Yesterday, or should I say this morning for me, was the match Switzerland against Ukraine at the football world championship. I was crazy enough to stay up to watch it. Here in Thailand it’s on life at two in the morning. Would I have known the outcome and the never-ending misery of that game I wouldn’t have swapped my beauty sleep for this.
Switzerland lost after they were unable to bring in a single penalty at the penalty shoot out. The whole game went back and forth with numerous fouls and players hitting the Grass all the time. It was terrible to watch the way they hacked each other down.I think the Swiss played quite well. Better than Ukraine They were much more in ball possession and had quite a view chances to shoot a goal. The team is just unable to shoot goals. Not even penalties. What a bummer! I couldn’t believe my eyes. Not a single penalty went in. A sad day for Switzerland. I will lower our Swiss flags today.
Okay I admit I’m proud they even made it into the championships. It doesn’t happen very often. There are too many strong teams in Europe. So hopefully next time. Just imagine Switzerland in the finals.
the adventure I find myself in / das Abenteuer in dem ich mich finde
Month: June 2006 (Page 1 of 2)
Yesterday I had a long 16 hour day. I drove up to the mountains and back close to 500 kilometers. I met with my staff to prepare for a team and some project we are working on. Then we went up to the village where they originally came from. It is a medium sized Lahu village in the Mae Ai district. I have visited this village numerous times in the past six years and seen some of the children grow up and leave the place as well as people getting older.
I was invited into the house of Napi and lapue. In the past we had outreach teams staying at their house and last year I helped finance their Daughterty’s nurse training. I always saw them as very kind, hard working, beautiful people. This couple seemed to have a love for each other I seldom saw in the hilltribe community. As I drove into the village with my truck I wondered how they were doing. A friend told me that they miss me and would like to have me for a dinner. It is hard to make an appointment in a village so I just made the trip to surprise them. Of course they were not there.I was informed that they are planting the rice in the mountains, but will come home this evening.
We invited ourselves into their house, Enoch bought some food and Mida started cooking.
I was sitting on the steps to the house when Napi and lapue came walking to the house shouldering their tools. Their bare feet were dirty from the soil and they looked very tired from the hard work. After they had a shower we ate together and they told me about the work they had done. They seemed happy with their lives. Things were going well for them. The rice was planted, They have three new cows, many chickens and ducks. Their daughter works in Chiang Mai and their son is helping with the animals.
I took glances at them and envied their simple live style. At the same time I wondered if I could live the way they do. Napi and Lapue aged a lot since I met them the first time. People don’t get as old here. I got sad and felt so out of place for a moment. Napi smiled and said that she missed me. I returned the smile and said that I missed them too. I know one day I will meat them without the restrictions of language and culture. When people from every tongue and every tribe will gather in the presence of Jesus our King. Napi and Lapue will be among them from the Lahu tribe. I am from the Swiss tribe. This will be the day of laughter, joy and feasting.
Yesterday as I drove up to the mountains I was listening to some worship music. I was contemplating on work and life (Something I seem to do excessively) A sequence (or call it a vision) of Jesus entered my mind. He came close and hugged me. It felt incredibly real to me. Here I was driving my truck over the mountain pass and my eyes were filled with tears. I was very touched by His action. There was no word spoken, just a hug that felt like "my friend your are alright."
I found this joke on the web. No idea who from.
A Christian guy is shiprecked and stranded on a desert island,after many years he builds a home and a church ect…. years pass and he is finaly rescued…. just as he is going up the gangplank to board the rescue ship the captain ask him what are the three buildings on the shore line? "The first one is my home where I lived,the second is my church where I worship my lord… and the third one is the church that I used to go to."
Walking down the street in the heart of Chiang Mai I came face to face with Alians. We are not alone after all.
Two days I had another nail in my tire. I stopped counting over the years. Driving off-road it happens that I drive over nails, screws or other metal spikes that puncture my tyres.
What I usualy do is leave the object in the tyre, till I can get to a garage. It keeps the air in and spares me from actually changing the tyre.
So this afternoon I went to goodyear in Chiang Mai and got my tyre fixed, let them rotate all the tyres and had them check the breaks. This all for 100 baht (3.-SFr. / 2.60$) I love taking care of my truck here in Thailand.
Sunday today. I realised I haven’t written for a while. I spend some days up in the mountains with my co-workers. It’s been a good trip. Time is running short for all the things I should do. We are going to Switzerland in four weeks. I look foreward to go and at the same time I know it will be also very excausting. Living cross-cultural going back and forth between cultures and languages is not always easy. There are days I switch between four languages without realising it. There are days I can honestly say I had enough of it. I want to get a regular job back in Switzerland and just raise my family. Those are the days when my batteries run very low and I need to recharge. I think about our lives and what my children have to go through and what the future will bring.
Then I realise it is my choice. I’m not forced to live like this and I know it is the right choice. As my batteries get recharged all those worries dwindle. I realise that it was another day in paradise a little bit overclouded. A new week is starting and it is a gift that we are still here after seven years.
I had quite a hard time glueing because of the wrong tools. But at the end I did it. I left the clamps on over night and half a day. Then I removed them and waited another day. I was not shure how long I should let it dry.
After cleaning around the bridge I put the new strings on, tuned it and played. Wow it works. Same good feel and sound. I’m so happy.
I haven’t made a wish list for donkeys years. Actually since I lost faith in Santaclaus. But of course I never really grew up and I still have a mental list of things I really want. Thinking of wish lists I realise that we only make them because we don’t have the cash to just walk into the shop and relieve ourselfs of the pain of waiting. The weird thing is that after having aquired the thing we wonder what all that anticipation was for.
Chiang Mai has now a GPS shop in Panthip Plaza at the night bazar. I made the mistake of walking into it. Looking at some GPS’s my mind played some tricks on me. "You realy need one of those" it said. The weird thing is I believed it. Fortunately I don’t have the money to buy the modern adventurers gadget. Still to "would like" a certain thing can’t be that bad. So I put it on my mental wish list, left the shop and wished secretly to be as rich as Bill Gates. Now two month later I understood the deeper spiritual meaning behind this expirience. A reason why I need a GPS.
"As I don’t realy know who I am, at least I would know where I am"
Actualy the idea for a GPS came with the last water pipeline we made in the mountains. A GPS would have been a real help. There is always another way to do things. So I used my swissarmy knife with a barometer for the hight messurements and estimatet the distance with the tachometer in my truck and counting the steps walking through the jungle. It was a 8 kilometer pipeline. With all the problems I encountered I would have liked a GPS.
I must be insane. Here I have a vintage guitar worth over 3000.- SFr. and I repair it myself. I spent the whole morning Yesterday preparing for the event. I searched the web on how to do it, what glue to use and I pray that this will turn out good. To get the right tools in Chiang Mai is an adventure in itself. The only clamps I got don’t properly fit. 
The bridge of the lowden is in itself a piece of art. It is not just straight and even. To apply the clamps I had to chisel a piece of would into shape. I used UHU wood glue (the only decent brand I found) It should dry withinn 40 minutes, but will be totally dry in 6 hours. I leave the clamps on for the night and a day. The scary thing will be to put the strings on.I realy hope to be able get my guitar back to use. It is a dream of a guitar. I searched the web for guitars. I wannt to start to save money for a new one. I looked at guitars in Chiang Mai, but after playing for over twenty years I just don’t want to get a cheap thing. The lowden is very worn and it would be good to have another accustic guitar. Lillian and I both use the Lowden a lot.
For travelling and ministry in the villages I use a Martin Backpacker Guitar. A friend brought it from the Staates several years ago. It is a great guitar for travelling and has a loud but thin sound. It comes in a black soft case. It looks like I carry a rifle with me when I get on airplanes. Unfortunatly there is no pick-up and for stage use the Backpacker is not realy practical.
This is Eli on the picture. He is a bible school student who was an intern with our churchplant in Hui Kau Laam for a year.
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