Aloha Boyer Family!!!

Ahhhh…

Let’s give a big warm “A-LO-HA!” to the Boyer ohana (family) from Kapolei, Hawaii!  This incredible family comes from our home church (Hope Chapel Kapolei) when we were living in Hawaii.  They first came to Thailand several years ago to check out the ZOE ministry and while they were here, they blessed our ZOE kids by putting on a great camp while the kids were out of school.  Ever since that time, they knew that God had wanted them to come back for a longer time.  We have been patiently awaiting for their arrival and that day finally came about 3 weeks ago!  And even though their committment is only for about 1-1.5 years, we know that they will be able to fill the many holes at ZOE.  It never ceases to amaze me the high caliber of people that God sends to us – this family’s talents and gifts are impressive!

Funny - this is the ONLY family picture I have of them since arriving...with an extra person too! Starting from left to right: Cissy, Drake (11th grade), Elli (9th grade)...skip the unknown 4th person...and Ron is the last person. I'll post a nicer family picture of them later!

Some of ZOE missionaries were able to greet them at the airport

When the Cross family came from Austrialia to be ZOE missionaries, I dedicated a section in my blog to learn some Aussie phrases to help us westerners to learn their way of saying thing (see my older blog entries).  So likewise, I will dedicate a section here to write out some Hawaiian “Pigin” words that should be learned in order to avoid miscommunications with our new family from Hawaii:

“Ono” – means delicious

“Pupu” – has several meanings – can be a delicious appetizer or a bowel movement

“Thai” – “Tie” – “Thigh” –  all pronounced the same way but all 3 have distinct separate meanings

“Da kine” – means whatchamacallit…when you can’t think of what it’s called.

“Tree” – can mean the number “3″ or the perennial woody plant that has a trunk, branches and leaves

“Brah” – means brothers or pals.  BUT not be to confused with the word “bra” because although its pronounced the same way, it is not an insult for one man to call another man this.  Can also say “Braddah”

“Fo Real?” – means “Are you serious?”

“Talk stink” – means to talk bad about someone

“Like beef?” – careful how you answer this one – because it can be that they are either asking if you like this certain type of protein meat or they want to know if you would like to fight!

Its funny because one of their main duties will be to teach English to our bible school students!  lol.  But thankfully, the Boyer’s don’t have much of a pigin accent.  But just in case, they always have their “brah”, Les…born and raised in Hawaii…who will be able to translate, should we find ourselves in an awkward moment of not understanding.

Wow…do you know that it’s been short 6 years since our family first moved over here?  Time flies when you are having fun.  As I reflect, I know that one of the reasons why we experience so much joy on the mission field is because of our wonderful missionaries.  They are our 2nd family.  Do we get on each other’s nerves?  Oh – I’m sure of it.   But we overcome our differences by CHOOSING to speak and treat each other with the love, walking in forgiveness and seeing where we can serve each other.  And it helps A LOT that everyone has a good sense of humor because we love to laugh and have fun with each other.   I can’t think of a better way to serving on the mission field than to have the honor and joy of working side-by-side with with the best bunch of missionaries in the whole wide world…which now includes the Boyer family!  Loving it!!!!

Celebrate good times…C’MON!

That famous 80′s tune comes to mind when I think of this past month’s flurry of events.  We celebrated good times…actually, GREAT TIMES, for both Christmas and New Years.

CHRISTMAS

For our family, we had a very special treat because my sister Joy, who has been a missionary in Japan for the almost 15 years, came to spend the holidays with us.  It was a great time for Garrett to see his Auntie Joy.  We all had a great time of catching up, laughing and just chilaxing with each other.  Loved every minute of it!

Auntie Joy and Garrett at the Chiang Mai Zoo

ZOE children’s homes made a special time to recognize and celebrate Jesus’ birth.  And thanks to some special donations, all the kids were able to participate in a gift exchange with each other – each child received 100 baht (about $3.50) to buy a Christmas present for another child.  Snacks, candy, toys and clothes were in the mix.  But the most touching part was that despite the little bit that they received, several of the kids went up to missionaries and staff who were sitting around and started giving them part of their gifts to them.  One of our missionaries was described as a lump of tears on the floor as they laid their gifts at her feet.  I just fall in love with our amazing ZOE family when I hear stories like that.  There is truly a specialness there.  Later that night, we joined the ZOE family at a yummy Thai BBQ buffet restaurant….all 150 of us!  What a fun time!

Doesn't that look yummy? There are hot coals underneath the pot, broth is on the sides to cook your veggies and a hot dome to grill your meats. The juices from the meat end up flavoring the broth.

Our staff enjoying their meal...they are the sweetest people in the whole wide world!

NEW YEARS

Now unlike Christmas, New Years is one of the biggest holidays in Thailand.  We joined everyone at ZOE for a potluck dinner on New Years Eve – and wow!  We were amazed at the spread!!!  Of course, we have some pretty amazing cooks at ZOE, but that night, I learned that one of our bible school students had formerly owned a restaurant.  He cooked up some Tom Yum Gung soup (hot, sour, spicy shrimp soup), chicken cashew and stir fried noodles…yummmm.  We also feasted on fresh fish, hot dogs, pork balls, chicken wings, spicy sausages, spaghetti, potatoes, stir fried vegetables, spicy seafood noodle salad, soups, and fresh fruit.  But I tell you – our ZOE family can chow down the food!!!!  Even with big full bellies, they were still scraping down some of the food containers!!

Ready to eat!

Under the roof of our new dining facility...before the feasting begins!

The kids also got the chance to play on the new planted grass – they haven’t been able to play on grass for awhile now since we needed it give it some time to take root.  So this was the first time in months that they were able to go wild – it was really fun to listen to the squeals of joy and watch the twirling, rolling and flipping going on.  We ended the night with a short but amazing firework display.   The next day, the ZOE family spent time with bringing in the New Year with a talent show and worship to our Lord Jesus Christ.   We just want to tell YOU that we are praying for you and hope that that this New Year will be full of great things to come to everyone!!!  God bless each and every one of you!!!

Laughter, tumbles and squeals as the kids played on the grass

Seattle Medical team

Every single short term missions team that has come through our doors has ended up to be a tremendous blessing.  This medical team was no different – a dynamite group of 19 health care professionals, all with big hearts and excited to be able to help the local people, in need of care – each team member serving in their own area of expertise (family medicine, pediatrician, dermatologist, nurse, dentist/assistant, optometrist, pharmacist, physical therapist and team support).

BOTTOM L-R: Bob Sekijima, Shari Mayeno, Joyce Bhang, Naomi Yonemura, Jana Kumasaka, Cindy Ko, Kris Sodetani, Jen Morishima, Jessica Isawa, Kenny Kumasaka, Jon Brooks; TOP L-R: Donna Sekijima, Craig Omoto, Dan Ko, Doug Nakaitani, Brian Kumasaka, Barb Wong, Chris Murphy, John Mayeno

It started off with our entire group of ZOE missionaries and bible school students, greeting the medical team at the airport with all kinds of make-believe bandages on us (aka toilet paper).  Yeah…not everyone got the joke…LOL…but it was a funny moment to remember.

ZOEians in desperate need of medical attention

Everyone on the team was amazing.  Everyone worked tirelessly – they were able to minister to so many of people – young and old – from the mountain villages, to the city schools and to all of the kids, students and staff at ZOE.  They worked their buns off…!

One of our little ones cried as her teeth were getting worked on. Her ZOE sisters heard her cries and gathered around to encourage her.

 

Wow!  And this team can sing too!  So talented!

The team brought 200 pairs of glasses to help people to see. I saw this picture, taken by one of the team members in the village, and feel in love with it - look at the expression on his face! He's so happy that he can now read.

People were touched – body and soul – some even became Christians right there as they were being seen!   Many cool testimonies came from the efforts of this team.  There is one touching story about one of our ZOE boys that brings tears to my eyes – we’ll write more about it in our next newsletter…

Anyways- we just want to thank the Seattle Medical team – we APPRECIATE and LOVE you guys for all that you did!!!

Garrett’s Corner

We always get asked, “How’s Garrett doing?” so we thought we would give you a quick update on what he’s been doing.

In the spirit of Christmas and giving, Garrett’s 5th grade class participated in preparing a special day for a group of poor young children from the House of Blessing Pre-School.  These children come from the slums of Chiang Mai.  The 5th grade class invited them to come to spend a 1/2 of day at Grace International School for fun games, crafts, cookie decorating, story telling and at the end, each child received a special Christmas bag full of gifts.  Each 5th grader was assigned a child to take care of  - Garrett was sooooo excited about it, he couldn’t wait for the day to come.  His little buddy’s name was Paradon and he was 4 years old.  Insisting on using his own money, Garrett bought his little buddy the requested things for his Christmas bag:  a t-shirt, school supplies and a little toy.  What great memories it was for Garrett and Paradon.

Garrett and Paradon with his new little toy cars

When not in school, Garrett attends TaeKwonDo class at the local Korean center nearby our house.  He recently passed his 2nd green belt test…we are so proud of him!

Garrett with his teacher

He also finished his 2nd year in the school’s basketball Rec League.  Because he’s not the strongest of players, he hesitated at first to participate again this year, but with a little encouragement, he tried it again and really enjoyed himself!   Way to go Garrett!

Love is in the air

Its been awhile since we celebrated a wedding between 2 staff members at ZOE, but with great joy and excitement, we witness Nid and Wep get married last weekend at a church in the city of Chiang Mai.  It was a beautiful ceremony – honoring to God, very conservative (no kiss at the end!), with times of laughter sprinkled throughout the ceremony.  It describes their personalities perfectly – conservative, not outspoken, beautiful hearts, solid in their character and faith…and when you break beneath the surface, you will find that they have such funny and witty personalities.  We LOVE them both and couldn’t be happier that they found each other!

Les walking up with Wep's father. Les works closely with Wep at ZOE.

 

Both Wep and Nid have been FAITHFUL to ZOE for years. Wep started out as a bible school student at ZOE and that is where he fell in love with the interpreter, Nid. He has pursued her all these years!

The leaders and pastors praying over the couple

Honoring their parents

This wedding is the first of several more to come between our ZOE staffers…all within the next few months – can you believe it?!!!  Love is in the air at ZOE!

November visitors

I can’t keep up with all of our visitors!  In short, here are some more teams and visitors that we hosted at ZOE:

CHILDREN’S HUNGER FUND The Children’s Hunger Fund’s president, staff and donors came to visit our facilities at the beginning of November.  Over the last couple of years, we have developed a close relationship with this incredible ministry (see prior blog entry about Children’s Hunger Fund) and we look forward to their visits with us every year.  One of their main focus is to establish their “Mercy Network” – this networking provides food boxes to the local village pastors to help facilitate reaching out to people and sharing the gospel within their village.  Les works with helping to coordinate villages and pastors within their Mercy Network.

Children's Hunger Fund team with the group of local village pastors, Carol/Mike Hart and Les

Les helping the team with the food boxes

 

FRANCIS CHAN:  Our most recent guests were Francis Chan, his wife Lisa, their 4 children and staff from the Life International Ministries.   Pastor Francis is the founding pastor of Cornerstone Church but recently stepped down to work directly in missions with the poor locally and internationally. His book “Crazy Love” is a New York Times Bestseller – if you haven’t read it, you should!  Pastor Francis generously helped us fund part of our new facilities.  We love and appreciate them very much and enjoyed meeting his entire family.

Pastor Francis (middle with gray t-shirt) listening to his oldest daughter share a word of encouragement to our ZOE family

Sharing a meal together with the ZOE family - chicken and sticky rice...yum! You get to eat with your hands and sit on the floor.

 

OXNARD CALVARY CHAPEL We’ve never met a team that we didn’t love and appreciate.  That is our feelings toward this team.  Although smaller in size than a regular team, their impact was STRONG AND POWERFUL!   As a supporter this ministry, this church sent a team out to see the impact that they are having on world missions and be a blessing to our kids, student, staff, missionaries and the whole country of Thailand!  We love them because they gave…and gave…and gave…and continue to give!   Unfortunately, I didn’t get to spend a whole lot of time with this precious team, but the times that we did get to share together were precious – just like them.  They encouraged us so much!  We pray for blessings upon this amazing church and the 10 “warriors” that came to represent the heart of their church.  Thank you soooooo much Oxnard Calvary Chapel!!!!!

The Oxnard Calvary Chapel "Warriors"!!!

The team and some of the ZOE crew, posing with the villagers

Thanksgiving memories

I love Thanksgiving.  Even though by the end of the day, my “dogs are barkin’” and my tummy is really to implode…I love it all.  As I reflect on why I love it so…I think all the smells bring me back to my childhood and sweet memories of my parents: Mom would be cookin’ all day and Dad would be carving the turkey…and all four of us girls would be in the kitchen helping in whatever way we could.  It was a great family holiday for us.  Those fond memories make me excited to continue the traditions that my parents engrained me in so much – I realize that I still love being together with people that I love on Thanksgiving.  I’m so thankful for our ZOE missionaries.  It was great fun and more great memories to build upon…

This year, we invited another ministry, "Powers International" to come and join us for Thanksgiving! Most of the ZOE women are missing from this picture since they are busy in the kitchen.

Turkey ($50 for one!), ham, stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes...

Orange jello slices, potato salad, tofu salad, ramen salad, fruit, spinach dip, macaroni salad, hot vegetables, macaroni and cheese...

Dessert! Chocolate cake, brownies, pumpkin squares, cookies, pavlova, banana bread and cherry cheese cakes. Yum!

A little bit of business…A little bit of pleasure

Les has always had a heart for business.  Really, it more that he loves to see people succeed and if he can help them in any way, he is willing to try.  In a country where the average pay is around $200-$300 per month, more than ever, he has a passion to help those local Christian men and women to succeed in life.

Les not only oversees the ZOE Business school, but he also gets the priviledge of hosting a special team of American business men who come over 3 times a year to host a Micro-Enterprise seminar to help any local Christian entrepreneurs who are interested in starting their own business.  Shades Mountain Baptist Church (from Alabama) regularly sends a team out to do this intensive 3-phase training course that each candidate must go throughout the year.  On the average, only a handful of candidates make it through all 3 phases of training with a solid basis for starting a new business and are granted the gift of a low interest loan to begin their life long dream.  Once the Micro-Enterprise team leaves, Les continues to oversee the graduates by traveling across Thailand to the different business for follow-up and encouragement.

Micro-Enterprise team with the 3 graduates in front

The Shades Mountain Baptist team being greeted by our kids.

But this year was extra special and unique because while Micro-Enterprise program was going on, this team also brought a separate group to simultaneously help in the 2nd week of our ZOE children’s camp.

The entire Shades Mountain Baptist team - front row helped with camp and the back row did the Micro-Enterprise session

This year, our incredible children’s ministry planned a special camp called “Spy Camp”.  The creativity and hard work that was put into this camp would blow away anyone’s mind.  Through the very hard work of our children’s ministry department, along with the awesome help from this team, our ZOE kids had an incredible fun time on their school break.  Everyday, they were taught the word of God while just having an amazing time with games and activities.  The following pictures will show that it was “Sanuk Mak”, which in Thai means “a lot of fun”:

Making their yummy snack: apples, peanut butter and chocolate sprinkles

Playing games

The team members helped with a time of teaching the bible

My small part in camp was to put on an English workshop for the kids

Our children's ministry department made an obstacle course for the kids

I just wanted to give a shout out of thanks to our special guests from Shades Moutain Baptist- you were all incredible.  Thank you for all your time, effort, finances and encouragement that you poured out to all of us at ZOE.  We love you guys!

Nuts about squirrels

It’s not what you are thinking…

Living off of the land is what many of our Thai staff are used to doing because they come from the villages.  In the village, they eat almost anything and everything in the mountain jungles…nothing will surprise me anymore.

So although they are “nuts about squirrels”, it because they consider them “aroy mak” (very delicious) and not because they are in love with their cute little faces!  For them, it was no different from a chicken or some fish…it all food.  But interesting was my reaction…I kind of wished they offered me a taste.  Its not very often that you can say you tried squirrel!  Maybe next time, I won’t be shy to ask for a taste.

Disclaimer:  Squirrel is NOT a part of the protein food group served at ZOE.  We serve our children: chicken, fish and pork for their protein.  This was just a snack break for our Thai staff…in case you were wondering!

“Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and you’ll feed him for a lifetime”.

How in the world do you provide food for over 130 people a day at ZOE?  While the cost of food is a lot lower than it is in the United States, it still is a big line item on our monthly budget!  The solution?  Be self-staining.  One of Les’ work objectives is to help the organization become more self-sufficent.  Currently, he is working with our Thai staff to develop programs to increase resources such as growing our own crops and raising livestock.  While our beginnings are small, we are excited to see the development of this area.

Picture of our first 2 pigs when we got them - now they are much bigger!

If you got our Ginoza Family Newsletter, you would know that we have officially started our pig farm at ZOE!  We wanted to thank those of you who have been financially supporting our family – because of you, we were able to buy the first 2 pigs for ZOE.  They are both getting huge!  ZOE had bought 4 more baby pigs since then. One of those pigs ate something that got caught in his throat, preventing him from eating.  They did everything they could to dislodge whatever was in his throat.  ”Farmer Les” even tried the himlic maneuver on the pig…CAN YOU IMAGINE THAT?!  I guess desperate times call for desperate measures!  It didn’t produce anything except for a lot of squeals from the poor pig.  We think all the commotion traumatized the other pigs as well – they were so nervous, they were all shaking and going pee-pee.  Unfortunately, they were unable to save that pig. Realizing there is much to know about pigs, Les and 2 staff drove to a village pig farm to learn the trade.  Its been quite a challenging experience!  But once they can master raising pigs, they will move on to raising fish and chickens as well.  In addition, they have started growing crops such as long beans, pumpkin and chilis.