Gayle in Thailand

Micah has a strong desire to work for God in this country.  As he observed the tremendous need at Sunshine Orchard, he wants to help by starting his own ministry and providing a much needed truck and transport missionaries, patients, students, food, water, building supplies etc.  Later he wants to take training so he can run one of the clinics in the mountains which I am now planning to build, by God’s grace.   So when he presented his plan to go to America and sell his “old” truck and everything that he owned so he could return to Thailand and put it towards the truck which he has already begun to fund raise for, I understood.   He also needed to get his hard copy Driver’s License, and work towards taking the GED exam.

Though I understood these things, I couldn’t help but cry out to God about many things.  One of them was how would I manage without him here!  He was so helpful to me in so many ways.  I leaned on him heavily- close family ties, how precious they are!  Without my dear oldest boy Bradley and now Micah, I would have to do all the driving and figure out how to handle everything technical and mechanical.  I felt so incapable.  As the final day drew near when he would leave, we made the most of our time together.   Oh how I dreaded Thailand without him.  Neither of us knew how long he would be gone.

It happened that we went to Chiang Mai one week early because one of Lena Adam’s baby was sick and needed to be transported to the hospital there. This gave us a break from the usual work and gave us special time together.  Micah had made fast friends with the Rawlings family on a previous trip, and made arrangements for us to stay with them.  This indeed was the providence of God as you will find out in the next article.

The dreaded day arrived when we were driving to the airport with the noisy Chiang Mai traffic pressing around us.  Oh how I longed for Micah to stay.  He also suffered from the separation soon to take place.  As I sat watching him drive my eyes, were again flooded with tears.  I gratefully noticed a bath towel beside me and felt I could just soak it with my tears.  I cried silently, “Help us Oh Lord!” Once again I gave my sorrows to the One who said, “I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you.”  At that moment, I literally felt strength come to my weak knees, my eyes dried, peace flooded my soul and added strength entered my mind.  I patted Micah’s shoulder and said, “God is with us my son, I feel His strength.”  Our dear Saviour!  His promises are sure! “He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might, He increaseth strength.”  Isaiah 40:29

 

 

 

 

 

Many stories ago I wrote a biography on an older student, Naw Dah Blet. Turn back about 20 stories and read her history. Today I would like to add to that story, and let you walk with Dah Blet through the dangerous Burma jungles to bring medicine and Jesus to her very own village. Ventures such as this come at a high cost. The story of Jesus is going to an unreached village and the avenger of souls is hard at work. Dah Blet has counted the cost. School was out for a week and this made a wonderful opportunity for a quick trip. I helped Dah Blet pack her bag that she would carry with her. (I am glad that I added my camera). Medicine for Malaria, gastritis, skin problems, and many more light things to treat the sick went into the bag. She must cross the river in a boat, then take a truck as far as it would take her and then hike approximately 7 hours.

 

It was a strenuous day to be sure. On the way the truck got hopelessly stuck in mud past the hubs. By the time she reached her village she was exhausted, but energy soon burst upon her as she met some of the patients young and old that she had treated in December for Malaria. Some would have died if she had not been there to administer the much needed Artesunate and Doxicycline. Sadness overcame her as she heard about a mother who had died in childbirth. She treated the sick every day, but in the evenings she gathered the children around her and told Bible stories and taught them songs. Oh how they loved it! Even the Mothers and the Fathers, the Aunts and the Uncles, the Grandmothers and the Grandfathers came closer to listen. The happy scene soon ended however as news came that the dreaded Burmese solders were once again coming to attack their village. The poor frightened villagers fled to jungles to hide, hoping they were far enough away. Sadley Dah Blet packed her bag and left to hike the 7 hours back to the river. Alone through the jungle path she fled, fearful of what might be around every bend of the path. About 1/3rd of the way out she suddenly was confronted by a Burmese soldier, machine gun in hand. Life means less than nothing to these ungodly men. Surely God would not let her die now. He roughly demanded to know where she was going. Fear gripped her throat and she was unable to speak. Just as suddenly as he came, he turned and ran back into the jungle. The Karen army (KNU) had staged a surprise attack on the Burmese and war broke out immediatly behind her in all its fury. The gun shots were deafening. Dah Blet fled for her life. The thongs on her feet were ripping her skin, and the backpack sagged on her sweat soaked shirt. I saw her as she arrived at Sunshine Orchard many hours later, with bleeding feet, totally exhausted and pale. Was the price too high? Was the medicine, saved lives and the stories of Jesus worth the risk of life itself? Dah Blet thinks so! She has promised the Lord that she will bring medical help and teach the good news of Jesus to her village when she gets out of medical training – she will go forward by God’s grace.

If any of you reading this story would like to help her reach her dreams and become a nurse, she needs $4500 in order to begin nursing school in Thailand. This amount of money is impossible for us to raise here. If God is impressing you to help her today, please go to the donation page. Mark your donation for “Gayle’s Project – Dah Blet.” With a little more training Dah Blet can help many people in an area where nobody has entered with medicine and the gospel.

Thank you so much!

 With great joy and unutterable thankfulness to the God of all the earth, I will tell about the week of prayer at Sunshine Orchard, September 11-17.

The staff at the school asked me to do a week of prayer for them before I left for BYT.  They said that near the end of the school year they would invite a nearby pastor to do another one.  To be honest, I had greatly desired to do a week of prayer there for some time.  But at this point in time I would only have one week to prepare, and I have never done a week of prayer before.  My instant reaction was to have the other pastor do it now and I would study and do mine later.  Then the sweet voice of conscience spoke saying, “You better pray and ask God what He wants you to do.”  So I fell on my knees and asked the Lord to please give me ideas of what He would like me to talk about if He wants me to do it this soon, because I had not a clue.  Immediately a flood of thoughts came into my mind.  I would present 7 steps to Jesus, one each morning, then in the evening I would speak simply about the last days of Jesus on earth, taken straight from the Desire of Ages beginning with Gethsemane and ending with the resurrection.  So many meetings coming up so soon boggled my mind, but I kept praying, knowing that if He was asking me to do it He would definitely give me the words.

The Lord prepared a place for me to study away from the multitude of interruptions of the school.  I stayed in a small motel room just 6 kilometers away.  There it was quiet and I even had a table and chair!   God met with me there and how sweet was the time spent.

 When the meetings began I was surprised at how attentive the students were from the youngest to the oldest.  This gave me great freedom to speak earnestly from the heart in a great effort to bring Jesus and the light of understanding to these precious students that I have come to love so much.  The presence of God was there and I was filled with joy to overflowing at the response to each call for raised hands or to stand.  No one could have been more blessed or privileged than me, as I studied the beautiful account of Jesus from Desire of Ages, saw myself as the horrible sinner that I am, and then looking into the eager faces of the students each meeting.  How humbling, yet uplifting at the same time!

I was so thrilled to have Blet Jaw for my interpreter.  He truthfully put it this way:  “You know, you are important to these meetings, but I am even more important, because I am the one they will receive understanding from.  He felt a true responsibility for the conversion and salvation of each one.  Oh how wonderful to have someone so conscientious and godly to work with!  At the close of each evening meeting we divided into small groups to pray. The ones who did not know how to pray were learning. 

The last meeting was the Divine worship on Sabbath.  The topic:  The Resurrection.  So powerful!  At the close I asked those who had made a decision to follow Jesus, who were not afraid to confess Him before others, who wanted to love and serve Him with their lives to come forward.   Many came.  This means a lot here, because in Thailand and among the Karen, 99% are Buddhist.  Some are stronger in their religion than others.  Many of the students who choose to be baptized and follow Jesus are persecuted.  Some are threatened with beatings or other punishments, some with disowning, some even with death.

Please join me in praying for all these students that they may have the courage to continue on growing with Jesus and sharing Him with others.  Oh please pray that they may join us in heaven forever!

 

 

 

 

 

I would like you to meet my son Micah right here on my web page.  Later he will begin his own web page because he has big plans to work for God here in this country.  He would like to take local medical training and more medical missionary training, learning hands on with me and at Sunshine Orchard.  Later he would love to manage one of the clinics we plan to build up in the jungles surrounding BYT.

 Presently he is the driver for the Sunshine Orchard School, along with many other responsibilities.  He supplies the school with food and bottled water, drives patients to the various hospitals and studies his own school subjects.  He is learning more and more of the Karen language in reading, writing and speaking.  Already the students, teachers and villagers he communicates with, think he knows the language fluently and they love to chat with him.   It always amazes me, when we must communicate with the Thai people how many Thai words he can speak.  He always seems to get his message across and the Thai people are thrilled to hear the Thai words that he knows.  Micah greatly enjoys the variety of each new day, handling the ever changing circumstances of mission life.  He is very adept at making do with less and solving problems in creative ways, using whatever is available.  

My son Micah will now tell you one of his many exciting stories:

“It’s A Boy!”

“One hot, humid, sweltering, day during the rainy season, when the sun was trying to shine, I was playing volleyball with the students at Sunshine Orchard.  Suddenly one of the teachers came running up to me with wide eyes saying, “Quickly Quickly Thara, a lady is trying to have a baby!!” (Thara is the Karen word for teacher).  Fortunately she was in the closest village to us, only about one kilometer away. I quickly ran to my small bamboo hut, changed my sweaty clothes, grabbed my bag and hopped into the truck.  As the teacher and I got to the pregnant ladies house, it was clear to see that we didn’t have much time to get to the hospital.  On a normal day, the closest hospital is 30 minutes away and I could tell that we didn’t have that kind of time!  Anyway I had to go, because my Mother was already gone with another patient.  4 other village women got into the back of the truck with the laboring woman.  They said, “Le, Le, Le!”  meaning, “Go, Go, Go!!”  I heard nothing from the back of the truck for half the trip, but suddenly I heard, “Tee Thibpa Lee!!”  meaning, “The water has just broken!”  Now  I knew we wouldn’t make it to the hospital in time, but they told me to drive even faster because they had no supplies. I noticed that the once calm ladies in the back were now appearing very nervous.  In a very short time they yelled to me, “Boqua – O Da Ple Lee!”  Which means, “A baby boy has arrived!”  But they still wanted me to drive even faster – so I did! The rest of the trip went quickly –  like a blur to say the least!   We made it safely to the hospital in 18 minutes instead of the usual 30 minutes.  As we arrived at the hospital doors, I breathed a silent prayer of thanks!  I let the nurses do the rest, they jumped in the back of the truck, clamped and cut the cord, carried the healthy looking screaming infant inside and placed the Mother on a stretcher.  It appeared to me that both Mother and baby boy were alive and fine.

I praise the Lord that He has helped me rise to every occasion and He has and will supply all my needs.”

 

 Yes, the rain continues.  I don’t think they count inches of rainfall here – (Of course it would be in centimeters), it would be interesting to see how much rain has fallen on the border of Burma and Thailand.  I would guess we might be at a conservative 5 feet by now just in the last week!   To confirm this we found out that 300 houses in a border refugee camp (MaeRahMu), just 3 hours north of us were swept away with the raging torrent.  Water is involved in every phase of life here right now. 

 In America the northern states experience great avalanches of snow, sometimes most devastating.  Here we experience mud slides!  The rain has soaked into the soil at such a great depth that huge areas of trees and mud cut away large basin shaped sections of the mountainsides.  Often the road we travel on the border is totally covered by so much mud and foliage that you have a hard time imagining that there once was a road there.   In some places the road itself is cut out like a giant cookie cutter on the downhill side of the road, as the soil underneath the pavement gives away, and dirt, pavement, large rocks, and trees slide out.

Here at Sunshine Orchard the creek is threatening to break down parts of the high bank by the stream.  In one place where the bank used to be about 5 feet from the path, now has broken down all the land right up to the path, scooping out the dirt underneath the path.  I don’t think it is safe to walk that way just now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you remember the story entitled, “The Delivery,” seven stories ago?  Well I will place an update here for those of you who have lived that experience along with me.  This is a most stirring and touching experience for me – so close to my heart!

In review, I delivered a baby the last day that I was in BYT, before our trip to America.  The baby did not breath on its own for almost 2 hours.  After sending it off in an unequiped ambulance with only a grandmother and no attendant, I expected that it would die.  I prayed, “Oh God, if this little one lives, it is a miracle from You! ”

I was in America approximately 4 or 5 weeks, when Blet Jaw called me and said, “Do you remember that baby you delivered?”  Oh yes I did!  He told me it was still alive, but in Chiang Mai hospital.  That is all I knew until returning to Thailand.  Now, as I was in Chiang Mai with NawMeDah an opportunity came for me to visit this little baby.  He was in a small hospital.  He is not in good health.  He has many problems, he cannot swollow, he is in motion most of the time and arches his back, he is underdeveloped due to his swollowing problem.  Some of us supposed he may have cerebral palsy.  He is not thriving because he must be fed by an NG tube, and must be suctioned often to take care of the saliva. Truly he has many birth related problems due to the parents use of opium.

I held him in my arms for a while there in that little hospital, thinking about that frantic delivery on April 10, 2011.  I pondered these facts: 

1.  God had impressed me to stay those extra 2 days before leaving BYT.  Truly it was a miracle that I was even there to help that baby come into the world.

2.  God allowed the little one to live throughout the long ambulance ride to Om Koy hospital.

3.  Somehow he had been sent miraculously to ICC, which is an adventist orphanage at Chiang Mai Adventist Academy. How did anybody know to send him there?

He has been well cared for this entire time.  They told me his name was NataNopon and his nick name is ToTo.  I do not know who named him because his parents are not around, they do not want him.

I cried out to God during those tender moments with that baby.  He has performed so many miracles already and we are told to ask and we shall receive.  Also we are told that we do not have because we don’t ask.  So I asked and I pleaded with God to please restore this little baby to perfect health to glorify His name in this godless country. Only Your will be done dear Lord.

The following Sabbath I was asked to do the sermon at Sunshine Orchard. My title:  “How valuable is a soul?”  I began with this story and at the end made an appeal for the entire school to please pray that if it is God’s will, please restore this little one. 

Will you also make this a special burden of your prayers?  “If two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father which is in heaven.”  Matthew 18:19

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we returned to Sunshine Orchard from America in early July, my attention was brought to an eleven year old girl, NawMeDah.  She had had surgery on an abdominal abscess in Mae Sot during the early part of June and now, two surgeries and two months later, I discovered that she was not healing properly.  To save you the details of this I will only say that I got a referral paper for her to go to Chiang Mai right away for further treatment.  She was admitted to the large University Training Hospital on the west side of Chiang Mai.  They took excellent care of her there, ordering lab work, cultures, CT scan etc.  I was impressed with their care, but a bit concerned about the cost this would incur, as I was told this hospital was high cost.  I was also concerned because for us to stay in that city while waiting is also quite expensive. I took these 2 concerns to God, asking Him for help in His way.

 The second day of hospitalization I was able to talk with one of the nurses about my concerns, she brought me to a Social Services Director.  I explained to her where the school was located and how it works on a self supporting basis.  The missionaries there are volunteers and work out of love for these students.  She smiled at me and said something that I did not expect to hear!  She said, “I am a Christian also.  I read the Bible and pray.  I will help you with your work.  It is a good work.”  Then she proceeded to write a letter, fill out a form and stamp it.   She told me not to worry about the money; she had taken care of it all.  Also if I ever had to come back with other patients I should check with her first.  An inner thrill of joy flooded my mind as I walked back to the girl’s room, thanking God.  How the Lord cares for NawMeDah, for the school, for His work in SE Asia and all across the globe!

 Three of us came with this patient, Micah, Brenda Steck, (who is learning the ropes) and I.  We did not expect to be there many days, but as the time wore on, so did the money that the school had supplied us to live on.  I began to pray for help to live cheaply and save money.   This city is not cheap!  I could not use the money in my account as that money has been especially donated for our work in BYT.

We spent the Sabbath day with the Bells.  Mr. David Bell is the principal at Chiang Mai Adventist Academy, and his wife is a “Mother-in-Israel” to all the weary missionaries of Thailand!!  Two young men were there from Australia.  They were working with the orphanage.  One young man was interested in my work and spoke to me for some time.  Finally before leaving he placed a wad of money in my hand and said that he felt impressed that I needed it.  He told me to use it for whatever I needed.   Oh Lord I love You – How much You care is overwhelming to me!

On the final day when NawMedah was ready to be discharged,  I had a quick flash of fear that perhaps I had misunderstood the Social Services Director.  What if she only meant the medical procedures, not the cost of the room etc.  Just as quick as the thought came, I realized that the devil brought that thought, God had answered my prayers right along.  He miraculously took care of our travel expenses and He was working this out also – I would trust in Him!  A nurse came into our ward and told us we were dismissed that the bill was written off and we had no money to pay.  We walked out of that hospital without having to pay one penny/baht.  A quote that I had written in my notebook came to my mind that day, “He who owns the world is rich in resources and will bless everyone who is seeking to bless others.”

NawMeDah is now at a closer hospital now receiving IV antibiotics three times a day for 4 weeks.  God is answering our prayers and she is getting better gradually.  The doctors said she has a rare type of bacteria causing her infections. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you know what rain is? How much is too much?  Here this week there are 2 types of weather conditions:

1)       Constant cloud bursts with literal sheets of water

2)      Torrential downpours

As I write this the water is just filling the skies and land.  If all the clouds burst overhead, then where does even more water come from?  I didn’t know the skies could hold that much water.  Our normally small and gentle stream is now a writhing monster.  The sturdy bridge that the students built over to the garden area is now almost washed over.  Its supporting posts are gone and the hand rails are gone.  The gardener’s house, normally 10 yards from the stream now has water swirling under it.  (I am thankful that the gardener moved to the new property several months ago)!  The cooking area, cafeteria and cook’s house are threatened by the mad and muddy waters.

While I was in America I heard a lot from the medical authorities that most people are very low in Vitamin D.  They were so persuasive that I brought a bottle here for Micah and I to use.  Maybe it is a good idea because since we arrived back in Thailand July 6 I have seen the sun (Watery though it looked)!  2 times!!

There are some very good points about this rain.  Here they are:

1. Right now we are doing a lot of cleaning to get a house ready for our new principle and his family to live in. There is no water coming from the pipes this week, so we place buckets under the edge of the roof, or even out in the open and very soon it is brimming and ready to use!
2. This school drinks a lot of water.  We usually make a trip to Mae Salit every other day to refill the big containers with pure drinking water.  Just now there are no vehicles here to bring us the water, so we simply put them out in the rain, or under the roof! No one need suffer of thirst.
3. There are soap dispensers beside each bathroom, but no running water from the pipes.  We simply lather up our hands and hold them out for a good rinse.
4. As I see and hear the rain and waters I think of the showers of blessing that the Lord wants to pour out on us if we are ready to receive it.  Oh how I long for a continuous, huge cloudburst of the Holy Spirit in my soul.  It is in plentiful supply, but most of us let go of the arm of the Lord too soon.  In fact Mrs. White says that when our need of the Holy Spirit is a thing seldom thought of, there is spiritual decay and death!  Oh how happy I am for the rain to remind me to think and ask for God’s Holy Spirit in abundance!!

Even my umbrella in this rain does me no good.  As I go from place to place receiving constant sprinkles I am reminded of wonderful text in Ezekiel 36:25  “I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean, from all you filthiness, and from all you idols, I will clean you.”