Wonderful Whirlwind ABCs (Part 2)

Here we are, continuing the whirlwind of memories from my time in the States.  Although I had a great time, I am glad to be back!

N - Not Forgetting Thai.  One of my strategies for not forgetting Thai was to review with my Thai kid's Bible story book.  It's great because the stories are familiar and the vocabulary is easy (but there are always new words to be found.)  Quiet coffee shops made for great places to do this.  On one occasion, a woman walking by noticed the letters in my book weren't the same as the letters in hers, and I got to share my story. 

O - Outdoors.  In my free time, I got in as many hikes, bike rides, and outdoor adventures as I could.  Lake Tahoe was beautiful on a sunny afternoon, and it started snowing at Frenchman's lake on my way home after a good hike.
                                              Picturesque!  (Oh wait, that would be letter P.)

Lake Tahoe, beautiful even in the winter.

P - Prayer with the ladies at Community Bible Church.  Each week I looked forward to joining the group that faithfully prays for me and many others.  It was a precious time for all of us.

Q - Quiet time.  Even in the busyness, I really enjoyed having my own room/home to sit in the quietness before the Father. Compared to the 14 sisters I lived with (and loved) in Bangkok, it was quite a change.

Zoro Snowman in China

R - Rock Climbing.  While climbing as much in as I could in Reno, I met some new and old friends.  So fun!

S - Snow.  What's that strange white stuff falling from the sky?  (Especially cold coming from 90 degree Thailand weather.)

T - Thai Students.  It was great to practice a bit of my Thai language while some new Thai friends and I made Thai food dinner for 50 people, quite a bonding experience.

Thai noodles, yumm!

U - Unexpected. While living and working overseas has been an idea in my head for many years, I never thought I would be able to say I've lived in Thailand for 2 1/2 years.  In taking some time to reflect on all God has done in and through my life and the life of my team in Thailand I am humbled and in awe of our amazing Father.

V - Vending.  Praise God that about $500 dollars was raised through the selling of the Thai goods that I brought back.  Thank you to everyone who bought items!  This money will be used to support native Thais in continuing to minister and spread God's Word to others in Thailand.

On a drive somewhere between CA and NV.

W - Worthwhile Wonderful Whirlwind - A super busy two months, made worth it by all the fun memories, great conversations, long drives through beautiful western America, and very special time with special people.

X - eXtraordinary.  While I was away, everything in Bangkok continued (of course.)  My amazing team put on an extraordinary Christmas program, sharing the real meaning of Christmas with 80+ people, many of whom had never heard the life-changing message. Also two weeks in December we had Thais preaching on Sunday!  That's definitely moving in the right direction.  Praise God!

LifePoint Bangkok Christmas Program

Y - You.  Yes, you.  Thank you to each person who made time for coffee, invited me over for dinner, or just said "Hi" at church. Thank you also to those I didn't get to visit in person, hopefully there will be another opportunity!

Z - Zipping on as God leads.  One of the questions I got the most was, "How much longer?"  My only answer is, "It's up to God."  I really enjoy the life he's given me in Thailand, and I currently don't have plans to leave.  However, there's nothing etched in stone that says I will be here for the rest of my life.  For now I'll be taking it a year at a time and continue seeking him for direction everyday.

Wonderful Whirlwind ABCs (Part 1)

whirlwind (hwûrlwnd) noun : 2. a confused rush

That's the best word to describe the past couple of months for me.  It has been a wonderful confused rush.  Really wonderful.

A Biasi family tradition is to remember a time by making a summary by choosing a word for each letter of the alphabet.  So here's my alphabet summary:

A - Ahan (Thai for "Food").  Lots of delicious, home-cooked American and Thai food. 

Grandma and me making bagels.

B - Boiling Bagels and Baking pies, cinnamon rolls, cookies, and holiday desserts.

C - China.  A quick stop in China to visit my friend Adrienne was an encouragement to us both.

Downtown Shanghai, China.

D - Decorating for Christmas.  It's been a few years since I have gotten to help put up the Christmas decorations and decorate the tree.  This year reminded me of my kid years of decorating, at almost everything I pulled out of the box, I exclaimed, "Oh, wow, it's so beautiful!  I forgot
about this one!  Look at this!"

E - Elephant, White Elephant.  Christmas at Community Bible Church wouldn't be complete without our White Elephant gift exchange.  Many laughs and another fun experience to share with a few international friends. 

Brother, me and Auntie at Christmas.

 F - Family.  The holidays were made extra special by the fact I got to spend them with my family.

G - Gathering.  Part of Thai culture is to bring small gifts back for your friends when you return from traveling.  This trip I had some special requests: beef jerky, taco seasoning, Almond Joy candies bars, sparkly lip gloss, and snow.  (Yes, I brought some snow back too...in plastic form.)

H - Hosting and Hospitality.  Each was visit special whether I was the host or I was being blessed by the wonderful hospitality of good friends.

First time gingerbread house engineers!

I - International Students.  Trips to the grocery store, mingling with 50+ people for Sunday Dinners, sharing holiday traditions like cutting down a Christmas tree and building gingerbread houses all made for great memories.

J - not Justify Just enJoy.  A relief and praise this visit was the freedom God gave me to enjoy the fact that I have two worlds.  I can enjoy my American world without feeling guilty or like I
have to justify my American home.

K - Kids' Sunday School.  When I got to share about Thailand for the kids' Sunday School class, we learned a few Thai words, about the 10-40 Window, and how the kids can be missionaries in their own city.

L - Life Care.  I got meet many people and share my testimony with the elderly people during the weekly church gathering. 

Taking turns cutting down the tree.

M - Mountains where Christmas trees live!  This was a first for the Chinese and Japanese student we brought along. 

N...

Next week part 2 


Thank you so much for your hospitality while I was in the States.  It was so good to visit with so many friends!

Mango and Sticky Rice

Looking for a cool, summer dessert that uses delicious summer fruit?

Try Mango and Sticky Rice!

My Thai friends were the first to teach me how to make this easy and delicious sweet treat.  At the market we picked up (aka, your shopping list should include)...

 Ingredients:
-1 cup sticky rice (glutinous rice)
-1 cup coconut milk
-1/2 cup water
-pinch of salt
-1/4-1/2 cup sugar (more or less sweet according to your preference)
-1-2 mangoes (or other fresh fruit)

Directions:

Soak the sticky rice for 6-8 hours in a bowl with a lot water (the rice will expand, so make sure your bowl is big enough.)  After soaking, pour out the extra water and rinse off the rice.   While water is boiling in your steamer, place a cheese cloth or muslin cloth on the top part and pour the rice into the cloth.  Cook the rice for about 20 minutes, or until it is translucent and not crunchy.  (If you would rather microwave the rice, see the Microwave Method below.)

Next, heat the coconut milk and water in a sauce pan.  Stir constantly and add the salt and sugar when simmering.  Mix until sugar is dissolved. 

Pour about half the coconut milk mixture into a smaller bowl.  When the rice is cooked, mix the rice into the remaining, hot coconut milk. 

Lastly, peel the mango (or other fruit) and cut it in long, thin slices. 

To assemble, place a scoop of rice on the plate, top with a few slices of fruit and then spoon some of the remaining coconut milk sauce on the top. 







The Microwave Method: Soak the sticky rice for 10 minutes in warm water in a bowl. Soaking the rice is very important. I have tried this method without soaking the rice first and it was disastrous. The rice was undercooked and inedible. The water level should be just above the rice, which comes out to be 1 cup of rice and a little over 1 cup of water (about 10% more). I recommend using a non-plastic container because you may melt the plastic in the microwave. Cover the bowl with a dish and cook in microwave for at full power 3 minutes. Stir the rice around to move the rice from the top to the bottom. You will notice that some of the rice is translucent or cooked and some still has white center or the uncooked portion.

Heat it up again for another 3 minutes. Check and see if it is done. When cooked, all the rice should be translucent. If it needs more cooking, I recommend heating up and checking every 3 minutes or so. How long it takes to cook really depends on your microwave. (Microwave Method from www.thaitable.com)

Enjoy!  (We all sure did!)

Truth in the Characters

My time in China was luxurious:  hot showers, a kitchen to cook in, cool weather, and playing with a dog that didn't have flees.  (I'm easy to please.)  I figured out how to make the most of the two woks available.  Who knew pizza, enchiladas, and apple pie are all feasible in a wok?!

Spending some time in China also caused me to appreciate some of my Thai luxuries.  In Thailand, I don't have to wonder...

What can I say?
How should I phrase it?
Who might be listening? 
What Christian words shouldn't I use?
Who might understand?
What trouble might I cause for those here after me?

The reality is, a lot of Christ-followers in China live with these questions everyday.  It's a delicate balancing act of being bold yet wise.

However, Christ is and has for centuries been, making himself known even without spoken words.  Over 100 Chinese characters have biblical connections.  For example, every time someone writes boat he is writing vessel, eight, people.  Remember the big boat God had Noah build?  Yep, there were eight people aboard.

My favorite example is the word to create.  It comes from speak, dust/mud, life, walk.  In four works, that's what God did.  Spoke everything into being, created man from dust, gave us life, and caused us to walk.   

The Chinese language is one of the oldest written languages.  Could the language's original writers have known the great truths that we desire today's Chinese to know?

Praise God for the many ways he is making himself known in this country! 

More pictures!

 Getting out of the city was refreshing.  Look at those mountains! 

 Beautiful trails, streams and waterfalls were just an hour and a half bus ride away.  

My hiking buddies.  

 A Chinese friend, my "little sister," taught me how to make some traditional dishes from Ningbo, China. 

They were delicious!  But the snails (bottom bowl) tasted better if you didn't look at them first.  :)

A day and a half in Shanghai... a lot of people, great subway system, and big buildings.

 Shanghai also has an awesome aquarium.  (Great for rainy days!)

 Taz and I spent a lot of quality time together.  She opened many conversations or at least smiles and "Hello" with people in the apartment complex. 

The river was a great place to walk, pray, and see what life looks like in China.  A lot of fishing and washing goes on in this river that leads to the ocean. 

 Other people spend their days working in vegetable gardens that line the river. 

 A number of temples can be found in the area.  Some people are Buddhist, others, I'm told, just "believe in themselves."

About that statement regarding pizza, enchiladas, and apple pie in a wok...it's all about doing things in steps.  First, I made the tortillas in one wok while the filling was cooking in another.  Then, while I was putting them together, I started cooking the enchilada sauce.  I poured the sauce over the top, sprinkled with cheese, and placed one wok on top of the other (like a lid).  I cooked them on low until everything was melted and bubbly.  Yum!

 On the not rainy days, this old town is a perfect place to visit. 

The town has all sorts of traditional food to try, including stinky tofu...

why people like to eat things that smell bad, I still don't know. 

A great visit got me my new visa and left much more to be explored in this beautiful country.

Flood Relief

As much as I would like to say relief from the flood is in sight, some predict the water take 4-6 weeks to drain from people's homes in northern Bangkok.  As long as we can, we'll be helping in whatever way we can.  Today it looks like packing food to be taken to those in need.

The work began before the sun was up so that everything would be finished for a team to take it out by 10 a.m.

We bagged rice from about 7 pots this size.  It seemed to be never-ending for a while, but with many hands to help, the work was fun.  

 Each day has had a different menu. Today it was rice and fried pork.  Some of the bags got brownies too!

 A Koren news channel from Bangkok came to interview a few people and find out what we were doing.  If anyone is watching the news in Bangkok, look for my smiling face!  :)

 The pork was cooked outside.  (Usually there's no brick wall there, but it was built in front of the church in case the water comes this way too.  Climbing over it in a skirt to go to church yesterday was...interesting.)

After the pork was cooked, BJD students put it in bags to go with the rice. 

Tomorrow...

Prep for tomorrow's food has already begun.  We'll begin cooking and packing again at 6 a.m. tomorrow.

Outside, things look different...

 Our area is prepared, with many stores sandbagging their front windows and doors.  

Many places have gone to the extent of building new walls to guard the water.  For a few weeks, professional wall builders (a.k.a. anyone with bricks and mortar) was busy.

 

 Some people are sure it will come, others are beginning to doubt it will reach our area.  This 7-11 is prepared on the outside.  Inside, the isles are bare except for the odd things people don't want a lot of, and there's no guarantee bottled water will be available. 

In northern Bangkok, the reality of the flood is much more tangible. A few guys from my team went to help last week and will probably go again this week.