Christmas at Passport Cafe and Gallery

Recent pictures as students prepare Passport for Christmas.

Autumn Family Photos from Newfoundland

Building Houses in Burma

When a devastating Cyclone hit Burma (Myanmar) in May reports indicate over 2 million people were made homeless. Countless other suffered serious damage to their homes. These homes, by Canadian standards, were very basic to begin with, and the Cyclone made easy work of them. We have played a small part in repairing homes--48 so far. Working with local churches who helped identify the need and supported by donors in Thailand and abroad, we have been able to repair homes to their original state--still very simple, but consistent with the surrounding community. Here are pictures of a few homes after the cyclone and then repaired.

Children and Youth Learning Centre in the South

In July we opened a Children's Learning Centre and Youth Activity Centre in the tsunami zone of Southern Thailand. Our staff have been working here now for four years, ever since the tsunami occurred. Unsure whether or not we should pull out of the region now that the area has econmically stabilized, we noticed that children and youth were still bearing consequences of that terrible day. Many have lost hope and act out their loss in unhealthy and addictive behaviours. By establishing a permanent centre as an outreach of the local church, we hoped to provide options for the local children and youth. The two centres based in the same location provide English, music and tutoring lessons. There is also computers, ping-pong and other activity options. Nu and Jip are permanent staff (Nu is teaching guitar in the following picture, wearing the headband). Young people also get the chance to discover more about Jesus Christ. In October seven children decided to put their trust in Christ. If you want to know more about the Centres and how you can be involved, let us know.

Team building Camp at Chulalongkorn University

In late August we finished off a twelve week Leadership Course with the Pharmacy Department of Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. The final component of this required course for 188 graduating students is about teamwork. With the help of safety and ropes specialists Stephen and Wendy Chiang from Singapore and additional fifty volunteers we were able to host a two-day "Outward Bound" camp. Students rapelled (absailed) off the Pharmacy building, climbed tires, built tents blind-folded and six other team based activities. The camp was so successful that university student affairs has invited us to provide the same kind of training to the entire student population of 30,000. We are now figuring out how to do that, while at the same time continuing to teach in the Pharmacy Dept. Our material is Biblically-based and focuses on activity based learning. The entire class is divided into small groups which are facilitated by recent graduates and young professionals from our local churches, who take the extra effort to get to know the students and become their friends and mentors.

Passport Cafe and Gallery Opens

In early July Passport Cafe and Gallery officially opened. Since then we have seen lots of students and young professionals come. On average about 200 people come every week for coffee, desserts, hanging out, learning English and exploring Christianity through Alpha. This is our way to connect students on Chula, to provide them with a space they can all their own, and create a platform for personal and community transformation.

When we get back to Thailand we will launch a program based at Passport to motivate, train and send students into places of service around Thailand and Southeast Asia. We call it, iCan, iMust, iWill.

About 75% of the funds needed to cover start up have been raised and our customer base is close to the point where our monthly expenses are carried by sales. Please pray for Passport as we see it being the key in connecting with students and developing the people capacity to impact Thailand.

Introducing Passport Cafe and Gallery

Over the six years that we have been in Bangkok we have seen the need to create some kind of centre to gather students and young professionals from various points of the city to mobilize them for service in their local context and around the country.
That vision now has a name to it--Imagine Thailand--and we are getting ready to open our centre. The centre is actually a Cafe and Gallery, called Passport. In these few photos you see the site before renovations and a portion of our team. Cavelle was taking the picture, so unfortunately she wasn't in it. Opening is the beginning of July. More news to follow!

Burma Cyclone Response Diary (2)

Our convoy of vehicles full of relief and supplies arrived in Yangon on Friday evening without any difficulties. Two of our staff members received a one month visa and they are in Yangon currently to receive the goods. The military has asked to have a “thank you” ceremony on Monday with us to show their appreciation for the supplies. We continue to be amazed at the favour shown to us. So many people have encountered so many obstacles in trying to bring goods into the country, and yet a formal “thank you” ceremony is being held for our team! Even yesterday a Thai/Burmese Pastor was apprehended in Yangon and his relief supplies confiscated. We feel that God has really given us grace and wisdom to find a means of help and hope to the people of Burma and so we are grateful.

We are now working on our second shipment of relief supplies and basic food. We continue to work out the means of distribution of these goods once in Yangon . It seems clear that while Burma remains highly closed to internationals, a Thai person has much more likelihood of being given access. So we are relying heavily on our Thai staff who will be the face, eyes and ears of this operation. Just yesterday the Burmese government gave approval for 30 Thai medical staff to assist on a two week medical mission. In this case, the friendly relations between Thailand and Burma is one of the few things we can celebrate. The Burmese military has increased security in Yangon making it very difficult for people to move goods around or to travel. Foreigners are especially limited.

The situation for 2.5 million people remains desperate. All indications and contacts inside Burma are stating the obvious: many more people will die of starvation and/or disease unless aid is given on a much greater scale. Today the organization “Save the Children” stated that 30,000 children under the age of 5 are currently at risk of starvation.

So we continue to pray. We ask for God to open doors so that assistance can be given to those who need it most. We ask for God to move mountains on behalf of those affected; the poor, the weak, the helpless. We ask for wisdom and discernment in all the steps to come and for Thai people in particular to have a burden to be part of the answer to those in need.

Summer Break

It is summer right now in Thailand. Recently, we had a chance for a bit of a summer holiday. Here are a few photos from that week.

Burma Cyclone Response Diary

Many of you are following the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Burma (Myanmar). Here as the situation in our neighbouring country has only worsened we have prayed to know what we can do. Cavelle joined a UN brief yesterday and you need to understand that any comments you hear on TV are measured. Indeed, as critical as the media has been of the aid response, their reports are relatively more positive than the case warrants. The situation for those cut off from help as absolutely dire. As aid is delayed day after day the situation will only worsen. The area hit by the cyclone was the major rice producing area for this already impoverished nation, and due to the high price of rice, any excess stocks were sold off prior to the storm. This tragedy which is already leaving 24 million people in the dark, 1.5 million homeless and over 100,000 people dead, will soon begin to impact the rest of the country. We can not understate how desperate the conditions are.

What remains particularly disturbing is that help remains stuck here in Thailand. Except for agencies already in Burma using resources they had on stock in country, very little resources have made it to Burma. The UN, the US, and all major aid organizations continue to be refused access. Some agencies are now turning away, frustrated by the inability to act.

Given the situation, we can only consider it a miracle when one of our Thai staff, after calling a Thai businessman, who happened to be a good friend of Burma's top diplomat in Thailand, was invited to meet at the embassy today to discuss a plan for our team to bring in relief supplies. We still are shaking our head, but our team has been given permission to begin bringing supplies in. They have been promised visas early next week, a truck is being prepared and soon they will be on their way to the border and on to Rangoon. We have been promised safe passage, but we do depend on the military to make it safely. This step is not without risks. Our first trip will be cautious, but if once we are confident supplies can get to the cyclone victims, we will bring in additional supplies. Given the few days delay, you understand that what we can do will only help those who survive the next few days. We are small, but God has opened a door closed to most to begin helping. As foreigners we will not enter Burma, only our Thai staff will go. Indeed, this door has been opened because it is Thai people who are making the plea to help. We believe that Thailand, historical enemies of Burma, has a key role in bring help and blessing to this desperate nation.

So we ask you to pray each step of the way. For promises made to be kept. For visas delivered, truck safety, military integrity, and aid reaching those who really need it. Please pray for a confidence building first trip, so we can do more. Please pray that the door will be opened to other agencies, for the need is bigger than any one organization.

If you or your church wish to help support this particular effort, you can do so by donating to ERDO. The website is http://www.paoc.org/missions/emergency-relief and any gifts should be marked as Burma Cyclone. We will keep you posted as this project unfolds. Thank you for your care and prayers,

Peter and Cavelle