Posted by Ric and Sharon on Saturday, February 2nd, 2013
Nothing says February like the Superbowl, college basketball and snow on the ground. Or, in our case, Chiang Mai’s annual flower festival, the MK home-school conference and the English Premier League. However you mark the season we’re excited to be able to report progress toward our goals in several key areas:
God provided a place for us to stay in the village we’ll be working in. It will be newly constructed just for us! This is a huge answer to prayer
Just 30 lessons to go in our language program in Chiang Mai! Having completing 370 lessons so far 30 more feels like a breeze.
We’ve enjoyed great team-building activities with our future co-workers and are currently hammering out the purpose, vision and strategy statements that will guide our partnership.
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Tuesday, December 18th, 2012
A move to the other side of the country requires planning ahead, buying the necessary provisions, arranging things at the destination and coordinating with our co-workers. Please be praying for us as we look ahead to this very big transition. It’s almost like moving to Thailand for the first time in the sense that it will require that much thinking and planning ahead.
For now, we’re trying to keep it to a dull roar but the excitement and anticipation is building as we approach the end of our time learning central Thai. We’re excited to begin work with a group of people who have been isolated from the gospel due to their location, language, and context. Thank-you for your love and support.
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Thursday, September 27th, 2012
Sharon and I went down to the consulate in Chicago on Friday of last week and then again yesterday to get our visas to Thailand. A visa is basically a just stamp in a passport that gives the holder permission to enter and live in a country for a specific period of time. The reason it’s important that we were able to get our 90 day non-immigrant visas to Thailand has to do with logistics on the ground. It saves us from having to make a trip outside of the country for a few days when we get to Thailand to come back in under a non-immigrant visa. We’re excited and thankful to have them and are looking forward to our trip in a few days.
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Thursday, August 16th, 2012
Sharon and I went for a hike in Allegany State Park in upstate New York today. We’re here visiting her family for a few days and made a quick pit-stop to try out our trail legs again. It always brings back memories of the two months we spent on the Appalachian Trail in 2006, just as we were starting this blog. For the more-than-you-can-read full story click here.
Please be praying with us as we have a lot of travel coming up in the coming month. Some stops include: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas among others. We’re hoping we can find some time to stop and smell the roses along the way!
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Tuesday, July 17th, 2012
Can’t keep up with the Bruces? I know the feeling. This post will attempt to answer as concisely as possible some of the most pressing and common questions Sharon and I have heard you ask. If you have any of your own to add please feel free to do so in the comments and we’ll get back to you ASAP.
Why are you back in the US? Sharon’s only sibling is getting married. Sharon is the matron of honor. Also, we’d been in Thailand for nearly two years so it was time for a little break to reconnect with partners like you, our families and friends.
What are your goals while here? Well, some remain the same: we continue our Thai study while we’re here by listening to Thai texts, practicing reading and writing and posting pictures with captions in Thai of our lives here in the US. Though that part remains unchanged we’re looking to connect with you! We place a lot of value on the idea of teamwork: you’re our partners in this work and we want to do all we can to make you feel a part of what God is doing in Southeast Asia.
When will you go back? We’ll be heading back at the end of September. Connect with us before then or you’ll have to visit us in Thailand.
What will you be doing when you go back? We’ll wrap up our Thai study in Chiang Mai then move to a village in Northeast Thailand to work with the Phu Thai people group. We’ll join Mike and Sandy Lynch who have been there for five years learning the language and culture. We’ll arrive just in time for the fun to begin: translation of scripture portions and bible lessons in preparation for teaching in 2014. Hopefully we can be up to speed in the language by then!
What did you most like about Thailand? Like the least? At first the food was difficult to get used to and that was our least favorite thing… but now it’s one of our favorite things about Thailand. I find myself craving rice periodically and thinking about how good for us the diet in Thailand is compared to what we eat now. Bring on the pizza baby!
Hope that helps. Submit your question in the comments below. Thanks!
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Wednesday, June 6th, 2012
Embedded in the sidebar to the right >>>>>>>>>>
If you fill this form out you will get an email about twice a month or so telling you the very latest happening in our ministry and lives. It’s not annoyingly long: short and sweet and contains a simple list of our latest news at the bottom for easy reference. Spread the word… it’s a great way to remember to pray for us and check out our website periodically.
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Friday, February 10th, 2012
Sometimes we say words like “culture” but don’t take time to explain what it is that makes this job of adjusting to a new culture so hard. In this article I’ll briefly describe three major areas in which Thailand and the US would fall into different categories culturally and I’ll explain some practical outworkings of each distinction in our lives. As primary source material I’m using Human Communication, the Basic Course by Joseph Devito. It’s important to note neither category is superior or inferior to the other. Each represents a different way to approach communication and interpersonal relationships.
Individualist vs collectivist: Individualist cultures emphasize the achievements, responsibilities, goals and successes of the individual while collectivist cultures focus on the goals, cooperation and responsibility of the group. The US fits better in the “individualist” camp. Americans tend to focus more on individual goals and responsibilities, compete with others and emphasize personal success more than their collectivist culture counterparts (such as Thailand) would. Adjusting to group dynamics has been painful for a guy raised in an individualist culture. Here are a few practical ramifications of that working itself out in my life: (more…)
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Wednesday, January 4th, 2012
This summer we’ll be in Michigan for a few months beginning in June. Our current plan is to come back to Chiang Mai sometime in October. Our primary purpose is to attend Sharon’s sister’s July wedding but we’re excited to reconnect with our churches, families and with you. We’ll let you know the exact dates later on but wanted to get an advance warning out there as a general announcement. Thanks and God bless.
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Sunday, January 1st, 2012
As Sharon and I think back on this past year we’re reminded that a year ago we couldn’t sound out a single word in the Thai script or even say a complete sentence in Thai that we hadn’t memorized first. We’re also hoping that a year from now will continue to see more and more improvement as we continue building relationships and digging into Thai culture. Thank-you for your help, support and prayers during this past year that have sustained us and kept us going down this path. We appreciate you all more than we can express in words. HAPPY NEW YEAR!! -Ric and Sharon
Last night we went with some of our Karen friends to Hoi Geaow and sang a bunch of Karen Christmas songs with them-
Here are pictures on our Picasa account of our trip to Turtle Mountain, our church’s sister church. The bullet holes in the cross are a from an incident a few years ago where two men came onto the church property at night and blasted the church building several times to scare off the members.
Up, Up and Away is video we posted a while ago that no one really noticed. During November youths in Chiang Mai compete to make the biggest and best “Com Fai”s. Here are a few of the entries:
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Saturday, December 17th, 2011
(c) Norman Murphy
Life around this time of year is nuts. Whether it’s caroling all night, preparing special songs, or passing out tracts our friends hardly sleep this time of year. It’s true that we work hard but sometimes it seems like we “play” even harder with our friends. Unlike back home, people don’t get work or school off during this time of the year leaving schedules packed full and little end in sight until the new year.
A common question we get is, “How’s your language learning coming?!” Language learning is a lifestyle. It’s like trying to lose weight, eat healthy, get enough sleep or read through the Bible in a year. It’s hard work and requires a lot of discipline. It also requires sacrifice. You won’t lose weight unless you stop drinking that six pack of Pepsi for breakfast. Language learning has its ups and downs but overall we’re very encouraged with our progress.
We moved. Our new neighborhood is awesome. We’ve really enjoyed getting to know the people that walk around our neighborhood at night and the people that loiter around the local snack shop. Mostly we’re thankful for the lower rent outside the city as it helps us cover our expenses better. Thank-you to those of you who gave to cover our moving expenses.
A recent trip to visit a tribal team about six hours from here was incredible. There are people groups here in Thailand who need to hear God’s live-giving message, the gospel, in their heart language. During this Christmas season our hearts go out to you, our family and friends who have cheered us on to this point. We appreciate your love and support.
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Thursday, May 19th, 2011
Sent by a blog reader.
We have a few general blog announcements as we prepare to fly to a province we haven’t visited yet. This past week we were so encouraged by the comments, emails and notes showing your support. Thank-you!
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Wednesday, May 18th, 2011
We eat rice at almost every meal.
This post will change your life. While generally this is not a lifestyle blog tonight I’m going to tell you the secret to losing weight; and it’s EASY! Just eat more rice. In just a few months I lost 25 pounds on this diet and you can too! Read on for secret rice diet tips: how to eat loads of rice for weeks on end, how to get your boyfriend to make the switch to rice and how to integrate rice into your diet without changing what you currently eat!
My best advice is simple: serve up a heaping plate of rice then take whatever food you would normally eat, throw it on the rice and enjoy! Let’s tackle the classic hamburger problem: one doesn’t fill you up right? (more…)
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Saturday, May 14th, 2011
Friday afternoon we napped on and off during the bus ride back to Chiang Mai. It had been a long week and we were looking forward to getting back home and sleeping in our own bed. A slow drizzle soaked the road and sheets of lightning over the mountains provided occasional glimpses of the winding road ahead. I jerked my head up when the screams started and saw two dim objects lying in the road a few hundred yards ahead. The brakes slammed and we flew forward but it seemed to make no difference on our speed. As we skidded along the wet road in the dark the bus’s back end began to swing slowly around to the left. A split second later we hit something. Or maybe a couple things. Hard. (more…)
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Sunday, April 17th, 2011
On our website we’ve embedded a YouTube video of a parade passing by our house during Songkran. At first we thought it was the Irish guy who lives down the street playing his bagpipes but as the parade drew closer and louder we realized the wind instrument was a “pbi”, a traditional Thai instrument we recognized from November’s Loi Krathong festival. Upon closer investigation we saw (more…)
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Friday, February 18th, 2011
On our Youtube account and embedded on our website you will find a video of an important religious holiday here in Thailand. Days such as these see hundreds of people gather at local temples to make merit, light candles and incense and listen to sermons and chants by monks. As you watch the video think about the creative and unique ways mankind has devised to worship anything other than the one true God. Thanks for watching.
Rom 1:25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator–who is forever praised. Amen.
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Wednesday, July 14th, 2010
We love a plan. That’s why we took the Financial Peace University classes in the spring of this year and that’s why we ordered P90x just a few days ago.
Basically, we’re going to be completely ripped after P90x (okay probably not). But we do want to get in better shape and because we now own the program we can take it anywhere we go. It’s a nutrition, diet, and exercise plan that seems to push everyone who takes it seriously to change.
We’ll update you as we progress but it’s too embarrassing to post before pictures. We’ll post after pictures in 90 days. Here’s a picture of the box.
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010
We counted the coins from our recent garage sale and found that our stuff brought a grand total of $240.27!!! Volunteers of America is coming to pick up the leftover stuff and we’re glad to see it go. We’re celebrating another step in a long journey that’s taken five years and will continue for a long time with God’s help. Thank-you for your prayers and help as we prepare for ministry in Thailand.
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Monday, May 31st, 2010
Arguably the very best way to connect with us while we’re in Thailand is through a free service called Skype. Install skype here then add us as a friend. Our skype name is:
ric.sharon.bruce
Another fantastic way to keep in touch is through Facebook. Find our profile here and add us as a friend! Of course you can always send us a good, old-fashioned email. Our email address (omit spaces):
ricandsharon @ gmail.com
Thank-you for connecting with us. We look forward to talking with you. Let us know how we can serve you better.
Ric and Sharon Bruce On a journey with you to Thailand 
On our website we’ve 
We love a plan. That’s why we took the 
Home Assignment FAQ’s
Posted by Ric and Sharon on Tuesday, July 17th, 2012Can’t keep up with the Bruces? I know the feeling. This post will attempt to answer as concisely as possible some of the most pressing and common questions Sharon and I have heard you ask. If you have any of your own to add please feel free to do so in the comments and we’ll get back to you ASAP.
Sharon’s only sibling is getting married. Sharon is the matron of honor. Also, we’d been in Thailand for nearly two years so it was time for a little break to reconnect with partners like you, our families and friends.
Well, some remain the same: we continue our Thai study while we’re here by listening to Thai texts, practicing reading and writing and posting pictures with captions in Thai of our lives here in the US. Though that part remains unchanged we’re looking to connect with you! We place a lot of value on the idea of teamwork: you’re our partners in this work and we want to do all we can to make you feel a part of what God is doing in Southeast Asia.
We’ll be heading back at the end of September. Connect with us before then or you’ll have to visit us in Thailand.
We’ll wrap up our Thai study in Chiang Mai then move to a village in Northeast Thailand to work with the Phu Thai people group. We’ll join Mike and Sandy Lynch who have been there for five years learning the language and culture. We’ll arrive just in time for the fun to begin: translation of scripture portions and bible lessons in preparation for teaching in 2014. Hopefully we can be up to speed in the language by then!
At first the food was difficult to get used to and that was our least favorite thing… but now it’s one of our favorite things about Thailand. I find myself craving rice periodically and thinking about how good for us the diet in Thailand is compared to what we eat now. Bring on the pizza baby!
Hope that helps. Submit your question in the comments below. Thanks!
Tags: bruce, Chiang Mai, comments, faq, goals, like least, like most, questions, return, US
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