Daughtrey News
On the Monday morning we left on our adventure. We had the two trucks with us, both totally loaded. I knew the general area that we were headed for but had no idea what our final destination was for that day. I am learning a new thing here that I’ve never really had to do before. I call it flying by the seat of my pants. Being ready to do something on short notice. God is SO gracious and by that very grace I can do what once would have caused me to almost break out in hives. I at least would have been totally flustered, but I really can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Lunch was at Phumphon Dam on the way to Bangkok and as a treat, Pastor Phamor hired a boat and we all went out on the water. The boat was low to the surface of the lake and I could put my hand over the side and dangle it in the water like I could when I was a young girl on holidays at Minnamurra. In the top picture are Mosa, Nim, Pen, Na, Pastor Phamor and MeaTai standing on the dam wall. These girls love to take pictures and are always ready to smile for you when you want to take theirs.
We headed out after lunch and turned off highway 1 in the direction of the Burmese border. Larry recalled driving on this road last year when he went to the refugee camp with Pastor Phamor. He was saying how there had been heavy rains that had washed out big sections of the road as the water came rushing down the steep ravines. We passed quite a few of these places and the road crews had been busy. They had all been repaired and hopefully, the problem has been solved.
We arrived late in the afternoon to be greeted by smiling faces. We were at camp. It was due to start on Wednesday evening so on Tuesday we set out again, and this time I knew we were going to a cave. Mae Usu Cave was past the refugee camp, and I was thankful for the places where they had railings and makeshift stairs. We clambered over rocks with flashlight in hand and the caverns were very large with huge, impressive formations. Lots of bats of course. My animal treats for the day were that we saw a herd of water buffalo shading up at the parking area and we saw a working elephant dragging a huge log down the side of a hill. We saw another elephant grazing in a field like you would see Cami or Casey’s horses doing. Very neat for this city bred western girl! We went on a difficult mountain road to a village called Gama Padau where Mot, one of our girls, lives. We spent time there with her family. Pen shinnied up a coconut tree and cut down several coconuts. In the third picture you can see the girls carrying them back to the house. We enjoy meeting the families of our girls. The villages that they’re from are scattered through the mountains and it’s good to be able to get to them and spend some time with the families.
Later in the afternoon we visited another village where Pastor Phamor had some friends that he wanted to visit with. The girls and I busied ourselves exploring the village and I found delight watching a couple of ladies weaving fabric from different colored cottons. They do beautiful work, often finishing it with hand embroidery or embossing it with shells. We stayed for supper and then headed back to the camp. By Wednesday people were coming from the surrounding areas and settling in for camp. This one was for the Karen people held not far from the Burmese border at a place just north of Mae Sarat, called Ganaju (forgive my phonetic spelling if this is wrong) that had a school, dormitory and church and some really impressive gardens. Out in from of the dormitory was a big pond where a group of young boys seemed to spend almost the whole time. It did look inviting! And there were quite a few people from the MaeLa refugee camp which was about 20k up the road. Normally they are confined to the area of the camp but they were allowed to come to the camp meeting. The Adams family came with a whole group of their students. Pastor Phamor was one of the main speakers and the subject was Revelation. Every Adventist loves camp meeting and this was the major focus of our adventure. Like a lot of camp meetings it was a very social event – a once a year thing. There was the blessing of the presence of the Lord there – that supercedes all language and culture barriers. The Karen language is supposed to be simpler than Thai – not as many tones. Anna Adams has pretty well mastered it as has Ben Sharon. He was there too. There was a lot of singing and a lot of youngsters were there. Also several school represented from the MaeLa refugee camp. I met a few people from there that I could speak with somewhat and found that to be very enlightening. I have exchanged e-mail addresses with a few people too. Needless to say, we had to provide our own spiritual food which was easy to do as we had loaded our Ipods and were ready but even though we couldn’t understand we were still able to communicate by broken words and a kind of charades that seems to work well. Our physical food was Karen, I was told. We had lunch at the cafeteria each day and the food was very simple and most of it wasn’t hot (spicy). We took fruit, granola and zwieback to supplement for the rest of the time. They had groups from different schools singing and the middle photo is of one group dressed in Karen clothes singing “When we all get to Heaven” in their language. If you want to hear a rendition of this you will need to go to my Facebook page as I intend to put the pictures there. I wish I could just fill the e-mail with pictures – but.
Larry and I are thankful to be able to share little pieces of our life with you. We covet your prayers for the work here. Soon we begin our English classes and this could be just the tip of an iceberg. Pastor Phamor would like to be able to expand the girls dorm here and put in a boys dorm. We know that the Lord can bless beyond our wildest imagination. It is an awesome responsibility that we both feel unqualified for but when we put our trust in Him and humbly choose to walk in the old paths; in His counsels, He will instruct us and teach us and guide us with His eye. We are being prepared to be citizens of heaven and the new earth. A rough diamond is a diamond still, but when the master jeweler makes the cuts and the finished work comes from His hand He will see His image perfectly reflected. May we all settle for nothing less. God bless you all.
Malachi 3:17 And they shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels;
With love from Thailand – Larry and Wendy
Greetings to all,
It is already February of 2010. I have discovered that time can fly by no matter where you are living. It has been 7 months since Larry and I made a commitment to the Lord to come to Thailand and we have now been here for over three months.
We were so happy when our dear friends, Bill and Venie, arrived in early December even though we had met and befriended other Christians working here who were English speaking. Bill and Venie are focused on the All Asia Studio that has been a year in building and we will be working with them wherever needed. We pray daily for this project as it has the potential to reach billions of people who are unaware of the love of our Heavenly Father or that they have a Saviour who has given Himself for them to be able to live in eternity and have peace here. They aren’t aware that the signs of the times prophesied in the Bible are fast fulfilling and Jesus is coming back soon! Please join us to pray for this mighty work to go forward.
In the last two weeks there have been some big changes for Larry and I. Pastor Phamor, whom many of you are familiar with as a retired SDA pastor who is totally dedicated to working for the people of this area, especially the children, asked us to work at the girls dormitory that he is overseeing. He wants us to work with them as spiritual counselors, which is difficult now because of the language barrier. We accepted, after praying for guidance, because even though we know that we are unable to perform this task, that with God, all things are possible and we believe this to be His will.
We are also going to be teaching English to the girls from the dorm who will be graduating from the local Adventist Academy this year, along with anyone else from the dorm who are not going home for the summer vacation. Here, that happens from mid-March to mid-June as this is the hot, dry time of the year.
The next task that we have is to establish an organic gardening program that will support the dormitory and the Medical Missionary training center.
Larry and I will be working together on all of these and we ask for your earnest prayers in our behalf that we can be used by our Father to reveal His love to the girls and encourage them in their personal walk with Jesus. Pastor Phamor is already bringing in materials to build a small house near the dormitory where Larry and I can live. The dormitory and the planned house are both in the same area as the All Asia Studio and Pastor Phamor’s office.
Last Sabbath, at the Academy church, 26 young people were baptized. What a blessing this day was. For those of you who know me from Kettle Falls, you know how much I loved baptisms and I knew two of the young people. Raene is the youngest daughter of David and Annabelle Bell, who are are good friends. David is the Academy administrator and Annabelle is my dear friend that I walk with in the mornings and pray with. They are from Canada. We have spent precious times with the Bell family and it was wonderful to be able to be there with my camera for Raene’s baptism. Also baptized was Mosa, a lovely young lady from Pastor Phamor’s girls’ dorm. Please pray for all of theyoungsters who committed their lives to God and remember the sweet promise of the Lord, “He shall give His angels charge over thee (them) to keep thee (them) in all thy (their) ways.” Psalm 91:11.
Even though a lot of the baptismal candidates had already completed their studies and were planning to be baptized, the event took place at the end of a week of prayer headed by Pastor Simon Siew from Malaysia. I attended all of the evening meetings and the Sabbath morning service with the girls and for me the highlight of the week was at the end of the Friday evening service. Many of the young people stood up to accept Jesus and there were two lines that went almost the full length of the church. Praise God! David was too emotional to speak and on my walk back home that evening I could only pray for these young people for the Lord to hedge them with His angels and protect them from the anger and wiles of the devil.
This is an interim update. I felt the need to share this news with everyone before the end of the month when Venie’s newsletter comes out.
The photos at the top are of Raene with Pastor Siew in the baptismal font, a view of the young people from the church balcony and Mosa after the baptism. They put flower petals on the water. It was beautiful!
May God bless you all.
Larry and Wendy Daughtrey
