On the Move

It seems like we just started to get to know our new Burmese friends and it was time to say our good-buys. As we were taking our final photographs I was touched that they all wanted to take a photo with me. The students each took turns standing beside me for a shot. I hope that one day I can have the privilege of visiting them in their villages and document the work they are doing.

The ASAP team decided that they wanted a photograph together and asked me to step into the shot as well. I am honored that they consider me a part of their team.



We said our farewells and headed to the airport in Chiang Rai for the short flight to Bangkok. Here the ASAP team split up for a few days. Martin and Leanna went on to Siem Reap, Judy, Mary Ann and Debbie went to Mision College, north of Bangkok, and I stayed in Bangkok. I had a mission to accomplish. I needed to get a Business Visa for Myanmar in one day. Going the normal route to get a visa for Myanmar, they ask you to send your passport to the Myanmar embassy in Washington, DC. They say, “please allow one month for the return of your Visa and passport.” Who can be without their passport for a whole month? The ADRA office recommended a better option. They have a guy in Bangkok who has developed a relationship with the officers at the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok and have worked out a way to get the visa in one day.

I arrived at the ADRA Regional office in Bangkok at the appointed time and began to fill out the forms. I think that this has got to be the hardest part of my job for me -filling out the forms. Is there such a thing as formaphobia? I bit the bullet and sat down at a desk and did my best. Some of the things I had to leave blank for the guy to help me with. Eventually he showed up at the office and we worked through some rough spots and then took the skytrain to the Embassy .



Within two hours I had a Business visa for Myanmar!

After leaving the embassy I decided to pay a visit to my favorite shopping center in Bangkok, the Pantip Market. I call it the “best men’s store, ever”... Five whole floors of nothing but electronics! Ironically, they did not have what I was primarily looking for, a special professional grade of Mini DV Tape. The trend in video cameras these days is going tapeless, and Bangkok seems to be ahead of the curve on this. “Oh sorry sir, finished!”, was the response I got in every store I asked for tape. Oh well, I’ll just have to try and be conservative in my shooting and make the 45 tapes that I have left last as long as I can.


With my visa secured in one day, I decided to get to the airport early to see if I could get an earlier flight to Siem Reap. As it turned out there was plenty of seats on the first flight out and I was in the Siem Reap Airport by 9:00AM. I was amazed to see the beautiful new addition to the airport. I couldn’t help but remember what this airport had looked like in 1994, the first time that I flew in on an old Russian plane. It was a time when the country was occupied by UN peace Keeping forces and the Khmer Rouge was still active through-out the country. We could hear the explosions of war in the fields surrounding the old frontier town. Cambodia and Siem Reap have come a long way in 15 years!


I like to be on the move but Siem Reap is one of my favorite places on the planet to stop! I am so thankful that ASAP has asked me to spend a week with them here to film stories about the church planters, bible workers and literacy teachers that they sponsor here. Next week is Camp meeting week for the Cambodia mission and about 2,000 Cambodian Adventist are going to descend on the SALT school/orphanage grounds about 6 kilometers outside of town. To make things even more interesting ASAP has invited a group of about 20 volunteers from America to come and provide medical services to the church members who have come.

I spent the day running errands and wondering the streets getting shots.



Siem Reap is World famous for the amazing temple ruins that are close to town. It brings in thousands of tourists every week, and this town has really developed rapidly! Beautiful new hotels are springing up every year, and restaurants, specializing in a variety of world cuisines, abound. My favorites are the delightful sidewalk cafes and upper lofts.



After enjoying fruit shakes at a place called the Blue Pumpkin, that had an “upper room” where people were taking their leisure in very comfortable seating that was much more like a huge long bed then it was a sofa, we made our way over to a restaurant called “The Dead Fish”.



This has got to be the most unique place that I have ever eaten. In one corner they have live crocodile that you can feed, before enjoying your own meal.



I think the waiter got quite a chuckle that we had come to the Dead Fish, but all ordered tofu in our dishes.

Later tonight we are headed out to the airport to pick up the group from America who are all coming in on the same 11:30PM flight. Martin wants to do “Man on the Street” interviews, otherwise I would be fast asleep. 11:30 is WAY past my bedtime!

Natural Home Remedies

February 3, 2009

Over the last couple of days I have had my Western worldview challenged. As a third- generation Adventist who has spent many years studying the doctrinal belief system and the historical development of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, I am quite familiar with the emphasis the young church placed on healthful living and the use of simple natural treatments for sickness and disease. Most Adventists are aware of the eight laws of health laid down by the "pioneers" of the Church: Exercise, Sunshine, Fresh Air, Rest, Temperance, Proper use of water inside and out , Proper Nutrition, and trust in Divine power. Many members endeavor to follow the principles outlined by these health guidelines, especially when they start to feel sick. But now that over 120 years have passed since these principles were outlined, and science and medicine have advanced beyond what could possibly have been imagined, one might wonder to what extent we should follow the proscribed treatments that went along with this health-reform movement of the 1880’s. Books on Adventist history are ripe with fascinating stories of the early health-reform movement and the establishment of rural Sanitariums where people from the city could come find respite from their stressful lives, learn the eight laws of health and receive simple natural treatments for their illnesses. In addition to eight tall glasses of pure water a day, many inventive external uses of water were used to stimulate the circulation of the blood and promote the body’s natural immune system. This, combined with a simple diet and the prayer of faith for healing, was the primary approach used to treat the sick.

Those who know me will testify that I am not a big fan of the pharmaceutical industry or doctors who freely proscribe. I only visit my doctor if I feel that I am close to death’s door, and about the only way that you would find me in a hospital bed is if I was unconscious. However, even with these reservations, I have to admit that I have a certain respect for the overall advancement that we have made in science and medical treatment over the last 120 years and am inclined to believe that at least some of the methods developed have got to offer new solutions that go beyond water treatments! Can 1880's philosophy on health and disease have much relevance today? If a child is close to death from pneumonia , are we comfortable with hot fomentations, cold compresses and a prayer, or do we need to get them into the hospital? If someone has appendicitis, do we not rush them to the ER?

What if you live in the jungle, many days walk to the nearest hospital , with no money to pay for the treatment once you arrive? What if you are training medical missionaries to go work and live in these remote communities? Do 1880 methods and trust in Divine Power start to sound good again?

This is the dilemma faced by ASAP as it trains young people to go out into the remote villages to work with people suffering from a variety of sickness and disease. People in poor countries have come to put a lot of faith in Western medicine and will often sell their possessions, rice fields and sometimes their children to seek surgery, drugs or some other treatment at the hospitals in the city, in an attempt to get well. Often all they need is some simple health education, a change in diet, sanitation, pure water, and the use of simple natural treatments along with an introduction to the healing power of their Creator.



Meet Yohan. He was one of the students that had come to the training seminar. For the last ten years he has been working in a remote village in Burma as a teacher, for a stipend of only $30/month. The plan was for him to gain the confidence of the children and parents and eventually introduce them to Christianity. Last year he was invited to become a Church Planter, sponsored by ASAP. Over the last year his efforts have been blessed and he has had a number of baptisms!

Just prior to coming to the training seminar, Yohan became ill with severe abdominal pain. He went to the hospital where he received a number of tests, with no conclusive results. They gave him some medicine for the pain and told him to come back in two weeks for more tests. While the drugs masked the pain enough for him to come to the seminar, they could not resolve the cause. By the third day of training, he was in so much pain that he could no longer concentrate on the lessons.

Dr. Mary Ann examined him and decided to demonstrate simple home treatments on him, as a way to show the students how effective they can be. A hot foot bath was prepared and a cold cloth was applied to his head and face.



Then, using a paste made from charcoal, a poultice was applied around his abdomen, to draw out and absorb the toxins that were giving him the pain.





This was followed by prayer for healing and the anointing of oil, as instructed in scripture.



Within 30 minutes his pain subsided and by the next morning it was gone! Yohan was back taking notes, happy and thankful to be alive! A walking, smiling, enthusiastic answer to prayer and a strong testimony for the use of simple, natural treatments.

So what was at work here? Does charcoal really have the ability to cure serious illnesses? Is the black paste an equivalent to Jesus’ use of clay to heal? Is it God’s way to have people co-operate with Him in the healing process? Or was it the prayer and anointing of oil that was the source of the miraculous recovery for Yohan?

Mary Ann says, from her many years of experience in using these methods on countless patients, that it is a combination of everything that brings the healing. It is the faith of the patient, the attendees, the power of God, the simple treatments, the anointing of oil, that all work together to heal. The use of simple substances such as charcoal and oil, rather than surgery and drugs, ensures that all glory goes to the Creator! The process strengthens faith in God rather then doctors or human means.



The experience of answered prayer, especially as it related to the healing of one of God’s workers in Myanmar, a member of our team, brought a sense of closeness to the group. We all rejoiced that Yohan was feeling great and praised God for the evidence of His personal concern with our lives. Some of the more skeptical in our group were certainly given opportunity to reconsider the importance and value of the health message of our fathers, and the mighty power of prayer!

A Glimpse of Burma

February 1, 2009

ASAP staff, Martin and Leanna Kim asked me if I would be interested in going over to Burma for a quick tour of the town on the other side of the river. I was skeptical that we would be able to get a visa to get across, but they assured me that tourists were going across all the time. I agreed to at least go to the border crossing with them to see what all was involved in the process. If it was going to take up a page in my passport, or cost $50 for the visa I would let them go on and be content to get some shots from the Thai side.

As it turns out , a system has been set up to encourage tourists to come on over and spend their money in the stalls that have been set up, on the other side. Even though the trinkets, watches and pirated music and videos are pretty much all the same, as found in the stalls on the Thai side, tourists still pour over the border every day. My guess is that the intrigue of having “visited” Myanmar, is the real draw for most backpackers touring the world.




After getting stamped out of the Thai side, we walked across the bridge to enter the Myanmar Immigration office. As It turns out they did not take up a page in my passport, they simply took my passport! They photographed us and printed out a temporary visa and gave it to us in exchange for a $10 fee. They would hold our passports for us until we returned. Good plan! It was unlikely that any backpackers would drift off into the countryside, leaving their passports in some border office!

We made our way into the market and were delighted to come across a long line of monks who had just finished their rounds, collecting rice from the stall owners.



I wasn’t sure what they were lining up for, but I took advantage of the opportunity and started taking shots. In Myanmar it is generally expected that every male will spend at least one year in a monastery. Many get that over with when they are young.

As I moved down the line it became clear what the cue was about. Each monk was depositing the rice that they that they had collected into a large pot, presided over by, what looked like, some military official. “What are they doing? It’s their rice! They collected it!”, I heard Leanna exclaim.



Presumably this big rice pot would make its way back to the monastery without too much skimmed off the top!



After exiting the market we hired some moto taxis to take us around town. We got high enough above the town to take shots of the beautiful mountainous countryside with a magnificent golden Pagoda in the foreground.



Because of all of the buildings that surround us, This is the mountain that I can’t see from my cottage resort!



We decided to head on down to take a closer look at the pagoda. Martin, getting into the culture, rang a bell for good luck. He even thought about buying a bird to set free, but Leanna discouraged the idea.




We spent the next hour or so driving around town looking for shots. Leanna found some kids hiding under some palm leaves. I am not sure if they were playing hide and seek, or hiding from us.



But they popped up long enough for a shot.



A stop by the local cemetery was interesting to me. There was a Christian section where all the tombstones had crosses on them and then there was a Buddhist section where the tombstones took the shape of pagodas or interestingly enough, small houses!










A cute young girl was waiting with her family by the cemetery and I couldn’t resist taking the shot. I hope that I was not disturbing a family in mourning!



All too soon our time was up and we needed to get back to camp. It was a nice taste of things to come for me and I am looking forward to my two week stint into Myanmar where I will be visiting the projects of ADRA, and hopefully a visit out to the villages that received emergency relief after last year’s devastating cyclone.

Churches of Concrete

“Frank, would you like to visit a Lahu village for church on Sabbath?”, Judy asked. Judy Aitken is the director of ASAP. I have visited many villages throughout Cambodia, Thailand and Laos with her over the last eight years, filming stories and getting great shots. I especially enjoy visiting the remote ethnic villages that ASAP has a work in, to film worship services in primitive bamboo churches. There is something unique and refreshing about people worshiping God in such a warm and natural setting. I responded with an enthusiastic, “Yes!”. Anything to get out of our cloistered “resort” that was hiding the beautiful mountains that were all around us.

Pastor Phamore drove us the 120 Kilometers out to the village and it was a good opportunity for me to ask him some questions about his life and make a pitch for me to come do a documentary about his work with the Karen refugees. I think that he remains skeptical about the effectiveness of video as he mentioned that he has been interviewed by 3ABN twice before in the past and that it has not brought him any new supporters… No wonder he didn’t answer my email last December when I first proposed the idea but I believe that I now have him on board and we are setting dates for me to come to the camps. We are discussing about whether or not to cross over the river to the Burma side into what he calls, “no man’s land”. This is where it is so remote, accessible only by foot, that the Burmese army rarely comes, and so some Karen choose to live. Pastor Phamore has taken the opportunity to build schools for the children there. The problem is, he said, “If the soldiers come, you would have to disappear into the jungle for a couple of weeks!”. I am afraid that I just don’t have that kind of time! I would miss my shoot in Laos! So, I am thinking that we will probably only go to the camps on the Thailand side.


After almost two hours of driving, we finally arrived at the Lahu village, tucked away in a beautiful mountainous setting. Unfortunately for me, and my cameras, some well-meaning volunteers from Australia had come and built the villagers a nice concrete block church!

Is it wrong to be sad that people have a nice church to worship in? I took off my shoes and made my way into the dark church to do the best I could to get some shots. The video camera did alright in the low light, and the concrete actually made the acoustics great for the various choir groups that performed for us.






The lovely harmony was inspirational!

During the sermon I slipped away to take a walk around the village and as I did I noticed quite a large concrete Baptist Church also in the village. I could see how if the Adventists were going to compete here, they probably needed more then bamboo!


Pastor Phamore, Judy and Dr. Mary Ann McNeilus all too their turn at saying a few words to the people.







After the service was over, we passed out oranges and other treats to the members and the children. They seemed very glad for our visit.

After the crowd had dispersed, we made our way over to the home of the lay pastor who is sponsored by ASAP. I knew what was coming…. the big dilemma of whether or not to eat out in the villages. On the one hand, you don’t want to offend your host who has taken special effort to prepare a meal for you, on the other hand do you want to risk spending the next two days close to a toilet? We had brought some of our own fruit along with bread and peanut butter. The choice would be a last minute decision. When the food was brought out to the small round bamboo table, it looked so delicious that we could not resist. We all took our fill with no ill effects!


This photo was taken after the meal was over and all that was left was a variety of fruit for dessert. It was the royal treatment from a poor family and we were grateful!

After lunch we interviewed the church planter, for possible use on the ASAP video for next year.

In the prayer requests that followed, the lay pastor asked for special prayer for his wife who had been diagnosed with a tumor of some kind in her abdomen.
After prayer, Dr. Mary Ann took the woman into another room for an examination.

While the group continued to visit with the family I slipped away to look for some kids that I could shoot.






All in all, a wonderful day out in the villages!

Hash Brown Deluxe!

January 30, 2009

I love being out on the shoot! Editing is OK, and there is a certain sense of satisfaction in completing a project and getting it into the Fedex box. But the shoot is where it all happens for me! Editing is predictable, tedious and boring. I wake up, make the short commute down the hall to my edit suite and begin a day of endless, mind-numbing edit decisions, with the stroke of a mouse. Whereas, when I am out on the shoot, I wake up to the crow of a rooster, in an exotic location, where I can step out into the world and experience life! Anything can happen! I spend the whole day capturing the beauty of people, places and the icons of culture. I record the story of people living lives with challenges we can’t imagine! I put a mic on people who for a few minutes lift a veil into a life-experience we have only read about.

Today I interviewed people who have lived their whole life in Burma. Even though I could tell that they were being very guarded about what they said, for fear that the video may be seen by government representatives of Myanmar, it was still fascinating to read the story written into the faces of a people that have experienced so much!

I learned that the Adventist church began in Myanmar in 1905 when two colporteurs came over from India and found two Baptist ladies who were keeping the Sabbath because of their own study of scripture. With the help of other missionary legends such as Eric B Hare, the church experienced growth and today there is a membership of 28,000 throughout the country. As far as Christians go, Adventists have a good working relationship with the military government. There are restrictions in place such as limited evangelism, but the government appreciates the Adventist lifestyle and for the most part allows for freedom of worship.

My day ended in delight as I was given the opportunity to make my famous hash brown deluxe! The idea was that I would make enough for the whole group to have a taste, but the huge batch took so long to cook in the wok that by time it was ready to serve up, the students had finished eating and had departed to their evening meeting. Still, a good portion of the wok-full was consumed and by all accounts enjoyed, by the foreigners that were still there!



I doubt that I will see it again while I am here, but for tonight, all is well with my world!

They Eat Rice for Breakfast!

January 29, 2009

One of the most frustrating things about international travel is jet lag. I maintain that it is more than just the time difference. I have a theory that every cell in your body is in shock from suddenly being transplanted to a whole new orientation to the magnetic poles of our planet! Going from the Eastern Time Zone in the US to Thailand has got to be the worst that it can get. It is a total 12 hour switch for your body to try and adapt to. Imagine being totally exhausted and not able to sleep! I woke up about 12:30, tossed and turned for about an hour and finally gave up. Opening my computer I began to write. I waxed eloquent on some big philosophical question for a couple of hours before drifting off to sleep, computer in hand. I wonder if I had a Eureka moment in there somewhere… I’ll have to go check what I wrote some time…

Interesting thing about Southeast Asia, for those who have never been…. they eat rice for breakfast! Then again for lunch… and one more time before they retire! Now some of you may think that is great, because you like rice, and can never get your fill. I, on the other hand, find that rice comes very close to stimulating my gag reflex, each time I partake. To make it even more interesting, our hosts are health reformers, of sort, who believe that the only rice worth consuming is brown rice. Since the group is cooking their own meals, and we are the only group staying at the “resort”, there is no ordering an “American Breakfast”, or pancakes, or granola, off some other menu.

Having travelled in this part of the world in the past, I have learned that if you simply sit silently by, hoping that the next meal might introduce some new grain like oats, wheat, barley, or corn, you are very likely setting yourself up for a major disappointment! If you had any illusions that a baked potato might come your way, you should know that ovens are not a common concept in this part of the world. You should also know that potatoes are considered to be a “poor man’s food” and even though you can buy them in the market, any host worth her salt, would not in her wildest dreams even consider serving you potatoes, for fear of insulting you!

While I am trying to become more of a health nut, the idea of spending the next five days eating brown rice three times a day left me a little shaky. Not even the little shpeal they gave me about how it would clean out my colon and that many clinics were using brown rice now as a treatment for cancer…. could get me on board. I started to talk about potatoes at the table and some of the other foreigners chimed in … As it turns out, even health reformers are OK with potatoes and they said they would put it on the shopping list.

Today would be a light day for me. From past experience, we have found that it saves a lot of tape if the ASAP staff can do all of the interviews first, pick out two or three of the best stories of the group that they might want to feature on their video, and then get me to film those, rather than all 15 that showed up to the training seminar. While they started the process of finding the people they wanted to feature, I set about locating a internet cafe and a place to get a haircut. Thankfully, Melissa, a fellow Canadian, and Andrews grad who has been volunteering in the region for the last five years, and most recently been working with Pastor Phamore, had been at the resort for a few days already, and was able to show me around. When we got to the barber shop I noticed the guy using a flat razor on his customer. I don’t mean to be too paranoid but I have to admit being just a little nervous about “sharing razors” in a country with a high HIV infection rate. In her broken Thai and a little hand motions, Melissa was able to let the guy know that I didn’t want to “go under the knife” and that he was to restrict himself to clippers only!

I sat a little apprehensively in the chair, wondering what I would look like at the end of the session. Not a word was spoken between us but about ten minutes later I was a new man, and it looked just as good as the cuts I get back home. The cost? $1.50. I gave him a 100 baht note ($3.00) and told him through sign language, to “keep the change”. He seemed grateful for the big tip! That’s me, the big spender!

I found the internet cafe and was delighted to discover that it was high speed, at least high speed enough to send a few photographs back to the ASAP office, and perhaps start this blog, even while here up in the “far north”!

In the afternoon I began to photograph the participants in the seminar. They are a beautiful group and I feel compelled to share some shots!

A New Journey Begins

January 26, 2009

Even though I had no usual last-minute Fedex deadline that I was madly trying to finish off before my flight, I still ended up staying up all night before leaving for the airport. Last minute packing, paying bills, tying off all of the loose ends that would free me up for a 2 month shoot in South-East Asia, took longer than I thought. It usually does. Instead of trying to get a couple of hours sleep, Along about one o’clock I decided to just make my bed and spend my last two hours in Berrien Springs cleaning Franks Flat.

3:10AM saw me pulling out of my driveway in my daughter Sarah’s car. To save her having to drive me to South Bend that early, she had just left me her car and I would drive myself to the airport, park the car and they would pick it up in the morning. I mailed the bills and made my way out of town.

Catching the 4:30AM shuttle to Chicago O’hare would ensure that I would get there in plenty of time to check in, even if there were traffic problems.

For the first time ever, Korean Air gave me hassle about having two carry-on bags. I know…. one carryon bag has been the rule now for about the last 6 years, but the airlines have made a provision that has left a slight window open for guys like me to exploit, “one carry on plus a computer bag or purse”. I have been able to squeak by for the last 6 years, by having one fairly large carry on, (a camera bag in the form of a backpack), plus a (rather large) “computer case”. In reality my computer fits snugly in a rear compartment of my camera bag and the “computer case” holds my video camera, tape, hard drives and other electronics that are just too fragile, valuable or indispensible to risk getting lost, damaged or stolen in the mysterious realm of checked luggage . This morning, the girl at the Korean Air counter was not liking the size of my computer bag and was insisting that I not only check the computer bag but pay extra for having a third checked bag. This was not a good start to my trip! I knew that the beleaguered airlines had recently started trying to make a few extra dollars on hitting their clients up for extra fees for extra or “overweight” baggage, but I had already taken some precautions against that and was not warming to the idea of now taking out my credit card to make a donation to Korean Air! Apart from the fact that I was not going to be wanting to check my video camera, Korean Air was a Sky Team partner with Delta, with whom I had gold medallion frequent flier status, which is supposed to come with a three bag, 50 pound each allowance, with no extra fees! I had chosen to fly this trip using Korean Air, even though the ticket was costing me $300 more than one of their competitors, specifically because I knew that I had never had any problems with my two carryon bags and that if I did load up on some souvenirs that I wouldn’t have to worry about some $500 fee for overweight baggage on the return flight, because of my preferred status. Now I was getting hassled on the outbound flight. I could feel my blood pressure rising! After some protest on my part, she sought out her supervisor, who once he saw the contents of my two bags, made an exception and told me to try and “pair it down” in the future. I’ll have to see about getting a little larger Camera bag a little smaller “computer case”

I think that the girl might have been new on the job as she was also giving me a lot of hassle about not having a visa for Thailand. I have been flying into Bangkok for 15 years and have never needed a visa for Thailand, which has got to be about the easiest country in the world to get into. They just stamp your passport and wave you on through… Still, it made me take pause. Had Thailand suddenly changed their visa policies since that last time I was there? Would I get there only to be turned back? After consulting with yet another supervisor, she finally let me go and I gathered up the fortitude to give her a courteous smile and a thanks for all of her “help”.

My flight went fairly well. Even though I had not slept for over 30 hours when I climbed on board, I still found it difficult to get much sleep. Not even the blinders that Korean Air provided was helping me this time. It’s not that I have a fear of flying per se, at least not that I would like to admit, but I did have a traumatic experience when I was about ten years old that I think may have left psychological damage. One clear blue sky day on a golf course on the outskirts of Toronto , I witnessed a passenger plane in trouble above us. After two explosions, and an engine dropping to the ground, the plane took a sudden nose dive into a farmer’s field next to the golf course, instantly ending the life of all 109 people on board. This image haunts me every time I fly! Too stressed to sleep, too tired to read, I turned to the personal entertainment system installed in the seat in front of me. I must have watched about six movies in the 13 hour stretch to Seoul. I am not sure at this point if I could tell you the names of any of them, but it kept my mind off the fact that I was 33,000 feet over the Pacific in a led balloon that was one spark away from becoming a fire ball to Earth. I’ve watched LOST. I have seen all of the episodes where they show the plane going down… all of the different angles … all of the different perspectives …

Making the tight connection in South Korea with no problem, I was soon on my way for the 5 hour flight to Bangkok. This time I was able to close my eyes and sleep!
I was pleased, even somewhat relieved, when the immigration guy at the airport in Bangkok stamped my passport, and waved me on through with the typical bored look on his face that I had come to know and love from Thai Immigration guys. I was “in” and my SE Asia adventure of 2009 could officially begin! I collected my bags, found my hotel shuttle and was soon in my room at the Silver Gold Garden Hotel, a short distance from the airport.

January 28, 2009

I managed to sleep pretty much through the night, even though the hard mattress and the huge hard pillows made it a challenge. For breakfast, I ordered among other things a Papaya dish. I had determined that on this trip I was going to enjoy the many different fruits of this region as often as I could. A few minutes later I was brought a dish of what looked like strains of cabbage and carrots, heavily spiced. Had she taken my order wrong? Was this a side dish to something else that I had ordered? I was hungry and didn’t ask questions. I proceeded to eat what was set before me. I was actually enjoying the vegetables and the flavors of the hot spices, until I began to notice the tiny little shrimp… (for those who may not know me well, I am not fond of little critters in my food!) I tried picking them out but it was no use. They were heavily scattered throughout. When the waitress came by I pointed out the cabbage dish and reminded her that I had ordered the papaya. I was even able to point to some papaya that was growing on the grounds of the outdoor cafe. She said, “yes, papaya!”, pointing to my cabbage dish. Something lost in translation? It was my first day. I was basking in the warmth of the tropical sun, thankful to be out of the three feet of snow that lined the streets of Berrien Springs, and a whole two months of adventure ahead of me. Even though my moth was now watering for papaya, I decided not to challenge her assessment of my strange dish and let it go.



I made it back to the airport early enough to shoot some stock footage of the departure level of Bangkok’s new airport. A few months ago when frustrated protesters took it over and shut down the airport for a week, I wished that I would have had some footage of the place up at my stock footage site, for the News agencies to buy. Well, I have it now… Perhaps I will get some sales during the next bloodless coup in Thailand.

One of my clients on this shoot is Adventist South East Asia projects. www.asapministries.com

ASAP is a supporting ministry of the Seventh-day Adventist church. They provide salaries for teachers, church planters, bible workers and lay pastors, as well as Bibles, teaching materials, literature, temporary bamboo churches, etc in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and most recently Myanmar. They also recognize the importance of improving the lives of the people that they work with and are becoming more involved in humanitarian relief and development programs such as wells, primary education, skills training and small loan programs. I will be shooting for them for the first two weeks of my journey as well as a week in Laos at the end of my trip. I always enjoy traveling and working with them. They believe strongly in the power of prayer and it is always nice to witness the answers to their prayers along the way and be under the umbrella of their faith.

I met up with the group from ASAP at the assigned gate, and we took the short flight to Chiang Rai, a rapidly growing city in the very northern part of the country. We were met by pastor Phamore , an amazing individual who has for the last 45 years, dedicated his life to serving Karen refugees fleeing Burma. I met him once before in 1993. He had taken me out to the refugee camps and I had filmed in some of the bamboo schools that he had built for the children. It had been an amazing experience and I had come away with some wonderful images of the children, one of which is still featured at one of my websites, www.worldviewimages.com The boy with the umbrella and baby in the bottom left-hand corner is from that first trip to a Karen refugee camp. Ever since that day I have been hoping to return to the camp and spend more time with these children of the jungle. As the years slipped by I began to give up hope that I would ever get that opportunity again as surely, the conflict would be resolved and the refugees would be able to safely return to their home. But here it is 2009, the killing goes on, and the camps are still there! I am hoping to be able to spend three or four days out at one of his schools on this trip and get enough footage for a little documentary on the amazing work that he has done.

For the next few days we will be spending some time meeting with some young people who have come over from Burma who to meet us. They are Adventist youth who have been trained as teachers, but have decided to take up the call to be church planters and medical missionaries. They have come for five days of intense training and meet and greet with the workers of ASAP. Due to travel restrictions in Myanmar, it was felt that it would be easier for them to come to us, rather than us trying to get to them. We loaded our gear into the two vehicles and made our way north another 45 KM.

About 5:00PM we pulled into the grounds of a simple “resort” in the border town of Mae Sai. No beach, no mountain view, no conference room for the meetings and we cook our own meals. But, we each get our own little cottage, and it is only $13/night, so it works out well for a faith ministry on a budget!

With jet lag setting in I collapsed in my room about 8:00.