free a bird for good luck
This is a great exhibition of young talent in the city and graphic design, video art, textile, jelwery, painting, printing, grafitti and comics getting married into the holy union of art. Which I don’t believe was birthed by a fat elephant-like Ganesh god. The God of Arts is vast and beautiful beoynd measure and I can see Him a lot around here. http://thejellyproject.com/
Aung San Suu Kyi, leader for Pro democracy movement and Nobel peace Prize winner who has spend more than 13 years under house arrest. (photo is from a local “a day”-magazine)
I’m back from Fang, where we went to shoot an evangelistic video for the Shan people. I talked with a missionary who works in Myanmar (where the majority of Shan people live having no civil rights). To be honest the more I hear about life in Myanmar the more depressed I get. After spending some days of hearing life stories of these people it seems that there is so little hope for the Burmese. All that makes me angry and all that the missionary tells me to pray for is salvation of the souls when I ask how could I pray for these people. I was actually looking for some clues of how the government could be defeated and people would be set free to get proper education and have some more opportunities to build the country. I hear what the missionary is saying but I still feel extremely sad about the situation and it still seems unsolved in my head.
Then I meet Sarah. She is a Shan woman who lives in Myanmar. She is finishing her masters theses on Christian counselling and tells me how she desires to teach the local pastors about Biblical communications. She explains me about the reasons for great depression among especially Shan (and Burmese) women. They are not heard. They get the message that their opinions and feelings don’t matter. – They don’t have a voice.
We talk about the wrong leadership image and hierarchal thinking that dominates the culture and leads people into deep depression while denying their human need for free expression of mind and the sense of self worth that it brings.
Sarah is also a rock singer. She concerts around the Shan state and sings about environmental sustainability and how we have to take care of one another – to love each others.
I think I will pray for more ’Sarahs’.
This week the School of Frontier Media launched their Outreach and a big bunch of them left for the Northern Thailand (Fang) to make an evangelistic film for the Shan people. The rest of the office (including me) will join next them up there week. So now I’m going to be alone in the house for some days…
Today we had our one team member’s wife’s English class (mainly made up of Shan people!!) having a little party. It was funt o get to know them and a little more of their culture. (see a photo below)
The drama of the week was during my little search for an avocado the other night. Apparently it’s the season for the avocados and I woke up with a desire for one which turned out to have sad consequences.. So, I advanced the country road in a hope of finding one (in the dark) and couldn’t find any. I kept going and found myself out of the sight of any landmark or people. It was around the time when I smelled the cows when they appeared on the read followed by this huge troop of street dogs. They were all over me and I cycled like crazy but one of the four following beside me for about 10 minutes had a bite of me. I think my love for dogs has suffered a bit over here. The dogs are just NOT nice here! I might turn into a cat lover (even though it would be sad to admit after all these years that Alle, Tosin and Mao were right about cats and dogs after all…hmmm). Some people here in the team are worried that I might have caugth some serious virus from that dog bite so I think I should visit a doctor tomorrow to settle the situation.
Now it’s the rainy season in Thailand, so it occationally rains a little. I got my bike and I’ve been exploring (=getting lost) the city a lot. It’s pretty exciting. One time on a motorway a big grass-hopper jumped on my lap and travelled with me the next half an hour or so. I still find myself thinking “Where am I!?” every now and then but this place is beautiful and I would have ever thought of coming here so I’m thankful to God for taking me here. I have been reading a book called Ecclesiastes in Bible. It’s very interesting, you should read it if you never did.
I found a petshop along the street. At first I thought the baby bunny had died (they all seemed terribly hot) but after a while Isaw her moving a bit. They didn’t sell rats (as most of you knows I really want one) but they did have hedgehogs for really good price (like 10 euros!).
I guess being in a situation that you feel completely out of control or even out of place really makes you depen on God in a new way. I have also been thinking how little it’s about what I do in life and how much is about who I am. I am a child of God.
When it rains I enjoy worshipping at home with my sketchbook. Love to all.
It’s been one week of Asia for me in my life so far and I’m starting to understand a little how life could be here like. It’s quite a process since I really didn’t plan this at all and the mental picture of Thailand I had was next to not an image at all.
But it feels so fresh. It’s almost like I have been given a new life here and I actually really cherish the freshness of life here right now. It’s funny how surprising life can be! Anyway, here I am typing away under a night sky (and listening Night wish -hah!) motorbikes passing by, nice smells from near by food stalls and exotic trees filling the air. Still with my old laptop. I thought I have to set a funeral for her last Thursday when no power came in but taking it to a comp. doctor only cost me 150 BAH, around 3 euros which gave me a new cable and some more days to live with this oldie. I really need a new one though. I guess Mac Book it should be.
I came here for a mission of course. Or not of course. It seems like this is a spot many pick for a relaxation or some sort of reality escape. I highly recommend! I think this is a great place to relax indeed, and enjoy some luxury (ready served delicious food etc.) inexpensively. It’s so cheap in fact that one loses interest in cooking very quickly. Eating out. That’s what the rest of our team must be doing right now since the office/base is locked and I’m getting eaten alive by the mosquitoes.
So, I came here with YWAM (youth with a mission) to work with a ministry called Create International or in this case Create Thailand. It’s a fantastic ministry. I really love the vision and am looking forward to work for it. Here we have such a great team as well. I think I’m the youngest and there are great professionals with lots of experience to learn from. I think it’s going to be a good year or two.
I am moving to my permanent home (to the base, but really what it is is one office, classroom, kitchen and 3 bedrooms) in two weeks or so, after some students move out. Which I’m quite looking forward to so I don’t eaten by mozzies out here waiting for some one to come and open the door if I want to check my emails or send blog posts etc. Just kidding. The place I live at the moment is really great and just next to the base. I share a room with Myra, a Create friend from Perth Australia where I did the school last January. She is getting married in November and it’s fun to follow her and Jason getting things together for wedding. They get lots of stuff for it here much cheaper. They are great fun too! It’s been such a blessing to have some familiar faces here. So within a week I feel pretty much at home here already, even though my social circles are very small still.
Lots of practical stuff there so I let the pictures tell something about the city.
Everyone who is reading this: I want to invite you to come and visit this place! Chiang Mai is beautiful and I think you would enjoy getting to know the ministries here as well if you care about that sort of stuff. Ok, I will hide my laptop to the garden now, go and get some money and find a place to eat some rice. I got noodles for lunch so it’s going to be rice tonight. I feel so loved by my Dad to be here.
Some of my drawings from the past days from Chiang Mai. I hope they give you a little of the feel. 
the girl that I drew on the room – my first thai person.. and the room is my photo from a super cute book shop, coffee shop. that kind of chair is quite common. so small and cute!!! x) (Okay, the last one may be a bit influenced by The Shack, which is amazing book everyone should read who hasn’t yet.)
”Where do we go from here?”
Today I’m packing my bags again. When I graduated from uni a little over a year ago, I must confess, very little I knew about what kind of journey God is about to take me on. Since leaving England I have lived in Milan Italy, Perth Australia and now I’m moving to Chiang Mai, Thailand!
I have a great tendency to plan life but the past year has taught me to leave things to God and only follow. That is what I’m trying to do now but I must say that I’m definitely asking lots of questions along the way. For how long I am going to stay in Chiang Mai? I don’t know. What can I say? Life is a journey. Some people have more cross roads on their way than others. But we are all on our way.
But I’m overly thankful for the Faithful One who I follow and live for. He is so awesome and totally worth running after! Bless you all and I look forward to post some pics from my new home city. Safe travels and a smooth road every one. x
Kaisa, my twin sister, blue berry picking in our gradparents’ forest. An annual tradition. Another shots from their country house that remains as a memory of the country girl part of me as my parents moved out from the fields (but in reality are still pretty much in woods). I did so much “foresting” this summer.
Can you smell the mint tea on an open fire from a forest?
Now I’m ready to discover a new city and settle for a city life again. Leaving for Chiang Mai in couple of days…. The summer has been good.
this is what I’m going to be part of next…. I’ll keep you posted!!
