Kilcups in Thailand

A Simple Faith

2008-09-03T04:44:00.004-04:00

I just want to say that I am incredibly grateful for the simplicity of God's way. While it is probably the most difficult way to take, it is simple. It's not complicated, nor are we expected to understand all of the ins and outs before we take it, we follow in faith.

2 Corinthians 5:7- For we walk by faith and not by sight.

Isaiah 55:9- For as heaven is higher than earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.

It's been an interesting few weeks at work at the Surin Rajabhat University. The school hired on another foreign teacher after the last one quit mid-year. This guy is from Chicago and things started off quite strangely to be very honest. The first day, after learning I was a Christian, he ridiculed me for Creationism and how stupid the belief that a God created and maintains this earth is. A simple "hello" would have sufficed for day one. He has since proceeded to go around the room, each teacher experiencing some ridiculing, highly intense "discussion" about one thing or another. For the other foreign teacher, it was how ridiculous his PhD was in Japanese studies, why study a difficult foreign language, that's stupid. Well, things seemed to be getting out of hand for awhile. It seemed that nobody could do right in his eyes, he was a science teacher from Chicago who talked to you in conversation like a lawyer talks in a courtroom. The Thais couldn't really take it and generally avoid him now.

But after he had an episode with one of our Thai friends, I confronted him and told him that the way he was talking to people was extremely abrasive. Honestly, he's got to be about the most abrasive sort I've ever met. Since then, he's tapered off a bit. He's not as eager to dig into an argument with everyone. Still, he has told me he respects me, which might sound all good except that means he wants to talk every day now. So yesterday held an interesting little "discussion".

Yesterday it was about how people in older times were ignorant and stupid compared to us, since we have modern ways and technology. The premise was that learning and science and modern advances are what makes a good society. I disagreed, I said that people are basically the same throughout the ages, just with different circumstances (technology and so on). That somehow turned into the garden of Eden, where he ended up stating that God was unforgiving (wow...) and that Adam was stupid and ignorant, not really knowing what he was doing. Everything he said he was trying to implicate God somehow. But I wouldn't budge on that one. I gave him scripture after scripture where God told Adam EXACTLY what he was to do/not to do, and what would happen if he disobeyed. Adam knew what he was doing. If God is unforgiving, what is the cross? And so on. Once he saw that wasn't working, he switched to predestination and God's omniscience. Wow, now that's a changeup. He was trying to corner me by asking if I believed God knew everything that would happen. I said yes. Logically, that would mean that we are robotic, simply acting out what God has already set in order to happen. I said, No. This terribly frustrated him, and he began to get upset (a normal occurence mind you). "That can't be, you can't say that". I then demonstrated to him, using scriptures how that God says he knows all things, and yet He gives us a very real choice to do right or wrong. So God does know everything that has, can and will be, and yet gives us a real choice. He was bubbling with angst at this point. He pointed at me and said, "You are irrational!" I simply gave a little smile and said, "That's fine with me. Because God has said that His thoughts are much higher than our thoughts, and we cannot understand everything about Him. For me, that's just fine." With that, his face was already turning purple, and I thought it might explode. So he sat down without bringing it up again for the afternoon.

So why do I tell you this? To tell you how great a debator I am? Please, no. I am not the prize fighter in a debate, I generally hate confrontation. But I saw something yesterday that bears repeating, and that's the power of God's word and a simple child-like faith.

Hebrews 4:12- For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as to divide soul, spirit, joints, and marrow; it is a judge of the ideas and thoughts of the heart.

Matthew 18:4- Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

I saw that God's word can stand on its own feet. God doesn't need me to have all the answers to this man's questions of the Bible and science, what he really needs is a word from God. After talking with Leah about all this (she was there during the whole episode), we both concluded that there is a world of hurt masked behind this abrasive facade. Pray that we can reach out through that to a hurting heart that desperately needs the Lord. But I hope you are encouraged as you interact with people everyday. We have no need to feel stuck or helpless in this world, God has given us everything we need. He has given us His words.

God's Healing: Body and Soul

2008-08-30T20:42:00.002-04:00

I thought I'd jot a note and let everyone know how things are progressing since the accident. That seems so long ago, and yet it was only a month now that we were in a hospital, minds spinning wondering what happened. Life changed dramatically after that. We couldn't use the motorcycle, it needed repairs and frankly we weren't really "in the mood". I think you could imagine why! Our injuries have healed wonderfully. While I'm still working on the whole bending the thumb stuff, it's pretty much in tact now. With a few minor jolts of pain when I bend it weird or put too much pressure on it, it's just fine and in working order. All my abrasions have turned to pink memories of discomforts gone by. No more worries of infection or complication. Leah's knee has been healing beautifully. She is walking, pretty much running. We were able to go to Bangkok, and she could get around on the stairs, just as long as we took frequent breaks. She wont' be jumping in on a marathon mind you, but God has been so good to us. The healing has been wonderful.

Something I didn't think about initially was what to do about getting around. Suddenly, that became the biggest bear. No more motorcycle meant we were dependent on others to get around most of the time. I can take the songtaew (bus-truck kind of thing) to work every day and be fine, but even then I am depending on it being on time. And sometimes, it just isn't. For everything else, we had to ask favors and depend on the others here to help us get to church and even the grocery store. Especially in the beginning, when Leah could barely walk. And it was a struggle, because as much as people say we are not imposing, you always have this guilt feeling that you are. So you have to get over a lot of pride and allow people to reach out and help you. That's difficult. So we are indebted to the Joneses and Vonda and the Hayes for helping us exist this past month.

Recently though, we decided to go ahead and get the motorcycle fixed. We weren't sure what we'd do with it, though we knew we were going to sell it before we left. Then God put it in our heart to do something we never knew we could... get back on. While this may not have seemed possible in our minds, God knew it was. And so just this week, we received word that our motorcycle was finished, for a pretty minimal cost. After I brought it back to the house, we just sort of looked at it, and we both knew that we had to at least try getting back on. I had driven it since the accident, really just to take it to the shop and back. But we just felt we needed to do this, and so we did. I am thankful because I realize it's not only our bodies that God has healed, there's something in our hearts that God has healed as well. So yes, we are driving the motorcycle again, though in an almost paranoid fashion. Drivers seem to explode out of every bush and side-alley. And I'm not exaggerating too badly there! It's been really nice just to be able to get around on our own again. I know it's cliche, but you don't really know how good you have it until you don't. The ability to get around and do what you need to do. That's a privilege, not even a right. And I thank God that we can do that now.

I will still take the songtaew to work each day... call it paranoia, but the road to school is filled with people getting on and off the road, and I don't want to risk it, so the back of a truck suits me just fine. Thank you for praying, because God tends to answer even the prayers that we don't know we need to pray. He just does what is best for us, and we've seen that first hand!

The Roadrash Anniversary

2008-08-05T11:30:00.002-04:00

Well, I must say that this has been an incredible experience, in every way imaginable. I'm typing this sans thumb as is, but managing okay. Leah's surgery went very well, lots of stitches (not sure how many), as there were two layers to do. They really cleaned her out, and she's been feeling it every since. Today, they took her bandages off (which combined with her leg was about a foot in diameter, it was a rather huge bandage). Leah liked to call it the ham bandage, as it resembled a big old ham! Anyway, when it came off, there was no swelling in her knee, and the stitches looked pretty good. Sorry Matt, no pictures of this! :) My thumb should be 3 weeks before the imbolization comes off. Leah, we're not sure about yet. It could be more time, we just don't know. She tried standing today, but that alone was excruciating for her. I think she's gotten stronger even since this morning, but it may be a long time in healing. Thankfully, the doctor said that there was no bone damage, not even tendon damage, all skin and muscle. God really was in this, because the blow when right between the joints, avoiding any tendons, bone, and even any blood vessels. (even as I was looking at the horrid wound, there was virtually no bleeding when it happened! There's just so much to praise our God about!

And that's not to mention all the love and support that people have given. We have not lacked for friends during this time. There has been a constant flow of people in the room. From church members, to co-workers at the university, to people we used to know, to people we don't even know! Many tears have come from our hearts over the love that people have shown. And not to mention all the love and support from our friends here. I am sorry we cannot write each and every one of you, perhaps over time. The hospital has no internet, so whenever I can get over to the church, I check and try to tell Leah what everyone is saying. Your prayers are not unanswered, God has been doing something wonderful. This was the oddest anniversary we have every had I must say. Never planned on spending our 4th in a Thai hospital, but there we are. And yet it couldn't be more perfect. God has brought us even closer to Him and each other. We have held each other and shared our fears, tears, and joy over all the love.

It could have all been much much worse, and again, it just wasn't. God was there. He was in each detail. He didn't do this to us, He allowed this for us. We have had only to benefit from this. Still, recovery, showering with a plastic bag over my left hand, struggling to walk, and so on aren't exactly anyone's idea of a "good time". What is good is our God and the support we have felt in this time!

Thank you thank you thank you, for praying! I know that is what kept us really going. I'd like to think I'm just strong, or I've got it all together, but truth is I've got nothing. I was reduced to helplessness as I saw my wife gashed. It's only God that things went the way they did. Thank you all for your love!

In His Incredible Care,

Andrew and Leah Kilcup

Motorcycle accident

2008-08-05T11:27:00.002-04:00

Here is the email I sent to our family, I thought I'd put it where more people could read it.

Okay, nobody freak out. I just want to give you the facts before you see the status updates of "we're praying for Drew and Leah" all over the place. Today, going to lunch from Rajabhat, we were in a motorcycle accident. Unlike the others, this one was not so minor. It could certainly have been much worse than it ended up, but all things considered, it was pretty bad. It's hard to recall what happened, but here's what I remember. We were going down a long stretch of road and there were some students in front of us. They were veering left, and I thought they were going across the drainage ditch on a bridge. But just before we went passed them, they turned right, our motorcycles collided, and ours went spinning across the road to the right. Thankfully, there was no oncoming traffic. Our motorcycle skidded across the road with us underneath.

When it finally stopped, we were both underneath it. In the adrenaline of the moment, I shoved the bike off, burning my hand as I did so pushing on the exhaust pipe. I had know idea I was burned at the time. When I looked at Leah, she said something about her knee. Sparing you the details, her knee was split open from end to end, and very deep. It was terrible to see her in such pain, but I tried to keep my wits about me. People just poured over to help. Some shielded Leah from the sun with their jackets while others took the bike away. Thankfully, a teacher from Rajabhat came by and offered her car to take us to the hospital. Leah hobbled in and off we went. Kathi and later Jim met us at the hospital, where we were both cleaned up, x-rayed and taken very good care of.

So here's the lowdown. I have lots of abrasions on my right leg and arm, and a fractured thumb. So I was released from the hospital with a "thumbs up" for a couple weeks. Leah's injury was really only one, but more serious. The gash in her knee went pretty much to the bone, but they got it cleaned up very well and right now, are taking her into surgery. They need to do surgery (complete with general anesthesia) because they need to do two layers of stitches.

I won't mince words. This was terrifying. But there is so much that could have happened that didn't. It could have been head on, it could have been much much worse. But it wasn't, our God was in control the whole time. We're okay now. Leah's smiling in the hospital, and I'll be going over there to stay with her. She has a private room, which is very nice, but has to be there for 3 days. The motorcycle is bent a bit in the wheels, but otherwise looks okay. So we are praising God. Even in the midst of the pain, she was singing. My heart broke to see her in such a condition, but was overjoyed with how good care God provided. We had no fears about the hospital, and people were coming in and out the entire time. There was so much love all around us, my eyes were constantly filled with tears.

So please pray, recovery will take a while from here. We're okay, just beat up pretty good. But our spirits are high. Pray for Leah and I as we recover from our injuries. All of this considered, we wouldn't trade the life God's given us for a minute!

Wherever God Leads...

2008-07-15T23:57:00.003-04:00

Well, perhaps it's been a little too long since last we updated this blog. We will play catch-up very soon. There has been so much happening, it has been a whirlwind of a summer! Although... honestly, all year has felt like "summer" in one way or another. Point aside, God is at work in our hearts and lives, that is for sure.

We came to Thailand to try and discern if this is the place God would have us stay on a permanent basis. In fact, we were kind of set on that notion. We sold or gave away much of our belongings, and settled down on the idea that we would set up a basis from which we could serve in this country for a long time. The first 6 months were rather brutal, adjusting to so much and going through some of the hardest struggles that we have ever faced. But God only showed His goodness and love through it and we came through just fine. But something else was going on. During the time that we have spent here, we have seen a change in our heart. God has changed us, there's just no way around that. We are not the same people we were when we left the United States. But perhaps it is that we have a bigger heart for the US. Strange as it may sound, living and serving the Lord in Thailand has given us a bigger burden and urge to serve in the US.

Funny thing is, it has nothing to do with culture, food, comforts or any such thing. Truth is, life can be very comfortable in a place without all the trappings and distractions of American life. The slowed pace and general friendliness of the people honestly make it a wonderful place to live and raise children. But it's not a matter of comfort, it's a matter of following the Lord's direction. And for whatever reason, it is pointing us back to the US. Lest any think this to be a sudden and rash decision, this is something we have toiled over in study and prayer for months and months. We were both determined that it would not be for any reason such as discomfort or frustration. While those may be a part of life at times here, it is also found in life anywhere.

Of course, I realize that this begs the questions, "what next", or "where will you go", or "what will you do"? Honestly, we don't have those answers. It seems that God reveals the next step, one step at a time. While I would love to know what's around the next 12 turns in the road, God chooses to reveal one at a time. While here in Thailand, we have realized that God has given us many opportunities and has opened our eyes to abilities and possibilities that we had not dreamed of. So the answer to "where " or "what" is impossible to find at this point. It could be anywhere, anything. All I know is that we will follow Him wherever He leads. As we find out more, we will keep you posted here.

In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled for some updates from this summer. There's been a lot happening.

Following Him wherever He leads us,

Andrew

The Power of Relationships

2008-05-24T21:06:00.002-04:00

One thing we have learned living and serving the Lord in Thailand is the power that relationships have in ministry. Ministry, we have learned, is a life not so much something that you do just at church or on a Sunday. Ministry in the New Testament church was something that overflowed from the relationship believers had with Jesus Christ. And much of that ministry between people happened through relationships. The church itself is about relationships (Ephesians 4:16), illustrating this the way that a body is connected together and operates through those connections (joints and ligaments). Nothing is more apparent than ministry here in Thailand.

When the teen group from Anchor came here, they taught English at one of the local schools here, Surawittayakarn School. They met number of people, but a handful of the students kept coming to see them while they were here. They were especially enamored by Shane and Tiffany I think! At any rate, these students (Foam, Jeep, Ice, Korn, and Doc to name a few) kept on coming even after the teen group returned to the United States. To sum things up, they have been coming out to church events (though not actually church itself) this entire time up to the present. Now, they are all going off to college... some in Bangkok, some in Chiang Mai, some a little closer. We maintain contact with many of them through facebook and email, and continue to pray that the things they heard about Jesus will sink into their hearts.

However, to illustrate just how much of an impact these American teens made, I include an excerpt from their yearbook. Here is a page that has the coming of the Anchor teens to their school. What may have seemed like a little thing, teaching English, could be in fact life altering for some of these young people. They saw and continue to see Thais and Americans whose lives are different, there is joy and real peace, something so many people here lack. So thank you, Anchor teens, what you did here made more of a difference than you may ever know!

Songkran: Water water everywhere...

2008-05-02T05:43:00.005-04:00

Andrew and Sai soaking and being soaked.

I can't believe I've become one of those people who have a blog and don't update it. Shame shame shame. Well, honestly, it's been hard to think of major things that happened in April, somewhat of a slower month you might say. School is out, but we are supposed to report in each day, so there is usually not much going on at the office. The one major highlight of the month is the huge festival in Thailand called Songkran. Actually, it is the biggest holiday of the year, like Christmas or July 4th in America. The celebration is the Thai new year, the Buddhist year of 2551. The holiday itself takes some explaining. Basically, it is a water free-for-all. Anybody is a target, the old and the young. And don't think anyone will have mercy because you drive a motorcycle, in fact, you are the main target! So riding around town, we had to expect to get drenched anywhere and everywhere we went. Riding to the market, to the grocery store, for dinner, even for church. It's all fair game.

Ah, but life would be rather dull if one just resigned themselves to a water-logged existence. So Saturday Leah and I teamed up with Sai, one of the high school age girls at the church, and dished out our own recompense! We just loaded up a trash can full of water and sprayed anyone who ventured down the road in front of the church, which is one of the main routes in town. So as wet as we got, we had the satisfaction of dealing out a few gallons on our own! My initial thought was, "Wow, the US needs to get in on this!" But what with the road rage we already deal with in States, there'd probably be riots in every city! So maybe it wouldn't work. We even had a little water battle with some of the kids across the street from our house. It was really fun to spend some time letting them get us dripping wet. They even climbed the wall and ambushed us from the trees! What little monkeys! It was a very good opportunity to build relationships with kids we otherwise wouldn't get a chance to meet. Now when they see us, they say hello (or sawadii to be specific) to us.

On a more serious note, the church celebrated Songkran in their own way. Besides everyone coming to church a little more water-logged than usual, they had a special ceremony. There are a number of things that are traditional for Songkran. First, the water wars, that's the most obvious. Second, everyone wears bright colors, usually Hawaiian style shirts. Third, many people wear jasmine flower leis. Fourth, they will smear baby powder or a cream on their faces to cool them off. More often, people will do it to their friends as an act of kindness. But fifth, they will perform a ceremony to honor their elders. This is something the church does in celebration of this renowned holiday. All of the older members of the church sat in chairs in a semi-circle while the younger people formed a line. Each younger person took up a small bowl filled with cool water with jasmine in it. It gave off a sweet fragrance. They would take this and pour a small amount on the hands of the older person, who would in turn take some of that water and put it on their head. They would give their thanks for the life of that older person. In turn, the elder would give a blessing to the younger. This would happen all the way down the line. Little children thanking their elders, older people blessing the younger ones. What a beautiful picture of such biblical texts such as Titus 2 where we are told to honor each other, both older and younger. It was a very moving ceremony for everyone as each person expressed their love for one another.

So Songkran was about as different as it gets. It's an all-Thai event, and we were privileged to experience it. While our clothes may still be drying out, our hearts were really moved and encouraged by a church showing love for each other in such a unique way.

We did make a video which we made available to a few of the churches that support the Hayes. If you would like to see it, you can follow the link below and download it from there! Let us know what you think!

http://www.mediafire.com/?1guzyzim3nt

Redeeming the Time: Practice makes Better...

2008-03-30T20:38:00.003-04:00

Well, I wanted to put up that last post (pardon the length) because it was a very interesting study we had done recently, but I also wanted to let anyone who reads this know how it impacted our lives. God gave us an opportunity to grab onto just yesterday (Sunday). It was a very hot day, and the fans in the church just didn't seem to be able to keep up, so it was a bit of a struggle. But we got through just fine. Still, you don't realize how much heat can sap your strength. I teach on Sunday afternoons, tutoring a local doctor's children in English, which is helping to build some key bridges into their lives. Kathi as well is working to build relationships with this family. I teach for an hour, and then we usually go home, eat or whatever, getting rested up for the evening. Well, this family is extremely giving and so invited us to go bowling with them. At first, we were both thinking... ugh... it's so hot, and we are so very tired... bowling seemed like the last thing we wanted to do. And yet, we knew it was an opportunity that God had brought along the way. So we decided to do it, and never regretted it. God proved to be the wiser of us in bringing this opportunity along. And so we were able to put our study into practice, grabbing up the opportunities that come along the way, making time for them instead of holding to any rigid schedule.

So we did go bowling, and apart from my own lousy scores (Leah's was actually much better), what wasn't lousy was the building of relationships with this wonderful family. Their youngest son, who is elementary school age, is usually shy and doesn't EVER speak to us, or anyone else for that matter. But at the end, after we had cheered him on (even with gutterballs), he really warmed up and would at least look at us! So we thank God that His wisdom is much greater than our own, and we thank him for an opportunity to "practice what we preach".

Redeeming the Time: A Study

2008-03-30T20:33:00.001-04:00

As part of our adjustment process here in Thailand, we have been reading through the book "Cross Cultural Connections" by Duane Elmer, a must-read for anyone experiencing life in a different culture. Be it missions work or otherwise, this book is suited for anyone heading into the unknown territory of another culture. As we were reading through the book, something really caught my attention in chapter 13. In summary, this chapter is dealing with the issues surrounding time versus event. The issue is whether one sees time as hours and minutes or as opportunities... strictly related to a clock, or more relational. One section in the chapter dealt with "Time in the Bible", where he makes a distinction between the Greek words chronos and kairos, both usually translated as "time". He mentioned Ephesians 5:16, the famous verse about "redeeming the time", and so it got my mental gears turning. Is there credibility to what he's saying? If there is, it changes a few things! This is what I have found then...

Elmer makes a distinction between the two words, stating that,

"Chronos refers generally to time segments, sequences and what we might think of as a specific time or time period. In today's culture, we might think of it as clock time or calendar time."

Of the other word, he states,

"Kairos, used nearly twice as often in the New Testament, approximates the way many people in the Two-Thirds World perceive time. Time is understood not in terms of specific segments but more in terms of opportunity, the right time, the appropriate time or the meaningful time. Thus, kairos people value the moment, the event or the opportunity and try to make it significant and memorable." (pgs 121-122) This then set me off to discover if the things he stated about these words were so.

CHRONOS: In my search, I found about 54 hits for this word in the New Testament, here are some examples.

Matt. 2:7- Herod asks what TIME the wisemen saw the star.
Matt. 25:19- The master in a parable returns after a long TIME.
Luke 1:57- Elizabeth's TIME came to give birth.
John 12:35- Jesus says only a little TIME is He with the disciples.
Acts 14:28,15:33,18:20-23- Speaks of staying in a place for a TIME.
1 Peter 1:17- Speaks of life as the TIME of our soujourning.
Rev. 20:3- Satan to be loosed from the pit for a TIME.

Compare that with KAIROS: In my search, I found about 80 hits for this word in the New Testament, far more than the prior word...

Matt: 8:29- Demons asking Jesus if He will torment them before the right TIME.
Luke 12:56- Jesus speaks to "hypocrites" who cannot discern the TIME.
John 7:8- Jesus does not go to a feast because His TIME is not yet come.
Acts 12:1- King Herod attacks the church "at that TIME" (the right time).
Romans 5:6- At the right TIME, Christ died for the ungodly.
Gal. 6:10- As we have OPPORTUNITY, let us do good...
Eph. 5:16- Redeeming the TIME...

And here are some extra-biblical examples from some common, everyday type correspondences in the world at the time of the New Testament...

1. An Alexandrian contract reads, "Apportion to him TIME (chronos)". In other words, he needs more time to do something.
2. A statement from a lawyer that says, "seizing a favorable TIME (kairos), she broke into my client's house, and carried off the foundling."

The evidence is rather overwhelming in my estimation. While these meanings are not necessarily exclusive from each other, they are generally referring to different things. So when Paul tells us to "redeem the time", is he saying that we need to fill our minutes, hours and days? Is he suggesting we need to be a part of the rat race, or even the Christian rat race? Or could he be saying the opposite? Could he be telling us to make the most of every opportunity? I tend to think so. Frankly, given a choice between a meeting or family matter, people in a third world agrarian culture will opt for family every time. They won't always miss the meeting itself, but they might be a few minutes late. They could not think of brushing somebody off because they might be late to something. In the western world, business is life and life is business. Time is money or at least valued as such. But is that entirely biblical?

In Elmer's evaluation of Time versus Event cultures, he makes some interesting comments about the typical western time-oriented culture. He notes that things were not this way until the industrial revolution, when people began punching clocks. On an assembly line, everyone needs to be there, if somebody is late, it holds everything up, and so our view of time began to change. Everything was tied to time, it was money. We measure life by time, we earn money by time, we sometimes even measure our success or effectiveness by time. Why is the wristwatch the most common graduation present? He says this,

"Many of us remember the hectic frenzy around the house trying to get ready on time for church or some event. We arrived on time but at the cost of shouting and tense feelings. Maybe it is still true in your house. Nevertheless, our time orientation served us well for things like gross national product, national emergencies and progress in science. It has, however, often take its toll on relationships." (pg. 119)

That somewhat floored me, mostly because it is so true. Even in something like church, this aspect of American thinking dominates. We view our time the same way the business world views it. We fill our lives with schedules and calendar items and times to be here and there. Then if something comes up, even an opportunity, it is lost because we "have to be somewhere". What has happened?

On page 118 however, Elmer makes another interesting note.

"It is my observation that much of the two-thirds world is becoming more like the west and much of the west is becoming more like the two-thirds world. For example, younger-generation Americans are less time-oriented and more event-oriented. Two-thirds world people, with exposure to the west, are becoming more time-oriented... Everyone has the same twenty-four hour day. Beyond that, however, people think about and use time differently."

In my estimation, nothing could be more true. I've seen clashes between two cultures even in America, where perhaps older generations look at the younger generations with disdain for their lack of concern for time. Likewise, younger generations may look at the older ones with a smirk because they are perceived as being nailed to a clock.

This raises some interesting questions. It is easy to fill our lives, make our schedules crazy, and imagine that we are living our life to the fullest for the Lord. "Look at everything I'm doing". But what are we doing? In the last number of years I spent in the states finishing up seminary, my life was nothing but hectic. I filled it up to the max with events and calendar items, being here and there doing this and that. I barely had time to breath! But towards the end (before crossing the ocean), I began to think, "what am I actually doing?" I wondered, in the insanity of my life's schedule, how many lives were actually being touched by mine? Is it possible to create such a busy life (even with good things), that we miss the opportunities that are afforded to us every day? Are we in such a hurry in the grocery store that we fail to even recognize the existence of the cashier, much less offer them a kind word, much less show them the love of Christ?

Life in Thailand sometimes seems dreadfully slow. It was a huge adjustment coming here. But then, it made me think. Is life too slow here, or is it too fast back int he US? The truth is, it would be wrong to make a blanket-statement about he US in this way, for there are many places, usually rural, where this is not the case. But in more metropolitan areas, it is definitely the case. And it's not like you can just have a daytimer or blackberry burning service or something. You can't ignore the demands of work and obligations, especially in America. But you can look at your life and perhaps take a priority-inventory. I've had to do that, I suppose I was forced to when we moved here. Redeeming the time... Did God intend for us to fill our lives with things, meetings, stuff to do? Or did He intend for us to view time a little more as an opportunity that only comes once?

Perhaps our super-civilization can learn some things from the rice farmers, the goat herders and the people of the field. Does God suggest that we fill our minutes with business and schedules, or that we use every opportunity that comes our way for Him?

Hot Helmets on the Loose!

2008-03-06T22:09:00.003-05:00

Can you believe it? The gall of some people. I mean, a church even! Grrr... Oh... sorry. Let me fill you in. We were at the church doing a book study with Jim and Kathi and had a wonderful time, as we always do. It's really a very encouraging time talking about culture shock, and adjustment and learning to accept and love people who are very different, especially when you are the foreigner in their country. Well, the evening came to a close and we went on our way. But as Kathi walked us to the front where our motorcycle was, we noticed something was amiss. Something like our helmets! Now, Kathi had always said that people always admired our helmets. I guess somebody admired them a little too much! I couldn't believe it. That's like stealing somebody's seatbelt! I was about to walk down the street and see if anybody had really cool looking gray and red helmets, but Leah stopped me, imagining that the person could be drunk. So I gave up the pursuit. Besides, they could be kilometers away by then. So no helmets. Kathi lent us one to use until we found more that fit. So the next day, we had to go out and spend more money on helmets. Not something we were planning on, but something you do have to do. The police check all the time and pull people over, plus I've seen what accidents can do, and no thanks. I'll spend the money on a good helmet. Leah had no trouble finding hers, she found the nice blue one. Me, I'm a different story. My melon is so bulbous, it was night to impossible finding one that fit my bean. So I landed on the red one pictured above, it's the closest thing to a fit, though a little tight on the jaw. That's okay though. Better a compressed jaw than a broken head. I'm thankful that we had the money to just go out and acquire new helmets, but let me tell you... it won't be hard to spot somebody going around with gray and red helmets like ours... :)

Teaching ESL: A Different Experience

2008-03-06T21:53:00.003-05:00

Well, here we are at the end of the first semester. I began my grading and finished it up this week. Let me tell you, it was a very different experience. First off, grading here in Thailand is quite different. For example, I had two students cheat on a quiz mid-semester. They admitted to it, so I told them I would have to fail them for it and take away half the points, starting them at 50%. They would have had a 100%, but I wanted to make sure they understood they could not cheat in my class. Come to find out, in Thailand passing is 50% and higher. Failing is 49% and below. Ugh. So in punishing them, I still passed them. So most everybody did pass, there was only a couple students who got grades like 17 and 18%. But then it might have helped if they showed up to class more than 4 times! I was very happy with some of my classes, as the students passed with many A's and B's. It felt very good to get the grades in and done. But what felt even better was knowing that God was using our example and influence at the university to get things moving with Surin Baptist Church. The Hayes and the team here in Surin are using the connection with Surin Rajabhat University to create venues of ministry to reach out to the college-age community here.

I also wanted to encourage anybody who might be considering doing something like this. Do it. It's very feasible. You may only have to raise monies for your initial outfit and passage, setting up living space, airfare to and from, visas, etc... But I find that one could very well live in a place like this on a Thai salary. Other countries, I don't know, but probably. Sure, I'm making 1/3rd of what I did in the states, but living expenses are even more fractional. You buy meals for #1.00, that's about the average rate. The most expensive when we eat out is like $6.00 (for two people). However, it is one of the most taxing things one might do. You are out of any comfort zone, you are in a place where up seems like down and right seems like left. You don't have your cultural map whereby you discern life. And yet it's the best thing for anyone to go through. Because you kind of "re-learn" all those things you either took for granted or never really thought about. Things like, "is someone really a bad person if they are late to something", or "Does somebody peeking in your windows or walking in your house mean they are nosy or trying to invade"? These are the questions you face, and it forces you to go to God for the answers. It would be easy enough to lose your temper and decide the answers based on your own cultural map, but then you'd find yourself hating everybody around you. It forces you to look to the scriptures for what God has really commanded, and what is just culturally assumed. Some things you decide are actual biblical commands (like not bowing down to idols), others are more along the lines of culturally conditioned assumptions (like being late).

Well, all this about grading. But I wanted to encourage anybody out there. Even if you do a shorter-term, like what we are doing for a year or two, it will change the way you see the world. It will change the way you read the Bible. It really comes to life in an awesome way. To see the church in another tongue, another culture. It's honestly a glimpse of heaven, where there will be people worshiping Christ from every culture, family, and language.

Andrew's Rantings: African Americans in Appalachia

2008-02-28T21:45:00.002-05:00

...

This may seem like a rather odd post, but there is a reason here. One of the classes I teach here at Surindat Rajabhat University is "Socio-Cultural Backgrounds of English Speaking Countries". The scope and purpose of the course is to expose the students to the culture of nationalities they will encounter in the English speaking world. I mainly focused in on the UK, US and Australia. Anyway, at the end we studied art and music. As I researched how to explain American folk music, I began to realize something that I knew but never took the time to consider. See, much of American folk music came from the United Kingdom, England, Scotland and Wales. If you study any of the Appalachian songs from those mountains, you will notice a recurring theme of lovers gone to sea, or people sailing across the ocean. If you think for a moment, there were not too many people in Appalachia joining the navy or taking leisure or business trips across the Atlantic. Not THAT often anyway. The reason for all of these songs is that they came from the United Kingdom, where such travel was much more common. Most of the songs and ballads found in the Appalachian mountains and American folk music in general descended from the British Isles. But American folk music sounds much different than the folk music in the UK, it's very distinct. So I asked myself, "What makes American folk music so unique?"

Ah, now we're getting somewhere. As ghastly and terrible a thing as slavery was, the impact that the African people had as they entered American culture changed everything. Like it or not, America would not be what it is today were it not for the huge influence of African Americans on our society. And this applies even to American folk music. More than most people realize. What is the most American instrument? Perhaps the banjo? Well, honestly that's not an American born instrument, it came from the banjar, an African instrument consisting of a gourd, stick, catgut strings and skin stretched over the gourd. Look at early pictures of the instrument and you'll see that's exactly what early banjos were. Things as "American" as bluegrass and Appalachian mountain music would not sound the way they do had they not been influenced by the rhythm and instrumentation of the African Americans. Don't believe me? Listen to a few banjo licks and you'll hear a rhythm that surely did not come from the British Isles, there's definitely something else going on.

I thought this was an interesting point, because most people would never associate something like Bluegrass or Appalachian mountain music with the African American communities. But when you stop and think about it, there's a lot of association there. These people went through some horrible times at the hands of America (not that they are alone, consider the American Indian nations as well), but they persevered and have in turn influenced America for what it is today. So the next time you hear a banjo and think, "Wow, that sounds really good" (If that is in fact what you think), thank the people who worked hard to make a place for themselves in this country.

The Worldwide Banjo

2008-02-28T02:31:00.005-05:00

Andrew playing banjo in Buutsagaan, Mongolia (2003) [Note the Mongolian Mandolin]

Well, it's official... the banjo is the new worldwide instrument of this century. Amazing that while I cannot speak a lot of Thai, I can speak perfect Thai with a banjo, whether playing their songs or songs I grew up with, when I play, the message is plain. In any language. This banjo has been all over the place... Apache reservations in Arizona, the steppes of Mongolia, and now the jungles of Thailand. Now just so you don't get worried about my sanity, there is a point to this.

We had the opportunity to have a unique guest over this past week. His name is Michael, and he is a fellow teacher here at SRU. But he doesn't teach English, he teaches science. Oh, and he's not American, English or Australian. He's Israeli. He spends half the year in Surin teaching, then spends the other half in Tel Aviv teaching. So he is fluent in Hebrew, Thai and English (perhaps others, but that's what I know). Oh yeah, and he is a big fan of bluegrass. If that doesn't make your head spin, I don't know what will.

Since we had met him a month or so ago, and he found out we played bluegrass and such, he has been practically stalking us itching to get into a picking session. So after being hunted down at a fair, we set up a lunch with him at our place. So last week, I picked him up guitar in tow and took him to our house. We played this and that, most I knew, some I didn't. At the end he played and sang a Jewish song from the Bible, but he didn't know where. He is not a believer in Jesus Christ, but I was glad that God gave us this opportunity to be a light and to build a relationship with him. I am praying that God gives us another opportunity to speak more directly with him about spiritual things. He was quite a talker actually, but really wanted to talk mostly about which bluegrass festivals he had been to in the US. After about 20 festivals, we desperately tried to get the conversation elsewhere! We thank God for each opportunity He gives here in Thailand. We are learning the value of relationships. Here, it is extremely easy to build a relationship, at least on a surface level. People are generally open and accepting unless you give them a really good reason not to like you. Keep praying that God will use us in whatever way He sees fit!

Interesting Article

2008-02-18T19:56:00.003-05:00

I wanted to share with everyone the nature of some things here in Thailand. While in America, the issue may be homosexuality and the nature of marriage, etc... in Thailand, it is a whole different ballgame. The article says it all. I had to piece-meal it together, so forgive me if it's a bit awkward.

Valentines Day

2008-02-18T08:33:00.003-05:00

This is Leah:
Perhaps I should start by saying Happy Valentines day to you all! I look back a year ago today and I am amazed at all that has happened.
I have been asked what I need prayer for at times by friends and family. Often people want to pray for the souls and for the ministry we are working with. These things are all wonderful and good. But prayer for our hearts sometimes is more important. There are times here in Thailand I have experienced an almost overwhelming loneliness and loss. I will be honest and open even if there are some who do not want to think of their missionaries in such a light. There have been days I could not get up, for f feeling the deep want for my family. When you leave behind your friends you leave behind a part of your heart. It was like morning for the loss of a loved one. I could not just hop back on a plane or get in a car ride to see them. On evenings when the phones would not work or the internet would fail I would want to curl up in my bed and not get out. Drew can tell you the many times he had to pull me up and read to me God's promises to encourage me. Did I stop living? Did I stop reaching out? No. I have never stopped.
Before I left for Thailand I was discouraged by a friend who I had put deep trust in. I was told I was not good enough and that we were cowards and that we would fail. In my heart I had a steady calm. A knowing that we needed to go. I have not regreated that choice for one day. It has not been the picture perfect experience. Hundreads of souls have not gotten saved. Churchs have not been planted. But are we still doing God's work? Every time I get up. Are we honoring God? As best we can! Are we missionaries? Yes. I have never stopped knowing that from the beginning. It does not matter what man may say about it. I know I am following God, loneliness and all. And I know he is bringing us through.
Around a year ago Drew and I went through a very hard struggle. I will not go into all the details, but it was a very hard day. This year as it rolled around I almost did not want to celebrate Valentines day remembering the hurts caused by others. But God told me in my heart I needed to focuse on him and not on my pain. That would only bring bitterness. However, we were invited out to a family from our church. Their son had been in the hospital for over two weeks and was finally home! They were so welcoming and happy we all could come. We had an outside barbecue with reed mats and fires and got to talk about the Lord. It may not be a romantic candle light meal for just the two of us, but it was wonderful to build relationships with these sweet friends. When Drew and I returned home we both said it was one of the best Valentines days. Gods Love is so great. I have learned this year that I can forgive past hurts. That I can move on from loneliness and put my heart and focus back on God were it belongs.
When you pray for your missionaries, yes, pray for souls and pray for ministry. But Pray for your missionaries hearts and struggles. They get lonely, they have hard days, and they cry just like you do. Its just in a different country. Pray for those things because they are just as important for God's work.
Leah Marie Kilcup

This Journey we are On

2008-02-18T02:53:00.004-05:00

Wow, what a time. I cannot believe the semester is actually coming to an end. I still remember first coming to Thailand and thinking, "Wow, we're going to be here for a long time!" And here we are at the half way mark of sorts! It's certainly been the hardest thing we have ever endeavored to do, and yet we have seen how that God is teaching us and doing things in us that could be done perhaps nowhere else. Perhaps this is the only way God could show us what He is showing us. But that is probably another post, which we'll work on next!

This semester has been wonderful. God has allowed me to see some wonderful things happen here during this school term. I had the opportunity to share Christ with at least 60 of my students in a direct way in my class on cultures of English Speaking Countries. Then around Christmas time, we had the opportunity of introducing many of the students to the church when we helped them learn Christmas carols. We have been given many opportunities to build relationships with the students by involving ourselves in their lives via extracurricular activities. They always seem to ask for Archan Andrew and Leah's help. Incidentally, it is really something that they are on a first name basis with Leah. God has taught us the value of relationships even for sharing Christ. In this culture, it is absolutely crucial to effective evangelism, and so we are excited to see God doing this. As Surin Baptist Church looks to build (and possibly close to this university), we are hoping that any way that God has used us might help and strengthen the future of the church here in Surin. We are thankful for how God has cared for us and taken us through these 6 plus months. We are thankful to the Hayes for being there and doing a Bible study with us on Monday nights. That has given us a sounding board to get our frustrations out where we can deal with them. And we are thankful for all of our Thai friends. While we have left our families in the US, we have gained other families here in Thailand. And so we are very thankful people.

Preaching: The story of Esther

2008-02-05T01:16:00.000-05:00

I will not spend as much time talking about the story of Esther as I did with Achan. Esther is much too long. For my second shot at storytelling God's word to Surin Baptist, I focused in on the story of Esther. Here's an interesting one though. You could tell the story and use the phrases "by chance" or "it just so happened that..." numerous times throughout the story. Of course, the point is that nothing happened by chance, but rather by an all-powerful God who was working throughout the story. I zeroed in on the idea that God is working even when we do not see it or understand it. The story of Esther is that way. You will not find God's name mentioned once. That causes some consternation to some, but to any believer in Jesus Christ, the presence of God will be all to obvious in the events. And you cannot just say it is the cleverness of the people in the story. If it were all credited to them, the Jews in Shushan would have been wiped out. Think about some of the elements of the story...

Is it coincidence that Mordecai is related to King Saul (Kish) while Haman is an Agagite (Agag, the king that Saul spared)?
It is just by chance that Esther is picked out of all the women in the kingdom to be the next queen?
Mordecai refused to bow to Haman, not necessarily for religious reasons. Bowing to an official was (and is in places like Thailand) a question of honoring the office. So was Mordecai being holy or disrespectful?
Was it coincidence that the king removed his queen in a drunken fit of rage, a moment? What king does that?
How did Mordecai happen to overhear the plot against the king? And how was something like that just "forgotten"?
Why did the king accept Esther twice after not speaking to her for over a month?
Was it coincidence that the king couldn't sleep the same night Haman wanted to ask about his gallows idea?
Was it coincidence that the king wanted to exalt Mordecai when Haman wanted to execute him?
Was it chance that Haman was the one commanded to exalt Mordecai?
Was it just coincidence that Haman was hung on his own gallows?

All of these things should make anybody stop and wonder, "what's going on"? The answer is clear: God is working. And how many times do we wonder in our own lives, "Where is God right now?" God is always working, He never rests or sleeps, He is constantly caring and watching over our lives.

Preaching: The story of Achan

2008-02-05T00:45:00.000-05:00

I had the opportunity to preach while Jim and Kathi were away, Jim in the US teaching a course on missions, and Kathi in Poland visiting her daughter. At any rate, I was very nervous about the opportunity and wrestled with what to do. As my Thai is not quite up to par (at all), I had to use a translator. Jim and I have talked much about using the form of storytelling to communicate the message of God's Word to Thais. There's much to say about that. Namely, the fact that most of the Bible is written in story format should clue us in to perhaps using a story format to communicate those messages. Perhaps taking a story in the Bible and dissecting it into 3 points and a poem does just that. It dissects it. And dissected things are usually dead. Anyway, this isn't a polemic for narrative preaching. The truth is that I have been learning the power of a story, even in proclaiming God's word. Is it any curiosity that Jesus Himself used stories so many times to help people understand the sometimes confusing and seemingly paradoxical messages He brought to them? How would YOU explain something like the New Covenant to Jews in that day? To them, it seemed like a hostile attack on the law. So Jesus taught in stories.

All that to say, I gave a shot at it on January 20th, preaching out of Joshua 7 on the story of Achan. If I had to give the sermon a title, it would be "When you cannot rewind." Funny thing about the story of Achan, there's something that few people seem to have noticed. Of course, many know the story. Israel defeats Jericho and is so excited about God giving them victory, they just want to keep going. So Ai is next, at which 36 soldiers end up dead. A bit of a shock, as it indicates that God is not with them, leaving many asking "What is going on?" Including Joshua. He's on his face complaining to God that they were better off on the east side of Jordan, that now God's name is going to be run through the mud, and Israel looks abandoned. God's answer is classic and simple. "Get up". The fact was, nothing was being done about the problem, so God reveals that somebody took something from Jericho when it was supposed to be offered as a complete sacrifice to Him. Enter Achan. Apparently, he knew better than God and decided the expensive Babylonian coat and gold was better off in his tent than in the fire. So now 36 people are dead, 36 families are fatherless and husbandless. To put it frankly, Achan is looking like quite the selfish jerk here. And that is quite the truth! He's really the one responsible for all of this. So God tells Joshua to divide the people up by tribe, clan, and family, down to the heads of each individual family. It all funnels down to Achan. As Joshua stands in front of Achan though, he says something odd. He doesn't say, "You're in for it now" or "What were you thinking?" No, he says, "My son, give glory to the Lord, the God of Israel, and make confession to Him." Hmmm, maybe not what I would have said. Here's the kicker, Achan does what Joshua says. And we know the rest of the story, it's not really a "happy ending". Achan confesses, they find the stuff, and burn it and himself as a punishment. By the way, in case that sounds overly harsh, think about it this way. The stuff that he stole was committed to be a sacrifice to the Lord, literally a burnt offering. When Achan stole that, he also took the fate of the items. He wanted connection to the goods? He got it, but he also got its destiny. Anyway, he is executed and Israel goes on to defeat Ai. So Achan's the bad guy, right? Yes. No.

See, what people don't realize is that Achan actually glorified God as a final act. The last thing that Achan does in his life is bring glory to God. And didn't he? Joshua asked him to do just that, and he DID. So what's the point? Even if it's the last thing you do on this earth, you can ALWAYS make a right choice, no matter how bad or how many wrong choices you have made. We are never resigned to just do wrong. This I presented as it is, a story. I asked some questions at the end and did my best to drive home the point that the story itself makes. I hope and pray it was a blessing and a challenge to the people, or even to you! No matter what you have done or might do, with the Holy Spirit indwelling us, we CAN always choose to do what is right.

SIFF: Surin International Folk Festival

2008-02-04T23:08:00.000-05:00

These are our prestigious tags. They got us in for free. Notice: We are Thai Staff!

Here's Leah talking to her Italian distant relatives! She figured it out!

This is the performer from China. She sang very well, but VERY high and VERY loud!

Somewhere around mid-January, Surin Rajabhat University, where I work, put on an international folk festival. I was told that they would invite people from different countries, and so I expected some of what I saw, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, etc... But I did not expect to see Lithuania, Italy, China and Norway there! There really WERE people from all over the world at the festival to perform their traditional music and dances.

Honestly, the most impressive was the Philippines. They had the most animated dances, jumping and flipping, and doing things with candles and light. It really was amazing to see. And perhaps it was a little taste of heaven in this sense: In Revelation 5 it speaks of people coming to Christ from every family and nation and culture on the earth, and later singing and speaking His praise. So while these people were not necessarily praising the true God, it was interesting to see different cultures, hear their language and see their interpretation of life.

One funny thing did happen. See, the Thais were having trouble understanding what one group wanted. Could you guess it? That's right, the Italians. They were asking where the kitchen was, and the Thais could not figure out why they wanted to know where the kitchen was. So of course, they turned to their resident Italian, Leah Kilcup. She was dragged over to the Italian table where they were told, "she's Italian". As their nature would have it, they began rattling off to her in Italian. Now Leah does understand some Italian, but not at 90 mph! So she did her bes t to get them to slow down long enough for her to understand. Come to find out, they wanted to clear the table and wash the dishes, and needed to know where the kitchen was to do so. Leah explained that in Thailand, they do EVERYTHING for you. After a while, they came to terms with the way things are done here, and let the Thais clear their table. But you could tell they felt a little awkward. It was really a neat experience, I told Leah she was with "her people". We laughed about it, but the truth is that we are here to serve however we can. Even if it is interpreting in languages we don't really know. I did have another Thai student come to me and ask if I could interpret for the Israelis. I don't know Hebrew THAT well at all!

Playing Catchup: New Years in Rayong

2008-02-04T22:43:00.000-05:00

Leah feeding a sea turtle. He's a biggie!
Leah with her braids. Pretty islandy, eh?

Andrew very cold in the back of the truck!

Whoa! Long time, no post! It's amazing how things get so out of hand. Though I do go to other blogs and see they haven't posted for six months at a time, so it somehow makes me feel justified or something in my own neglect. Not really. Well, let's get everybody up to speed on things around here. First, New Years. We went to the beach in Rayong, a nice little town about 5 hours from Surin, and two hours from Bangkok. It's kind of between the two cities but south. Anyway, we had a wonderful time with many of the people from Surin Baptist Church. The Jones were able to join us from Bangkok as well.

It was very nice to be able to spend so much time with our Thai friends. We took a boat to an island where we could enter the gulf of Thailand. I must say I've never seen water like it, apparently much like Caribbean water, blue and transparent. Not like the beautiful brown or gray water in Ocean City, Maryland! Leah stepped out on a limb and got her hair done at the beach. They did her hair all in braids, tons of them. It didn't stay long, but she was the adventurous one to try it out. We took a bouncy ride back from the island, saw some fisheries, and ate lots of wonderful Thai food. It was a nice little vacation and a great way to get to know some of the people better. We watched the New Year come with Amanda, Orawan and Ya on the beach just talking about this and that and watching some guy about 20 meters away set off fireworks. We thought we were going to get blown up. He wasn't exactly following any regulations. Coming back from Rayong, it decided to get very cold. This was only a problem because four of us were riding in the back of the truck. Brrrrr! (Thought I'd NEVER say that here in Thailand, but it happens) This was more of a personal note to let you know what life is like. We really enjoy when we can take a break and catch a change of scenery, it was very renewing in our hearts and spirits and we came back ready to go at it again!

Caroling in Thailand

2007-12-29T19:41:00.000-05:00

So what's Christmas like in Thailand? Well, we will be posting a couple of times about all we did and saw during Christmas this year. I wanted to take the first chance to tell you all about a really neat opportunity we had before Christmas. One of my classes had an assignment to do a number of things in celebration of Christmas, one of which was to go caroling. So they loaded up a sleigh (cart) with gifts and somebody dressed like "Santa", and we embarked on our quest. We walked all around the campus at Surin Rajabhat knocking on the doors of the faculty and singing them a couple of Christmas carols. Oh, and there were somewhere around 75-100 students doing this! Yikes, quite a group. Usually you go caroling with maybe 5-10 people... not here! It was a wonderful time though. I brought along my guitar and we sang song after song until our voices were petering out! We walked around and by barking dogs, packs of dogs, and dogs on patrol.

We went for quite awhile, until everybody was exhausted! But it was a great opportunity to see these kids singing the praise of Christ's coming to earth. Now, granted. Many of them sang without really understanding all of significance behind the virgin birth or the coming of the Messiah, but they certainly understood something. Jim and Kathi were able to be there as well, which was wonderful. So we all had a part in building yet more bridges to these college students. I thank the Lord that He has put us where we are, and look forward very much to what He will do in the future! Thank you all for praying so much, God is at work all over the world!

Tribute to a Great Man

2007-12-29T11:14:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been awhile since the last post. December has been an extremely busy month! Within the first two weeks in December, we took a week's leave to go back to the US for my Grandfather's funeral. It was quite an event. I've never been so proud to be related to somebody like this. My Grandfather's body was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery on December 10. It was a great trip home seeing family and friends and telling everybody we could about all that God is doing in Thailand. But the real reason for making such a long long long (did I mention the flight was long?) journey was for my Grandfather. He passed away in September, but because of being buried in Arlington, there was a wait for the service there.

My Grandfather was given so many honors. For starters, they took his casket from the hearse and laid it onto a caisson (horse drawn carriage), pulled by a team of horses. Following behind the caisson was a riderless horse with a pair of boots turned backwards in the stirrups. As they were preparing the procession, a military band played "Amazing Grace". Finally, the procession began, and family and friends walked behind the caisson and the horse. Fittingly enough, the horse that walked behind the casket was a rather spirited horse, who bucked and kicked enough that my mother said, "He would have wanted this kind of horse...". We followed the procession through the mazes of memories of heroes gone by, until we came to my Grandfather's plot. There, the soldiers carried his coffin to the burial site, where a short graveside service was held. They folded up the flag and fired off a twenty-one gun salute. Taps was played, a lonely and somber tune against the stillness of that cold and gray December day in Virginia. Oddly enough, the whole time we were in Maryland, it was basically gray and cloudy. But that day, God saw fit to give us some sun peaking out, just for the ceremony.

It is an honor to follow in the footsteps of this great man. I have many precious and dear memories of sailing the Chesapeake with him, eating at Riverdales, getting yelled at for having my hat backwards, picking at crabs, drinking root bear, eating basically raw meat, talking about the civil war... I really could go on and on. Standing there on that cold day I thought, what will my life amount to when it is my time? What will my life have accomplished when people are standing around my grave? In this I find great hope, it is not for me to determine that. God asks me to follow Him each day, and as I obey and seek His will, He will give me a life of purpose and meaning, found in Him!

Inside the Mind of a Thai Student...

2007-12-03T09:57:00.000-05:00

In case any of you are interested and want to see some of what my Thai students are up to, I started another blog to post some of their work online. The purpose for this was to encourage them to do their best. See, each week we have a bit of a contest in my Creative Writing class. Whoever writes the most creative assignment gets it posted on the blog as the winner. They seem to really like the idea. Either way, it also is interesting to see their perspective on things, so check it out if you feel like it!

http://srucreative.blogspot.com

Keeping You Up to Speed

2007-12-02T19:48:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been a little while since the last post. Let's see, that was elephant roundup, eh? Well, much has been happening since then. Our cat is putting on a little more weight, that's good. I'm always afraid I'll step on him and put him in intensive care or something. We've had some opportunities come up with my 3rd year English Majors at SRU. Apparently, they are supposed to put on a Christmas program at SRU, and asked myself and Leah if we would help them with the songs. So we agreed, I will be playing the piano, and Leah helped them learn parts for five out of the nine songs we are performing. They caught on really fast, even with the parts. Most of the group are girls, but there is one guy who has braved the rigors of all this choral stuff! We are praying we can be an influence for Christ with them. The one girl in the class, May, is the one heading this up. Which makes sense, because she goes to Surin Baptist. So basically, we were able to introduce a whole class of college kids to the church every day this week, as we practiced in the evenings. Later in December, we will help them with their performance at SRU, and then go out caroling with them. (They go around to faculty houses and sing the carols, so they wanted me to accompany with the mandolin)

In other news, our music CD is almost done. Some of you may or may not have heard about this, but we have put together a collection of recordings from the ladies here at Surin Baptist. It's a bit different. Most of them are songs from America, translated into Thai. They are some of the favorite songs of the people here. There are a couple that are purely Thai hymns or spiritual songs. However, as I was in charge of instrumentation, it is mostly Appalachian style. Well, there is one song we do with the Thai instruments, but the others are all guitar, banjo, mandolin, you get the drift. So... what do you call this new style of music? Hence, we created a term "Thaippalachia". I will post the cover we designed here. The title is "Living for Christ", which is one of the Thai songs they sing. It's a beautiful song about the new life found in Jesus Christ. Something that almost has new meaning, living in a culture that is so much Buddhist. To find a Christian usually means they have put up with some level of being ostracized, or experiencing some kind of setback for following Christ. I don't know whether we can actually sell this thing, what with copyrights and such, but we are looking into how we can get it out. Either way, it's been a lot of what we've been doing recently, and I think what we have in the end now is well worth the time and energy!

Pray for us as we are traveling back to the States for a week. My Grandfather, Colonel Brown (affectionately known as Pop-pop by the grandsons), passed away a couple months ago, and as he is being buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors and so on, the funeral itself was scheduled to take place much later. Hence, we travel now. But God has worked this out perfectly, so we are excited about the opportunity to say hello to everybody again. I will probably write again after that, I know it will be a very thought provoking ceremony. So pray as we travel. We have an 8 hour train ride to Bangkok. Then waiting for 10 hours until our plane leaves, then flying for about 20 hours until we arrive in DC. Ugh. Not the most fun in the world, but it's better than swimming!

Till next time!

Andrew

Elephant Roundup

2007-11-20T22:17:00.000-05:00

Sai reading her part during the presentations (she is in the black with the white on the shoulders)

Well, we just got through the Elephant Roundup in Surin for 2007. This is the big event that is centered in Surin. People come from all over Thailand, even all over the world just to see this event. It lasts for about 4 days and all takes place in my backyard! Every night, there was a concert (at the loudest decibels of course) just across the street, and a fair that is running even to this day. The fair was really something, just like an American carnival with rides and everything, but instead of artery clogging stuff, you could buy bugs or papaya salad, or pad thai. Incredible, we were loving it. Why, they even had Thai bingo going on around every corner. The only difference was the ear-drum busting volume at which the leader bellowed out the numbers. Absolutely deafening.

Elephant Buffet- check out the jaws on this guy!

The first real day started with the presentations by the local schools. We went around with our Thai teacher, Khru Wee, who was given a microphone (always dangerous for a Thai, they love 'em) and proceeded to have us try out the Thai words for every vegetable or fruit featured on the floats.

Hey! No snitching!

It was very good practice, and it was televised. So we are famous... somewhere, we just don't know where. It was a really neat thing to see, the school kids put a lot of work into the floats and the presentations. There was all kinds of Thai dance and traditional music being played, and Sai from Surin Baptist read the English welcome for her school. They had her in all the traditional regalia, she looked great, and did her part perfectly. Made us so proud! She was just one big smile the whole evening.

The elephant Stadium in Surin, just down the street from our house!

The next day, I was told by Khru Wee that I needed to be at the "Elephant Buffet" in the morning. So I finished up my morning class and hurried over to the main road. There, they had large tables piled high with melons, sugar cane, cucumbers, bananas, and various turnips and roots. The elephants paraded in and proceeded to tear into the tables of food. Everybody sat behind the tables and fed the elephants. It's kinda weird to be sitting across the table from a couple ton galoot who is feeding his face with everything in sight. They are so huge and slow, but so very precise with their movements. They are strong enough to do incredible damage, but careful enough to take a melon from a child's hand. Amazing.

The Burmese army reenactors march in

On Saturday, they held the actual Elephant Roundup. This was positively amazing. About 300 some elephants paraded at one time into the arena that they have built. They did cultural shows, elephant demonstrations, and even a reenacted battle. I've never seen anything like it! Our own Archan Jim narrated in English for the "farang" guests. You're looking at the show and understanding the amount of elephants running around in front of you, but it's hard to really fathom that. My favorite part by far though was the battle reenactment. It was Thailand against Burma in costuming that was reminiscent of a couple hundred years ago. So there were swords and spears and such, but also cannons.

The fighters engage! Lots of action!

Very cool costuming though! They had explosions going on all over the field, it was really incredible. Then at the end, they had the king come out on the biggest elephant, a monster of an animal all decorated with gold, and they played the kings song. This is a song that they play all the time here, at 8:00am and 6:00pm every day. So everybody knows it, and is supposed to stand out of respect when they play it. So it made for quite an ending!

Thai traditional dance at ancient ruins

That night we went to a cultural show at some ancient ruins near Surin. Dr. Li and her family took myself, Leah and Amanda to see this. We were expecting to pay for the 100 baht seats (about $3 USD), but she insisted on paying for this, because she was the elder of us. So we let her, assuming this was a cultural thing. Well, this was actually because we didn't sit in the 100 baht section, we sat in the 3000 baht section. Right behind the governor of Surin! Yikes! I felt seriously under-dressed. They started off with a fashion show of Thai silk dresses, so Leah and Amanda were loving that. Then they did a cultural show telling stories of the ruins and legends, etc... There was such beautiful lights and sound, dances and music. All in all, it really gave me a new-found appreciation for this culture and their ways. There are so many things here that ring true of biblical culture. Like the agricultural rice-farming communities, even Thai dance is probably a lot closer to the dance described in the Bible. It puts things in a fresh light. For instance, the descriptions in the Bible of the early and latter rains and how that affected the harvests. Well, here in Thailand things have to happen just right for a good rice harvest, something that a lot of the dear church people depend upon for survival. Too much rain and it drowns the rice, too little, and it withers. You get the picture.

So that was basically the elephant roundup. We had a little more trouble getting around as there were tons of people and literally tons of elephants walking all around Surin. I found myself dodging people and elephants as I motorcycled around the town. What an experience!

-Andrew

A Wonderful Opportunity at SRU

2007-11-14T01:36:00.001-05:00

I am still amazed at our Lord. I am honored, humbled... everything at the wonderful chance I had to let these college students know about Jesus. That is all I wanted to do with them, was to let them know that God loved them so much that He came Himself to take care of our sin that we could do nothing about. And I think they understood it. I used many illustrations, both verbal and pictorial, as well as a song at the end. I taught them "How deep the Father's love for us", but had it written in their notes in Thai. I wanted to make sure they understood what it was all about. However, the rest of the lesson was in English (as it is an English class after all!), so I repeated and restated what I was trying to get across. I started off by clarifying some things about Christianity, such as where did it come from. Many people here view Christianity as a European or American religion, so I told them how it really started in the land of Israel in the middle east. I was hoping that would help them to think of this as something that could be for them, instead of writing it off as an attempt to Americanize them.

I told them the story of the gospel as the story of God redeeming mankind to Himself. Think about it, is there a more beautiful story, really? An all powerful God creates man for friendship, and that creation rebels and breaks the one rule that He had set. Because of that, man is separated from his God. Throughout the years, man's attempts to reach God are futile because of his own sin. So God comes down to man Himself and takes the punishment for that sin in the person of Jesus Christ. Because of this, man can be reunited with God. I said more than that, and not using those exact terms, but at the end, I really felt they understood what was being said. And I know they understood the song. I told them over and over again that God loved us so much, that He allowed His own people to kill Him in order to bring us to Him.

I had much freedom to say what I wanted to say, and I certainly am grateful for that, but I was cautioned against pressuring the students. So I simply left it open to come and see me if they had questions about anything. I don't know if they will, but I know they heard about Jesus today. Thank you to all who were praying for this. I want to let all of you know how much we appreciate the prayers, we are excited about the opportunities that God has given us here and are working to make the best use of each one!

I am not sure how many of the students had heard of Jesus before, but I am thankful to God for the chance to present our Savior in such a way. I have found that being here in Thailand makes me think about many things, see things in ways I had not thought of before. It tends to put things in perspective. As I was teaching today, presenting Christ to people who had no idea about this life, it dawned on me yet again the raw power and the incredible love contained in the story of the Jesus. Sure makes it worth dying or living for Him!

Drew

Opportunity of a Life-time...

2007-11-12T21:32:00.000-05:00

Hello all you who are praying out there! I wanted to give you a quick prayer request. This week in my "Backgrounds of English Speaking Countries" class, the subject is on religion in English speaking countries. I am planning on taking this opportunity to tell the class about Christianity. Of course, it's not just going to be a history lesson on the church, rather I am going to take them on a 1.5 hour tour through the Bible, looking at what God has done with man, and how that climaxed with the person of Jesus Christ. While I will probably not teach this the exact same way I would in the States (Thailand is open to the gospel, but one shouldn't be careless), it is an incredible opportunity to show them the Way the Truth and the Life. I am going to teach them the song "How deep the Father's love for us" as I believe it embodies the gospel in a clear and powerful way. I have it in Thai with a transliterated copy that I can sing with them. Please be praying that this goes well. Oh, and it's a class of about 60 students, the biggest one I have! But these are the opportunities afforded to me by my position here at SRU. So I praise God that He has put me here and will do the best with the opportunity He has given me. Thank you all, and know that I will report how it goes. I plan on leaving it open ended (I don't think an invitation would be in order...) and inviting them to learn more at the English Bible Study we have on Sundays.

All our love!

Drew

Motorcycle accident

2007-11-05T10:47:00.000-05:00

Leah again. Well It happened. I know some of you had bets going.
Friday drew and I where heading out to the local lake near by for some much needed rest time. I was going to drive us there to get my feet wet in driving the motorcycle. As Drew got on the back the bike became unbalanced. I asked him to get off so I could turn the wheel a degree over to get it strait. Suddenly I leaned on the gas to shift, hitting the gas control in the handle. (We where still in my street which is walled on both sides, not on the open road) The bike slammed forward into the wall. I tried reaching for the handle brake but the bike hit me into the wall. The only thing I knew to do was to turn the bike, which was spinning on down the street. It hit a cement flower bed and fell over, spilling me into the street under it. I hurt all over, but I could wiggle every toe and finger. A good sign! All my neighbors came running out into the street. I looked up through my helmet and saw all these nut brown faces jabbering in Thai at me. I was so grateful in that moment for these people. If Drew had not been there they would have gotten me help right away! Drew got me up and they all helped me walk home and get the beck up out of the gutter. They even wanted to take me to the hospital on the back of another motorcycle! Yeah right.... But it was the kindness of these people that meant the most to me. God was so good. Kathy Hayes came right over and helped me clean up and got me to the hospital to check me out. I was so thankful for her and Drew. They kept me smiling through the pain. All of me checked out fine! Just lots of bruises and some road rash. But I am so thankful to God! Even after it happened, I knew that he was in control of it. He had kept me safe. What a blessing that I remembered to wear my jean jacket and pants! When I checked my cloths and my helmet, there was not a scratch, or bump or tear. God literally let me fall without my head hitting a thing. That is a miracle.
I had no control of the bike. And yet God had it all. I am at peace with this and I will get back on that bike again! God is so good!

First Days at Surin Rajhabat University

2007-10-31T11:24:00.000-04:00

Well, it's day three on the job and all is well. I was a little nervous the first day, but got over that really quick as things have picked up to a skippy pace. It's actually started to feel something like cold. Haven't felt that in a while, in fact, we had to go out and get some jackets. It's cold in the morning when I ride the motorcycle to work. Anyway, the classes themselves are going very well.

Monday was the big start. My first class was "Creative Writing in English", a class taken by 4th year English students. It went very well, at the beginning of each class this week, we will go through introductions, which always bring laughs as the students cook up their best English to tell me their name, hometown and hobbies. Most hobbies consist of radio, TV, comic books, music, Thai dance, or sleeping. It's been a little interesting trying to take the roll as their names on the roll itself are in Thai. I am trying hard to learn the alphabet, but have a ways to go yet. So I had them write their English nicknames, which helped immensely. During the lunch break, I asked one of the Thai teachers a question about my schedule. When she went to check with the master schedule, she discovered that I had an extra class. Apparently, it was written on the master copy in pencil, and so when it was photocopied for me, the pencil was invisible. In other words, I had no idea about "Features of Extended Writing" until an hour before the class started. So after a quick lunch, I scrambled to put together a syllabus. We didn't have class this week, just went over assignments and such. That was amazing.

Tuesday came and found me starting the day out with the second class in "Features of Extended Writing". Thailand is interesting in its collegiate educational system. When somebody starts in college, they decide a major and stick with it (I suppose anyway). So the English majors come in together, and graduate together. The class takes all the same courses together for their entire college career. So they are usually a pretty intimate group. When they are too big for a class, they will split them up. So while I am teaching 4 subjects, I am actually teaching 6 classes (two classes are split). The second class on Tuesday was "English for Tourism 1", in which we began talking about how to relate to a foreigner. It was really something because I was able to relate the things I have learned coming to Thailand.

On Wednesday I only had one class, "Background of English Speaking Countries". This was a promising and fun subject to teach, and I was very excited about it. Unfortunately, the class was a second year English major class, and so some of what I was trying to communicate was going right over their heads. So I ended up drawing lots of pictures and trying to make things as simple and clear as possible. Whew, I was exhausted after that class!

It's been a very interesting experience already, and it's only day 3! Most of the students in my classes are female, though there are a few male students here and there. One sad thing I find is the amount of transvestite students here. It makes me sad, not out of some spiteful hate (sin is in fact sin), but rather the thought that people really do reject God's natural creation for their own choices. Think about it, somebody who makes these kind of choices, even to the point of undergoing operations (not uncommon here, it's in the hospital brochures), is in essence saying that God did not make them correctly, and so it must change. It is a natural, sinful human tendency to tell God our ideas are better than His. I guess it's just heart-breaking to see people say that in such an outright way. But then again, that is why we are here, to bring God on the scene and let people know how far He came to take away all that sin.

So thank you all for praying, we have surely needed it, and continue to. We are thinking of you and praying for you. Oh... by the way, just as an FYI... we found out we can actually track where people are viewing our site from. It's been encouraging to read all the comments you leave and see where everybody is praying for us from! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Till next time,

Drew

Slight Correction...

2007-10-31T11:21:00.000-04:00

Yeah... about that cat. Let's just change all of those "she's" to "he's". This would explain the aggressive behavior, and why we are trying to figure out how to discipline this thing every 5 minutes. 'Nuff said. He is trying to be picky, wanting only wet food at this point. He'll learn, it's dry or die. Okay, not quite that heartless, but he has this pre-teen kind of "meow" where his voice actually cracks. It would be very funny if he wasn't doing it CONSTANTLY. We're learning.

The New Ride

2007-10-24T20:10:00.000-04:00

Hello again! God has been so good to us. I say that not because of what He gives us but because of sometimes what He doesn't give us, at least right away. I would have loved to have gotten a motorcycle early on, but circumstances kept getting in the way of that. Circumstances that I realize now were divinely appointed. These are things like having to get the visa in order to get the work permit in order to get the bike. Even once I had all of these, THEN I had to get my address confirmed/verified by the US Embassy. This all may sound simple, but it has taken me a solid month to get it all done (most of it waiting on something to get all the proper stamps and signatures... bureaucracy... ugh!). Finally, a few days ago we were able to get the motorcycle. But before I go into any specifics on the bike, I must give God honor where it is certainly due. See, I really thought we would need this thing right away. God had other plans, clearly. He told me to wait. Nuts, that is really hard, you know! But last week, in the English Bible Study, we were going over Matthew 6:25-34 talking about how God knows what we need much better than what we think we know. So God knew what I NEEDED was to be able to get around. And guess what, we did... without a motorcycle. So we used other ways like bicycle (and we both lost weight!), songtale (like a bus, except it's a truck), tuk-tuk (3 wheeled motorized taxi), and samlaw (3 wheeled bicycle with two-seater). Really, God provided all we needed. Right at the main road near our house, we could access ALL of these alternate forms of transportation. It was really a perfect spot for these. Now though, with the school year coming, it was evident that we needed a motorcycle. These other forms were either getting expensive to do everyday, or were not dependable to get us where we needed to go in time. So God provided at just the right moment. Not a moment too early or too late.

So, here's the motorcycle. It's a Honda (one of my favorite brands) Air Blade. Black and silver, sleak and stylish. All bonus kind of stuff, you know. The best parts are some of the safety features, such as no-startup-if-the-kickstand's-down, locking handlebars (when parked), and the best, combination brakes (meaning that the brakes hit on both front and back wheels simultaneously, as opposed to handbrakes for the front and footbrakes for the rear). The engine is 110 cc 4-stroke, which means it has enough power to get me around quite comfortably, and do so without making a racket. It also means the engine itself is cleaner, quieter and will last much longer than some others. It's a bit different than anything I've experienced before. It's much heavier than a bike, but it has a lot more pick up (my ole' legs just can't compare), and it is pretty easy to maneuver around (here in Thailand, you are usually maneuvering around potholes, cows and dogs... and the occasional cobra, like we did yesterday!).

So for all of you who were (are) petrified about us riding a motorcycle. Your nightmares have come true. And for those of you who actually had faith in us :), praise the Lord He provided this. It really is going to be nice to go to church not sweating through my shirt. A luxury? Perhaps, but I can't help but think the Thais will appreciate not having a sweaty Farang running around the premises. And hey, just think... it will give everyone something else to pray about! (that was supposed to be a joke... we'll see how funny it actually is...)

in Thailand for His Name's sake,

Drew

Cat friend

2007-10-20T20:25:00.000-04:00

I, Leah Kilcup announce that yes, I am a cat person, and I am not ashamed. Now that it is said I will get on with the blog. Drew and I had to make an emergency run to Bangkok this weekend. We had to file our proof of residency and obtain a re-entry visa for December. Friday was all business with that but as Saturday rolled in, we decided to go to Chaktu chak Market. Basically its your average Thai exotic market but on a hundred times scale. Anything and everything for sale! Alligator skin boots, snake skin belts, rubies and silver, silk in every jeweled color you can think of, curly toed shoes and exotic head dresses, and food food food! I was so overwhelmed by it. I am pretty used to the markets here but this was overwhelming. We found that one part is devoted to selling pets and animals. If I wanted to I could roll on home with a Mongoose. But instead my friend Amanda helped me find a furry little kitten. It was the most emaciated thing I could find, and it eats like a pig. She slurps and grunts when you feed it... And I love it!

Well, we had to jet back to Surin saturday night and the fastest way was the bus. Let me just share a bit of personal history before I go on.
I have been on old buses in Peru going up the Andies mountains with questionable breaks and gears. Unpaved roads and shear cliffs on one side, with sharp mountain on the other. I thought that was intense. That was nothing compared to flying through the country side in a Thai bus.
The Driver took off at a break neck speed, screeching over curves and bends like a taxi. The bus was a double decker, swaying two and fro, some times on two wheels (I am not lying to you) I thought, perhaps we where just being scared Americans, but when I looked back and saw the terrified faces on the Thai people and hearing their gasps of fear, I knew we where in trouble. When the locals are scared you should be too. Mean while our stewardess would come by handing out snacks and water like we where supposed to be able to eat on that rocking monstrosity! At one curve we all had to lean to the left as the Bus veered into the corner, speeding up faster. Drew clutched the seat arms and held me up so we wouldn't fall into the Isle. People all around us where yelping. Funny thing, the whole time the cat slept under the seat through it all.
When we arrived in Surin the bus driver smiled and bowed to every one as if it had been the best ride ever. Maybe for him. All I know is, I will NEVER get on a bus to bangkok again. Unless the burning bush calls to me to do it, you wont see me near another bus like that again. Ill take the Train thank you!
leah

A Little Paint Goes a Long Way

2007-10-20T20:05:00.000-04:00

Hello again all faithful readers! (Or at least, I will imagine such) Here's a bit of an update since the last time. We be painting! That's right, a little lime-green paint and Voila! We have a new house. We have currently only painted the bedroom and bathroom a lime-green, but might do the kitchen area the same color. But we haven't gotten that far yet.

Our newly painted bedroom!

Leah painted the entire bathroom and most of the bedroom by herself while I was at work, then when I got home we finished off the bedroom together. Whew, tiring stuff. But what a satisfying thing it was, made the place look like new. You see, there were all sorts of unidentifiable marks and stains on the wall from who knows what, so to be able to cover them over with some beautiful paint was a real blessing! Thais don't usually go for color on their walls too much, so you don't normally get a house or apartment with colored walls. It's a bit of an anomaly. So as silly as it may sound, it really helped make this place home to have clean walls to look at. You don't really think about things like that until you are in a situation like this, and we have learned how to appreciate something so seemingly insignificant, and yet profound!

Movie Night: The Passion

2007-10-11T20:20:00.000-04:00

Well, in our second installment, we had another dinner/movie night at the Kilcups here. Again, the students from the local high school came, which was a really big blessing! We ate Korean Barbecue. You heat coals in a bucket, then put a metal lid/grate kind of thing on top, which has a lip around the edge where you pour a kind of broth. So in the middle is a raised dome where you cook the meat. Around it is a moat of broth where you can cook veggies, ramen type noodles, and meat as well if you like. You just reach in with your chopsticks when it looks done and take what you want. It's really quite fun. We also had a number of different kinds of Thai fruit, the Palmello and Papaya.The ants tried to get to all the good stuff, but they're efforts were... squashed...

Hands reaching with chopsticks into the pot... Yum!

So we watched the "Passion", as a kind of follow-up to the Nativity that we watched a couple weeks back. We had about 11 people show up: Myself and Leah, Jim and Kathy, Orawan, Ya, Neang, Sai, then the students- Korn, Doc, and Foam. So we had a nice crowd. Throughout the movie, Orawan and Ya were again explaining what was going on. Things like the veil tearing in the temple, Judas Iscariot, and so on... Important things about the story that might pass them up. They were extremely interested, and listened and watched very seriously. Even Doc, who is usually making jokes, was very serious. We gave them some tracts about the "Passion" afterward, which had been translated into Thai. We are praying that each step the Lord allows us to take is a step toward their salvation. It would thrill our hearts to see these young people decide to follow our Lord Jesus. What a thrill it was to see Him working in their hearts! They are very tender to it, I think.

Orawan and Korn at the Korean BBQ

Just watching all of this happen made me think about what the Bible says about the "New Covenant". Thinking of human history, and how God interacted with man, and how it culminated in the New Covenant. And to watch the movie as everything unfolds, it reflected back to the last supper, where Jesus says, "this is the blood of the New Covenant". Wow, it all came to what Jesus did, didn't it? What He did on the cross, was God giving us a covenant that was completely of His doing, something that would finally and fully obliterate the sin problem we brought on. Amazing. I am so thankful that God allowed us to see His Holy Spirit working in the hearts of our friends that night. Thank you to all who prayed for this, it isn't the end of the story. No, in fact, it's just the beginning!

Startup at SRU, Adventures in Laos...

2007-10-10T20:50:00.000-04:00

Leah in the rain in Laos

Well, I must say it has been quite interesting! I started October 1st, which was not too much of a day. No sooner had I gotten there and sat at my desk, than we began discussing visas. Mine expired on the 4th, and so I needed to get my non-immigrant (which permits me to obtain a work permit) visa, which in Thailand means you need to exit the country and re-enter. This meant traveling three hours to the Thai-Lao border, crossing and working out the visa process. Well, I had initially hoped it would be a day-long deal. Nope. No way, no how. Let's talk three days. Jim was so kind and patient to take us up, he had some books he needed to read anyway for his doctorate. So at the border we found a guy who would take us into Laos and help us through the process, for a fee of course! Jim couldn't go because he would have to sacrifice his visa to do so.

Savannakhet, Laos

So this guy takes us in and we get to the embassy at 11:30. No problem, they're usually open until noon. Not here. Closed at 11:00. Nuts! So he dropped us off at a hotel and said he'd pick us up at 8:30 the next morning. Well, now we had a whole afternoon and evening in Savannakhet, Laos. The town is awfully run down, which wouldn't be a problem except that everybody had their lights off in their shops and nobody was selling food (that we found). It wasn't like Surin, that's for sure. You walk down the street, and there's somebody selling food everywhere you look. So we trudged about in the constant rain, bought some umbrellas finally, and eventually found a couple places to eat. Good thing, 'cause this wasn't over yet.

Faculty of Humanities (where I work) at Rajhabat

The next day we got up nice and early, packed our things and headed to the embassy. We waited, made this copy and that copy and finally thought we had things in order. They asked me for the original copy of my degree. No problem, I brought it to Thailand. Problem, it's in Surin. "That's okay" the guy said, "We'll just charge you another 1,000 baht" (about 30 USD). So instead of paying $30 for a visa, we ended up paying $60. And of course, every time I found out I needed to pay more money (that I didn't have on me) it was a trip to the ATM. Now, Lao money is called the khip, and it is about 281 kihp to the Thai baht. But it's 34.5 baht to the USD. So, it is 9,600 khip to the USD. Imagine now, I had to withdraw about 10,000 baht when it was all said and done, for all the expenses incurred here. That was millions of khip. So only in Laos will I EVER be a millionaire.

Typical Classroom at SRU

Back to the story at hand. After all that and a dozen copies of everything I had, we found out we had to wait ANOTHER day. Ugh. Savannakhet wasn't looking real good at that point. So back to the hotel, which fortunately had cartoon network. Unfortunately, it was all dubbed in Thai. Oh well, it was something! It rained the ENTIRE time we were there. But we did get out and see some things. We saw a dinosaur museum (one room with a couple bones thrown in there) and a book store (we woke some people up who were sleeping on the floor) and actually found a place that served pizza. Finally, the next afternoon we trekked to the embassy at 1:00pm and were FINALLY able to get our visas. So our driver rushed us back across the border, where we met Jim and got ourselves home. Whew, I must say I NEVER want to do that again!

So that was the visa. This past Monday, I started at SRU (Surin Rajhabat University) in a more official sense. I have been putting together course layouts and syllabi and researching for some of my classes. I have 4 classes but 3 subjects. They are...
1. Creative Writing (4th year English majors)
2. English for Tourism (3rd year English majors- two classes for this one)
3. Backgrounds of English Speaking Countries (2nd year English majors)

So that gives you an idea of what I am up to. Pray for Leah, we handed in all of her information, transcripts, resumes, etc... to the Demonstration (elementary) School at Rajhabat and we are waiting for their response with a contract. Pray that happens sooner than later. She has her non-immigrant (piggy-backed on mine), so that's not an issue. Now I just need to go and get my work permit, and we can finally purchase a motorcycle! That makes me very excited, because I have waited upwards of 45 minutes to catch a bus sometimes. Keep praying, God is doing wonderful things!

Movie Night: The Nativity.

2007-09-30T20:33:00.000-04:00

Wanted to update everyone on some neat things that God is doing here in Thailand. We had thought of doing something in our home, opening it up, to help build relationships with some of the young people in the church (mostly college age). So we invited anybody who could come to our house for dinner and a movie. Ya thought of inviting the students from the Surawittayakarn School as well. That was really God's doing because I didn't think they would come at first. So we tried out our new grill. Well, that was an experience. Needed a little help from our kind landlady, Pin Nit, to get things started! Once the fire was blazing, we grilled marinated chicken, BBQ chicken, and nicely seasoned steak. It was quite fun and everyone seemed to really like the food. Leah whipped out some Italian fixings for the asparagus, and everyone DESTROYED the stuff. They loved it. Well, then we were trying to decide what movie to put on. We decided on "The Nativity", and I think it was a very good idea. As the students watched the account of Christ's birth and how everything came together for the coming of the Messiah, they asked tons of questions. Orowan and Ya were very busy trying to answer all the questions that flew their way. So... if you are reading this, please pray for these kids as we try to show them our Savior. I believe they are curious, especially one guy named Korn. He was asking lots of questions, they said. We plan to do this again, and show one of the movies about Christ's life and death. It was a very good avenue to get the gospel into their minds so they would think about it. One thing I liked, is that the movie was the gospel, but they were all Jewish people. It wasn't the "western" religion. And I think that makes a big difference, it is helpful if they can see the gospel as something that is for the whole world, not just Americans or Europeans.
So, that was our "movie night". It was a wonderful way to meet people and build those integral relationships needed to do anything here. But it was also a great way to present the gospel itself... that God became man, dwelt among us, and ultimately sacrificed His life for ours. Incredible.

The Little Things in Life

2007-09-27T08:51:00.002-04:00

Leah here.
I am writing now as it rains like buckets outside our windows. On nights like this it gives me time to sit and think about all that God teaches. To be honest, I have found it a hard thing to be here in Thailand. It is not the people or their country that bothers me. Nor is it the dirt or the smells or the food. What I find hard is the hole that is left when you say good buy to people you love and know. I have been told, "oh your just suffering from Culture shock. You will get used to it." But I know that I am not meant to just get used to it. I am meant to learn and grow through this loneliness. God has a purpose for every thing he gives us. And loneliness is one of those gifts from him. It has put me in a place where all I have is him. When I cry I can't just reach out to my family or call up a friend. I find instead his Bible and I hear his voice. I cannot help but know that this is so much more than what a friend or family could give me.

The way life comes at you

2007-09-27T08:51:00.001-04:00

Whoa! Long Time, No Post!

2007-09-20T20:50:00.001-04:00

Well, things have definitely gotten busier. We are now adjusting much better to life here in Surin. Although I cannot say at all that we are out of our culture shock yet. We have been reading some very good books about culture shock and transitioning to a new country. Many times, people think they have to completely blend into the new culture and that makes it overwhelming and eventually discouraging. Because it doesn't really happen. One book was saying that the goal is not to "go native" and completely forget where you came from. I remember in college, that was the attitude of some people. They were renouncing American life to go live with the people of the world. Problem is, that will never really happen. As an American, I will always be American, I was born and raised in that culture and really cannot divorce that completely. Nor should I, in my view. And honestly, do we expect foreigners to act and think EXACTLY as we do? I don't, anyway. I actually hope they will keep the culture of their homeland alive. And I don't think the Thais expect me to become completely Thai and do nothing American.

Now, that's not to say that I build my little American ghetto where I retreat from all things Thai. That's the other extreme. Rather, this book was saying that you become bicultural. So I am an American, living and functioning in Thailand. I adapt to the Thai way of life and learn to speak and live and spread the gospel effectively in this land, in their way. Wow, what a revelation! It makes it easier to transition when I realize that. So it's okay to enjoy things American, to miss home, and do silly things here that are normal in America. As long as I have a sense of humor. (Like hitting my head on every awning because I'm a wee bit taller than many here)

Well, as far as our life here goes, we have had some great opportunities with the students from the nearby school. We have set up a regular Friday night English study with them. It is primarily to help them with their English, but we hope to be able to share the great news of our Lord with them as we progress. We see them everywhere now, in the market, at school plays, driving down the road. And they have even come out to church a couple times since the Anchor group left. So praise the Lord! Relationships are being built out of which the gospel can be shared with them.

So here are a couple pictures of our opportunities with the kids. Pray that God will keep opening the doors to work with them and tell them the Good News!

Until next time,

Andrew Kilcup

Ministry in Thailand

2007-09-03T11:40:00.000-04:00

Well, despite our constant battles with this illness and that sickness, I wanted to take a moment and fill you in on the ministries we have been able to be a part of while here in Thailand. Really, I'm surprised how much we have been able to do without even knowing a lot of Thai yet! Still, our heart is to learn this language so we can be a little more effective. Look, let's just say I'm already a wee bit tired of just pointing and grunting while in the market. I'd like to speak in proper Thai.

Anyway, first God has blessed us with the English Bible study held at the church on Sunday nights. The service is quite simple, songs sung from paper and a guitar. We give testimonies of God's work in our lives, share prayer requests with each other and then I have the privilege of sharing God's Word. Currently, we are studying through the teachings of Jesus and have been working our way through Matthew 5. It has been very encouraging, if not just for myself!

Secondly, the ministry that we had at the schools when the Anchor team was here has carried on. We have seen the students in the church at least twice now, and hope to see them come back in the future. They are pictured here with us and the Hayes.
One of my most exciting ministry opportunities was during my interviewing at Rajhabat University in Surin. The interview went just fine, and I am waiting to hear back as to when I can sign a contract. But the next day, I went in and met the teacher I will be replacing, Peter. He actually grew up in a Baptist home, but has since given up on Christianity. Interestingly enough though, he had gotten his degree in theology (before he says he was finished with Christianity). All things considered, he is still very much interested in theological things, so we enjoyed some good conversation around various topics of theology. One thing he could not get over is the Joshua story where God seems to command the slaughter of innocent women and children, especially the children. So we talked for a while about that, and it gave me a wonderful opportunity to describe to him the God of the Old Testament, who is not only judgment, but also love and compassion. I think in his worries about the ethics of the situation, he doesn't really see how merciful God was in allowing the people of Jericho ample time to repent and turn from their ways. Either way, he said I made him rethink some of the things he questioned. I am praying for his salvation, even though he grew up Baptist, it didn't seem to be the best example to him of Christianity. Pray through the love and consistency of myself and Orowan (a fellow teacher that goes to Surin Baptist) Peter will be drawn to the Lord!

Well, hope that gives you a glimpse of what God is doing through us at this time in Thailand. We are currently in the throws of culture shock. Wow, I can't say I expected everything I'm feeling. But as we have been reading some missionary bios of people who came to this area, we find ourselves saying, "Yeah, that's what I'm feeling!" So it's good to be in with that company! Keep praying for us, we surely need it!

-Drew Kilcup

Thai Fever: Round Two

2007-08-30T08:18:00.000-04:00

Ding ding! And another round of illness for the Thai Kilcups. That's right, no sooner had Drew gotten over his fever than Leah came down something. This was Sunday morning and Leah had come down with her own 100+ fever. We weren't able to see the doctor until Sunday night. When we finally were able to get to the hospital, we found out it wasn't just a fever, it was a kidney infection! Wow, that was a little scary. But God was still so good.

The next three days found us making regular visits to the hospital for a series of shots that Leah needed. Ouch! Still, every day found the situation getting progressively better. It made for a long week, but one that God used in a unique way in our lives. He just kept drawing us closer to Himself and each other. Through each hardship and trial, God just knit our hearts together with Him. Was it a lot of fun? Of course not, but it was priceless for our marriage and our relationship with our God.

Please keep praying for Leah as she struggles with homesickness. It has been very hard for her all of a sudden and needs prayer. She knows God has us here for a good purpose but misses familiarity. Please keep us in your prayers.

Thai Fever: Round One

2007-08-25T04:13:00.000-04:00

Well, you know it had to be coming. You don't go to a foreign country without getting sick in some kind of way. But I didn't really expect this. Thursday, I started to feel a little bad. I woke up that morning with a cold, again, didn't really see that coming. We went on with the day, and I just kept getting more and more tired and the cold symptoms kept getting worse. We rode over to the church to try and upload some pics and videos, but I couldn't last long, I was so tired. A few of our friends from church came over to see our place, and so we stayed up until about 9:00pm. I was exhausted. So I laid down on the couch and we tried to watch some TV. Leah felt my head and said I was burning up. So we took my temperature... 102! Ouch. So off went the TV and into bed I went.

It was a long night fighting the fever. Leah stayed right there, making sure I didn't cover up too much and kept the cold air on the outside and the water on the inside! I've never drunk so much water in my LIFE! The next day, we kept taking the temperature and it stayed around 101-102. So it was off to the Thai hospital. It was a great experience, I was in and out in 30 minutes and had seen the doctor and received medication all for about $10.00! Wow! So all yesterday I just took it easy and kept on the meds. Today the fever was down to about 99, and I felt good enough to come over and update everyone! Praise the Lord. We were worried it might be this or that, especially the Dengue Fever which can last for two weeks. The doctor said he thinks it is just a flu that developed from the cold. I have been doing much better since and am regaining more and more strength every day!

Thank you all for praying and remembering me! God has been so good to us here.

-Drew

The many missadventures of the Drewster and the La.

2007-08-25T04:01:00.000-04:00

Day one...ant explosion. We have been told that the ants in Thailand are unlike any other. They get into everything and there is preaty much nothing you can do about it but store EVERYTHING in tupperware. The first day we moved into our home we noted a black oily spot on the wall. It was a nest! I start yelling for Drew who runs to fill a bucket of water. (take note that we had no bug spray) I start beating on the ants with a broom. They start running up the handle and attack my arms and start biting my legs. Drew comes to the rescue and dumps the water. The water serves to flush the whole ant army over Drew's own feet as well. It was a Lucy, Ethel moment. Suddenly out of nowhere our five foot savior comes running with a can of bug spray! Our Thia land lady saved the day, all the while smiling away as she blasted the suckers.

Day two...Bike flip. Conquering the ants and rising as heroes we went out and purchased a new bike for me (The la) I was so excited! I have not had my own bike since I was 14. It has a bell and a basket and place for boxes on the back and it's oh so shiny! All day Drew and I zipped around riding, loving the feeling of the wind through my hair. We stopped at the store and on the way home it began to get dark. I flipped on my brand new bike lite and was ringing my bell and loving the wind and when suddenly I took a curve too fast! As I flew through the air all I could think of was, "I must protect the bike. I fell, it landed on me and grocerys went every where. Do not worry folks. The bike is fine!

The La

Saying good by in Bangkok

2007-08-25T03:15:00.000-04:00

Well, we took the teens back to Bangkok this week and had a few days to explore the city with them. Why is it when you want to do outdoor sightseeing you get hit with the hottest day so far on our visit? We went to the Royal palace and dripped our way through. But it was a lovely cultural expedience. They require a dress code and two of our ladies pants where showing ankles! Shock! So they actually h ave you where one of their wrap Thai skirts to be more "modest" if you will. It is good to respect one's culture though and the girls laughed it off in good fun. Jean, one of the girls, actually went out after and bought a skirt just like the one she had to where because she liked it so much.
The next day we went to the worlds largest crocodile farm. It was really amazing! We got to watch a show where they put their heads in the crocs mouths and wrestle them about. (why anyone in their right mind would do that is beyond me..) We where able to feed the crocs chicken on a string. Kinda like fishing, except in stead of guppies you get a three hundred pound crock jumping up at you. We pet gibbon monkeys as well who kept trying to steel our glasses. He was a soft as a teddy bear but as clever as a fox.
The highlight was when they brought out a full grown female tiger. For six dollars I was able to sit with her, scratch her back and take pictures! It was one of those life long dreams of mine. Bet you can't do that in the states! Ha ha...It was so soft and warm to touch one. She kept rumbling and purring. Don't worry folks. She was wearing a large collar with chain attached! When we left I looked down at my shirt and realized I had tiger fur on it. Very amazing!
When the time came to say good by to the teens I suddenly began to struggle. I had had such an amazing time with them that I didn't stop to think about what it would be like to not have them around. Each one I felt I was able to get to know and love more as we spent time together. My only prayer was that their time here helped them to grow closer to their God.
As they gave us tearful hugs and jumped on the van I realized my last connection to the states was leaving. We waved long after they had turned a corner and for a second a wild part of me wished I was with them still. But deep in my heart there is a constant knowing that this is where I am meant to be. Along side Drew and with God I can be anywhere.
la kilcup

First Week in Thailand

2007-08-13T01:48:00.000-04:00

It has certainly been a packed week! So much going on, sometimes we feel like we haven't much gotten our feet under us yet. But at the same time, God is so very good to us. We have had abundant opportunity to serve Him and been a part of so much going on! No doubt about it, the transition from the United States to Thailand is not an easy one. But then we have to remember that it is only the first week and we shouldn't expect ourselves to just acclimate right away.

We did a lot of teaching in the schools this week, opening up some doors to the area high schools. Pictured is Andrew leading a game of "Red light - green light" teaching the English words for directions and traffic symbols. Through such seemingly simple teaching, we were able to build relationships with not just the students at the school, but teachers as well. Leah and I were able to talk with one of the teachers, who is taking English herself. Bridges were built which will hopefully turn into future opportunities. It is amazing how something as simple as English can really open such doors to tell others about our Jesus!

We were also able to visit the elephant village, a certain "must" for the Anchor group to see while in Surin. They put on quite a show too, pictured is Andrew getting walked over by one of these elephants. Obviously, I am alive, I'm writing this blog! But I must say having such a humongous bestie treading over your chest is not exactly relaxing! What a place though, dozens of elephants just walking all over the place. Not something you will see in America.

We are just so thankful to the Lord for how He has taken care of us. He has given us new and old friends. Leah has picked up where she left off with her friends she made in 2003, and Andrew has been able to make friends as well during the week. Some of the student helpers we met at the schools this week came to Sunday service! Wow, that was exciting. One of them was studying graphic design, and so I was able to show him some of my work. I was excited that we connected on a level, because that is a bridge built through which the gospel can be taken to this guy. The teens were able to build many bridges as well, pictured are some of the guys playing a Thai sport, Takraw. It is like hacky sack in the US, but over a badminton style net. Very interesting, and our guys didn't do so bad!

Again, thanks to all who are praying for us. We are doing well, struggling with everything that is new, but excited about what God is already doing in us!

First Couple Days in Thailand

2007-08-05T11:12:00.000-04:00

Greetings again, I am glad to finally be able to write and update our blog! So far so good here. We are beginning to learn how difficult it is to adapt to such a place. We came over with the teens from Anchor Baptist and have have been encouraged with how excited they are to try everything. Still, there is that voice in the back of our heads that reminds us that all of these new things will have to become our new "normal" if we are to truly adapt. That's harder than it may seem! The flight in was relatively uneventful, apart from a grumpy passport checker at the Thai airport. After we got through that, we had a wonderful reuniting with the Hayes and the Joneses at the airport. Matt Jones was holding a sign that read, "Drew and Leah are cool"... what a welcome!

After a short night's sleep, we began trekking to Surin, stopping at some very old ruins along the way. Surin is a wonderful little town, and we have enjoyed our time here. Today (Sunday) was a wonderful experience in Satuk Baptist Church. The group sang and played instruments and gave testimonies of what God is doing in their lives.

In the evening I lead an English Bible study here at the church. We are excited to get moved in and settled here. We paid up on our house and received the keys, now we just need to move in. For all of those praying for us, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. It is difficult, no way around that, but God is greater than any difficulty we may encounter. His people here are so wonderful and are making the transition more of a pleasure than a trial! Until next time! ...

Thailand here we come!

2007-07-29T16:32:00.000-04:00

Well, after 3 attempts, we finally have gotten our Thai visas! Can't tell you how excited we are to get that out of the way. Now, we are simply counting down the days to our departure on August 02 and scrambling to get last minute details in order before we head out! We did have quite a time getting things ready for the visas though. First, we went down on Tuesday to DC (the Thai Embassy) in order to apply for our visas. The guy told us we could come by and pick them up the next day (Wednesday). Wow, what a great deal! So we excitedly traveled through DC the next day (about as much fun as a root canal without novicane) only to find out that one piece of information was missing. The guy kindly told us to come back the next day... ... ... I must confess I wasn't the most happy or rejoicing kind of person at that very moment. But at any rate, we traveled back to Glen Burnie and re-rescheduled a trip to DC for Thursday. Finally once we navigated through the endless jungle of one-way streets, we arrived at the Thai Embassy. With trembling hands I walked through the doors and asked for the visas. They simply handed them to me and said, "thank you". That was it... ... ... Three days, but hey, we have our visas now! So God really did work it out just fine, and all my worrying and fretting did nothing but populate my stomach with butterflies! Lesson learned, God really does know best... and hey, I now know the way to the Thai Embassy in DC by heart!

God still works in miracles

2007-07-16T11:49:00.000-04:00

Leah here folks.
I'm sharing this blog with Drew to keep things less complicated. So I have a little story to tell.
You all know about the passport crisis in the usa that has people diving for the lines at the passport offices two days before they leave for vacation. I had tried to be oh so smart about it and applied for mine at least four months in advanced. Well July comes rolling around and I still don't have mine. Now I know like a good little girl should that I need to be relying on God for everything but it got really hard knowing my time was almost up. So I decided to take matters into my OWN hands. God really has a sense of good humor. We took the day off and went to Washington D.C. We walked strait to the Passport office got in line and even got to the doors to get in. But we where promptly told we could NOT get my passport and I would have to come back at a later time. So like in good girl fashion I burst into tears. I told drew I would be lying if I wasn't disappointed. I was leaving in three weeks and no passport. We sat down in front of the Library of congress and I just prayed to God. I knew I had been controlling and now I had nothing.

The next day I was still asleep when a loud banging came from the front door. I ran down stairs in my hideous PJs and ripped open the door. FED EX had a package for me! When I opened it and shook out the contents, out fell my brand new passport! See! God has a sense of humor! Isn't he wonderful?
la la

Kicking into Gear

2007-07-16T08:01:00.000-04:00

I suppose an introductory paragraph would be in order. We are at about 2.5 weeks until we launch overseas to Thailand. 2 1/2 weeks to get everything in order, make sure everything is set before we move ourselves across the sea! It still seems rather surreal, as though I don't really realize how big this is. I feel so caught up in the excitment and activity of it all! God has been so very kind and good in all of the craziness, though. We have been praying that He will simply show us the next step along the way, and so He has. Psalm 119:105 says, "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path". God doesn't promise it to be a halogen lamp or x-ray vision that will show you what's around the next 12 turns, sometimes it is only enough to show you the next turn or even the next step. But He does promise, that light will always be there. The next 12 turns? Well, God knows what they will look like, and has already been there. Our part is to trust His direction and just take that next turn ahead of you!