Giving Grace in the Koy

Spore slideshow

2006-08-21T01:44:00.000+07:00

Singapore Slideshowww!

Enjoy: Click Me!

2006-08-11T12:00:00.000+07:00

First of all a big thankyou to Jem for updating you guys about where we were. Their were a distinct lack of computers in Malaysia (well not KL but the islands). We are now safely back in Bangkok and it felt like coming home. We really enjoyed our little bit of travelling, getting to spend time with friends in Singapore and seeing the Petronas towers in KL. The Parinthian (spelling, bothered?!) Islands are in the north east of the penisular Malaysia and are still relatively untouched. We spent 5 days there doing a load of snorkling and bumming around on the beautiful beaches. It was good to have some time to just chill and thank God for all He has being doing out here in SE Asia. We return on Tuesday to sunny old England so will be able to inform you guys first hand of the whole trip. Once again a big thankyou to all you guys for caring for us and praying for us. Continue to pray for the church and all the students that are experiencing the joy of knowing Jesus. I'm sure we will be back soon enough to this city and country which we love.

Prayer requests

Pray for the church and the new christians

Pray for our return journey in light of the recent security issues

Please pray for the Simpson family as they their Granny is close to being called home to be with the Lord. May God's peace be with them and His deepest loving comfort. Thank God for the committed life she has given Him and the many blessing she has brought to others.

Singapore Malaysia Update

2006-08-08T10:29:00.000+07:00

Back to the Koy through Malaysia

Webmistress Update: to the faithful readers of graceinthekoy, just a 2nd hand report on how the guys are doing.
Having arrived in Singapore at midnight 26th July, Rob & Tim bus-ed round Singapore more than an average Singaporean would themselves.
It's a small island but travelling provided a good oppurtunity to see the unremarkable insides of the country that most tourist neglect.
I tried to plan an efficient peregrination, with enough rest for them after being in the mission field for so long.

Having left Wednesday morning 2nd of August, they are now somewhere in Malaysia, travelling back to the koy via the beautifully comforting land of Malaysia.
Extract from an email from Rob:

Hiya Jem,

Just want to email you to say that we are doing good and loving KL. We arrived at about 4pm yesterday having got a great coach with, guess what, reclining seats. The money Selina gave us was exactly enough to get us to KL with 20 sens left over for tim to use the toilet so that was nice.

So I believe I can say they are well and lappin' up Malaysia, my neighbouring country.
And a picture to spice this post up, don't worry more pictures to upload in time! *smiles*

2006-07-22T10:44:00.000+07:00

Greetings, we have two weeks to catch up on so i'll try and give you the good stuff. We had the last two weeks of EFS on campus as well as the last week of evening teaching as well as the last two weeks of football. It's all coming to an end as we head off for singapore next wednesday, but we'll still keep you updated. Our Thai lessons have been continuing as well although we never have time to do the homework so don't know how much progress we'll make. So here are the highlights for you:

The Sunday after the jet ski adventures was a real celebration of God's grace as 4 people came to know Him. They had come before the service to watch a film and just hang out and God really touched them as they stayed for the service. After that we just about stayed up to watch the world cup final, although i slipped off during the Zidane headbutt thing so i still don't know what happened! The next Friday was the graduation party for this courses english students. The YWAM team performed some skits and gave testimonies. We also did our dramas with our classes. Tim did a parody of Titanic with his class, replacing Jack and Rose with himself and Paula Taylor (Thai movie star that we have a little crush on). I played an ignorant tourist who went to a thai restaurant with his wife and got ripped off, which was a laff.

Saturday 15th we finally headed off to Cambodia for our visa run. Got up at 5:45am to go to the train station. The train took 5 hours but the scenery was beautiful. Our destination was not so great. Poi Pet was the border town in cambodia where we stayed and it was just full of casinos as gambling is illegal in thailand. They were full of thai businessmen and the rest of the town was full of vietnamese working girls. We affectionately dubbed it 'Sin City'. We managed to get back in time for the goodbye service at church for the YWAM team on sunday who went off to vietnam.

On the thursday was the last EFS meeting so we had a party. As it was just us two and Cory, the canadian, we had to rope in some thais for a little drama that we performed. A couple of us shared testimonies and Tim told the Gospel and 6 of the guys made a decision to follow Christ which was amazing. It included one guy who Tim and I just met one day when we were getting fruit and invited along, showing how God works through the small things. Friday we had a day off and a very special treat. After our thai lesson we decided to go to Siam Square which was one of the best decisions we've ever made. We saw lots of people gathered together and television cameras and then we saw Paula Taylor! For any of you myspace geeks, you'll know that she was the person Tim and i wanted to meet and now we have. We went up and got her autograph and a little camera phone pic and she said 'it was nice to meet you.'

Prayer requests

Pray for all the new Christians from the english teaching and EFS, that they would understand the Grace of God and want to grow in their new life and allow God to change them

Pray for the two churches in Poi Pet, that they can be lights in such a dark place

Pray for the YWAM team in vietnam, where they are likely to meet much opposition, that God would give them strength and protection

Pray for us in the last days at the church, that we can remain focussed and make sure we say a proper goodbye to everyone

2006-07-08T21:10:00.000+07:00

Hey guys. Just finished another week, number one of two with the new YWAM team. They've come from perth and are only here 2 weeks so we've lost our day off to compacted english lessons but it's all good. Been stepping up on the football ministry this week. Got a team going even though we've lost 3 farang (foreigners). One of the thai dudes got our team photo blown up to A3 size which was awesome. Played every day even in monsoon rains which has been fun fun. We were deeply saddened however last weekend when england went out of the world cup again on schompleling penelties! We watched the match in a restaurant with lots of english people so it felt like being at home.

Been teaching in EFS every morning. It seems like there's new people every day though. I (rob) think i've taught the first lesson about 6 or 7 times. Great to meet all the new new guys though, think we're becoming more of a presence on campus. Last sunday i preached in the church evening service which was tough as im feeling i need to be taught rather than teach but God really gave me a peace and confidence so hopefully the message was well received. I think i'll stick to the english teaching next time though. Started teaching level 5 now which includes my students from last time as well as tim doing level 2 with his last students plus another 4 or so. We have also become students ourselves now, of thai language. Finally, hehe. Hope to get fairly good before we go to singapore, hmmm. Had a good day today as we went out with students. We were supposed to be going to cambodia to renew our visas but tim got an offer to go jet skiing so he couldn't turn it down. I just went over towards khao sarn and saw pirates of the carribbean so not quite as exciting.

Prayer requests

Pray for the relationships we are making with people playing football

Pray for the church and its members that it can be effective in its service in the community

Pray for the new team and that they can make an impact in the short time they're here

Pray for our thai lessons that we can learn enough to converse with thais and that we can bless our teachers too

2006-06-19T22:58:00.000+07:00

Ok, so we are very very sorry for not updating for Aiges. Rob spent an hour or so blogging about a week ago but his comp crashed before he updated it! I found it pretty funny but Rob didn't! So anyway i think we have about 3 weeks to catch up on...

We have been flippin busy starting work at 10 am every day and finishing at 10 pm, so 12 hour days combined with world cup at 2 am has taken it out of us somewhat! so for all of you who still think of me as lazy Tim...

We finished our English course about a week ago. It was amazing, our students were awesome, we were able to build up really close friendships and had loads of opportunities to share our testimonies and the gospel. Last Sunday and Wednesday 3 out of 4 of my students gave their lives to Jesus which was sooooo good, it made all the hard work and effort so worthwhile and just put everything into perspective as to why we are here. So praise God for that! During the course our Saturdays were used for going out with the students which involved some karaoke, bowling and lots of food. Last saturday we made the mistake of going to see Silent Hill, which is a bit of a horrible film.

The English Friendship Group (EFS) has started up in the university. We had the orientations last week and this week on seperate campuses, which meant a couple of early starts. It was good fun though as we played games and Rob led a little theme cheer song, which was more like a football chant but the thais were lapping it up. We've met some really cool guys who have joined the group. We teach them english from 11am til 12.30 and then all get lunch and then some of them come back to the church for some hanging out.

This week we have spent our evenings playing football at the university, its been awesome we usually go and buy a whole new kit (about 2 quid each for matching t-shirts and shorts) from the mall before each game! You probably saw us kitted up in the photos. We started out quite well but lost a couple of times on monday which wasn't cool. However, its been a really good way to spend time with some of our EFS students in a more relaxed atmosphere and also get some good exercise.

This morning we saw off the Inter Varsity team which meant getting up at 6.50am in the pouring rain topped off with rob taking a little slip hitting his hip as we left the hotel. Don't worry he's fine! It was quite sad to see them go as we had built up some good relationships with them. American's are pretty cool after all (especially if they love football). At the leaving meal on wednesday night we were all required to make speeches, and a few were quite moving which led rob to shed a little tear which was sweet but also hilarious! It's been a really good month and we really feel God put us all together as we were all encouraged by each other in some way.

Prayer requests

Pray for the IV team as they head home that they can take what they've learnt and continue to grow at home

Pray for the thais that made friends with the team, that they would continue to come to EFS and build relationships with us and church staff

Pray for the new football ministry, that we can really show grace to all the guys that play and God would stir things up in their hearts

p.s. Just a big renewed thankyou to all of you who are supporting us in prayer and other things. God bless you all.

more pics

2006-06-10T14:37:00.001+07:00

MORE PICS

Click Here

2006-06-06T22:45:00.000+07:00

Yeah it's been a busy week

Apologies for the late posting but we have been busy this week and wanted to get some exciting photos ready to put up before doing a load of writing. Tuesday was our first full day at the church, in which we helped the YWAM team plan for the evening exams, which were going to be short dramas created and acted out by the thai students. The team were also planning to do a drama and some singing about the love of Jesus. When it came to the night, the leader Angel also gave a powerful testimony which spoke to many people. The Spirit moved powerfully and 9 people came to know Jesus as their Lord and Saviour! It is amazing how you really see the Gospel penetrating deep within people's hearts. As it says in Hebrews 4:12 God's word is sharper than a double edged sword. It was great fun watching all the thais doing their dramas too as they thought of some pretty funny jokes and even the older guys were getting into the fun. They certainly are a fun loving people.

Wednesday was the last full day that the YWAM team were working at the church so we went with them onto the Ramkhamhaeng University campus for the first time. We met some really cool muslim guys who we ate lunch with. In the other group of YWAM girls, two people came to Christ after talking to them which was pretty incredible. The local coffee seller also showed a keen interest to know Christ as the boys shared the Gospel with him. There was like a goodbye film showing in the evening but Tim and I and a couple of the girls hit the internet which was when we last updated the blog. They left on thursday in a songthaw (a truck with an open back and benches) and the Canadian dude volunteering at the church hid under their bags and after about 20 minutes of their journey jumped out at them recording it all on his phone. It was pretty hilarious, they nearly jumped out the back of the bosh.

On friday and saturday we were on campus in the mornings getting people to enrol in the churches english friendship group, where they could practice conversation for free. It was really fun handing out the flyers and trying to get the new students to sign up. Good chance to practice the thai too. On friday afternoon the new team of volunteers arrived from Inter Varsity. They are all from different universities in America (but mainly Utah). They are heavily into our 'british accents' and are constantly geeting us tp say stuff and mimicing us. The good thing is that their names are Jon, Jordan, Emily, Sarah and Wynne (which is nearly Gin) so they're easy to remember. The boys are really cool and on monday we had some lad time at pizza company which was good for them as they have spent the last couple of weeks with about 15 girls.

This last week has been all about the english teachings in the evening and campus ministry in the morning. We've all been going on campus and making friends then retiring back to the church to do lesson plans and watch a chick flick. Have met quite a few christian thais from this one church on campus which has been really cool. Have also had loads of opportunities to chat to people about why we are here and what God has done for us as well as sharing the Gospel. We are hoping to start showing the Passion of the Christ before the evening service on a sunday so that we have something relaxed and informal to invite people back to as to continue in building relationships and getting them involved in the church. The teaching in the evening has been awesome too as we have some great students who have been willing to have us pray for them. Tim has two classes, 5-7pm and 7.30-9.30pm, whereas I only have the 7.30-9.30pm which is nice.

If you're after an update on Tim's modelling career, we met Paula (the scout) and her friends last friday and had a coffee. What Tim didn't realise, but probably the first thing I noticed was that Paula was not actually a woman as her name suggested. Tomorrow (friday) we are meeting them again for Tim to get a portfolio done. They said he should lose 5kg in a month before doing a catwalk but his rebellious nature will probably lead him to gain 5kg as he's started eating more than before!

Prayer Requests

Prayer requests this week are that you praise God for the new team at the church and for the way we have started to work together. Pray that God continues to use us together in the campus ministries and as we teach together.

Pray for the thai volunteers at the church as they come with us to translate, that God would give them confidence and boldness. Na, Jay, Pup, Don, Ging, Ko.

Pray also for all the students in the school that they would come to know God's love through the lessons and friendships that we make. In particular pray for Yui, Dit, Nai, Aoy, nam, namwan, tang, pew, nonnie.

Thai Church is hardcore!

2006-05-31T20:24:00.000+07:00

Thai Church is hardcore!

So Sunday was church day of course and we hit the morning service at 10:30 which was a thai service. For me (Rob) it was the first time being in a proper Thai service and I didn't know what to expect. We managed to get some translation but it was awesome just watching a load of Thai people praising God even though we didn't really understand the message. 2 people gave their lives to Jesus so that was awesome!!! After the morning service we had some lunch and an opportunity to meet people and get to know the YWAM team a bit better. We had to have a bit of sleepy time after that though before the evening service. This was in english and was completely different from what you'd expect from a church in a reserved East Asian culture. It was like a rock concert with lights and loud music and Thais jumping all over the place! I was actually the reserved one there. Was good stuff to see how passionate and ups for God everyone was.

On Monday Tim and I had a little lie in because its going to be early boys most mornings from now on. We then met Pastor Sangwien and his wife P-Papah at 1pm. They told us all about the church's history and they're vision. They have grown from about 15/20 about 5 years ago to over 100 today. They have a vision to grow to 300 by the end of 2006 though. From what we've seen so far it doesn't seem too far fetched. We worked out where our place in serving them would be mainly as english teachers but also doing ministry on campus with students who want to have free conversation practice with farang (white boys) providing a great opportunity to build up friendships and share the Gospel. It's going to be a hecticly busy scheduele but we are looking forward to seeing what God is going to do. In the evening we helped out with the english classes as the students prepared dramas for their exams the next day which included the most non-sensical drama in the history of dramas but that was all good. Later on Tim had another 'i can't sleep' sesh which I thought we were over, but his motives were good so i'll let him off.

God has been good to us as we've begun to settle in so praise Him for that..

Pics

2006-05-28T01:39:00.000+07:00

Photos > click me!

Indulgence to the max!!!

2006-05-28T01:05:00.000+07:00

Indulgence to the max!!!
So it was an early start on Thursday and not because Tim woke up at 4:30am or had stayed up all night, but because we had to get to the airport to pick up Tim's dad. After a nice little sleep and swim (how good does that sound), we headed out for the day to show Phil (Tim's dad) the delights of MBK. Equipped with a couple of new outfits we headed back up to the airport to get Tim's mum. Through boredom and wanting to fit in with all the taxi drivers we made up a sign which Tim held simply saying 'MUM' which got a few giggles. Check out the photo! The evening
activity was a return visit to a restaurant on Sukumvit (sort of the Bangkok high street), Cabbages and Condoms. This place is all about the promotion of safe sex and all proceeds go to aids sufferers so it is has millions of condoms everywhere! The aim is for condoms to be as readily avaliable as cabbages or something crazy.

Friday consisted of a visit to Pakkred, where Tim worked two years ago, and and an attempt to ride on as many forms of transport as possible! Pakkred is an area north of Bangkok in where all the government orphanages are and Christian Care Foundation for the Disabled (CCD). CCD have a vision to care for disabled people in Thailand who are marginalised by society. They seek to support families with disabled children and also find homes for orphans. God has done some amazing things in two years since Tim was volunteering there. They have some amazing facilities like a hydrotheropy room and a big purpose built garden for disabled children. They are hoping to be an example to the government in the quality of the care and government facilities have improved recently so praise God for that! After seeing the orphanages and reuniting with some of the guys that Tim work with we took a fast boat back to Bangkok. Not before getting a massage at a blind school where Tim told the dude to give Phil a hard one which he really
didn't enjoy (ed. hahahaha that sentence is HILARIOUS so i'm leaving it in!) ! The river was beautiful and the boat was flippin' fast on the way back! We stayed by the river for a lovely meal whilst be serenaded by two girls in traditional dress playing traditional string instruments. They were giving us all sorts of eyes! Last year we probably would have waited until they got off work to go clubbing but this year we are focused on more important things!

Saturday was a late startas we all slept in by accident. It was nice starting late though because it meant we were really hungry when we went to meet a missionary who has been in Bangkok for 26 years organising projects for YWAM over South East Asia. We ate at an amazing hotel with probably the best buffet in thailand! By the end we could barely stand up. And all for 10 quid! Ridiculously full, the four of us headed for Chatuchak, the massive weekend market in the north of the city. It was extremely hot and crowed as always and we ended up buying flannels, sticking ice in them and wearing them around our necks to keep cool. Tim and I got a bit too hot so cooled off with another massage in the AC.

Tomorrow is Sunday so we are starting at the church. We promise that we will stop indulging so much and get down to some work and get back to the street food with rats running over our feet!

Prayer requests...
Pray for CCD and the government orphanages, that they would continue to improve their care for disabled peoplePray for the orphans themselves for God's peace and comfort with them, and thank God for the joy that they have

Pray us as we start at the church tomorrow that we can get to know everyone and for the english teaching that we will start on monday

Pray for the new Christians at the church and for the guys getting to hear of God's love through the english school

Back in the koy

2006-05-24T23:49:00.000+07:00

Back in the koy

Yeah so we arrived back in the koy late Tuesday night. We were meant to be getting back today (Wednesday) but out of the blue on Tuesday at 4pm we decided we'd had enough of the beach and to get the last ferry. So we went back to our normal hotel and for some stupid reason i had a coke and an iced coffee at 1 am...so i didn't sleep at all that night and i only let rob get a couple of hours sleep cos I was pacing up and down the room at 6am desperate for company.

This morning we went to the area where we will be working. We would never have even dreamed of looking in the hotel we are staying in to ask how much a room costs, its got flippin porters and clocks on the wall in reception for different places around the world! (a definite sign in my eyes that a hotel is going to be expensive). But on the advice of the church we went in to have a look anyway...after we had finally got shown around the whole hotel (including the swimming pool on the roof with amazing views of bangkok) we were left in our room and Rob and I burst out laughing for about 5 mins...we couldn't believe how nice the room is....carpets, air con, hot showers, room cleaned every day and all for less than 180 pound a month! It doesn't feel like mission at all! Aaaah God is soo good!

After that still completely buzzing on cafine overdose, we decided to wander down to check out where the church is. We strolled into the church to find about about 12 foreigners and 4 thais in the middle of a worship sesh, so we just joined in....was absolutely awesome. After we finished song worship we discovered that they were a YWAM team serving at the church for a few weeks. They were just preparing to go out to do some open air evangelism outside the uni. They invited us to come and join in, so we did...they put on a skit, sung some worship songs, shared some testimonies and gave a gospel message. Rob and I chatted to loads of thai students, gave out tracts and invited them to come down to the church to watch The Passion of the Chist. People were pretty receptive and God really broke down the language barrier and we felt completely energised by the Holy Spirit even though we hadn't slept or eaten.

In the evening we visited the church again to sit in on some of the english lessons taught by the YWAM team...was really cool, its a really relaxed atmosphere, there is a straight forward syllabus to follow and there are loads of opportunities to share testimonies and the gospel...eg whilst studying favourite holidays one of the YWAM team shared that their favourite holiday was easter because they were able to remember Jesus' death on the cross...the class was really interested by it so thats exciting! So yeah thankyou so much to everyone who prayed for us about the teaching...we feel very much at peace about it now. So yeah we had an amazing day...now we know why out of the blue we decided to head back to the koy a day early! GOD IS GOOD!

Prayer requests...
Pray for all the people who were impacted by the open air, pray that God would continue to work in their lives.

Pray for the YWAM as they come to the end of their mission in Thailand that they would continue to be devoted to serving God

Prajow ben dii

2006-05-24T01:10:00.000+07:00

Prajow pen dii

Hello there,

Apologies for the lack of posting thus far, we have been at the beach where internet is very expensive! So it's 1am now in Bangkok and we can't sleep so we had a choice of either going out clubbing or updating the blog... The flight over here was smooth and our first taxi ride into the city was like christmas had come, it was amazing! We spent the first night at a big shopping mall (Rob had his haircut by a lovely looking lady-boy!).Tim went for his first Thai massage and ended up getting offered a lucrative modelling contract for a magazine and possibly some catwalk work at one of the big Bangkok fashion shows, only condition...that he loses 5 kg in a month before the show...never gonna happen! On Sunday we headed to Ko Samet, an island a few hours south of the Koy, where we chilled for the last two nights. The weather wasn't great but we had a great time chilling out, spending time with God and working out how to teach English. Highlight of the beach trip was us walking down the beach, Rob trying to jump over a hole, but tripping up and litterally getting a face full of sand, all in front of a group of 6 young thai girls....amazing!

God has been really challenging us on our integrity and whether we are seeking after His own heart like David. It is easy to cut corners and compromise on your integrity. God seems to be saying that if we're ups for him using us in big ways we need to make sure we are seeking to have pure hearts that are focussed on him in everything we do.

The plan for the next couple of days is to find some accomodation for the next few months, meet Tim's parents for a couple of days to show them a good time, and also to visit CCD (the orphanage where Tim worked 2 years ago).

Prayer requests:
-We're pretty scared about teaching English having never done anything like it before...so pray that we take to it like penguins to water.
-Continue to pray for the church and their ministries.
-Pray that God continues to challenge us in our quiet times with him.

2006-05-23T21:50:00.000+07:00

Webmistress Announcement

Faithful visitors of graceinthekoy.blogspot.com
As webmistress, I feel it my duty to at least inform you on behalf of the boys.
Having arrived safely in Bangkok, they have now got Thai mobile numbers that you can bombard with texts.
The last I heard from Rob, they were napping on a beach after a long, busy, tiring day.
Being in such an environment, it's understandable that internet cafes aren't cheap.
If I recall Rob's half-asleep conversation, they aren't in Bangkok at the moment. Tim said "Hi!" so it's safe to assume he's alive and well.
So rest assured that they are safe and enjoying the Thai heat.

Keep the love coming.

Thailand Vision

2006-05-15T23:35:00.000+07:00

Above: Rustling up some khao phad kai khai dhaw mai sai mukhuatheet last year!

Thailand Vision

When and where are we going?
We are leaving this Friday (19th) and we will be in Thailand for just under three months, of which two and a half of those months we will be working for the Siam Bangkok Church in Bangapi, east Bangkok.

Why are we going?
In Matthew 28 Jesus told his followers to go and make disciples of all nations. The Gospel (Good News) of Jesus is still relevant today for people of all walks of life. We have been to Thailand before and have developed a heart for the people and the place, igniting a passion to show the love of God to Thai people through by not only sharing the Good News but also our lives too (1 Thes. 2:8).

Who are we going to serve?
The Siam Bangkok Church is run by Pastor Sangwien Duangkham and his wife Saratcha (better known as Papah). It was established more than 10 years ago and has seen many Thai people's lives changed by the Good news of the Gospel over the years. The church is situated in the Ramkhamhaeng area, and there are at least three major universities in the vicinity. The church congregation is comprised of people from all walks of life, but being situated in a university area it is mainly comprised of university students and young working people.
As well as the church having the heart and the vision to see people in their area come to Christ they also have the vision to plant churches in every province of Thailand in the future, which will give more people the opportunity to hear the Gospel. The main focus of the church is to show people Christ's love and see more and more Thai people come to know Christ as their Lord and Saviour.

Check out the link on the right for more info on Siam Bangkok Church.

What will we be doing?
We will hopefully be meeting loads of young thai students through the free English lessons that the church run for university students. We will be able to provide the students with conversational English practise and will have opportunities to befriend the students and share the gospel with them as well as encouraging them to come to church. We will also be getting involved in the prison and slum ministries, spending time in fellowship and prayer with Bangkok's poorest and most deprived.

Prayer requests
Pray for us as we settle in, find accomodation and make friends.
Pray for us as we try to learn Thai.
Pray for the church and their awesome ministries
Pray that we remain faithful to God's plan and be as helpful as dead penguins in a place where dead penguins are an integral source of food (thanks Jon Finch for that helpful remark)

Cheers guys,

Tim and Rob