Hello all! We wanted to keep you all updated on our latest adventure… We recently have embarked on another journey…a road-trip to see family and friends. The goal of our trip is to see our Grandma Mavis in Michigan. We haven’t seen her since our wedding, and recently she had some complications on her knee replacement. So we really felt we needed to visit her and soon. So off we went (with a few stops along the way)!

 We left Monday morning, and made our first pit-stop to see our friend and fellow Campus Outreach Thailand teacher, Kristen. We enjoyed beautiful Columbia, South Carolina with it’s wonderful weather! Kristen’s family was very kind to let us stay the night at their home.

Our time was short, but we made the most of it! We shopped, made a wonderful spaghetti dinner, met up with her friend from high school, watcher her dad play tennis, walked around the beautiful lake in her neighborhood, and played a fun game of “sequence” with her family! It was fun to see her and reminisce and talk about the future! Saying goodbye was tough. She is going to be in Thailand for another year before she comes back to the States again. We will continue to keep her in our thoughts and prayers.

Tuesday, we were off to Cheapeake, VA to visit Katie’s brother Chris and friend Becca…

Katie and Becca ran to greet each other in the parking lot!

We went touring Virginia Beach…Can you hear the ocean?

The three of us with the beach in the background. It was freezing!!!

Another playful pose between Katie and Becca.

We are staying with Katie’s brother Chris in Chesapeake. Chris will be deployed soon - out to sea in the NAVY on a sub for about 6 months, so we wanted to see him before her was off. More family is headed up tomorrow for a mini Jackson-5 reunion - Kate’s parents (Chris and Anita). and Kate’s other brother (Mark) and his girlfriend (Amanda).

We will update on the family reunion weekend before we head off to Michigan on Sunday!

Much Love to all!!

We had our Beauty and the Beast play with the kids of the drama class at Covenant Christian School. The play was held in the new church gym, which has a small stage. It really turned it our great! Bobby was Gaston and Katie was Mrs. Potts! We hope to get some video from John or Brian who videoed the whole thing. It was also great because about 10-12 of our family members came also!

Katie getting her makeup on!

Gaston!

Bobby, Apple, Katie

Katie, Mary Jo (director), Bobby, and Megan

audience!

Group shot!

Goofy =)

NaNee, Apple, Katie, NaSom, NaAck, Didi, and Bobby

Caleb, Amy, Apple, Mandy, Katie and Fluke

The play was set to start at 6, but we didn’t get started until about 6:40 (Thai’s usually run late!). After the play, we said our goodbyes, which took a while! We both felt flooded with people and emotions and kids - teary eyes and sniffles. It was bittersweet. We just can’t believe how we have become a part of this community of people. We came here to serve others, but we were the one’s who truly received the blessings! I’m just reminded of God’s sovereignty - when we feel like we’re following His will, He just shows you that He will provide you with blessings you can’t even imagine!

Anyway, we left about 8:30 with the family and went back to NaAck’s home. We bought a bunch of Thai food and just ate and talked with the family, reflecting on how far we’ve come in the last 6 months. We had a great time and left on the 12:30 am bus with PNid and PSeua!

Fluke’s dad, Yan, BaJohn, BaLot, crazy guy in the background, NaNee, BaEt, PNid, NaSom, Katie, NaAck

=)

BaEt, Bobby and BaLot

On the bus… PNid and PSeua

Bobby and Katie on the bus!

Arriving at Bangkok at 5:45 am, we came to the hotel, and weren’t able to check in until about 10! But we ate and walked around Pratunam (not much was open) In the afternoon, we went to the HUGE weekend market - Chatuchak. It was fun! TONS of people though… and pretty hot, as it is all ourdoors! Even though we were all exhausted from only a few hours of sleep, we enjoyed it and bought a few things.

PSeau, PNid, and Katie - eating in our room last night! SomThom (papaya salad), MooYang (pork steak), Chicken and rice, and pon la mai (fruit!) - Yum!

Today, we slept in a little… we’re about to have breakfast! Bobby is watching the Superbowl online as they aren’t playing it on TV here! Haven’t seen any really good commercials yet though! We have massages set up at 12:30 and 1:30 (2 people at a time), then hopefully off to shop more! I’m excited to go out today because I have a little more energy!

Over this past weekend, Katie and I spent time with our niece and nephew, Apple and Bang!

Bang had been having issues at school so we decided to take him and his sister out to have a good time and simply love on them and show them we care.

We took them out to eat at Pizza Company….

Then we treated them to a stay at a nice hotel in Khon Kaen, Piman Gardens.

We watched movies and ate out at the local food stands.

Then onto church the next morning… Our first service in the gym! (also where the Beauty and the Beast play will be held next week)

It was really wonderful to be able to spend the weekend with Bang and Apple. We enjoyed simply having fun with them and loving them as we try to reflect Christ’s example. Please, keep them in your prayer’s. Bang really needs to focus on school and pray for Apple’s heart as she wants to come back to church next week. She is a great student and has aspirations for college.

We’ve only got a little over a week left. We’ll post about the Beauty and the Beast play and our trip to Bangkok and home when we get back! We have been so blessed by God to be able to serve and grow here in Thailand. We hope and pray our last week here would be a wonderful experience!

Happy New Year everyone! We can hardly believe it is 2009! 10 years ago, Bobby and I first started “dating” – hard to really imagine! Nonetheless, the Lord has been good to us and we’re looking forward to a new year!

For New Year’s Eve, we decided to spend some time with Bobby’s family. PNid has some friends/coworkers who sell beside her at the night market who invited all of us to a lake! We were excited to truly experience a Thai New Year party, even though we weren’t really sure what that entailed! Around 11am, PNid, PSeua, PJenn (friend), James (cousin), Urn (little girl), Bobby and I all packed into the truck to set off on our unknown adventure.

Katie, PNid, and PJenn

We traveled for about 20 minutes, and then turned off of the main highway onto a dirt road. We then traveled out into the middle of nowhere – about 20 more minutes away from all civilization. No houses, no stores, no other people. We were alone, somewhere in the twisting woods! We came upon a lake where a little gazebo was built. PNid’s friends from the market were already there and had everything set up. It was beautiful!

We started to unload our truck – mats, some food stuff, snacks, chairs, a computer? Was there even electricity out here? Not really sure how since there was nothing within a 10 mile radius, but sure enough there was! We settled in and started fishing – Thai style! The thing I love most about fishing in Thailand is that it’s pretty quick! You really don’t have to sit there for more than about 10 seconds before you get a bite. There were fish EVERYWHERE! The thing I did not like was the nasty fish bate! You had to reach in, get a big ol’ handful and squish it together in your palm around this metal coil on the fishing line. And I’ll tell you what - it was not the most pleasant odor!

After realizing we had no running water or antibacterial soap, we “roughed” it and washed our hands in the lake. Truly Thai style! Fishing was so much fun though! We thought it was all for fun and game, then we realized the fish that we were catching were being sent straight over to the “slaughter table” where they were killed, gutted, stuffed, and grilled – all in a matter of minutes! Doesn’t get much fresher than that!

It was pretty cool! Meanwhile, PNid and her friends were preparing the feast! Making homemade som-thom (a papaya salad - one of Bobby’s favorites if it’s not too spicy!), cutting up the beef and intestines, grilling the fresh fish, washing the vegetables in the lake water – they were very busy! We ate and truly enjoyed it! Throughout the entire day until midnight, we fished, ate, sang some karaoke on PNid’s computer, and ate some more, fished again, napped, sang, fished… and so one until 1 am when we left to go home! We had such a great time and just enjoyed the quality time with PNid and everyone!

We posted some videos on YouTube of the fishing trip - To watch, you have to copy/paste the link into your browser!

View of the fishing site:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR89v2TIO2E

Baiting the hook & prepping the fish:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41g6nqIdtaU

**If copy/paste doesn’t work, you can go to YouTube.com and type “thehamletts” in the search bar. Two videos will appear at the top of the page called “New Years 360″ and “Bait and Prep 0001″**

School is back in session and we’re winding down the weeks until we come home! We’re spending a lot of our days rehearsing for Beauty and the Beast – a play that the drama class is going to be performing the night we leave to go to Bangkok (Jan 31st)! Bobby is starring as Gaston! And I will be Mrs. Potts! We’re working on costumes and lines and haven’t gotten too far with either! But we’re excited to be a part of it!

So we will try to post one before we leave Khon Kaen! Our flight is scheduled to arrive on the 3^rd of Feb at night. It will be sad to leave all our new friends and family, but we are excited to get home and see everyone we miss so dearly!

Bye for now! =)

Katie and Bobby

We attended the Campus Outreach Thanksgiving party and had a wonderful Thanksgiving of our own. We had the party at the Church with the staff and did what we always seem to do…eat! Katie and Melody slaved away in the kitchen…

Girls with their stuffing!

Here’s a few pictures from the Thanksgiving Party:

What a place setting!                         Our table!

Katie and some of her students ,   Group shot

December has been eventful too! We finished school on the 12th, so we’ve had a great break! We’ve mostly spending time with the family here and the team too. Bobby was able to go to the NEU campus with Steve to see what their ministry is like. We had another “mom’s day out” where all the kids came to the church for the day while the moms could go out to shop or run errands… etc. We had it at the church - which is really coming along great!!

The CO team had a Christmas party on the 20th - all the families came and we ate and celebrated the birth of our Savior! Bobby and I were actually on the decorating team! Bobby’s tree trimming skills really came in to place, as all the centerpieces were fresh cut by him from the Firpo’s yard! We played games and did a gift exchange - sanook maak (very fun)!

Katie & Honey (name gift)          Steve & Bobby (name gift)   PGuy got Bobby workout clothes

Melody had Katie’s name,                 Classic Christmas photo 2008

So we’ve been staying with the Hunts for Christmas! We came on Monday and have been staying the week with them - our home away from home! It’s been an eventful Christmas - full of shopping, cooking, and eating!! We shared our traditions with one another and just really enjoyed spending our Christmas with the Hunts. They have truly made us feel like family! Bobby and I decided this year to buy each other a night at the Sofitel (I actually surprised Bobby!) - the 5-star hotel here in Khon Kaen! We haven’t had really any time to ourselves here, so it’s really an exciting thing for us to “get-away” for a night!

Christmas Eve Dinner!                 Jackson tradition Coffee Cake!, Rusty with our gift on him!

Katie and her stocking,                Christmas Eve by the tree,          BobKat with stockings!

What a mess!                                  Mac and Cheese baby!                 We got matching fleece!

Mandy loves her Daddy!               Baalot enjoyed her Iron,    Badang said Merry “Chris-ee-maat”

Our “turkey bowl” - we played Gator Ball,                                          Hunt Reindeer?

Family photo                                  Christmas was a great!

New year’s is soon - it’s actually a HUGE holiday here in Thailand! People exchange presents and everyone is just so excited! We are planning on spending the New Year with Bobby’s family, but we’re not sure, as Thais like to wait until the very last minute to plan anything!

Thanks again for keeping up with us - we will try to keep you a little more updated. Best wishes this Holiday season!

Much love,

“BobKat”

The last month or so has been very fun as well as eventful. We always say we are busy (and we are) but we do miss you all and thank you so much for keeping up with us! Thanks to all the faithful “poster’s” your words are so encouraging!

We traveled to Udon Thani (about an hour away) with the Hunt’s. On the way we saw a terrible bus crashed in the median of the road. It was in really bad shape.

Melody prayed at that time and we could only hope for the best – it looked really bad. Later that night we talked to PSur and told him about it and because he works for the Rescue squad he had heard about it and said there were close to 40 injured but no deaths! Thank the Lord!

Crashed bus a few days after. When it happened, the bus had overturned and was on it’s roof.

Anyways Udon was fun. The Hunt’s were going to visit and treat a little girl named Byou, who lives in an orphanage .The Hunt’s had wanted to adopt but the mother was reluctant to let her be adopted. They continue to see her occasionally and take her out to do things with them. So we picked her up and went to the big mall in Udon and shopped and then ate at the SIZZLER! What a treat! It was very affordable and you get an entrée with soup and salad bar. We enjoyed pork and French fries as well as much Thom Yum (slightly spicy Thai soup) and salad as we wanted. It may seem like all we talk about is American style food but we really do enjoy Thai food we just eat it so often!

Lunch together                              Mandy, Melody and Beyou

The Sizzler in the mall                 Having fun with cameras!

November 3^rd was Bobby’s birthday and his mom sent some money so we could have a family birthday party. We decided to have it the next weekend of the 8^th because of conflicting dates with a church function. It was held at Bobby’s Aunt NaaAck’s house and a lot of the family came. We also invited the Hunt’s and our Thai friend and Campus Outreach staff person PNai to come and help with translating into Isaan. Our family speaks Thai but also speaks Isaan, which is basically the language of Laos. Many people here in the Isaan region of Thailand speak this dialect.

The food was delicious! We had Thom Yum (coconut kind), moo taut (like beef jerky but pork), cowpat (fried rice) French fries, and fruit as well as a bunch of spicy Isaan food. The Hunt’s brought their guitar and John Mark and Joseph played us some tunes! We even sang a few praise songs! PNai helped translate a game we played with everyone we called “Bobby trivia”. We came up with random questions about Bobby and PNai translated the questions to Isaan and everyone had to guess. It was a lot of fun and we even gave away some candy prizes. It seemed to really go over well with the family and we all shared a few laughs.

After the game we had PNai read a letter we wrote to the family thanking them for all they have done for us and it explained a little about why we are here helping out CO here in Khon Kaen. It was such a blessing to be able to spend Bobby’s birthday with almost all of our immediate Thai family here and to be able to share a little about our faith as well. How blessed we are! We know God is working here in Khon Kaen, not just at KKU but in the community as well. It is our hope and prayer that our family here one day can experience the joy we are given each day.

Katie and NaaAck                            BaaDang, Bobby, Baalot          BaaDang presenting me with bday attire

Birthday Cake!                             Us with PNai (translator)                         “Hunt 9″

John Mark, Megan, John singing       NaaAck loves her nephew              Mandy and Katie

Melody & the women w/ ice cream,      Group shot, before playing trivia

Bobby’s aunts minus BaaEtt                           :)                                   Group photo (missing many)

Katie, PJane, PNid, Megan, Mandy

Shortly after the birthday celebration we had to leave Thailand and travel to Laos to get our Visas stamped. Our visa is good for up to one year but you must renew it every 90 days by leaving the country and getting it stamped. We left early one morning and headed for Nongkai which is the Thai city on the border. We took a bus across into Laos, got stamped, had lunch, did a little shopping and left. Before we shopped we traded money and saw that one US dollar = 8,000+ Lak, which the currency of Laos is. Laos is extremely poor, I believe it is a third world country. For reference, one USD = 35 baht (currency of Thailand) so you can see just how weak the Lao money is. The bills were so confusing too! They had different numbers on the front and back – we quickly decided to trade the money back for we could buy things with Thai currency as well.

Katie & PNid eating in Laos           PSur and Bobby eating in Laos     The bus ride between Thailand & Laos

We have a confession…we have been driving! We sent away for our international licenses through AAA and got them back within a month or so and have been driving periodically. We drive about once a week – when it is too inconvenient for PNid and Psur to pick us up. It is very different but not too difficult – it just takes a lot of patience.

Katie the “serious” driver!

Katie and I have begun teaching the older teens a bible study on dating. It has been really neat. It’s great because we can relate somewhat because of age. It is helping us pour ourselves into others and it helps them have someone they can talk to about teenage dating issues.

We attended a big holiday here in Thailand called Roy Kratung. Roy Kratung is a holiday in which Thai’s buy little boats made of leaves and flowers with lit candles and they send them out into a lake to “send away their sins”. It is very interesting to watch and at the same time somewhat sad knowing that if the Thai people came to know Christ they wouldn’t need to pay for their sins to be “floated away”. Nevertheless, it was a great time in which we played many games and had a wonderful time with PNid, Psur and James.

Bobby playing dart balloons     Prizes from balloon pop         James, PNid, Psur with their Kratongs

Lake with many Kratongs floating

The Fall Festival was the last big event that we’ve done so far. It was kind of like a pre-Thanksgiving party for the staff here. The new church sanctuary was decorated and set up with many games for the children. Everyone dresses up in costume and plays games and eats plenty! Katie had the great idea (thanks to Becca Henderson) of dressing up like Mr. and Mrs. Pacman, so she worked hard on making the costumes for the last month or so and we went as the “Pacman’s”. We ended up winning best costume prize with a 100 baht gift certificate to Swensons (ice cream)!! What a great time! We were in charge of the free popcorn stand for a while and then proceeded to play games and chow down!

Mr. & Mrs. Pacman,                Mickey Mouse PJ family,           Matt Firpo taking Katie to “jail”

Harry Potter - PYute,                  Is that Neo from the Matrix?             Winners of best costumes!

John’s game Ladder (hillbilly) golf - he made it all himself - it was a hit!      Entrance to Fall Festival

So we’ve been having a lot of fun and expect the holiday season to be a blast!

Miss you all,

Katie and Bobby

It’s been a few weeks since we’ve posted - sorry for the delay! It seems that we get online less and less! Nonetheless, hope you enjoy this update!! =)

First and foremost P.E. seems to be a hit with most of the kids. Bobby’s group (the older kids) has begun practicing running for the mile (through the neighborhood). On Mondays, they practice their running, and on Tuesdays they run sprints and then play a game. The kids really love playing dodge ball and baseball. We play baseball with a soft “kiddy style” ball in which you hit with a plastic bat and can beam the runner with the ball! They always enjoy that – sometimes a little too much! J Katie’s group consists of the younger bunch. They have begun practicing running in time intervals as they will be running the mile too. They usually play games like “red light, green light” or do relay races. Sometimes we combine the groups for big games.

Katie began teaching Sunday school last Sunday. She did a great job! She really enjoys it, and knows how to keep the kids focused. With us teaching Sunday school, it really helps free up some of the wives to go and listen to the church service since they can actually understand it!

The Church is coming along well. We hope it will be done before we leave. It’s looking amazing! It is located not far from the neighborhood where the school is; probably about 2 miles. It is located in an area called “non mooaung” which has a high density of people. God is really pouring out his love on this ministry here and we hope and pray that He continues to make it thrive. It really is just so awesome to see how much God has done here and continues to do.

^
Remember this picture from before?

Here’s what it’s looking like now!
V

The front door with our sign! I think it says “Covenant Church”
Terri and Snow in the front - Amy and Katie in the doors!

We did take a little video during a service here so we could show you some worship in Thai! We haven’t really learned any of the songs completely yet, but we can sing a few of the lines!

thai-praise-and-worship-click-here

Bobby is beginning a bible study with John Hunt this week on prayer. This is something that I really wanted to learn more about. There is so much for me to learn and I am really glad John is willing to take the time and do a study with me. I’m looking forward to it. Katie continues to do her study with all the women on obedience and she really feels that she is growing and learning.

Two weeks ago, we got to stay the night at the Firpo’s (see the ‘focus on the family’ at the bottom) because PNid had to go out of town and the Firpo’s had an extra room because Brian and Will are out of town as well. Staying with them reminded us of how hard our bed really is! They have a nice, soft, “American style” bed not the “rock hard” Thai-type that we sleep on! What a treat! We felt like we were at a bed and breakfast! Not only did we sleep on a nice bed, but we got to eat burgers, hotdogs, corn on the cob and French fries for dinner! Talk about spoiled. We really felt like we were back in the States! Oh wait it gets better…Since they have internet I got to watch a Virginia Tech game online! The whole game! My first football game that I actually care about in Thailand…but they lost! J It was still great just to be able to watch though – I can’t complain.

One night we went to the Sofitel, which is the largest hotel in Khon Kaen, and ate at their restaurant with fellow teachers Kristen and Mary Jo. The hotel is considered five-star and is rather affordable for a fa-rung (foreigner). We can eat there for about $15-$25 for both Katie and I.

We split a “bacon-y”, mozzarella, and other toppings pizza, a Caesar salad and an Italian calzone. It was great to spend some time out with people our age who are teaching and experiencing similar joys and trials here in Khon Kaen.

Kristen and Katie

Around the 20^th of October a group from Bisbon, Australia arrived to help out and see about possibly making ties between their church in Austrailia and Covenant Church here in Khon Kaen. Out of the four adults that came, Three of them had been to Thailand before. One on vacation and two others on a CCP (Cross Cultural Experience) with Campus Outreach a few years back. We bonded well with them and went around KK with them for some of their time here (they were here a week total). Matt had come on a previous CCP about 5 years ago, he is now a physical therapist. His wife Lisa came too and their adorable 3 month old daughter Evelyn. Tom is 22 years old and studying a science of some sort and is really excited about possibly coming back to Thailand for mission work. Jackie is also a member of their church and has recently graduated and is now a pharmacist in Brisbon. She came to Thailand a while back on CCP and really enjoyed it. She really loves Thailand and picked up some of the language rather quickly.

Lunch on the first day we really got to know them
From left to right: Jackie, Tom, Bobby, Katie, Rung, (Don’t know name in blue!), Ba-mee, Matt, Lisa, and baby Evelyn up front!

One night, Kristen had us over with the Austrailians and a few of the Thai girls that Kristen is discipling. We had a great meal, then we had some tea =)

The Australians love “Tim Tam’s” which are chocolate candy bar type things. Tim Tam’s are very good and the Australians have a custom of biting off opposite edges it and sucking tea through the chocolate bar. It’s very strange but kind of fun. Here is a video of Bobby doing a “Tim Tam Slam” as they call it.

tim-tam-slam-click-here

We really enjoyed spending time with the Aussies. They were very uplifting and a great bunch to be around. Katie and Jackie had a laugh (and scare) when traveling to ‘Big C’ (supercenter/grocery store). They experienced riding the public transportation system (called a song-tao) all by themselves into the city! While changing song-taos in the middle of the city, they had a homeless woman yell at them and throw a rock at them! Don’t worry it missed! But they said they really enjoyed their time and can’t wait to come back.

Jackie and Katie on the way to Big-C - via song-tao

Jackie and Katie in the Tuk-Tuk on the way home!

During the week they were here, Katie and I got to go with the Aussies to an Orphanage here called “House of Mercy” or as the Thai’s call it “Mercy House”. It is run by a Christian Australian group and is strictly for AIDS children. What a sight to see as we walked in and saw them singing praises to Jesus in Thai. It was very humbling but yet also made us really think about what really matters in life. Immediately after their worship time, they came over to us and we prayed with them in small groups. Katie had a young boy, probably close to a teenager come over and pray with her, his body was covered with sores and spots – really sad. A young boy came over to me and immediately held my hands and began to pray. The boy’s name was Zuu. He held my hand most of the time and led us outside to play. We spent about 2 hours with the kids playing Uno, soccer, basketball and many other games. It was such a blessing to be able to spend time with these wonderful children. They were so well behaved and polite. They took turns when playing games and we don’t recall any of them getting angry with one another. It was great to see God’s love being poured out on these children. The environment and love at Mercy House has been so good for these children that they have had to make changes to accommodate teenagers. The children were not expected to live as long as they have, but they are! At first we felt so sad for these children, but afterwards we felt a sense of relief about the situation knowing that God cares so much about these children that He has given them such a wonderful environment.

Zuu and Bobby

Matt playing “Uno” with some of the kids

Bobb and Zuu

Katie and Bobby in front of Mercy House

Thailand is very different when it comes to raising children. Many children grow up in Thailand away from their parents and grow up in environments with grandmothers and aunts …etc. We believe that this is why there is such a presence of “ga-tu-ees” or transsexuals here in Thailand. Seeing these AIDS children live their lives in a protected environment with much love and affection - it is just such a blessing. Thai’s seem to be very reserved; we’ve heard and seen how in many Thai homes, not much affection and affirmation is given.

The next day Katie and I got to go to the local government orphanage which was another treat and very different from the AIDS orphanage! Our group brought fruit drinks and snacks for a group probably around ages 3-5.

John setting up the snacks and drinks for the kids

click-here-to-watch-the-government-orphanage-video

After the kids ate, we played with them outside on the playground and then inside with blocks and games. These kids were so much fun to be around. They will really tire you out though! Unlike the Aids orphanage where numbers were somewhat limited, the government orphanage seemed to have a very high child to worker ratio. The kids here were bit more rambunctious and sometimes were a little competitive to gain our attention! Nonetheless, they just wanted someone to play with and we were more than happy to spend a few hours with them!

So that’s about where we are now, keeping busy and teaching as usual. Classes have started up again at the college and we plan on going on campus with some of the staff to see what their days are like.

Thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers and for caring to follow us along on our journey. Oh, one last thing…nobody seems to want to post! I told Corey I’d call people out so I am. We get a good amount of views but no one likes to post. We really enjoy it when you do so please do!! It’s encouraging to us!!

God Bless,

Katie and Bobby

FOCUS ON THE FAMILY: THE FIRPO’S

Back Row: Will, Brian, Terri, Matt
Front Row: Caleb and Amy

From the CO Website:

“Brian and Terri both were discipled through the Campus Outreach ministry. They were married on December 16, 1989 and have been on the mission field since October of 1990. The Firpo’s have now completed four full terms of ministry in Thailand. Most of their time has been invested in reaching college students for Christ on Thai campuses in Bangkok and Khon Kaen.

The labors of CO in Thailand have been fruitful and many laborers have been raised-up over the past fifteen years. After planting campus ministries and a church in Bangkok, God lead Brian to launch a new team to the Northeastern Capital of Thailand, Khon Kaen. Brian has been leading a team of over twenty full-time Christian workers in Khon Kaen for the past seven years. Currently, our ministry has evangelized thousands of college students and had over a hundred come to Christ. Our next target is to launch a new area of COKK in a city near Khon Kaen. Brian plans on investing many more years into building Thai men into laborers/leaders to be equipped and sent out in teams to the rest of Thailand and South-East Asia.”

The Firpos were part of the first Campus Outreach team to Bangkok, Thailand (along with the Hunts) in 1990.

Brian is the first person we got in contact with before our arrival. He is the Campus Outreach Team leader here in Khon Kaen. He is a hard worker - always getting something done. He is a very good organizer and goes about using his time wisely. He enjoys golf, Manchester United Soccer, and spending time with his kids.

Terri is great at making you feel at home! She reminds me so much of Becky Shanks (for those who know her!) She is so hospitable, so caring, and always serving others. Terri is a runner! She completed the Khon Kaen marathon last year!

Will is the oldest Firpo child. He is 16. He is gifted musically and enjoys playing the drums and guitar. He used to be in a band that sung Thai “screamer/heavy metal” Christian songs. He is very creative and is pretty good at relating to people. Bobby teaches Will and Matt church history.

Matt is 13 and loves fantasy novels, science fiction, and Star Wars. He enjoys math and science in school and is a very good student. Matt has a great sense of humor too =) Bobby teaches Matt and Will church history.

Amy is 10 She is adopted, and actually lived in the orphanage here in Khon Kaen before she was moved to the orphanage in Udon Thani. She is a sweet girl who enjoys playing with the girls but also enjoys P.E. as well. She is very gifted athletically as well. Amy is a joy to be around!

Caleb is 5 and full of energy! He seems to really enjoy PE with “Miss Katie”. He is actually pretty strong and athletic for his age. He always wants to play legos or play outside. Sometimes he makes the cutest remarks =)

]]> http://www.mburnette.com/thaiblog/?feed=rss2&p=106 http://www.mburnette.com/thaiblog/?p=102 http://www.mburnette.com/thaiblog/?p=102#comments Tue, 14 Oct 2008 13:14:16 +0000 Katie and Bobby http://www.mburnette.com/thaiblog/?p=102 Here is a quick video of Katie and I on our usual route to the school. Sorry for the shaky camera - hope you enjoy!

drive-to-school

Here’s a link to another video we just wanted you all to see. It’s about the church that they’re still building here. This video is an update from April 08 - but we just wanted you to see it to get a better idea. Also in the video are all the people we are working with here!

http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=56af52ae983e23dee9b1

Then here are two pictures (I think we’ve posted before) of us in front and to the side of the church!

Love you all! Sorry so short… we’ll post more later!

This past week and a half has been kind of a blur! Last week was a vacation break from school, so we had the week off from teaching. After every nine weeks of school, the kids (and teachers) get a week or two off. Although we didn’t have school, we were still very busy!

Some mornings, we woke up early and went running with Tiger (PSeua). Running around the park at 6am is wonderful because it is very tranquil and you can look out at some spots of undeveloped land and its “soi maak” or very beautiful. It’s funny to see all three of us on one motorcycle!

This is very common in Thailand! A lot of times you will see 3-4 people riding, sometimes 5 (If they’re small enough!) Just like in cars, people here maximize the space as much as possible! Here’s another picture of NaNee, her daughters Anna and Amy, and James (PNid’s nephew).

Amy, NaNaa, Anna, James

Another morning, Bobby got his haircut for a whopping $2! It is interesting to think about the prices of things – we often chat with PNid and her friends at the market about how much things cost. They are amazed at how much things cost in the states, just as we are amazed at how little things cost here in Thailand. But what we don’t remember is that people make more in the states, so things cost more, and vice versa. So really things, in proportion, probably cost about the same. We just think everything is less expensive because we’re using “American” money! But if we worked here, it would be the same as everyone else!

We also received our first electric bill - 700 baht, which is about $25. Here’s a picture of it for you all to see!

School has been going well so far this week! Before the break, we were able to watch three of the children give presentations on an animal of their choice.

Amy gave hers on the Yellow Fin Tuna

Andrew on the Chinese Fire Belly Newt

Mandy gave hers on the red breasted robin

There were also two presentations the day before that we didn’t get to wat ch – Ellie and Robert Here’s a picture of all five students with Mrs. Marie, their teacher!

It was very neat because many people were invited to watch so it gave the children a real public speaking type experience.

To celebrate the end of the nine weeks, we went out with the Firpos and the Hunts to go bowling, then have dinner! Bowling was fun – it was the Firpos vs. the Hunts – 7 on 7! Bobby was a Firpo, and I was a Hunt =) The Firpos ended up winning like 750 to 700 (or something like that!) It was a great time though!

After bowling, we went out to eat at the Sofitel, which is the really nice hotel in town. They make a lot of “fa-rung” food, so we ordered a pizza and a calzone! It was SO good! Our first out-to-eat Italian treat since we’ve been here! For both of us it was about 700 baht, which is about $25. This is considered really expensive, but it was SO worth it! It was also John Mark’s birthday, so the brought him out a cake! We really had a wonderful time with these two families!

We have still been eating well! One night we had dinner at the Alward’s and had homemade burritos! This is one of our favorite meals here! Yumm! We ate with Moe and Git (another couple on staff) one night and had BBQ and mashed potatoes! Last night we had homemade stew at the Hunts – it was just amazing! Potatoes, carrots, beef, and onion – The flavor was like Sunday-evening-get-me-a-hunk-of-buttered-bread-and-dip-it-in-this-meaty-broth – good!

Another day last week, we helped Mary Jo (a teacher here) start the process of making Christmas ornaments! Ornaments are very hard to find here, and if you do find them, they’re very expensive! So we started to make some. Mary Jo is EXTREMELY creative! We made some ping-pong glittered balls, Bobby made an extremely long strand of home-made garland (crafted from these little metal rings he had to bend apart and together), and some coat-hanger balls. Twisting those coat hangers is the hardest thing ever! But the result is worth it!

That same day, we ate out “Green Leaf” with just John and Melody. It was an excellent lunch of cheeseburger, steak sandwich, smoothies and fries! Even better was the company and the marriage-talk time. They are such an open, honest could and we really enjoy talking and spending time with them. We talked a lot about our communication and how we’re doing. It’s funny because even though we’re together, literally 24-7, I think we have to work harder at our communication. Because we’re together, we just sort of assume that the other person knows how we feel and what’s going on, when in reality, they don’t!

We’ve still been helping in Sunday school - we took a video of the kids singing a song - you can see Bob doing it too =) Click on the link “my-god-is-so-big” to watch!

my-god-is-so-big

Last week, staff training/development started. Usually every 3-4 months, the staff takes about a week and do a development time. We were able to participate in this for two days last week (Th. And Fri.) One morning, we listened to Brian give a sermon in Thai – only picking out a few words here and there. He had given us an outline in English so we could try and follow along. It was a really neat experience! After the sermon, we discussed what was taught, and it was really neat to share how we felt and hear how the Thai’s reacted (of course, Brian was interpreting everything for us!) But it’s just an amazing feeling to know that God’s love can penetrate through anything – including language and culture. God doesn’t judge based on what language we speak – He is there, with open arms for every single person on this earth. I know that we know this in our minds, but it’s just a different feeling to actually experience! God is just amazing =)

During this staff training/development time, all the families got together one night for dinner and games. We played Pictionary and Charades, which was a challenge for some of the Thai staff! It was so much fun though! We’ve really been playing a lot of card and board games – the families here really enjoy them. It’s really a great thing because it brings the family together; we hope to incorporate games into our family time. Katie has always loved card and board games, whereas Bobby was never really a card player or board game player. But he has grown to like Skip-Bo and Catch Phrase a lot, which is a victory!

Here is a picture from one of the nights we went out to dinner with all the staff and families - you can’t even see the end of the table because it was so long! These are the two pictures - one from each end! (This is the same buffet place we came to with PNid and her friends, Mimi and Jen)

Another night of staff training, all of the couples got together for a communication night – Brian and Terri, John and Melody, Gary and Robin, Moe and Git, Steve and Marie, Guy and Ying, and us! We talked about the changes we want to make and what is holding us back from communicating as couples and as a team. Bobby and I both agree that this is something truly great. It is rare that you find such a close-knit community where everyone is open and honest with each other. It’s hard to describe the joy that we feel just even being a small part of it! It’s truly a God thing!

We’ve been reading a lot! Brian gave us several books to read – Currently Bobby is reading “Who You Are When No One is Looking”, and Katie is reading “The Autobiography of George Muller”. We’ve also been continuing our study of Thai – learning recently about all the different fruit, family members, and emotions… etc.

FOCUS ON THE FAMILY

The Alward’s (aka Hokie enemies)

Gary is a University of Virginia alumni and Robin an alumnus of Wake Forest. They have been here in Thailand for over ten years and are just great people and wonderful examples of how to lead and live a Christian life. Gary has been doing P90X which is a workout program you can do at home with minimal equipment. One day, Bobby and Gary worked out together and Bobby really enjoyed it - Bobby was sore for 3+ days.

Robin is an amazing cook. We’ve had homemade burritos and pizza that she has made. Now when we mean homemade, it’s really homemade. If you want to eat ‘farung” food here you pretty much have to make all of it; including the pizza crust and burrito wraps. We are really spoiled when we eat over at their home!

Gary and Robin have 4 wonderful children:

The oldest is Robert, 8 or 9, and he is a great kid. He enjoys playing soccer, doing P90X with his dad, and playing cards. Bobby says he is one of his best PE students - he always gives great effort.

Ellie, 7, is very polite and well spoken. She is kind of a “girly-girl” like Mandy Hunt =) Mandy, Ellie, and Amy Firpo are all very close friends!

John, 4, is a bundle of energy and fun. He is very outgoing and always enjoys playing with the older children.

Becca, 2, is the youngest and is very close with her mother. She usually is involved with many things but is never too far from momma’s side.

From left to right: Waiter, Robin, Becca, Ellie, Robert, Gary, John

Here’s what is written about them on the Campus Outreach website:

Gary and Robin have been on staff with Campus Outreach since 1992. After serving 5 years with Campus Outreach Augusta they moved to Thailand in 1997 to work with COT. After serving 7 years in Bangkok they moved to the Northeast of Thailand to join the COT team in Khon Kaen, Thailand. Over the last two years Gary has been involved in building relationships with students and sharing the gospel. As of August, 2006 Gary is studying the bible with 3 students who are in varying stages of committin their lives to Christ.

Gary and Robin have 4 children; Robert, Ellie, John and Rebecca.
FOCUS ON THE FAMILY:

NaAck, NaSome, PNid, James, and PSeua (or Tiger)

NaAck is Bobby’s aunt (one of Lee’s younger sisters) and her husband is NaSome. They live on the main street (our apartment is behind their’s a little way - you get to it by a little “soi” or “little road” - very hard to drive a car). They have two children - PNid and a son that we don’t know his name. James is their grandson who they care for. It is very common in Thailand for the grandparents to raise their grandchildren. We used to think that James’ name was “Game”, because of the way the Thai’s pronunciate it! (Thanks Uncle Paul!) PSeua (Tiger) is PNid’s boyfriend. He really is the one who mostly drives us! He’s extrememly kind, like most Thais.

We don’t have a picture of NaSome, but will try to get one soon!

This picture is of Apple, Katie, and PNid - getting ice cream at KFC!

PNid and PSeau

Bobby, NaAck, and PSeua

James

]]> http://www.mburnette.com/thaiblog/?feed=rss2&p=81 http://www.mburnette.com/thaiblog/?p=59 http://www.mburnette.com/thaiblog/?p=59#comments Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:20:16 +0000 Katie and Bobby http://www.mburnette.com/thaiblog/?p=59

Hello everyone! So much has happened since our last post (I feel like we say that every time!) so we will try to recap as best as possible. We’ve continued to stay busy… again, we’ll take your through the day-by-day =)

The left picture is in front of the school… Will Firpo on the left and Matt Firpo on the right. We teach them history everyday!

On the right is Katie jumping with Caleb Firpo and Amy Firpo on their trampoline. Bobby calls this picture, “Katie and the tramp” =)

Last Friday, we went to the Firpo’s and had lunch. Brian and Terry had a date night/get away, so we watched their kids, Will, Matt, Amy, and Caleb for a few hours. We had history class at their home (Will and Matt are our history students) and we did our reading comprehension there as well. The Hunt’s graciously invited us over again for dinner, so we had grilled cheese and tomato soup. It’s was really good! We did grilled cheese in croissant rolls – yummy! We brought over a bunch of chips and had a wonderful time, as always! (See bottom of post for our “Focus on the Family” section! The pictures below are from the Hunt’s yard before dinner. You can see John (the other adult) and Bobby and all the kids playing “American Football”.

Saturday we woke up early and “baby-sat” for the Alward’s (Hokie enemies J). They also had a get away time! We had a great time with their kids: Robert 9, Ellie 7, John 4, and Becca 2. They were so wonderful and very well behaved. We played legos and a lot of cards. We taught them “peanut butter” and “Egyptian Ratscrew” (or “Egyptian War” as we call it here). They loved them both! They then taught us “Kings in the Corner” and some magic tricks. We had ham and cheese for lunch which we both agreed was the best ham and cheese we’ve ever had!

We then went over to Kristen’s and started to make this chicken and asparagus casserole for Steve’s 40^th birthday party. For Steve’s birthday, Marie (his wife) organized a huge potluck at the church with all the families bringing their favorite dish. Since we don’t have a kitchen here, we teamed up with Kristen and made the chicken and asparagus casserole! We arrived at the party and it was amazing! There was a ton of “Fa-rung” (or foreigner) food: pastas, ribs, lasagna, mashed potatoes, spinach casserole… mmm it was all so good! Then, the deserts…don’t get me started! Carrot cake, chocolate cake, pumpkin pie, cookies and many other wonderful treats! Here are some photos…

Terri is uncovering all the yummy food!

Bobby and Katie with our meals!! Yum!

All the tables of families and friends! Lots of fun!

This is Marie and Steve Lyndenmeyer (Steve’s 40th b-day) with their children Andrew (left) and Aaron (right)!

Dessert was excellent!!

Sunday was church - John Hunt gave the sermon. These past two weeks he has been doing Romans 4 – talk about a tough chapter of the bible to cover in two weeks! He did a wonderful, thorough job and everyone said it was powerful. Usually on Sundays, we participate in the worship part of the service. Then, during the sermon (since it’s in Thai), we help out with Sunday school.

The side of the church - still under a little construction!

Sunday afternoon, we were able to get online briefly and see some scores! UCF lost (and bad) but at least VT beat UNC, which was encouraging. We decided to watch a big soccer game here on T.V. Here in Thailand people are big into European soccer, especially the European Champions League. Most people like Manchester United. We watched MAN-U vs. Chelsea and were pulling against the favorite, MAN-U. It wound up being a 1-1 tie. It was exciting, but just doesn’t compare to American Football. J

Bobby and Katie with our Thai teacher, P-Ying!

Monday after teaching school and PE, P-Ying, our Thai teacher, and her husband P-Guy invited us over to their home for dinner. She made a wonderful meal – meatloaf with mashed potatoes and vegetables. She also made a wonderful homemade BBQ sauce (from a Better Homes cookbook). It was delicious; it tasted like Sweet Baby Rays. P-Guy has been on staff for about 7 years, and P-Ying about 5. It was so wonderful – they both shared their testimonies with us and we shared ours with them as well. They both had such powerful testimonies and it really showed how God has and continues to move through the campus outreach team. The way CO evangelizes is by building relationships with the students. Continual time with the students is the most effective way to share Jesus and allow Him to work on the hearts of the students – it is amazing! It’s not like mass evangelism it’s just steady day to day, week to week, building trust and relationships. We’ll share P-Guy and P-Ying’s testimonies later when we do a “Focus” on them.

We ate at the Hunt’s again on Tuesday (chicken noodle soup! Mmm!) And we ate taco/enchilada/burritos last night at the Alward’s (one of Kate’s favorites!). The families here are so good to us!

Also last night when we were on our way home, something kind of exciting happened! We were turning the corner, off of the main road toward NaAck’s house and we saw all sorts of flashing lights near her house. P-Nid started to get scared, and shouted to P-Seua, “Lell, Lell”, which means Hurry!! As we got closer we could see fire trucks, about three of them actually, right in front of NaAck’s house. P-Nid and P-Seua jumped out and asked the firemen what was going on! They were watering down the street – we thought there had been a fire! It turns out they were just washing the street due to the flooding that happened last week (there was a lot of mud!)! It was just kind of exciting, so we thought we’d share. We haven’t seen a fire truck since we’ve been here so that was neat!

Last thing…we just received our absentee ballot in the mail. How exciting! Our first piece of mail! We also received a political advertisement for Thad Altman for Florida State Senate, district 24 and for Sheriff Jack Parker. We were so surprised that someone would send us something like that even when we are in Thailand. It was also surprising that it only cost his group a 94 cent stamp and arrived in about a week.

Please continue to pray for us, our family, and those which whom are being taught the gospel. If you would, please pray for the KKU (Khon Kaen University) students as well as the NEU (North Eastern University) students and the city of Khon Kaen as a whole. We hope and pray that God will continue to raise up the next generation here for Christ.

Love you all,

Bobby and Katie

Lisa gave us a really good idea – to focus on a family or staff member every week and kind of “introduce” you to them! We thought we would do someone from CO/church and then also a family member! We’re going to call it “Focus on a Family” (Kind of like Dr. James Dobson’s “Focus on the Family” for those who have heard of it!) We will also post all of these on the tab called “Know the Family” at the top of our blog (next to “knowing Jesus” and “contact us”).

Focus on the Hunts:

John and Melody
Joseph, Megan, Mandy, Josh, John Mark (from left to right)

We have really enjoyed getting to know the Hunts! They have really made us feel at home. A lot of the time, it is their home where we hang out after school and check e-mail, post, etc. We love to eat with them! Not only is the food always good, but the Hunt’s have such a wonderful “family around the table” type dinner. Everyone talks and usually everyone has to say what the best part of their day was. Whenever we eat over there, the dinner table is like a “mob scene”. The five kids (Megan, John Mark, Josh, Joseph, and Mandy), 2 parents (John and Melody) and then us! Nine people around a table - crazy, but great! The Hunt’s are one of the closest families we interact with here. John and Melody also do marriage discipling with us! =)

John and Melody met in college, I think in Campus Outreach at their school, Montevallo in Alabama. They came to Thailand in 1990, first to Bangkok, then to Khon Kaen in 1999. John and Melody are the administrators/principals of the Covenant School. They are in charge of everything that has to do with the school – teachers, schedules… etc. We meet with them often to talk/be discipled on marriage.

Megan is the oldest, 15? She is very creative, especially with drawing! She can sketch just about anything! She also is a good leader, she helps her parents out by being responsible and keeping the younger kids in line.

John Mark is 14; he loves Star Wars, adventure/sci-fi novels, and is always ready to challenge Bobby in Xbox.

Josh is 11; he’s always cracking a joke, wanting to play American football, enjoys P.E. and video games and is really good about helping out. Katie does one-on-one reading with Josh everyday, as well as read-aloud with Bobby and Joseph!

Joseph is 12; He is full of energy and extremely talented on the guitar! He is adopted from Guatemala and Bobby thinks he seems to be a natural athlete. Bobby does one-on-one reading with Joseph everyday, and both Bobby and Katie also do read-aloud with Joseph and Josh.

Mandy is 7 or 8; She is full of joy and love! She is Joseph’s biological sister and is creative & always ready to laugh. Katie does one-on-one reading with Mandy every day!

Here is what is written about them on the Campus Outreach website:

“The Hunts have been ministering in Thailand since October 1990 along with the original Campus Outreach Thailand team. They began in Bangkok and then made a strategic team move in 1998 to KhonKaen – strategic for both ministry, team as well as for their family life. Melody is home schooling their five children (Megan, John Mark, Joseph, Josh and Mandy) while John disciples men, helps evangelize men on campus, coordinates seminary training for our Thai staff as well as the church ministry and teaches at the church. He also helps oversee teachers who work with our in-house Covenant School.”

http://thailand.campusoutreach.org/Home.aspx

Focus on Ba-Lot and P-Suck:

BaLot and Katie

Ba-Lot is one of Bobby’s mom’s older sisters. She lives kiddy-corner across the street from us and takes care of everyone! She cares for Bang, Apple, and P-Suck, who all live with her. Every morning, she comes to say hello to us, then goes to the market up the street and buys us some sort of food gift! Thais love to eat, and love to make sure you’ve eaten! Sometimes she brings us something we like, and sometimes it’s something “weird” to us that we don’t really care for! But she has such a giving heart and really loves us. She tells us all the time that she loves us and wants us to stay here!

P-Suck is Bobby’s half-brother who lives with Ba-Lot. He is mentally handicapped, and cannot care for himself. He doesn’t speak a lot, but we like to try and practice what we’re learning with him. He loves to wear baseball hats – you can see in his picture the FSU cap Bobby gave him!