"The Day to Thank God"

That's what today is called in Thailand at our church. It's really just an American holiday, but we all celebrated at our church plant in Thailand while I was there. It's crazy to remember that day from this location. My first year, I volunteered myself as a su-chef (assistant cook) to one of my teammates. Since I can't cook much alone, I thought I could help others more able. Yet my teammate can still regret accepting my help when I poured the ketchup all over her cookbook she's had since her wedding! Then, after cleaning that up, we sat around the tables all together to celebrate. Good Thai food, American Thanksgiving food (minus the turkey), and a whole lot of people from everywhere that happened to be in town. Missionaries from the North, a short-term team from the Philippines, we missionaries, and the Thai staff. What a good time. I pray that party is getting larger this year as our church grows with believers and seekers. Remember to pray for them as you sit around your tables this Thanksgiving. Pray also for those serving overseas that aren't home to celebrate with family! I thank God for my family that I'm home to celebrate with. Mom and I leave tomorrow for West Virginia to see my granddad whom I haven't seen in like 10 years. Happy Thanksgiving!

New Song about Thailand

I was given this CD by a supporter that heard two missionaries speak about their work in Thailand. The words touch deep into my soul and my yearning for the people of Thailand. I hope you will forgive the length of this post, and enjoy and join in the prayer this man wrote for the Thai people.

Rain falls but the land remains a desert.
The people smile while sadness fills their hearts.
The sun shines as darkness covers the nation.
While freedom rains, captive souls starve.

Lord, I long for them to know your mercy.
And you long for them to receive your love.
For lives that are barren and thirsty,
are only quenched by your waters above.

Rain your love on the people of Thailand.
Pour your Spirit in their hearts.
Shower them with your living water.
Let them see your face, know your grace,
Show them who you are.

Men robed in unrighteousness mock the truth.
While people quote them fear, they search for peace.
Bowing to idols they seek new life,
But their worship only sounds a hopeless plea.

Lord, I long for them to know your goodness.
And you long for them to take your hand.
As the rains fall from your holy heavens,
bringing life to this barren land.

Rain your love on the people of Thailand.
Pour your Spirit in their hearts.
Shower them with your living water.
Let them see your face, know your grace,
Show them who you are.

How can they receive what they never heard?
How can they hear unless we preach?
For your name to be glorified in all the earth,
we must take your living water to the weak.

Rain your love on the Kingdom of Thailand.
Jesus, come and reign in their hearts.
Shower them with your living water.
Let them see your face, know your grace,
show them who you are.

Jesus, come, reign in their hearts.

I am thankful for....

As I travel home tomorrow to begin celebrating Thanksgiving with my extended family, I'm so thankful to be "home." Though life right now is confusing, I need to see what blessings this year at home have given me. Here's a few.

-being home to eat turkey.
-the everyday experience of being with family.
-the fantastic season of Autumn.
-the helpful perspective of the mission field from here.
-being home to celebrate my friends' birthdays.
-the love of my church family here.
-watching my nephew play soccer.
-meeting all my friends' new babies.
-seeing the faces of those who pray for me.
-my grandmothers' quilts
-my car...I missed being able to drive.
-wearing sweaters and socks.
-even more awareness of God's control over all of my days for His glory!

Translating Waitresses

Great presentation tonight. You'll be surprised what sort of information I was able to give out tonight besides sharing about what God's doing in Thailand. After the presentation, one guy came up to me to share about his experience at their local Thai restaurant. He likes to order his Thai food without rice. Each time after he orders that, he hears the waitress telling the cooking staff, "my cow." Not understanding them, the man wasn't sure if they were saying something bad or what. So, he asked me. I was able to reassure him that the waitress is saying "no rice" in the Thai language. She wasn't saying anything bad about his cow or his order. I'm glad to be of service. I think a few of us from that church are all going to go out for Thai food soon.

Aside from that, I love being a missionary for this church. They have always prayed so faithfully for me over the years. They knew my face. They remembered when I came to speak two years ago. They prayed for Thailand when I finished the presentation. I know, without a doubt, they will remember to keep me in their prayers. How blessed am I to have such amazing prayer warriors.

Nong is a Christian!!

Nong is one the left, and Pawn, is on the right.


I'm feeling like the angels in heaven who rejoice when one person believes in Jesus! Our friend, Nong, became a Christian yesterday. Kieow just sent me an email full of the news. Nong just received Christ as her Savior! Nong said one day, "I believe in God but I didn't invite Jesus to come into my heart, I want to know him more then I can trust him and put my life in his hands." Then I gave her a booklet that explained about God and humans and what Jesus had done for us, and how to receive Jesus Christ as Her Savior. Today when we had devotion time together she asked me "If I believe in God can I help my husband and my brother when they want to "Tom boon"(Buddhist thing) for their parents who already pass away. Well, I said "You mean you already received Christ as your Savior? Then she said "Yes, I have." Praise the Lord.!!

Nong is a leader in the Mahathai slum community, a member of our handicraft ministry, and a good friend of mine. I could just share for a whole page about her story. Please do pray for her as she steps out in her new faith. Pray for her as she expresses her faith to her family, her husband and her brother.

Ming had her Baby!

My friend, Ming, in Thailand had her new baby girl a couple months ago. She just sent me pictures! We began as friends when I was her English teacher, but now she says we are sisters. It's an honor to be emailed pictures. I was able to send her some baby clothes, to help celebrate.
Fai is the second of her two daughters, the first named Fan Fan.

Moving Forward

I am often in Thailand in my dreams. This recent image of our neighborhood was taken by a new intern on our Thailand team, Krystle. You can find her blog on this list in the right column. She and another intern, Sarah, have joined the team for the year. Praise God because it came at a great time to keep our English school in operation with teachers.

My team leader wrote me yesterday asking of my anticipated target date to return to the field. I have received 53% of my monthly pledges needed to return. We are optimistic and thankful for God's provision so far. Please pray alongside me for others that are interested in partnering with my ministry there regularly. As I pray in this season of settling-in as well looking forward, God continues to give me clear signs of his calling to keep moving forward. God desires for me to be there, bringing the Gospel to His people that don't know him yet. I would love for you to be there with me, whether working alongside of me or supporting me from here. (I'll get you a picture with an elephant if you go with me!)

Blog Changes

After two years, maybe the blog needs a new look. What do you think? Should I keep fiddlin'?

What NOT to Store for 2 Years

I am still working through my storage from the last two years. Today I pulled out an old hamper with some cute stuffed animals I've collected over the years. I found a little green frog that holds a heart saying "You Are Special." I can't remember where I got that. I pushed the heart to make it sing a song. The song sounded strained and went on for two minutes 'til I shook it to make the pitiful thing stop. That battery is dying. Don't keep old singing stuffed animal frogs, ok?

Highlights on the Road

Hailing from Charlotte today. Last night, I gave a presentation to a small group at the church I grew up in. What a blessing to see the faces of people that have helped raise me since I was in first grade.

My parents were able to come to my presentation last night. What a blessing! My mom said she was able to understand a lot more of what I was doing from that. My dad was so happy to see me present, on the way home he stopped at Wal-Mart to buy me a laser pointer! "Can't have my daughter pointing at a screen with her hand when she could have a laser pointer for only $2!," he said. I have been encouraged to share the tough parts of being a missionary during these presentations too. One of the toughest parts is being away from my family for so long. I got teary-eyed sharing that while my parents were in the room. They did too. But more than anything, that showed them how much it hurts me too to be away from them. I'm so thankful that God provided that opportunity last night.

On a funny note, I received a normal question over church dinner, "Did you enjoy the Thai cuisine while there?" Yet one friend of mine added, "especially the special dish called....CAT!" Everyone likes to ask if Thais eat dog and cat. :)

Left Out Pancake Mix

I have left out my pancake mix for three days now. Open and sitting on the counter. At first, it was because I had no container or closing thingamajig. But then it felt like freedom. No bugs?! No bugs after a minute, after five, after a whole night, after 3 days??? In Thailand, a constant line of ants go from the wall down the floor and to the trash can. If I leave anything on the table, ants are on it in less than a minute.

Remarks on my Age

While visiting churches recently, I've had some interesting reactions.

"Honey, you look ten years old. How do your parents feel about you being a missionary?"

"What are you at this Missions Conference for? Are you a missionary kid?"

In case you are one of the above surprised that I am older than ten years old, I'm celebrating the big 3-0 coming up in February!

Beetles, Lizards, and Squid...

...the three essential parts of any presentation about Thailand to children. What a fun evening! I drove to a Missions Conference in Denver, NC to get acquainted with that church and speak to the children. Here's some comments made by them as I went through my slides...
Melanie: What do you see missing in this picture? I am trying to help them see the kids are in the truck going to church without their parents.
Kids: Seatbelts!


Melanie: This is a type of bug found in Thailand. I'm thinking I know more than them, which is always the wrong assumption.
Kids: That's a rhinocerus beetle! We have those in North Carolina.

Melanie: Last week, this is what my neighborhood looked like. In Thailand, a lot of rain came at once and flooded the streets.
Kids: Thai people must all know how to swim!

Really, I thank God for helping me communicate God's heart for the nations to those kids. It was a blessing to me and them. May they know the power they have to pray for the world and to share with their friends the hope they have in Jesus.

Purses from Thailand

For all of you early Christmas shoppers, there's a high possibility I'll be receiving a big box of purses from Thailand arriving soon. You will LOVE them. They are made by our handicraft ministry providing employment for women from the slum community that we love. Prices range from $4 to $20+. They will be at the One-Stop Christmas Shop at Trinity Church in Asheville on November 21 from 10am-4pm. And if you won't be there but want some, I could put you on my list. If you bought these awesome purses, you would be giving back instead of just getting! And they are made by some of my bestest of friends on the other side of the world. What better reasons to buy these! We also have a small amount of handmade cards and sunglass cloth cases too!

Notice for Future Potlucks...

Let the missionaries not go first in line. I was in line first today with another missionary from France. It was a potato bar with soup and a salad sort. I almost put my soup on my potato! The missionary beside me laughed, and excused me to the group by saying, "It's understandable, they don't have anything like this in Thailand!...." And I added, "Or in France!"

Ok, yes, I should know the difference between the potato bar and soup. But having just got back in the country can make my normally hilarious behavior excusable in some crowds. :)

New Typing Lessons

I have been practicing my new typing skills lately. With just a few buttons, I added a new language to my laptop's keyboard. Now, I can switch between typing in English and Thai. If I have a print-out beside me of which Thai letters go to which keys, I can practice typing. Because there are 44 letters, each key has two letters on it, so the shift key is used a lot. Now I can communicate with all my friends in Thailand who don't speak English very well. Sometimes if I wake up early, I can even catch them on Facebook chat.

News Tidbits from our Thai Church

I enjoy receiving news tidbits from Thailand and passing them on to you. Nat (pictured above) publicly professed her faith in Christ three weeks ago in front of our church there and became a member! Woohoo! She is a college student who lives in the Youth with a Mission dormitory. Nat regularly helps our worship band at church and is part of our Christian club at the neighborhood university. Praise God!

This morning I chatted with Pat, our present intern pastor at our Thai church, on Facebook chat. He is currently also working on his Master of Divinity at the local bible college. He shared with me that our church is growing significantly with many people excited to learn about the Bible. Pat still loves preaching and leading small groups during the week.

Please keep our church in your prayers. (If you pray on Saturday nights, it'll be the time of worship service on Sunday mornings in Thailand.)

Fear of Dogs

While running today, I decided to explore my new neighborhood since I've finally stood still for at least a week and a half. As I ran around a new street, this dog was in his yard and came running toward me. Melanie of two years ago would have kept running, said hi to the dog, and went on her merry way. Melanie of today stopped, stood still, and tried to look not afraid. I have been conditioned.

If you don't remember my stories, Thailand has MANY stray street dogs. You cannot jog down the street. (Even if you did, you would look wierd. Everyone uses the parks.) One day there, I tried to run in my teammates' neighborhood, thinking that would be better. Two dogs saw me as a threat and started running after me barking ferociously and biting at my heels. I had to stop running completely not to be seen as a threat. And quite a few dogs in Mahathai were scary too. So, now I have a healthy fear of dogs. (Ok, maybe a little unhealthy.)

Cultural Insight: For those of you desiring to know, stray dogs exist all over Bangkok on the roads because of the Thai people's belief in Karma. That dog, they believe, used to be person. He did something wrong in his last life and reincarnated as a dog. If the people treat these dogs badly, their bad Karma might make them reincarnate as something worse than a human in their next life. Therefore, the dogs are left on the streets to fend for themselves.

Behind on the Slang

Today I was talking with two different friends when they used a slang word that I didn't know, "cougar." I had to ask what it meant! A cougar is like an older woman going for a guy half her age. I then tried to use it in a sentence and they both looked at me and started laughing. I felt like my mother when she tries to use the word "cool." It just doesn't sound right coming out of her mouth (no offense, Mom). I'm behind on the times having been in Thailand. It's not like the fifth graders using words I didn't know. These are people my age!

Flooding in Thailand!

The intersection a block from my old house. How can the motorcycles even drive??
Gives new meaning for using the bus stop seats while waiting for the next bus.
Transportation was rough. The far right truck is public transportation.
My team loading 100 bags up around my team leader's house to keep back the flooding. The furniture was already on cement blocks.

While I've been absent from blog writing for the last month, a lot has been happening in Thailand. Two to three feet of rain came down on our little neighborhood on the perimeter of Bangkok! Schools were cancelled. Transportation was tough. In the Mahathai community, at least one family moved into the community center because they could no longer live in their home. The rain has stopped, but it left lots of devastation. Please pray for God to be evident through His church at work in the community during this tough time.

Missionaries on the field, Tim Mills and Mary Randolph, are thanked for the photos.