Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Relaxing the Thai Way



At left is Eng, wearing a Thai shirt and enjoying a cool drink as he lounges on some floor pillows.

The other photo was taken in front of the entrance to the resort. Thailand is blessed with beautiful flowers and foliage and up where we were, which was on top of a mountain, the vegetation seemed even more lush and thriving.

Heaven's Gifts


To celebrate our 19th wedding anniversary (February 28, 1987) and 22nd anniversary (February 29, 1984 being the date we started going out), we, Eng and Linda, stayed overnight at a resort. We thoroughly enjoyed our time together and the place where we went. While there, we discovered what the resort was referred to - as seen on the right.

And as if the Lord wasn't through in reminding us that the blessings were from Him, as we went home, we were taken to a spa by a friend. While there, we received our anniversary gift, a wonderful 2 hour and 45 minute body and feet massage. Our friend picked a completely random massage plan and what did the name of the plan turn out to be? Heavenly Plan! The Lord is simply awesome.

To the left is Linda with the view of the mountains as they took their morning walk.

Monday, March 27, 2006

Younuos

This week, March 27th to April 2nd, we are praying for the Younuos who are from the Guangxi Province of China. There are 9,700 of them and no one believes in the Lord. Currently, no one works with them.

Who will speak to the Lord daily about workers so that they can go?

Monday, March 20, 2006

Shirt To Go



This year, 15 year old Evan attended his first Valentine's Banquet by wearing his own 'formal' shirt. Together with a friend, Evan created this masterpiece using permanent black markers. Awesome!

Evan- "Alright, hey, this is Evan. There are some who would say I am both a writer and an artist, and there are others who would say that i'm just your average, Asian-Canadian, adolescent third culture kid, so who am I to say who's right?
Anyway, I like to read a lot, when I can find good books (which is not easy here in Thailand). And I edit and co-write both this blog and our bi-monthly email update (which I enjoy some of the time). Mostly I draw on homework, notes, and other random assorted pieces of paper I can find, though I sometimes like to vary to other more interesting mediums, such as skin or cloth."

Ethan Turned 5!


On February 27, Ethan turned 5 years old. The picture on the left was taken when he was opening his presents.

When not hamming it up for the camera, Ethan likes watching TV or playing the computer or some other electronic gadget. He loves to sing and dance.

His most recently heard word from the Lord is, "some enemies change, but these ones (referring to the demons) don't".

Jiongnais

The Jiongnais (pronounced Chee-ong Nai) are from the Guangxi province of China. There are 101,100 of them and not one person believe in Jesus. Currently there are no Christian workers working with them. How can this be? Let's pray for them!

Who will support the workers financially so they can go?

Twin's Plea


Khruu Ohh and Khruu Aah are Thai teachers at the language school that Eng and Linda used to go to. Because of his current workload, Eng stopped having Saturday lessons at home with Khruu Ohh. Linda has two other teachers during the week but has Khruu Aah teaching her every Saturday morning at the house. Both teachers accepted Jesus as their Lord last September and have started attending church. They are facing opposition from their family who refuse to permit them to change their belief. They are forced to continue to go to a Buddhist temple during Thai festivals and to 'wai' (show respect) and to offer incense. Since Thai families are patriarchal, they are compelled to obey because of their culture and training but what they really want is to be baptized and to receive communion. They have done neither because the family's permission has not been received. Sometimes they are not able to attend church because of 'errands' that they are asked to do. They are looking to us for prayers and to the Lord for an answer to their plight. The twin sisters turn 25 years old next month.

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Wunais

As indicated last week, as a family we pray for a different Unreached People Group every week and invite you to please join us. This week, 13th-19th of March, we are praying for the Wunais who are from the Hunan Province of China. There are 18,400 of them and no one believes in the Lord. Currently, no one works with them.

How can workers go if no one sends them?

Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust

3 days after Eng's Papa died, he was cremated in the grounds of a Buddhist temple along with his personal effects (eyeglasses, cigar pipe, watch, fountain pen, etc.). The next day, we all went back to the crematorium. The caretakers sifted out Papa's bones from the ashes and piled it on a table as shown on the right. Each member of the family except Mom, from the oldest son followed by his wife and kids, to the second son, etc. down to the youngest sibling and his children, took turns picking up a piece of bone from the table (using chopsticks) and placing it inside the urn. The urn was then placed inside the temple.

Papa's urn is on spot #297, one of many. A plaque cover like on the ones around it will soon seal the urn in. Mom's spot is the one on the right beside his (#298).

Monday, March 13, 2006

Death The Taoist Way

Eng's niece and sister-in-law are shown here sitting by Papa's coffin burning paper money (Papa's coffin is just behind the yellow heart with his picture). Apart from Eng's youngest brother and his family, all of Eng's immediate family members are Taoists and believe in ancestral worship and providing for the needs of their departed loved ones. From the moment Papa was placed in the coffin in the driveway of their house, they took turns burning the paper money which they believed went to the world where Papa went. Since they believed Papa was able to spend this money in the afterlife, they burned as much of it as possible.

The paper money shown here had no significant etchings on them except some Chinese characters. Some of the paper money burned with the other items actually had "Hell's Notes" written on them!
The house shown on the left was totally constructed out of very thin Japanese paper. To the left and right of the house are paper servants awaiting Papa's arrival with food and drinks ready to serve him and to respond to his biding. There is a smaller figure in the front of the house serving as Doorman and if you enlarge the picture, you will see made-of-cardboard TV, electric fan, DVD player, gold watch, lounge chair, jewellery, and even a Mahjong set! [Papa loved to play mahjong when he was alive.] While this house was getting burned, they also burned several boxes of paper gold bullions and threw uncooked rice in the fire. No one could explain the 'rice' gesture to Linda. If you know why, please feel free to comment. Since these burning ways are learned from the generations before them, no one knows the rationale behind it now. Since the uncooked rice wasn't made of paper, did the ancient Taoists think the rice got to Papa as cooked rice?


This almost-life-sized super-light paper Mercedez Benz came with a paper chauffeur and lots and lots of Hell's Notes tossed in in the back seat of the car. It took less than two minutes to burn her up.

Wednesday, March 8, 2006

Christmas Party at Home

Last December we had a Christmas Party with the Thai staff from Eng's office and our Thai teachers. It was the first Christmas Party for some of them to actually hear about the birth of Christ. Most Thai people do not celebrate Christmas and if they do, it is simply to exchange gifts. The picture was taken just after we ate. Clockwise from left: Linda, Evan, Eric, Ethan & Eli

Our Christmas Cake generated a lot of questions and presented opportunities for us to share about the reason for the season.

Tuesday, March 7, 2006

At Last!


Here it is: our blog. We've called it YeongLife so any one or all of us can update it. While it has potential to have just about anything, we do want to use it to talk about the work that we do, our comings and goings, and life here in Chiang Mai.

Speaking of work, did you know that the Mekong Field's Regional Accounting Centre, where Eng is Business Manager, handles the finances of workers in Northern Thailand, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, China, and Vietnam? [The picture at the top displays the Mekong River and the countries it intersects with.] There are in fact more than 150 of our workers spread out all around the neighboring vicinity. Furthermore, all of these workers at some point or another go through Chiang Mai to withdraw money, discuss finances, deliver their babies, have medical check-ups, or simply relax.

The focus of the workers is to reach the Unreached People Groups [UPGs]. Currently, there are 160 million people (in 5 countries) divided into 70 subgroups who do not have their own people sharing the gospel with them. Once the people group begins to share the gospel amongst themselves, they cease to be unreached. With so many millions needing to hear about our Lord, we have a lot of work and need a lot of prayers. As a family, we pray for one subgroup a week. Will you please join us in praying for the Bunu Bunaos, this week? There are .44 million of them living in the Guangxi and Guizhou area of China. There are no believers among them and currently, no one works with them.

How will they hear unless someone goes?