We could not finish the church, but they have a very good start. The walls are up and two of the five trusses are set. We worked in the dark on Saturday night to finish the cross on the top of the building. Cleaned the site and returned the tools to the pastor so that he can finish later.

Yesterday, Sunday, we had our church service in Pastor La Sung’s home and went to the church for pictures. After we drove to Chiang Khung to say goodby to Sawat and then back to Chiang Mai. I leave for the U.S. at 0530 tomorrow morning. See you when I get back.

Our internet has been unavailable for a few days. Sorry

0600 on Friday. This is our last day on the project. Yesterday we got most of the steel on the top of the walls which means we can start setting trusses today. Sawat is supposed to come today with a couple of skilled Thai workers and some ladders. If he doesn’t, it will be difficult to reach the top of the trusses. Again, we will have to be patient and wait.

Our pastor and his wife are amazing. He is a truly a tentmaker. He manages the place we are staying and takes care of his animals and his mango orchard. That is his only revenue. He is on-site all day working with his congregation. We use his truck while he and his wife use a motor bike. His wife prepares all of our meals and washes our clothes. Yesterday they hosted a large meal in their home for about 30 women in the village. Everything with a smile; always happy and enjoying life with their Lord.

Our plan is to go to church tomorrow and then head to Chiang Mai to start our trip home. I will try to get in one more blog from there. See you soon.

Today is Sunday so Al and I got up early to go to Phu Chi Fa to watch the sunrise over Laos. Jason has been under the weather and decided to sleep in. It is only about a 1/2 hour drive but we had to walk the last mile up to over one mile of elevation. Not a lot of air. The view was spectacular. After that we had a large breakfast here and went to church. When we got there they served a large breakfast. I don't understand, but at the 2nd breakfast, we were asked to re-name a young man of about 18 years old. His new name is now John Marko.

The second part of church was at another village where of course the served breakfast. Again everything was of course in Hmong so we mostly just sat and prayed when they did. This time we were asked to name a baby. There is now a new Rebecca in the world. It took a while to explain about Isaac and Rebecca.
The building continues. Our biggest issue now is getting materials. We have learned that three deliveries today means two deliveries and not really what we need. This makes things like concrete pours almost impossible. We have started on the walls and hope to have the structural steel up before we leave next Sunday.
Our Hmong congregation is now really building the church. They are there all day mixing and moving concrete, both the men and women. And of course the kids are everywhere.
If you want, you can link to Al’s blog at:http://januarythailandmission2009.blogspot.com
For Jason’s time-lapse photos, click here. For our original concept drawings, click here. And for current photos, please click here or here.

Today is Sunday so Al and I got up early to go to Phu Chi Fa to watch the sunrise over Laos. Jason has been under the weather and decided to sleep in. It is only about a 1/2 hour drive but we had to walk the last mile up to over one mile of elevation. Not a lot of air. The view was spectacular. After that we had a large breakfast here and went to church. When we got there they served a large breakfast. I don't understand, but at the 2nd breakfast, we were asked to re-name a young man of about 18 years old. His new name is now John Marko.

The second part of church was at another village where of course the served breakfast. Again everything was of course in Hmong so we mostly just sat and prayed when they did. This time we were asked to name a baby. There is now a new Rebecca in the world. It took a while to explain about Isaac and Rebecca.
The building continues. Our biggest issue now is getting materials. We have learned that three deliveries today means two deliveries and not really what we need. This makes things like concrete pours almost impossible. We have started on the walls and hope to have the structural steel up before we leave next Sunday.
Our Hmong congregation is now really building the church. They are there all day mixing and moving concrete, both the men and women. And of course the kids are everywhere.
If you want, you can link to Al’s blog at:http://januarythailandmission2009.blogspot.com
For Jason’s time-lapse photos, click here. For our original concept drawings, click here. And for current photos, please click here or here.

It has been a busy several days. We have poured about 14 meters of concrete and unloaded about 380 bricks by hand and have about 2000 to go. There have been 6 to 10 men from the congregation working their butts off every day moving dirt and rocks by hand, mixing and pouring concrete. The women of the church come in the afternoon and show them how to really work. This is the hardest I have worked in years. We have been without an interpreter for the last several days so things have been interesting. Still eating VERY good. Same food for all meals, hard work, room where we stay is about the size of our bathroom. Having the time of my life.

Drove to Chiang Kham today to pay for materials Al drove. Truck way too small for him, on the left side of the road, not able to read the road signs, narrow and steep winding roads. Always an adventure.

I continue to be impressed with the people of this tiny congregation. Both the men and the women (and kids) are working at the job site every day. Several bring their lunch; a small bag of rice. They know that Satan is very much working against them. I can best express that this is one of his strongholds and is fighting to keep it that way. Pray for us and for this congregation as they struggle everyday in very difficult circumstances. The pastor is always visibly joyful. He works as Pastor with no pay. Truly a tentmaker He is at the site every day working with pick and shovel. His wife cooks all meals for us and washes our clothes. What an amazing group.

We only have 7 more work days and have yet to start the walls. Continue to pray for us and for this church.

Finally got a good start on the forms. Michael Phillips left today for the U.S. which leaves us without any intrepreturer. Not my first time and you learn how to get things done. Michael A. is supposed to be back on Thursday.

If you want to see pictures, link on the following

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=82915&l=13b67&id=630621196
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=82274&l=681cf&id=630621196
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=82919&l=16536&id=630621196

AT LAST some progress. We have been waiting for a week for the excavation. Our Pastor called him this morning and told the man either he shows up today or he will not get paid. The foreigners are upset. He was here with machines by noon. That will let us start forms tomorrow.

Church yesterday was in the house of one of the congregation. What a faithful group. In the past 10 days, a man and his son were shot and killed just above the hill. Another boy was shot by his sister while they were wild chicken hunting. Another broke his jaw in a motor bike accident, another cannot get his wife from Laos, and many more. Their faithfulness is amazing. They have waited six years for this church. We were in prayer for much of the service.

Yesterday we drove to Payao to visit the college student our small group has been sponsoring. Quite an adventure. Michael's truck broke down about 1 kilometer from his home. We spent about one hour trying to fix it. Got it to his house to get his other vehicle and it would not start. We change the battery and got it started. When we got to Payao, it would not start. We spent about 2-1/2 hours getting it started. Our planned four hour trip took nine hours.

Well, we have been in the village for a week and are struggling. The machine to do the grading arrive yesterday with the agreement that it would be here until we were happy with the work. I Thailand I guess that means that we are happy whenever they decide to leave. There was no finish work done. We spent this morning trying to decide how to level the site so that we can lay the concrete. Simple in the U.S., but not here where everyone has ideas but no one can do it. Right now, we are waiting for some decision between the Pastor and the contractor. Michael (the missionary from Laos) left us for a week and Michael Phillips (from Chiang Kham) should be here soon. Hopefully we will be able to get some answers then.

Yesterday we ordered the cement, sand and gravel necessary to start the foundation, but had to cancel the order because the site was not ready.

We have been eating well. Hmong food is pretty much the same food for every meal but very good. I will be ready for a steak when I get home.

The weather has been great. About 80 degrees and sunny every day. To bad we cannot get some work done.

Pray for us: for patience, for our pastor, for our peace, for understanding between the people here and ourselves, for the project, for our families back home, but most of all that His will be done.

I will try to give you more info this evening

Remember the excavator we were supposed to have last Saturday? Well, it was finally on it's way today but the truck broke down. Maybe tomorrow. We did manage to build two trusses today and will work to finish tomorrow. Even though I have spent many weeks in Thailand, it never fails to amaze how difficult it is to make things happen.

If you are intereste, go to Jason's site to see pictures of what is happening.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=82274&l=681cf&id=630621196

Since we thought that there would be no equipment, we worked all day at the site breaking concrete and plotting out the church location. At the end of the day, we learned that again things have changed. Now we have been promised a large excavator no later than 0900 tomorrow. The steel for the trusses was delivered so Al can start cutting and welding tomorrow. Jason and I will work at the site to make sure the equipment operator moves the dirt where we want it.

Finally got some time with a computer so that I can catch-up with what has happened so far.

We left Chiang Mai on Saturday morning and drove to Michael Phillip’s home in Chiang Kham to meet some of the missionaries that are being asked to leave Laos and plan to continue their mission in Thailand. From there we drove to Leuou Village to meet the village leaders and the pastor of the church and to settle into our room.

On Sunday we had our worship in the pastor’s home (actually his front porch). About ½ way through the meeting we had to take a break to meet with the equipment operator so that work could start on Monday. After the meeting we gave the clothing to the member of the congregation.

On Monday the equipment did not show, but it was promised no later than Wednesday, so we spent the day locating other equipment and material. We also worked on design to prepare for approval of the village leaders.

On Tuesday, we met with all the leaders who gave us the final approval for the project. The rest of the day we purchased materials to be delivered to the building site. Later we learned that we may not have any equipment so we decided to hire about 30 local workers with shovels to dig the hill. Nothing in Thailand ever works as planned. Pray for us for patience.

If you go to google.earth, our co-ordinates are

19○ 47.372N
100○ 24.353E

Finally got to the internet. We got a wireless connection through our cell phone. We have been here a week and not much progress. We have ordered all materials, but no building. We are obviously on Thai time. We were to have heavy equipment but have not been able to get the permits to move them. Tomorrow we should have about 30 Thai workers with shovels. With that many people we should be ready to set forms in about two days.

Pray for patience.

We are ready to leave Chiang Mai. I think we have all the hand tools we need for now. Have the telelphone activated. Mike Phillips (missionary for the village we are in) is to pick us up in about 5 minutes. We will drive to Chiang Kham to meet with the people we will work with. I will blog as soon as I can.

Just arrived in Chiang Mai. Uneventful trip but loooong. About 30 hours in an airport or in the plane. Waiting for Al and Jason so that we can start our preparations.

This is the church that was destroyed and needs to be re-built.