South African Team

We have a South African Short-term team here in Lampang for 1 week from our team leader's church. They have been running a program at a local Christian school where only a small minority of students are Christians. I helped translate for the team which was stretching at times to say the least.

Dog Bite and getting ready for puppies

I was walking home from dropping off the car for a service when the neighbour's dog ran out of their house and bit me on the leg. It was not a big dog so the bite was only very minor. However, it did break the skin and draw blood. So when I saw my neighhour I told her what happened and she said that the dog has been vaccinated (she didn't say specifically against what but I assume it included rabies). I have already had the pre-exposure shots for Rabies. If we weren't sure about the rabies status of the dog I would need to go to the hospital and have another 2 post exposure shots. But based on what my neighbour's told me I don't think I need it. Only the second time in my life I've been bitten by a dog. The first time was 27 years ago when I was in kindergarden and I still remember it.

A vet student from a short-term team which will be coming to visit us later this year has given me advice about how to prepare for the impending puppies. So I've made this make shift home for Phayu. Unfortunately, she won't stay in it. She likes the home she's dug in our front garden. I also need to find some tablets for intestinal worms just incase she has been infected with these (apparently these can spread to humans). What's the thai word for "worms" I wonder?

We're having Octuplets!

We had our fears, but they were realised today when the vet confirmed that Phayu (our golden retriever) is pregnant! In the last week I noticed how she had been getting much bigger around her waist . When she wasn't feeling well over the last two days, it was time to go to the vet and ask the question. Either she was pregnant or she had a large abscess in her abdomen. Off for an ultrasound and there was confirmation we dreaded. We were only in Chiang Mai for 2 nights and that's all it took. We didn't even know at the time that she was in heat, let alone that there was a mangy street dog who could jump the front wall of our yard. I want to get my hands on that dog (or at least close enough to hit him with a pebble). At least if he had been better looking we might have an increased chance of giving the puppies away. The vet advised that on average golden retrievers have 8-9 puppies!!! This is definately not what we bargained for. We didn't have a chance to get her sprayed (desexed) as she was already in heat when we received her. Who could have imagined this ever happening to us. I've never owned a dog in my life. And it is so painfully ironic that we are contributing to the overpopulated dog population of Thailand, something we've deplored. We are praying that Phayu's genes would overwhelm the other mangy dog's - cute puppies PLEASE! Our yard is only big enough for half a dog, let alone 9 or 10!

Jenny's Birthday

Jenny, who's come to help us in the last trimester of Lisa's pregnancy had her birthday this week and we took her to our favorite restaurant - Pizza and quite a nice T-Bone steak (very hard to find in Thailand, espeically outside of Bangkok and Chiang Mai).

Official opening of The Lighthouse

On Saturday 30th August, the vice-governor of Lampang officially opened "The Lighthouse" our outreach and ministry centre. We didn't know how many people would turn up. Our team leader had booked the catering company for 70 people, though immediately afterwards he was seriously questioning whether he should have catered for this many. Since it isn't the custom to RSVP in Thailand we didn't know whether we would have 10 people or 100. Praise God about 60-70 people came. A pastor from Chiang Mai gave a short message and our team was introduced followed by a song item by one of the local Christian who is teaching some of team Thai.

Lisa speaking to one of our neighbours and her sister