Animistic Ceremony Keeps Me Awake All Night

This ceremony “Ram Phii Faa,” is centered on appeasing and calling down the spirit of the sky along with the spirits of the deceased ancestors of the villagers. They believe these spirits (of the sky and of dead ancestors) can heal those her sick. They offered food sacrifices to these ancestors like bananas or snacks. Further, they believe that these ancestors will enter certain individuals present, and will cause them to act differently than they may normally act. One lady danced around with swords because the deceased ancestor evidently was part of the military. At another time, she wore less conservative clothing because she was supposedly filled with the spirit of a deceased teenage child of hers. A lady living across the street from us claims that she never chews beetle-nut (kind of like dipping in the south of America) or drinks alcohol, but because an ancestral spirit entered her body, she did just that. In addition, they believe that the ancestors can speak through the chosen individual and can communicate with the relatives of that person. This ceremony involves loud gongs, drums, and an Isaan wind-instrument called the “can.” Whereas some who attend this ceremony just to laugh and play, it seems that the overwhelming majority have these beliefs deep inside. (I'm working on getting one more longer video posted that may help you get a fuller picture of what is going on)

As they are dancing around in a circle here, a few of these people believe they are filled with an ancestral spirit.

This gong and the drums were responsible for keeping me up all night

I believe this Isaan instrument is called the "Can," and is played for fun and/or used in a variety of situations

In the center are flowers, decorations, food, etc. all offered with the purpose of appeasing the spirit of the sky and/or ancestral spirits

These older ladies danced around wearing their traditional silk black Kui shirts that each of them made by hand

Hudson Making a Gingerbread house and a Day at the Park

Please take some time to pray for Nit

Since we've arrived in our village, we've had a househelper, Nit, come to help us with house work a few hours a day. She's been a little slack on helping recently, so I went and approached her to ask why? It turns out that since the New Years, she's been in a really difficult situation, and I told her that I would have Christians from America praying for.

For a good while now, Nit has been sick, very much like my wife has been sick---that is, sick with morning sickness, pregnant. She is not married and already has one girl out of wedlock. The father has already left town and moved in with his parents, because he wants to avoid any negative talk about him and Nit. He, along with many others has told Nit to go get an abortion. She wants to keep the baby, but doesn't feel like she will be able to raise another child on her own; with the pressures on her from everyone else around, she has been trying to abort the child. So far, she has visited a "witch doctor" in a nearby village, which didn't work, and next she plans to take pills from a local pharmacy. Right now, Nit is scared and worried; word is spreading around the village, and many are pointing fingers at her for her sin. It was just today that I found out about this.

I explained to her that all people sin, and I shared stories from the Bible with her about how Jesus shows love to those who feel unlovable. She is not a Christian, but felt that even God must hate her. Please pray for Nit. Pray that in this moment of fear, embarrassment, and uncertainty, that God will do a work in Nit's life. Pray that her unborn child will live despite the attempts to abort. Pray that God will work mightily in this situation, and will provide an opportunity for Nit to embrace Jesus Christ as Lord.

-David

Pics from Pamela's Family's Visit to Thailand

The following are lots of pics from the great time that we had with Pamela's family when they just recently visited us in Thailand.

The big city of Bangkok from the top of the highest tower

Adalynn posing for a pic on the streets of Bangkok

Melissa, Seth, and Addy pose for a picture with some baby tigers

Kids in our village posing after an English lesson

Rob being attacked by an elephant in a Surin parking lot

Adalynn posing with some of our neighbors

Elephant riding in Surin

Debbie hanging on for dear life

Hanging out for a while in Hua Hin

Family Pic

Hudson and Mimi

Hudson out on the beach

Seth and Melissa about to ride a rickshaw

Rob, Debbie, Pamela, and Hudson on a tuk-tuk

Saying "Good-bye" at the Airport

Baby # 2 is on the Way

The news is official, Pamela is pregnant with our next kid. The Dr. said that everything looks fine, but the baby is just a little small (same thing with Hudson, and he is still small). Here are some pics from the ultrasound. Don't worry, I asked Pamela's permission before putting her uterus online.

Pamela's Family is on the Way!

After spending time in Chiang Mai, we are now anxiously awaiting the arrival of Pamela's family (they are in the plane as I write). Pamela's parents and her sister's family will be visiting for the next couple of weeks. We will spend the first few days in Bangkok, and then will go to Sisaket for a week or so, and then return to Bangkok for the end of the trip. Please pray for safety as they travel, good health, adjustment to cultural differences, and that they will adjust quickly to the time difference. Be on the look out for pictures of their trip coming soon!

Chiang Mai Trip

The past couple of weeks we spent in Chiang Mai, Thailand. We left from Sisaket, and began the 15+ hours of driving over a 2-day period. The way to Chiang Mai was very interesting. On the night of the first day, I backed into a tree and did a little bit of damage to the truck. After staying the night at a hotel, I pulled over to have a mechanic help me with the truck. He pointed out that my tires were in terrible shape, so we bought some new ones. After that, we were just about to drive out of a big mountain range and we heard a weird sound. Next thing you know there was a big bang, and green stuff sprayed all over our window. God was looking out for us! We were just a couple of miles from another mechanic, who after about 3 hours or so had fixed a busted radiator. Our time in Chiang Mai was awesome. I finished up my last two seminary classes there, and spent time with some close friends that I don't see very often. Chiang Mai also has some good Western food that I miss, like NC BBQ (for real), chili and cheese fries, cheeseburgers, a Reuben sandwich, Mexican food, etc.