WE GOT A TRUCK!
We are so thankful to now have a vehicle of our own. Our friend in Chiang Mai who is a great mechanic has been looking for a truck for us for the past two months and finally found something that was in good shape and within our budget. Thank you all for your prayers in this. It has actually been cold here in Phayao for the past two weeks (low 50′s in the morning) and so it has been pretty chilly taking Corban to school on the motorcycle. Thank you again for your prayers and hope you enjoy the pictures.
Esan and Teagan in the new Isuzu
Happy Turkey Day!
Tonya and Ann had some fun with the kids the other day getting ready for Thanksgiving. They did a couple of crafts and the kids really enjoyed it.
Things around and near our home
A few people said they would like to see the cows and other things around our house that we have talked about, so we decided to put together a short slideshow for you all
All things are possible with God
Two Sundays ago in our children's class, we were talking about when we face difficult situations that, "With God, all things are possible". We then asked the kids to draw a picture of something God did for them that showed them that with His help difficult things are possible. So the kids went to coloring and Esan came up to me and showed me his picture. He told me it was a picture of God and Jesus. Then he asked if I would help him put it outside on our gate. We hunted down some tape and went outside to put his picture up. As I was helping him tape it up I stopped to take notice of the ways God has made many things possible for us. There I stood in front of the picture taped to our gate, and when I looked to my right there was our home, something we have waited for for a long time that seemed impossible a year ago. And to my left, I saw a spirit house that represents the ways Thai people are being tricked to believe there is something other than God who can help them. After looking at the picture Esan drew, I realized too that with God and Jesus it is possible for our Thai friends and neighbors to know Him and live in a different and true reality.
Present day Hannah
This is P’ Lampuey, she comes over a couple of times a week to help clean our house. It’s been fun getting to know her and a big blessing having her help. When she came over today she brought a picture of her son and daughter. Her daughter is about 17 and her son is about 15. As she told us more about her life, her children, and her story; I couldn’t help but think of Hannah and Samuel.
She told us a few years ago her husband had died and that after he died she didn’t have the means to care for and provide for both of her children. So she took her young son to the temple in her neighborhood and entrusted him to the care of an elderly monk there. Her son has been living as a monk at the temple ever since, under the care of this older monk. In Thailand it is the responsibility of the people who live around the temple to provide for the needs of the monks who live there.
Her faith in this man and the people of her community amazes me. And I think you can see why it made me think of Hannah and the way she dedicated her son Samuel to the Lord and entrusted him to Eli at the temple of our God. I can’t imagine giving up one of my boys, and even more than that, I can’t imagine what it must be like for her son. What was it like for Samuel, what is it like for this young boy; living at a temple, learning the rituals, studying the Buddhist teachings, being cared for by people who aren’t your parents. I can’t imagine.
Perspective
It’s funny the things you think are important and how quickly and easily those things can change. All of our houses here in Thailand are pretty simple and we definitely haven’t done any decorating. The walls are all pretty bare and there’s not a whole lot to look at other than the view outside. And to tell you the truth, I hadn’t really thought about it until today and even now that I actually noticed it, it doesn’t really bother me. What’s interesting to me is that it hasn’t even been a subject of conversation for us; I mean decorating and putting up pictures, and things like that. I realized that it’s because we’ve been concerned with pretty basic “needs” and haven’t had the luxury to think about things like that. For the whole first month, our days were consumed with just trying to get food for our families and finding homes. And please understand, I’m not saying things like that are bad, I’m just saying that I think it is interesting that those types of things haven’t been important to us during this time of transition to life here in Thailand.
And then that got me thinking, what things are important to me? What are the things I really care about and am concerned with when life is going smoothly? I say “smoothly” because that’s when I have the freedom to look at and focus on other things. Here’s an example: most of the people that live in the rural areas around our home here in Thailand are farmers of some sort. Many of them farm rice, corn, soy, and a few other things. The average daily wage for a worker in the field is somewhere around 120 baht (33 baht make one dollar). That’s just about enough to pay for food each day and maybe a little bit extra. That’s it. Just enough to cover basic necessities for them and their family.
So I try to imagine what that would be like? If I had to work nine hours a day in the field just to get enough money to barely buy food for Tonya and the boys, what things would be important to me. What would I care about? And then I had a reality check: I don’t work in a field nine hours a day, I don’t just have barely enough money to buy food and that’s it. Life is pretty “smooth.” And that right there made me question what’s truly important to me. What do I really care about? What are the things that will bring me real joy? What do I want to focus on? That’s it, just a few simple thoughts and a few questions for myself.
Technology is amazing!!
This was so neat I had to write something about it. This is a picture of the boys having a “movie night” with their grandparents, Sir and Gigi. Here is how it worked: we did a video chat with my mom and dad through gmail and then they took my dad’s laptop and set it up facing the t.v. where they had the movie playing. so, my parents were sitting in their living room in texas watching a movie and at the same time, my boys were sitting in phayao, thailand watching the same movie through the internet. because my dad’s laptop was facing the t.v. where the movie was playing, my parents could hear everything the boys said and the boys could hear my parents as well. they were able to talk and laugh together and “share” the movie experience together, eventhough, they were 12,000 miles apart. it’s completely unbelievable! anyway, i thought ya’ll might like to see the picture and enjoy hearing about it.
Thanks for the shirts Jon and Amy!
Our friends Jon and Amy Buchanan sent us a couple of packages of stuff from home. The boys were really excited about the Star Wars t-shirts they got. We’ve also had some other stuff sent to us by our parents and family and it has been so awesome to come home and have a package waiting for us. It’s kind of like opening a Christmas present, we get so excited to see what is inside. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time and effort to send us all those great things, we can’t tell you how much of an encouragement it is to us.
Update from the Fikes Family
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and traveled all over the world. We’ve all sat in airports, ridden on planes, and eaten that delicious food; so why is it such a big deal to do this together? I guess because this is so different from any other "trip" we’ve been on. I guess it’s because we know we’re leaving family, friends, and home and we know we’re going to have to be family, friends, and home for one another. I guess it’s because none of us could imagine making the trip by ourselves and didn’t want to do it without each other.
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Fikes Update 03/08
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This is His story in our lives: eight years ago we (just the two of us) were preparing to leave for a two year stay in Thailand. Our house in College Station sold before we even had a chance to put it on the market and we raised the financial support we needed in less than three months.
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