice, but Caitlin has already informed her mother and I that they do not need us as student sponsors...too bad:(

Today (Sunday Sept 7) we visited the International Church of Bangkok which is located very near to our new apartment. We enjoyed the service and met some new people this morning. Upon arriving, Caitlin saw her math teacher at church. He's a member which is nice to know that he is a Christian (unlike our experience in Greece). Next Sunday, we plan to attend the Calvary Baptist Church. Hopefully, after 4 successive weekends of visiting different churches we can find a church home. This is just another step in getting settled in Bangkok.

I'll close for now and hopefully we'll write more next week to keep you up with what's happening.

Blessings

Gary

Week One

Well, we have been in Bangkok for just over a week now.
I'm not sure how long I can blame this "deer in the headlights look" on jet lag,but for now,that's my story and I'm sticking to it!
After our unexpected overnight delays in both San Francisco and Tokyo, we arrived in Bangkok with our six over weight suitcases in tow. Mike met us at the airport and was invaluable in helping us from the start.

Our temporary housing situation is less than desirable... and has served as our motivation to find something newer and nicer... as soon as possible. We are working with two real estate agents...and have a couple of good options to choose from.

Caitlin has completed her first week of school at The International School of Bangkok. It appears that she will be able to compensate for the 12 days of school that she missed before we arrived. She has already met a couple of nice Christian girls...so things seem to be headed in the right direction.

In an attempt to find a church where we can worship and serve, we will visit each of the 4 English speaking Evangelical churches in the Bangkok area. Last week we attended the Anglican church with Melinda... and today we attended The Evangelical Church of Bangkok with Mike and Charlene. While at ECB this morning we actually met a man from Tulsa...now working for Chevron in Bangkok.

I attended our BSF Class workshop on Saturday... and am looking forward to the start of the new class year on September 9th. Gary and Mike will host the first men's prayer group meeting on September 15th.

The political situation here in Bangkok has taken an unexpected turn. What started out(five days ago)as a peaceful demonstration...has turned out bigger than expected and has included the demonstrators taking over several government buildings.We get our information by watching CNN or by reading the Bangkok Post(English Edition)but have not seen any of it first hand.

Thank you for your prayers and encouraging words...they are both important to us!

~Claudia~

Just arrived in Bangkok!

Well, where do I start since I last wrote you from Greece back in June? Our lives have been a whirlwind of activity since we got back to the States. Besides planning for Erica's wedding (Aug 16) we also had to get ready for our next assignment with BSF in Bangkok, Thailand.

Well, that's all behind us now and we are currently in Bangkok as I write. We've spent our first night in our "temporary" apartment. I say temporary with an emphasis since the apartment really is less than desirable. It will certainly motivate us to find a more permanent solution quickly. The bad news is we had to pay 1 months rent upfront, but I pray we'll have something before the month is up.
"an empossing Thai statue in the Bangkok airport"

Our trip to Bangkok was filled with a few twists and turns. As it turned out, we finally arrived in Thailand on Friday afternoon rather than the scheduled Wednesday night. It's amazing how just one event changed all of the following events...like dominoes falling.

We spent 24 hours in San Francisco after missing our flight to Tokyo. Do you know what a terrible feeling it is to run up to the departure gate (after doing an "OJ Simpson" run through the airport and security) just to see our plane pulling away from the gate? I'd have to say we didn't handle this situation very well.

Our flight was delayed out of Chicago for 2 hours due to fog in SF. Anyway, we made the best of the situation and stayed in a nice hotel near the airport (the Westin) and then we took the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) down to Wharf where we had a nice meal. Claudia had a hamburger (of course no fish for her), I had Salmon and Caitlin ate the crab enchiladas (sounds strange but they were really good!). On our way back to the hotel, we took the trolley to the nearest BART and then had a good night in the hotel watching some of the Olympics.SF trolley down by the Wharf
Cailtin and I enjoying our ride on the trolley with our new pull-overs. It's cold in SF when the sun goes down.
Claudia & Caitlin in front of the Westin (San Francisco) before we left for Tokyo.

Just when we thought we were back on track heading to Tokyo/Bangkok, the flight to Tokyo went smoothly (10 hours and 15 minutes). However, the next flight (which was scheduled 2 hours leave after our arrival), was canceled due to mechanical problems. Definitely not good...not when we were trying to get to Bangkok as soon after the wedding to enroll Caitlin into school. Now it appears that she'll miss Thursday and Friday as well. So, off to another hotel...this time in Tokyo. United Air did provide for our transportation to and from the hotel and scheduled us to Bangkok the following day at 11 am on Thai Air. Tokyo hotel; Claudia & Caitlin in their Japanese robes provided by the hotel

Right now, we're just trying to get acclimated to our new situation. It looks like Caitlin will indeed be in school on Monday. And, we will begin earnestly looking for a new apartment.

Pray for our smooth transition to this new culture.
pray for Caitlin to somehow make up for lost time in school (she's 12 days behind).
pray we will locate the place/apartment God has for us quickly.

This is another step of faith that God has chosen for us. Will write more later.

love and blessings

Gary

Leaving Athens for another destination... yet to be determined

Well, it's sad to say but we are, indeed packing up and leaving Athens. As I write this entry, we are now back in the US and will soon receive another assignment from BSF.

The sudden conclusion to our 10 month effort in Greece has been such a shock to us. After a post pilot class evaluation, BSF HQ informed us that that they wanted to shut down our efforts in Athens and to come back to the US for debriefing and to discuss a potential reassignment to another country.

At the conclusion of the 5 week pilot class with hopes of beginning a Fall class (9 month study of Moses), there were not sufficient leaders to commit for the Fall class. Besides Donna and Claudia, it takes 5-10 women to lead a class. Yet, at the end of the pilot class there were no women who were both qualified and willing to commit to leading the class in the Fall.

So, within 1 week of finding out about return to the USA, God provided a way for us to leave within such a short time frame. This was an absolute miracle in how He worked.

There are so many feelings right now that it's hard to sort through them all. We leave Greece with a sense of sadness and grieving, but we know that God will bless our efforts that we made while in Greece. This is what I am confident of... what ever good work God started in Athens through our efforts... he will carry it to completion. (Phil 1:6)

But right now, it time for us to focus forward and to trust our Lord and Savior for the next step and the next country of his choosing. Philippians 3:13-14 is particularly meaningful at this point in our lives..."Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize..."

We will be going to BSF HQ in San Antonio July 8-10 where we will spend time debriefing and accepting our next God size challenge. As soon as we find out what our next assignment we will post it so you can know how to pray for us.