Burning SeasonI send a newsletter every two months - and I have to admit these last two months have been a little rough on the Harvel family. We're not burnt out yet, but in God's good timing, this Sunday, we are beginning the trek back to the good 'ole USA to visit friends and family. That will be good. Every year our part of Thailand gets some solid rain from June through August - which means all the plants start growing like mad. To resolve this re-jungleing of developed land, landowners burn down everything undeveloped every year. Its smoky. Everywhere. So glad its over! Too many goodbyes.We had a lot of goodbying to do this month. Goodbyes stink. which matched the smoky weather. =) "No, I'm not crying... its just so smokey....". ummhmmm. I have the sneaking suspicion that God's hand is behind all of the following, so we are doing our best to be joyful in everything and look for what God is doing next. 1. Our good friends that host homechurch, cohost our homeschool co-op, help us whenever we look like we need help, have a daughter Sonya's age, and are just some generally great people.... moved to Burma. ARGH! 2. We had a wonderful neighbor couple from Scotland/England that invited us in whenever we walked by their house (which was often- due to our dog). They also attended our home church and have been visiting/living here in Thailand for 25 years or so. The husband recently learned that he has some advanced cancer, so they've returned to Scotland for family and hospitals. ... 3. Aye cho pew. Sara's companion, coworker, friend and culture gap closer is leaving. The good news is that she's going to college, which is awesome. She has been given a full ride scholarship to a university in the Phillipines, and we're happy to see her get to school, but wondering what life will be like here without her. To call her our right hand would be a vast understatement. ACP conversation of the month: ACP: Hi Sara Sara: (driving) Hi. ACP: Do you take vitamins? Sara: Ummm yes. Why? ACP: I can smell them. Sara: ... .... .... Thank You. Sojourn: test flight.
Salvation!One of the girls in Sojourn became a Christian! PRAISE! ACP and our director were influential in her accepting Christ as Savior. Pray for her, she's from a Buddhist family and will have a difficult time being a part of a church. Jewelry ModelsI have the feeling that Sara was never the little girl who wanted to be a fashion model when she grew up - but here we are! Sojourn studio is starting to make jewelry that looks good on humans!
HOV laneStreet Markets of Mae Sot.For being a smallish town, Mae Sot has a surprising number of religious groups. Thailand is 99% Buddhist, so there is a clear representation here, but we also have a Muslim quarter of town, a handful of Seikhs and some crazy Christians working at the NGO's. Its a very interesting place to live. One of our quieter neighbors. He's shy.Bring on the rain!Its been HOT! Sangkran was fun (Thai water holiday) but I'm really REALLY looking forward to some cool dry air in America. We had our Sangkran party IN a river this year, which made it much easier to refill the waterguns. I am not looking forward to missing the rest of lychee season or passion fruit season! |
Partnership has been the gift of the month. A few different groups have become a part of the Sojourn Studio journey and have brought some really valuable gifts and experience. First: The House Collective is led by friends and amazing people, Steve and Kelli. They have become a part of an immigrant community and basically do all of life with them- work, play, church, music - you name it. Sara and Kelli are working with a couple of ladies from this community to see if jewelry making is a good fit for their needs right now. |
Second: the teenagers from Sojourn Studio are meeting with Global Alms to train in self-defense. What does that have to do with Jewelry? Nothing. What does it have to do with helping our girls succeed in life here on the border? A lot. Plus, I hear it's fun. Third: local business Borderline is selling Sojourn products.. on the shelf and tagged and everything! (Sojourn is not on their website yet) |
Teen time and design-
its not about the jewelry.
The teen program has started meeting more often. There are many benefits from this, the greatest of which is stronger community. The girls have been working together and laughing together, and now that they are fighting together (see self-defense training above) Sara loves these girls, there is no doubt about it, and it's cool to see them loving each other too. Long-time friend Stephanie Melachrinos, has been an ally of Sojourn Studios for most of this last year. Steph helped teach a design class that would allow the girls to come up with their own jewelry designs, NOT because we need more designs, but because it allows the girls to have some ownership in Sojourn and their work. It changes the workplace into more of a team place, with just a hint of family in it. Kinda beautiful. |
Easter!
Easter should be big. Jesus, son of God died on a cross, defeated death, and then came back to life. That's big. So we party. After a Good Friday service at our friend's house, an Easter party for the homeschool co-op, a Passover meal with some neighbors, and a potluck at home church.... I feel enormous. | |
One Year Down
'The Compasio preschoolers above are graduating into kindergarten this month as the Harvel family graduates from our first year of living in Thailand. That means it's been more than 365 days since I wore long pants, or socks, or even closed-toe shoes (except for at soccer, of course).
Most days, we're doing really well here. Most days, it's easy to see what God is doing with us here and what's supposed to happen next. Then there's the other days..... Please keep praying for us; please keep Skyping and writing and messaging us. We have some great new friends here, but we lean on our old friends in different ways and we're starting to feel a little far-from-home-ish. Looking forward to a summer visit to the USA!
THANK YOU to all of our prayer and finance supporters who have allowed us to live here.
Most days, we're doing really well here. Most days, it's easy to see what God is doing with us here and what's supposed to happen next. Then there's the other days..... Please keep praying for us; please keep Skyping and writing and messaging us. We have some great new friends here, but we lean on our old friends in different ways and we're starting to feel a little far-from-home-ish. Looking forward to a summer visit to the USA!
THANK YOU to all of our prayer and finance supporters who have allowed us to live here.
Prayer Requests:
For US:
Below left: Mangoes grow and taste beautiful. Below right: Cashews are weird lookin'. Who knew there was cashew fruit? | If you missed our update video a month ago, here it is (above). |
Life is Cake.
Not really. Last week, we had the pleasure of attending a Kachin wedding. Key differences to western wedding: 1. The ring exchange was easy to miss 2. There was no "kiss the bride" moment 3. That time when the bride pulled out a sword and gave it to the groom and basically said "Protect me and provide for me with this". Whoa. Kinda cool. As my mind was reeling from the gravity of protecting and providing for my wife with a sword, I was then distracted as the cake was rolled in. Seemed odd to deliver a cake in mid- ceremony, but whatever. The pastor then asked the groom to draw his sword and cut the cake. WHAT!?!? Where did the metaphor go!? Are you saying that married life is a piece of cake? ...Or is the groom to use his sword to defend his bride against iced baked goods? Probably it was just convenient. |
Friends and Foes
Usually the holidays are tough on the expat life because you don't get to see friends and family like you want. Not true for us! We had tons of wonderful people with us! Sara even got to see her family in New York, although that was due to her grandfather's funeral. Good to see family, hard to say "goodbye."
Completely Official
Sojourn Studio. Wow. looks so cool. You're right to think that. Please continue. Big steps were taken for Compasio's vocational program this winter, with both highs and lows. A great day was the teen program's first public sale. The girls dressed up and sold their goods from a store that markets local products from around MaeSot. It was good for them to see people impressed by their work. We took a hit, though, as a couple of the girls who were enjoying the program were called back to Burma by child services. This was tough for everybody as they had been here for a year and had really developed good friendships. Plus, their situation in Burma will not be as good as it was with Compasio. Pray for those girls as they are adjusting to a government boarding school in Burma. Sara and the Sojourn team are thinking about expanding to include young mothers who need some help getting work. This will add some complexity to the program, but also bring it a little closer to its intended purpose. Pray that this belongs to God in every way. Once we figure out packaging and shipping, you can buy some stuff! |
Red Hot Chili Peppers
It's sometimes easy to forget for a moment why we're here. In the jumble of finding the perfect chain and the right sized jump-rings, or how to photograph a weaponized wedding... we are here because God loves us, and he loves families.
Before Christmastime, we had parties with all of Compasio's case communities. My kids actually joined into a game with a bunch of Burmese kids (landmark), and Sara found a couple friends that couldn't get enough hug out of her. I met a mom that removes the greens from chili peppers at 10 cents per pound in order to pay for her rent. I met a grandfather who adopted his own grandson to keep him from being sold by his daughter. Thank you God for my family.
Before Christmastime, we had parties with all of Compasio's case communities. My kids actually joined into a game with a bunch of Burmese kids (landmark), and Sara found a couple friends that couldn't get enough hug out of her. I met a mom that removes the greens from chili peppers at 10 cents per pound in order to pay for her rent. I met a grandfather who adopted his own grandson to keep him from being sold by his daughter. Thank you God for my family.
Prayer Requests
For our family:
For Compasio:
- Pray for Sonya: She seems to be constantly fighting sickness of one kind or another.
- Pray for Sara: Starting a business apparently takes a lot of work time but also a lot of mental/emotional time. Sometimes it's hard to take a real break.
- Pray for Levi: That he never changes. =)
- Pray for me (Jason): That I make the most of my time here and patiently prepare for whatever is next.
- We booked tickets to visit America! See you this summer.
For Compasio:
- Our leaders are gone! Our organizational leader (Daniel) and his wife (Leah) and our accountant/anchor (Kris) are all going to America for a month of meeting people, fundraising, and awareness stuff. Pray that they are focused on God's plans and also enjoy the trip.
- Also please pray that we can continue work here in their absence. I do have a feeling that staff meetings are going to run a little quicker this month =).
- As mentioned above, pray that any growth that happens with Sojourn Studios comes from and belongs to God.
RATS!
I had two lovely encounters with rats since our last newsletter. The first was when a rat fell on my head as I opened the door to our laundry area. Things would have gotten bad, but my intrepid dog (above left) and I handled the situation very neatly. She barked a lot and cornered the beast, while I found a sufficient container. The other encounter was less exciting but more delicious. We had a visiting team from China as guests at one of the families Compasio supports with food. As an enormous amount of food was plated, I was helping the visitors understand what they were eating - when I was corrected by our Compasio director. "No, Jason - thats not pork. Thats rat." (above right - green bowl with white interior)
After a moment of disbelief, I'm happy to say that rat can be nicely spiced and served with rice.
After a moment of disbelief, I'm happy to say that rat can be nicely spiced and served with rice.
Jenny Harris
Sara and I are both blessed with stellar friends that still love us from back when we were all in college. Jenny came out and we ran her all over the place. She brought Sara coffee, so we're inviting her back!
First Sale! From the China Team!?
Weave .... got a lot to learn about vocational training. =)
Sara does a great job at connecting people with already existing programs. Above and below are girls who want to have the skill of weaving/sewing but just don't have the access to materials and skilled teachers. Sara connects the dots and everybody benefits. Cool. Thanks Chimmuwa and Partners!
Sara is getting a crash course in small business 101. Ordering supplies, reordering the right supplies, getting cash advances, getting reimbursed, showing receipts for the advances, teaching the skill, managing the kiln, keeping organized, learning excel, learning the compasio paper trail, paychecks, packaging, retail, wholesale, shipping?... its a lot to learn all at once, but she's doing it! (Pray on that please.)
Sara is getting a crash course in small business 101. Ordering supplies, reordering the right supplies, getting cash advances, getting reimbursed, showing receipts for the advances, teaching the skill, managing the kiln, keeping organized, learning excel, learning the compasio paper trail, paychecks, packaging, retail, wholesale, shipping?... its a lot to learn all at once, but she's doing it! (Pray on that please.)
Sew... did you have a good day at work?
Restored
This picture above and others like it are why we work at Compasio. Compasio supports this family with food and counseling. The eldest of five daughters had been taken away from her mother and sisters about a month ago. Compasio walked with this family through a difficult time, and now that eldest daughter is back home. Family again.
By the way - we have fun. Like our playground?
As Christmas draws near, we see all of your wonderful family pictures appearing from afar on facebook. Our hearts hurt at missing you and missing the holidays with friends and family. Sara realized that we just won't have those beautiful studio-touched pictures with the perfect Christmas everything... our picture will be in front of a waterfall - or a reall,y really big tree - in front of some ancient ruins, or on an elephant.
Different life - but certainly not a bad one. We miss you. Thats the hard part.
Different life - but certainly not a bad one. We miss you. Thats the hard part.
Prayer Requests
For our Family
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Ceramics I (Jason) have to remind myself that relationship is ALWAYS more important than task. But its soooooo cool when something actually gets started and is well underway. Luckily, Sara is a pro at valuing people over product, because ceramic jewelry training is really happening! We had the pleasure of hosting Quinn Smith - owner of Remnant Ceramics (check out beautiful merchandise here) who came and trained Sara and some of the other Compasio staff and community to make jewelry out of ceramic pendents and precious metals. Aside: She also taught Sara and I that grownups can actually play UNO with my kids before breakfast... I certainly wasn't aware of that, and is something that I may forget in the near future. Cool thing: Did you even know that you can paint with 24k gold?? Uncool thing: did you know 24k gold can evaporate at high temperatures?? whouda thought? | (Above) Sara, Sonya and Ayechophyu paint the garage into a studio. This place is the definition of redemption. It was basically ready to be bulldozed, and if you visited now.. you'd probably sit down and hang out here for a moment just to enjoy it before going inside. |
Our hope is to be training moms and independent women in pottery and ceramic jewelry, but Sara's first class is a group of teenagers connected to Compasio - a couple of which already have to manage their households.
VISIT (Above) I think maybe when you visit Thailand, you just have to play with elephants. We took Quinn to an elephant farm just 15 minutes or so from our house! So cool. No riding here, but a day of feeding, leading, washing, and playing with elephants. (Come and visit!!....) If your the kind of person who we don't want to visit, then you should know that we also picked up the elephant poo and carried it to the biogas pit. ymmm.. nothing like cooking your food over elephant methane! (Right) - one good lookin' family. (Below) - we always suspected that Sara was not a fan of scorpions. But now we know for sure. |
(Right) I cannot express to you how much I love passion fruit. You could say I'm passionate about it. If you've never had a passion fruit before, it's like eating a spoonful of sweet but sour patch tadpoles... but really really delicious tadpoles! | (Above) Fidget spinners with homeschool science. (Below) The kingdom of heaven came down for a peek, but decided to come back another day. Or perhaps aliens. |
(Below) A good friend invited me to the Karen Agricultural Department, and I got to see all kinds of cool garden magic going on: tomatoes were being grafted onto eggplants, mango trees were producing three kinds of mango, papaya trees were growing roots off of branches in the air... cool stuff. and beautiful. I was given some good ideas on easy growing for family nutrition or perhaps sales.
A phrase I hear at Compasio a lot is "rooted and grounded in the love of Christ" Couldn't help but hear that phrase in my head over and over again walking through the agricultural department.
Conversation with Burmese Friend: Sara: "Is it ok if I feed this rice to the dog?" ACP: "sure, no problem, she loves it!" Sara proceeds to feed the dog leftover rice... ACP: "What are you doing!?!" Sara: "Feeding the dog..." ACP: (genuinely shocked) " How can she eat that rice ??? You didn't put any chilis in!" Sara: ... |
Prayer Requests:
For us:
For us:
- We are starting to experience something like a schedule! Pray that as we find our pace that we are continually seeking God for direction.
- If we did everything that we could do with Compasio - we'd never come home. Pray that we have big hearts for both the Compasio community as well as our family.
- I (Jason) don't really have any expectations on me that come with deadlines. Pray that I make the most of every day.
- Most of the students that lived in Compasio housing are now with families now. Pray that those families are strong. Pray for the few kids who don't have families yet - they need them!
- Pray for spiritual strengthening for the newer staff, and faithfulness for the older staff.
- If you watch the news at all you've seen that there is a ton of violence on the other side of Burma (we are on the Thai border, most of the violence at the moment is on the Bangladesh border). Pray for peace and rescue.
Wow.. SO MANY THINGS have happened since I last wrote you..
some awesome, some very sad.
Lets do this in pictures.. its just better!
(above: Burmese market - we shop here sometimes)
some awesome, some very sad.
Lets do this in pictures.. its just better!
(above: Burmese market - we shop here sometimes)
Border Crossing.
Every 90 days we have to leave Thailand and return. Good thing we live on the border! It takes us a few hours to walk across the river boundary, stand in a bunch of lines, get a bunch of passport stamps, and then turn around and walk back to Thailand. Weird? Yes. But I love the Thai immigration office. Check out the guy below with sword raised over cannons pointing back to Burma. This guy is a model in clear communication!
Every 90 days we have to leave Thailand and return. Good thing we live on the border! It takes us a few hours to walk across the river boundary, stand in a bunch of lines, get a bunch of passport stamps, and then turn around and walk back to Thailand. Weird? Yes. But I love the Thai immigration office. Check out the guy below with sword raised over cannons pointing back to Burma. This guy is a model in clear communication!
First swing at vocational training.
So - I must say we never thought that we'd be a part of training people how to grow mushrooms!! Sara's connection taught some of staff at Compasio how to raise mushrooms at home. After three days of packing straw, poo, and seeds into bags - thousands of mushrooms will soon be harvested (hopefully!). Some of our staff felt like this was a great thing to have to pass down to their respective cases - some did not. However, a good learning experience all around.
So - I must say we never thought that we'd be a part of training people how to grow mushrooms!! Sara's connection taught some of staff at Compasio how to raise mushrooms at home. After three days of packing straw, poo, and seeds into bags - thousands of mushrooms will soon be harvested (hopefully!). Some of our staff felt like this was a great thing to have to pass down to their respective cases - some did not. However, a good learning experience all around.
Moving new families Certainly the biggest thing going on at Compasio has been the closing of their children's homes. Compasio truly believes that a child grows up best in a family - and therefore has put TONS of effort into finding and training families to adopt/foster care for the Compasio kids. Compasio will keep their preschool, and also their emergency shelter for kids in abuse situations. Pray for the new parents (above) and kids in new homes (right). |
Monkey Poo
(Above) We were invited to a birthday party of one of Sonya and Levi's friends. American/Burmese family. There is no joking going on at all when I say that the bowl above (with the wooden spoon in it) is full of Monkey Poo. Yum. People were pretty excited about it.
(Below) Levi's birthday was a totally normal event where kids dressed up as Turtles who have mutated into teenage humanoids....
(Above) We were invited to a birthday party of one of Sonya and Levi's friends. American/Burmese family. There is no joking going on at all when I say that the bowl above (with the wooden spoon in it) is full of Monkey Poo. Yum. People were pretty excited about it.
(Below) Levi's birthday was a totally normal event where kids dressed up as Turtles who have mutated into teenage humanoids....
Pottery
Sara has started training one of the Compasio staff who hopes to be able to continue helping folks make a living and keep their families together. Pray for Aye Cho Phyu as she and Sara develop this new initiative with Compasio.
Driving
In addition to moving kids into families, and staff to their case sites, Compasio is committed to getting about 18 kids to school every morning. After 3 hours of pickups and an hour of dropoffs a couple lifts here and there for good measure - Sara and I are happy to only drive on Thursday.
Sara has started training one of the Compasio staff who hopes to be able to continue helping folks make a living and keep their families together. Pray for Aye Cho Phyu as she and Sara develop this new initiative with Compasio.
Driving
In addition to moving kids into families, and staff to their case sites, Compasio is committed to getting about 18 kids to school every morning. After 3 hours of pickups and an hour of dropoffs a couple lifts here and there for good measure - Sara and I are happy to only drive on Thursday.
Rainy Season Conversation with Burmese friend:
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Prayer Requests:
For us:
1. Sara is now earnestly in pottery training. Pray that Sara and Aye Cho Phyu's relationship grows strong, and that they be following God's vision for this vocational center.
2. Patience. Getting resources, finding connections, ordering supplies takes SO much more time and energy here than we are used to. Its a very different situation from the USA (where anything can be bought if your willing to pay) or China (where anything can be bought if your willing to buy it again). Here there are so many modern and quality things available - and so many things that just aren't. Hard to guess which might be true when you decide to start looking for... calipers for example.
For Compasio
3. One of the Compasio staff lost her 2yr. old daughter to a virus. Words to follow this statement all seem paltry.
4. Pray for all the Compasio kids in their new families. Most are very happy to be in a home with a committed parent - but some are just sad to be away from their friends and caregivers.
5. When I wrote this post, we were planning on saying goodbye to our good friends the Ennions in October, but because of a family emergency, they permanently moved back to New Zealand this week! We will miss them, as will many here in Mae Sot.
In other news...
our beautiful puppy Zuma died (last post), and we have adopted a stray dog. Her name is Zipper (below). She LOVES Sonya and Levi. Kids managed very well.
Also we moved! we found a much cheaper house.. and a much bluer one!
our beautiful puppy Zuma died (last post), and we have adopted a stray dog. Her name is Zipper (below). She LOVES Sonya and Levi. Kids managed very well.
Also we moved! we found a much cheaper house.. and a much bluer one!
hitch up the elephants.
Its been non-stop action for the Harvel family this month and its time to get serious about working in Mae Sot. Our leaders at Compasio gave us time to think and pray and adjust, but in the last few weeks, a couple of folks in the community Compasio serves have simply asked Sara: "Can you help me work?" And that's a big part of why we're here.
but first...
but first...
Songkran: [ˈsäNGˌkrän] noun. A city wide waterfight!
Seriously. I'd heard about this holiday in the past, but experiencing is believing. Chinese new year blew our minds with the volume of fireworks invested, and Songkran has done the same thing for the volume of people willing to dump a bucket of water on my head. Whether you be walking, driving, bicycling... it doesn't really matter -there's a good chance that water will have ice in it... or beer, or food coloring, or babypowder... you never really know. | |
Working. | Visit! What more could you ask for than parents and elephants!? Yep, my mom and dad were able to visit for about a week after doing some teaching in China and we had some really good play time. I also learned that my dad can look like Lawrence of Arabia/Indiana Jones in the right environment. |
As our introduction to Thailand comes to an end - the bigness of our goal here is sinking in - for me. It sunk in for Sara before we left. Now the complications involved in getting training and employment to someone who does not yet have paperwork, or the ability to travel is hitting home. I have taken my mobility for granted to such an extent that I never even have considered what it might be like to be restricted from using ROADS - but that's the situation for many of the folks here that we're trying to reach. There are checkpoints simply keeping un-papered (no birth certificate or ID of any kind) peoples off the road. Once they have employment, then the process of getting papers can begin - but the interim time is tricky. Short term solution? Work from home.
In our last update, I mentioned the series of events that God pulled together to connect a weaver connected with Compasio (above right) With an organization called Chimmua (above left) that makes use of those weaving for bags, clothes, etc. I'm impressed with everybody here.
Washing Machine trumps Scooter
You may remember the plan to make a potters wheel from scooter parts.. Would you believe that all scooters in Mae Sot are gas powered? Crazy. not a single electric scooter in town. So, my friend Matt thought a washing machine motor just might work and voila! it does... (ish) Its not perfect, but not bad for protype one. |
Homeschool Sonya and Levi are enjoying homeschool and have some good friends in that group. There are currently 9 children there all under third grade or so. Sara teaches social studies, I teach science and other parents teach language arts, music and PE. We still teach math and reading to our own kids at home. |
Prayer
For us: Pray for Wisdom. We want to help. We want to be a blessing to Compasio and the Burmese and Karen people here in Thailand - and we have some ideas... but those ideas need some strength. Also, we are pulled in so many directions! We've been driving kids to school, helping teach at youth camp, teaching kids how to cook, taking pictures and attending meetings and training... its hard to have a solid goal for a single day. Pray for good priorities. For Compasio: Compasio has recently hired a bunch of new staff and has finished some bible training for that group. They are excited and motivated! Pray that Compasio keeps its focus on the kingdom of God as they are potentially at their strongest ever! | We got a puppy, and our puppy is sick. Pray that she gets better. Her name is Zuma. For Burma: The KNU and Burmese Government are in peace talks right now and I hear that things are not going very well. Lots of opinionated people with lots of agendas. Pray for peace, and pray for Christians to rise up within Burma. |
If its the future here... does that make me the Terminator!?! Sara and I were trying to figure out how to make sure our insurance was legal when we noticed the year on the old record - b.e. 2559. Wondering if we had accidentally taken out a 500 year policy we found out that it is indeed the year 2560 here. Wow! Why?
Thailand begins its calendar with the death of Buddha rather than the birth of Jesus. This is the first of an uncountable number of differences living in a culture where Jesus has NEVER been honored as Lord by a significant portion of the population. Thailand is 98% Buddhist, and is one of the few countries never to be conquered or colonized. Ever. Pretty impressive actually.
We see evidence of this in a million ways - but most commonly in the little spirit houses (picture to the left) that accompany nearly every building in this country. Interestingly - the purpose of these spirit houses is not to please the spirits, but rather to draw them away from the main portion of the house toward the provided spirit house. "please make yourself comfortable ... over there". Worship and fear.
Thailand begins its calendar with the death of Buddha rather than the birth of Jesus. This is the first of an uncountable number of differences living in a culture where Jesus has NEVER been honored as Lord by a significant portion of the population. Thailand is 98% Buddhist, and is one of the few countries never to be conquered or colonized. Ever. Pretty impressive actually.
We see evidence of this in a million ways - but most commonly in the little spirit houses (picture to the left) that accompany nearly every building in this country. Interestingly - the purpose of these spirit houses is not to please the spirits, but rather to draw them away from the main portion of the house toward the provided spirit house. "please make yourself comfortable ... over there". Worship and fear.
Its a little warm. This is not hot season.
We're really not sure how Levi does it, nor do we want to experiment.
Vocational training.
This Chimmua lady invites Sara over to her house and workshop where Sara sees exactly the kind of thing we hope to start - except this is sewing instead of pottery. It feels like a really good and healthy place. And Sara realizes this would be a great opportunity for the weaver she met yesterday. Long story short, Chimmua hires the weaver to make cloth for the sewing business of Chimmua. Employer and employee met yesterday. Exciting? yes it is. Especially since all of the sewers at Chimmua are also Christians - coincidence? Chimmua is not a Christian organization. | Sara has been finding opportunities to go out with the Compasio Case workers and just observe. But - as you know Sara "Just observing" can only last so long before she starts feeling like she needs to DO something. I think its why she's here. Anyway although we are still largely in the "wait and pray and get to know people" stage, Sara actually helped a lady get connected with some real paying work yesterday! During one of the visits with the caseworkers, Sara met a woman who lived in a poor situation and whose son has polio. Basically, it would be very difficult for this woman to work and also care for her son. Sara learned that this lady could do some weaving and does side work when she could find some. The next day Sara is pursuing a lead she has on a local NGO that we know has connections with local artisans. Sara is going to buy some thread for the weaver she met yesterday when she sees the label on the thread which gives a brief description of a local group that empowers women through sewing work. Sara asks the store clerk if she knows anything about this organization on the tag 'Chimmua'. The clerk points across the room "That lady is the founder of Chimmua." oh, nice. |
I don't have a scooter. But I have a friend who can build anything. I found a YouTube video of a guy who made a potters wheel out of an old scooter. One of the obstacles to a sustainable pottery business here is the expense of the potters wheel and kiln. I show this to my friend - do you think you could help me do this?? "Absolutely! that is so awesome!" Cool. Good response.
I have another friend who just loves Burma, so he went there on a walkabout a couple weeks ago. While talking about his explorations, he mentions this village in the hills where everybody is a potter - using small mud brick kilns fired by bamboo. Cool x2. Haven't built anything yet, but getting ready.
I have another friend who just loves Burma, so he went there on a walkabout a couple weeks ago. While talking about his explorations, he mentions this village in the hills where everybody is a potter - using small mud brick kilns fired by bamboo. Cool x2. Haven't built anything yet, but getting ready.
Prayer Requests | Year of the GeckoGeckos are awesome. They eat mosquitoes. 'nuf said'. We have:
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For us:
- We are settled! I told that to someone yesterday and Sara gave me the tall eyebrow, so maybe we're still settling. We might have found a more appropriate house to move into, but we're keeping our eyes peeled for a better place.
- Sara's taking Burmese lessons but it will obviously take awhile before shes functional, and longer till she's fluent. In the meantime - its difficult for her to know whats going on. There are only a couple of English speakers at Compasio, and even after she learns Burmese, there are a few staff and many situations where people will not speak English, Thai, or Burmese - there are a few local languages around that don't overlap much with other languages.
- The kids and I are enjoying working with a home school co-op. I'm teaching science and that's fun as my job is basically to make something fly, melt, or explode every Tuesday and Thursday. I'm waiting on camera supplies in order to start doing video work for Compasio, but this is in process.
- pray for encouragement. Compasio has had lots of changes - lost some influential staff and gotten some newbies (along with a couple of foreigners who need lots of support =) Daniel, our national leader would love prayer for the Compasio staff to become a team, as well as encouragement for himself.
- its coming to the end of dry season, and so its a tough time for farmers as it gets more difficult to keep things irrigated. We get heavy rain here from May to September and not much on the other half of the year.
- We've gotten to know a couple of the members of the Karen nation government. They are meeting for the next month or so and the members we know have asked us to pray for peace. There are still many Burmese minority groups that don't trust the big government and want nothing to do with them except resist their leadership. Pray for the kind of compromises that don't abandon people.
I feel like the Whos in Who-ville,
Yelling "WE ARE HERE, we are here, WE ARE HERE! to people soooo very far away and with such a different understanding of what it is to be 'here'.
SO. I will explain!
Yelling "WE ARE HERE, we are here, WE ARE HERE! to people soooo very far away and with such a different understanding of what it is to be 'here'.
SO. I will explain!
All of the traveling stuff went as well as it could have. Our bags all made it (and were checked all the way to Bangkok via Columbus, Chicago, and Doha yessss!). And we made it too. This was our first flight on Qatar Air - and it was a very pleasant experience. We landed and were greeted by friend 'Chrimos (there are more syllables if you want them) and then spent a couple of days sleeping and shopping that I don't really remember that well. |
Pray, get to know people and be flexible.
Our project manager repeated this phrase to us about a hundred times in our first meeting with him. He's big on wanting us to be following God's heart for building into the Mae Sot community and small on wanting us to focus on establishing a program. This is a refreshing take on development.
Sara's job (as defined by Daniel) is to:
1. get to know and love the Compasio staff
2. get to know and love the people that the Compasio staff know and love
3. WAIT on God to define what helping those people might look like.
Its possible that we've never been asked to wait on the Lord - coupled with the expectation that we would actually wait.
What's it like there?
hmm big question. Really not like China, really really not like America...
wait. this isn't helpful.
Our House: We probably won't stay in this house, but it was a good place to land. Our neighbors to the left are Punjabi, and to the right are Thai. We are in the nicest part of Mae Sot and so the house is clean and airy. Lots of tile, lots of windows. Its actually beyond our budget, so we're looking for something else.
Food: Usually saucy, spicy and with coconut. I cannot imagine getting tired of it.
Getting around: There is some public transportation here, but we mostly get around walking or in a truck we got from another Compasio staff. I'm nearlyused to driving on the left side of the road, and have only been driving directly into oncoming traffic once! heh heh. Traffic here is not bad most of the time unless there is a police checkpoint, which happens fairly often. Its not a big deal, we just slow down, police look in the back to see if we are smuggling anyone, and then let us go. This process is much more difficult if you are Burmese.
hmm big question. Really not like China, really really not like America...
wait. this isn't helpful.
Our House: We probably won't stay in this house, but it was a good place to land. Our neighbors to the left are Punjabi, and to the right are Thai. We are in the nicest part of Mae Sot and so the house is clean and airy. Lots of tile, lots of windows. Its actually beyond our budget, so we're looking for something else.
Food: Usually saucy, spicy and with coconut. I cannot imagine getting tired of it.
Getting around: There is some public transportation here, but we mostly get around walking or in a truck we got from another Compasio staff. I'm nearlyused to driving on the left side of the road, and have only been driving directly into oncoming traffic once! heh heh. Traffic here is not bad most of the time unless there is a police checkpoint, which happens fairly often. Its not a big deal, we just slow down, police look in the back to see if we are smuggling anyone, and then let us go. This process is much more difficult if you are Burmese.
Prayer Requests:
For us: Pray that we seek God's heart for our time here and are not blinded by our own plans and programs. Pray that we are patient but not lazy. Pray that we find a house of the right price and quality.
For Compasio: Pray for the company as they transition from a focus on care-taking to community development. They are big on family strengthening... which requires a decent sized community team. Pray for them as they look to replace a key staff member who is returning to Burma (The Community Team Director). Pray for unity and hope.
For Burma: Pray for the folks already involved in Compasio's other programs (the feeding program, childhood learning center, dump, children's home) the adults in these programs will be the people that Sara first meets and attempts to get to know. Pray for open hearts and minds and for trusting relationships to be developed.
Happening now: Sonya and Levi are an enjoying a dragon fruit and seaweed snack Sara and I are still happy with our breakfast of delicious tasting disgusting looking porridge. joke of the day: A certain boy asks his father "Dad, are bugs good to eat?" "That's gross and not appropriate to talk about at dinner." After dinner, the dad asks, "Son, why did you want to ask me about eating bugs?" The Son replies "Oh, its nothing now, there was a bug in your soup, but its gone now." The geckos take care of most of our bugs here. =) Thanks for reading everybody! -The Harvels |
One year Visas approved!
For those of you who were praying - THANK YOU! If you don't know the grisly details of my visit to the embassy in D.C. then let me know and I can send them to you.
Praise God for smooth sailing so far!
Also - thanks to the efforts of our friends in Thailand (Melachrinos and co.) we have a short term rent agreement on a home, so we have someplace to go when we land!
Next up: ...packing??
For those of you who were praying - THANK YOU! If you don't know the grisly details of my visit to the embassy in D.C. then let me know and I can send them to you.
Praise God for smooth sailing so far!
Also - thanks to the efforts of our friends in Thailand (Melachrinos and co.) we have a short term rent agreement on a home, so we have someplace to go when we land!
Next up: ...packing??
The Harvel Family
We're all settled in to our home in Thailand for the foreseeable future. Its a crazy place - so it suits us.