questasia

Storms in the mountains

The monsoon time has started. The weather is still very hot and after a long time with little rain the first rain storms have come to us.

Last week Chiang Rai was hit by some freak storm damaging about 200 houses. Also in the Region where we have projects some houses were badly damaged. This week Hui Kau Laam was hit by a storm in the early evening. It hit our community center and took off some of the roof. A beam came loose and hit the roof in several places leaving extensive damage. The following rain flooded the house. Rain often very strong and flash floods are common in the mountains. Thank God nobody in the village was hurt.

Today I was in the mountains to see the damage and estimate the costs, buying material and to discuss how to proceed with Catri. We did some of the work ourselves and have some workers coming in to do the repair in the next two days.

Beneath are some pictures:

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

A roof on the house

Yesterday I was back in Hui Kau Laam to meet Cati and Mida to talk about the construction project, to bring money for building material and to visit Enoch. Enoch had had exams in Chiang Mai the last week and then went to Hot to do outreach in several villages. after that he got seriously sick with food poisoning so he had to stay put in hot. Meanwhile he is back in Baan Pong to regain his strength. Enoch is still very weak from the ordeal.

The construction of our new center is going very well. Yesterday I delivered the windows and doors for the upper floor. The roof is finished and this week the workers will do the floor and the steps.

 

Building project in Hui Kau Laam

Finally we were able to start with our new building project in Hui Kau Laam. Lately we thought alot about the development work in this village. Last year it was not easy to see any development. Things for the good change in a slow pace, whereas bad things seem to develop much quicker. The problems in Hui Kau Laam are multi layered. Only with patience, much love and continuous investment can bring change and a base for for the the next generation, the children.

We were asked by some parents in the village to start a preschool. Many of the smaller children running around the village without supervision and are overwhelmed when they later have to go to a Thai school and start first grade. They lack discipline, language skills and integration into a schoolroom. Mida is excited about the idea to start a preschool and we already talked about the increase work load and responsibility.

Since quite a while we were thinking about to exchange our old bamboo building with a more sturdy and bigger meeting house and living quarters for Cati and Mida. The old house cannot hold the amount of people we have now on Sundays and would definitely be to small for a preschool.

Here are some pictures from the construction site. We hope to finish the project till the end of the year.

Water tanks for Hui kau Laam

In the last months we were very busy with outreaches, teams and projects. It was sometimes hard to keep up with everything. Here once again an update for the questasia site. This morning I created a photo album from our last big project. One year ago we built a 8 kilometer water pipe from the mountains to Hui Kau Laam village. With the help from a swiss team we build the needed water tanks.

Klick on photo!

New Photo album

I aranged some photos from the thanks giving service in Hui Kau Laam.


Klick on the picture.

Water problems

Yesterday I received an e-mail from Enoch. There is some quarrel in Hui Kau Laam. The reason is water shortage and land disputes. I don't know the details.
The water system we have build has enough water. We didn't have the finances to build the tanks. We also have to lay more pipes into another villages. We also have the problem that pipes are braking apart. Some parts have to be replaced.

We are still in Switzerland for the moment and fly back on the 12th. of August. It will then need some talks with the village heads and some planing for the next stages of the project.

Baptism in Hui Kau Laam

Last Sunday we celebrated our first baptism. After our team was working in the village for the last four years five people wanted to get baptised. We were all touched that the work in Hui Kau Laam is finally producing visible fruit. Mida said that more want to get baptised. Enoch and Mida faithfully shared Jesus with the villagers. Our intension to share the gospel in word and deed fell on fruitful ground. It took quite a while for the ground to be prepared. When we first came to Hui Kau Laam the adults were opium addicts and didn't know anything about Jesus. This sunday was a happy day for us. Thanks to all who supported us in prayer, encouragement, finances and outreach teams. You are all part of this.
Here you can view photos of the baptism.

Woman accepts Jesus

I got an e-mail today from Enoch. He said that a woman in Hui Kau Laam accepted Jesus as her Savior. The last view weeks were hard and we all felt a spiritual battle going on. we were all very much discouraged by the slow process in the village and the back and forth between their spirit worship and being amazed by what Jesus is doing in their community. Now we know what was going on. The kingdom of God was breaking in.

Water flows to Hui Kau Laam

A week ago I was able to check on the water pipe to Hui Kau Laam. A family from Switzerland was with me on the trip and helped me to install cement rings to protect the valves. One of the greatest problems we face is to explain the villager, that they need to switch off the water and dry the pipe before they glue the PVC. With the distance off 8 kilometers (5 miles) through difficult terrain problems with leaks and broken pipes become a frequent thing. There is a need to redo some smaler parts of the pipeline. We also need to put some steal pipes in places where the water crosses the road or where it is not underground. This is mostly only a fiew meters. PVC becomes brittle under the sun and is often threatened by forest fires. We have started with protecting the valves  in the jungle with cement rings.

New Year Dance

Here a video I made from the Lahu New Years dance

Klick on picture to load down (1.2MB)