philsquest

Back from Mae Hong Son

On Thursday evening I came back from the little mountain town called Mae Hong Son. I decided to fly for the four day trip. Going by airplane it takes me 30 minutes instead of the six hours drive on a road with more then 1800 curves. 

I went to teach at a summer vocational camp at an orphanage called House of hope. I helped out with giving some training for the worship band and teach guitar to beginners. Everybody was quite eager to learn new skills. After only four days it was very nice to see first results. The band leading worship with some new songs. They learned how important it is to arrange the songs with a clear beginning and an end, to tune their instruments well and to listen to each other while playing. I also taught a group of beginners on the guitar and after four days they were able to play their first two songs. I taught them about 12 chords, a finger picking pattern and a advanced strumming pattern. In all it was great to have such eager students.

After leaving there I thought I will probably go back there someday. But for now There is alot of work waiting for me in Fang.

The worship band in action

Some of the guitar students

Cookies gone bad

The problem with not being able to access my blog was with the cookies on my browser. Something was apparently corrupt and every time I wanted to open a typepad blog it would read that corrupt cookie. "I told you not to store the cookies for too long, they get baaad". Thanks to the typepad's quick response I can read my blog again.

To Mae Hong Son

I can still not access my blog here in Thailand. Strange!

Tomorow I will be off to Mae Hong Son for a four day trip. I will give some workshops on worship leading and worship band/music for youth and staff at an orphenage.

Cannot access typepad blogs in Thailand

This is the second time all typepad blogs and Yesterday also blogspot were unaccessible here in Thailand. I wonder if it is only a local thing or the whole of Thailand. I was able to get on philsquest.com and questasia.org using a proxy server. I think this is rather weird. It says it cannot find the server.

It is like back then when youtube was blocked in Thailand.

Healing Prayer

Sometimes we forget that God has a hand in our lives. It often seems we can go through live without noticing his presence. The promise of his love and presence is with us though. I talked with my kids the other day about how God loves us and how important we are to him. We shared for quite a while. After walking on the road with Jesus for more then thirty years alot seems just to be natural. Like in other relationships we get used to each other. I guess in my walk it comes to that as well. But then there are the small surprises, chats and moments that makes me aware of God's presence and the special thing I have, a real gift in my life.

We were away on the beach on holidays a week ago. There one day I had extreme pain in the lower back. I could not lie down without feeling the pain from my back all the way down to my knees.

Lillian put her hand on my back and asked Jesus to heal me. A very simple prayer. Two sentences and the pain left. I was quite surprised and didn't expect this to be over so quickly. It reminded me once again how close God is to us. I often forget those moments as I move on. But in all those years there are many stories not only of healing but also of encounters with God, of his provision in so many ways. I don't want to forget all the good . To recall the stories helps me to remember that Jesus is with me all the time.

Der Sturm in Thailand hat sich gelegt

Wie die täglichen Gewitter in Chiang Mai in den letzten Tagen hat sich der rote Sturm über dem Land vorerst gelegt. Die Demonstrationen sind vorüber. Ich denke das ihr die Bilder und Berichte im Fernsehen gesehen habt. Was politisch hier abläuft ist nicht einfach zu erklären und hat eine lange Geschichte. Ich bin auch kein Analytiker der Thailändischen Politik. Daher möchte ich auch keine eigene Meinung verbreiten.

Das Songran Festival ist fast vorüber und ich bin kein einzges Mal nass geworden. Vielleicht auch weil ich das Haus sowenig wie möglich verlasse. Die Grösste Wasserschlacht im Lande ist wie jedes Jahr in Chiang Mai.

Thailand wohin?

Die letzten paar Tage waren wieder gefüllt mit politischem Tumult. Nachdem die eine Gruppe mit den gelben T-shirts letztes Jahr den internationalen Flughafen und das Regierungsgebäude in Bangkok besetzt haben. Hat sich die andere Gruppe, in roten shirts, aufgemacht und den Hauptknotenpunkt in Bangkok besetzt sowie den Asian Summit besetzt, woraufhin dieser Evakuiert werden musste. Auch viele der Hauptachsen wurden für ein paar Tage besetzt. Dann kam das Militär und greifte ein. Thailand machte internationale News und wir konnten Bilder und neues auf CNN und BBC mitverfolgen. Wieder einmal waren Touristen gestrandet. Dieses Mal auf Busstationenen und Bahnhöfen. Thailand scheint sich selber den wirtschaftlichen Todesstoss zu geben. Wenn dies so weitergeht werden die Touristen ganz ausbleiben. Viele Orten sind eh schon fast leer. Kau Sarn Road hatte 30% weniger Touristen dieses Jahr und wegen den Unruhen haben 80% der Asiatischen Touristen ihre Reise nach Thailad abgesagt. Einige Länder haben Reisewarnungen herausgegeben. Dies alles vor Songkran dem Thai Neujahr. 

Ich wünsche Thailand und den Thais ein gutes Neues Jahr.

Holidays approaching

The kids are off school for a week already. We finally get to get away for a long needed holiday. The problem is when we stay t home it is not quite a holiday because there is always something to do and people calling because of projects or other things.

We haven't been at the beach since Juli 2007. Okay I admit I have been alone in Kau Lak for three days in January for a diving course I had to post-bone because of the airport closure in November. But As a family we haven't to the beach for a long time.

No Internet for 8 days :-) Only sun, sand and wind. Better pack those books I wanted to read for a while and extra sun cream.

Here in Chiang Mai it is getting terribly hot. At least during the day. Our house is still pretty cool even without using the air-con. After we come back from our trip Thai New year (Songkran) will start.