Relaxing At Ubon

In the morning we went to a coffeeshop to have breakfast. We ordered eggs with lup cheong and pork shreds. It's very fragrant, and they serve with chinese dough. And guess what, they have Bandung - rose syrup milk! I've never imagined they would have it here too!

We visited a local park for a light walk. It was beautiful, they had a statue of an important person posing like Raffles in Singapore, but he's got a sword, and he's surrounded with large decorated worms (serpents), horse and elephant statues. And he's got cute miniature animals as well. Unlike Raffles, he receives daily honour of flower rings.

It's so amazing! 2 hrs Full Body Thai Massage for 200Baht! Feels like heaven on earth! You only can get it at Ubon :) Just another blessing from Hope Ubon. To top it all, we had a luxurious welcome lunch after a good round of massage. It was so good, we couldn't ask for more ;)

In the afternoon we went to a nearby park. It was raining heavily, and we prayed for the rain to stop. It did stop just before we went there. But when we arrived, under shelter, it started pouring again. This time, we knew what to do. We shared to everybody who took shelter with us. It was such an enjoyable time, singing songs, sharing the gospel, giving out tracts, and fellowshipping with our Ubon family.

Dinner was unbelievable! I've never seen this before - steamboat and hotplate combination on charcoal! Instead of using gas, they have holes in the middle of the table to fit a bucket of coal. Then they put a curved hotplate on it. So we barbecue meat in the middle, and soup for vegetables around it. The food was quite normal, but I was amused by the concept. Had to order fried rice to survive.

At night, we went to night market opposite a large shopping centre. The guys watched soccer while the girls went shopping. That's a brilliant combination! We were tired, but we had a fruitful day. Praise God!

I'll be flying to Bangkok tomorrow after church service. FYI, Connect Journal on the book of Matthew is out now. Get it while stock lasts. The last round, the book on Proverbs, ran out very quickly. Many people couldn't get their hands on it.

Thai Borders

Today is a very special day. We went to Chong Mek, also known as Laos Border. I found the oldest Hope member: 98 years old lady, she had cancer in her mouth, and God healed her. Now she's a fervent evangelist. The church there has about 10 members. We distributed tracts in that area. They sell a lot of cheap fruits and clothes. 10baht for 1 kg of mangosteen, where else can you find it?

We visited a dam nearby. Ps Sumet from Hope Ubon claimed that he usually stayed there for 20% of RRP, cos the director is his good friend. It's really a luxury place!

In the evening, we visited Hope Sri Sa Ket, then we went to english schools run by our members: JS English Center and Thai American School. Thai American School is run by House of Mercy Foundation, who use the profits from the learning centre to fund orphanages in Thailand. I know why God brought me to this place, to see that it's so possible to use business to bless the nations directly, just as He had revealed to me.

The Thai hosts always cook up a banquet for us. Tonight is no exception, and I really enjoyed the dinner. Thai green curry. Local vege dish. Cakes and fried dough. Pineapples, rambutans and mangosteen.

I learnt that Ps Sumet is a genius. He contributes a lot of ideas to the government. He planted 14 churches out of 25 districts in Ubon in the last 16 years. The main church has 3 services, total about 200. He also has 14 churches out of 22 districts in Sri Sa Ket, 6 out of 17 in Surin, and 3 out of 7 in Amnad. Altogether 37 churches out of 71districts in 4 provinces of Northeast Thailand. Thailand has 76 provinces. He shared that once a church reaches 30 members, it would start to plant a daughter church. Isn't that awesome?

Eugene shared that Hope Singapore has just paid off their debt in 5.5 years! They started fundraising in 2001, in 3 stages, and God has provided. I believe that Hope Melbourne City Centre will be blessed too, because God has laid the seed of faith in us :)

Warming up in Ubon

This morning we had local breakfast, then we visited Jum, a local Thai sister who can speak english. Then we went to another sister's house to encourage her relative to rededicate his life to God.

We attended a funeral. Great authentic Thai lunch, and I had the privilege to meet a believer who received Christ when she was 18, now she's 87. Talk about persevering in faith!

At night, we attended a local care group. Again, more home cooked meals. At first I thought it was stew pig, but later on I noticed that it was actually chicken porks. We had an interesting time of sharing and overcoming language barrier. Our team led a praise song, then Robert and I gave a testimony to encourage them.

Arrive at Ubolratchatani

I got bitten by bed bugs! so itchy, cannot make it already.... must be the bed at Bussarakam hotel room 334!

Today we finally cleared the last day of Thai Camp: A Peace Filled Church. I learnt a lot from the organisers. Everything is so excellent. The worship team is so energetic, and the worshippers really give glory to God with all they have!

Arrived at Hope of Ubon church. Ps Sumet picked us up form the bus station. The church is 4km away from the station. His wife welcomed us with 8 course dinner. Well, there's eggs, pork spare ribs and vege soup, and beef vege dish. Plus fruits. But still a lot. We barely managed to finish all the dishes, couldn't touch the fruits.

Seems like we only have cold water. And the toilet facilities are a bit lacking. We'll see how we can overcome these few days.