The Latest Updates from our Mission Team

Sunday January 14th We understand that if all went well the team should have arrived at Bangkok at approximately 10AM MST.

We received the first picture from the team this evening. Click here to go to the Mission picture page.

Monday January 15th

The missionaries had a grueling, long "day" Saturday and Sunday; about 33 hours traveling, 19 of that in the air.  They arrived at 3:30 at the Bangkok Christian Guest House, with a 7:00 wake up call that same morning.  The Guest House is much nicer than had been expected and is quite comfortable.

Dan Raap had separate travel arrangements, leaving a day earlier but arriving a day later due to airline problems.

Monday was spent touring Bangkok.  The team saw many Buddhas (sleeping, reclining, sitting, ...) and many temples (what seemed like one too many).

In spite of serious weight problems with their luggage, many members bought quite a few souvenirs.    Everyone is having trouble dealing with the low prices for everything here.  Due to the lack of sleep, the group seems to have developed a terrible case of bad puns, led by Dale Balu.  The weather is good (hot and humid); no health problems so far.

The team is touring the countryside Tuesday and going to Cambodia Wednesday.

More pictures were sent. Click here to go to the Mission picture page.

Tuesday January 16th

The mission team spent the day Tuesday doing a couple of devotions and some sightseeing in the countryside around Bangkok.  The highlight was riding in "James Bond boats" in the canals.  Although there were a couple of minor reactions to the food and some minor jetlag, the group is holding up well. We leave for Siem Reap, Cambodia, Wednesday at 10:15 AM.

More pictures were sent. Click here to go to the Mission picture page.

Thursday January 18th

On Wednesday, the mission team flew from Bangkok to Siem Reap, where they were met by
Dalay, Joseph (from GBGM) and his wife Marilyn. The team was taken to a hotel for two nights, instead of to the community center, because preparations there are not quite complete. The group was driven to Angkor Wat, but it did not go inside because of the late hour. (See the photos, which show Dalay and Joseph). The plan is to spend Thursday touring Angkor Wat and conducting a service with the Siem Reap congregation, and then to begin work at the community center on Friday. Our first casualty is Steve Plain, who apparently has come down with some type of stomach bug. He is resting up and feeling better.

The mission team toured Angkor Wat today, visited the community center site, and conducted a devotional service there with the Cambodians.  Much progress has been made at the site, but some important work has not yet been completed -- including running water and the men's bathroom (which will be the top priority!). We leave for the work site at 8:30 AM to start work.

Steve Plain had a rough night but is now much better.

More pictures were sent. Click here to go to the Mission picture page.

Friday January 19th

Today, the mission team finally started work at the community center.  Our project is to begin the walls for the dormitory, which will be used to house the men for this mission trip.  Under the able leadership of senior construction supervisor Brian Sorsby, we dug a trench around the periphery of the building, filled it with rocks and sand, and completed the initial concrete footings.  Local Cambodian women cooked lunch and dinner for us.  We are still staying at a hotel in nearby Siem Reap, but we will move to the community center tomorrow.

More pictures were sent. Click here to go to the Mission picture page.

Sunday January 21st

The mission team has made good progress on the construction at the community center.  The footings for the dormitory walls have been completed, and we've made a good start on the walls.  The Cambodian hospitality has been great ... every meal (provided by the Cambodian women) has been both different and delicious, our laundry is being taken care of (!), we have basic shower and toilet facilities, and even mosquito netting.  We visited with the family next to the community center and gave all the children sunglasses.  We also played soccer, kickball, and volleyball with the Cambodians.

Sunday is a day of rest here, so the only real activity of the day has been going to the local Methodist church and touring the local "killing field" and land mine museum.  Getting around has been an experience -- 7 of us at a time bouncing around in the back of a pickup truck.  In the morning, the team participated in the church service by doing a drama of the good Samaritan (Andrea was the poor person in the story).  Dick did the sermon, while Dalay translated.  Dick and Esther also conducted Sunday School for the children.

More pictures were sent. Click here to go to the Mission picture page.

Tuesday January 23rd

The mission team continues to work at the community center. We've completed all of the brick walls around the dormitory building, except for the top row of capstones. We've starting weeding their tomato crops; this has been physically the hardest job we've done so far (it was 108 degrees yesterday, and it's hotter today). We've also started English lessons to the children at the local Methodist Church. The local custom is to stop working during the couple of hours at mid-day, since it's too hot to work.. We visited the "old market" in Siem Reap during the break yesterday and bought souvenirs. The excitement for the evening was finding a scorpion next to the women's bathroom.

Yesterday, Steve Riley, Brian Sorsby, Dale Balu and Debby Lawrence took the speed boat to Phnom Penh with Dalay. They saw the Killing Fields and a number of other sights and visited Dalay's home and family. They flew back this morning.

More pictures were sent. Click here to go to the Mission picture page

Wednesday January 24th (early AM)

The group survived the heat yesterday; we recorded a high of 115 degrees.  Today we have cloud cover, but the humidity feels like 99%.

The major event of the morning was the placement of the Bricks For Hope certificates in a time capsule that we mortared-and-bricked into the corner of the dormitory building.  The ceremony was led by Laurie, who led that major fundraising effort.  Plans for the rest of the day include completing the capstone row on the brick walls, cleaning up after all our construction work, planting 24 mango trees, and a closing church service with the local Methodists at our Community Center.  We leave for Singapore tomorrow -- sad to leave our new friends and the work that remains to be done here, but also looking forward to hot showers.

More pictures were sent. Click here to go to the Mission picture page.

Wednesday January 24th (late PM)

Yesterday, the team, Joseph, and the local Methodist pastor conducted a very nice service in the new sanctuary at the community center (aka future vocational training building).  Members of the local Methodist church and people from the neighborhood attended the service -- for many, this was their first Christian service. Communion was celebrated with bread and grape juice purchased from local markets.  There were about 200 children and about 100 adults.  Free food was provided to all and was obviously a big hit; the children got sandwiches (which some had never seen before) and juice bottles.  Coca Cola was provided to the local guests, which was a special honor.  The mayor suggested doing it again sometime.

This morning, we had a sad but quick departure to the Siem Reap airport for a trip to Bangkok and then Singapore.  Several people commented that they had never thought of Bangkok before as the height of civilization and luxury.

More pictures were sent. Click here to go to the Mission picture page.

Friday January 26th 

Before leaving the Community Center yesterday, we took a photo of the missionaries, Joseph, and all the Cambodian workers.

Today, you could really tell that our group is getting tired and ready to go home.  People weren't nearly as interested in the sightseeing in Singapore as we had been in Bangkok (partly because Singapore is a very modern, English-speaking city/country), and everyone was looking for American food (McDonald's was where much of the group ate lunch).  The highlight of the morning was when Marie developed a strange desire to handle a snake.  Tonight we go on a Night Safari Tour, and tomorrow we begin our long journey home to our loved ones, by way of Bangkok.

More pictures were sent. Click here to go to the Mission picture page.