Ric and Sharon Bruce On a journey with you to Thailand
Our friends shared some of their photos with us from a trip they took last month and I thought they would be good to post here for a wider audience. There are still some villages in Thailand lacking basic health services, sanitation, clean drinking water and other essentials. The good news is the Thai church is rising to the occasion and filling the need. The pictures speak for themselves:
None of these pictures are labelled for reuse.
The mountains of Northern Thailand have fascinated us since we arrived. Here are a few shots from the top we took this month:
Every village has a Buddhist temple
The first months of any new job you feel clueless. Sometimes you wander in circles until some really nice person who’s worked at the company for years puts their arm around you and tells you how it’s done. Those guys are few and far between in the job we do.
Fortunately we work in an organization with people all over Thailand doing the job day in and day out. This weekend we had the privilege to go watch one of our teams in action and it blew us away. They didn’t put their arm around us and tell us how things are done. They showed us by doing it well. Here’s the story in pictures. (more…)
This weekend we hopped on a $30 flight out of Chiang Mai to a small city lying in the other half of Northern Thailand. Thirty bucks! Sure beats almost dying on buses. The thirty minute plane ride is a six hour bus ride on winding mountain roads. Our purpose for the trip was simple: to learn about the ministry and enjoy the fellowship of fellow NTM co-workers here. They work among a people group here that has limited access to the gospel.
After a four hour delay at the airport in Chiang Mai because of an “electrical problem” on the aircraft we had a safe flight out and a wonderful visit filled with fun activities. Much of our time was spent discussing life in the village, local culture and their current ministry responsibilities. It really helped us get a clearer picture of what our lives in a similar village will look like in the future.
We spent this past weekend in Northeast Thailand visiting friends in our organization… and potential future ministry locations. Our friends were kind enough to show us around the village they live in where we enjoyed the warm hospitality of the people.
Northeast Thailand has a unique charm to it that just seems to beg to be painted. So some of the pictures Sharon and I took this weekend I’ve converted to colored line drawings for your enjoyment. More to come this week on our trip there so stay tuned. If you’d like to see the pictures a bit bigger right click them and select “view image.”
More pictures to come later.
We haven’t had time to sit down and write out what we did this weekend but we’ve posted some pictures of a trip we took this weekend to a village near Chiang Rai. It was a lot of fun and it reminded us of why we’re here: to see the light of the gospel spread to every part of Thailand. Pray with us this will become a reality. We will post more pictures and video in the coming days.
Listen to the sounds we woke up to this morning by clicking here. See if you can hear the distant temple gongs calling the village to the morning prayer and offering. This link will require download.
Sharon’s parents grew up in a small valley in south-west New York state, where some of her extended family still lives. We love to come back to visit the family and take a much-needed break from the daily grind. Tomorrow we will take off for a wedding in Pennsylvania and a few days of hiking. We love visiting the town… the area is beautiful!
Please pray for safety as we’re on the road and for a time of refreshment and relaxation as we accomplish one of our goals before heading to Cambodia next year: spending time with family.
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