The Olivers In Thailand

Last Christmas we had been in Chiang Mai only a short time but were already considering the possibility of staying on for a further school year. We unanimously voted to stay.

There is not space to cover all our adventures but we have recorded details with photos on our blog.

In Feb, Jenny joined a team to a conference for Christians in the military. Recently Adrian has had the privilege to join a team providing training for pastors. Our concern has grown for those around the world who don’t enjoy the same liberties that we do.

Wa Bible Meeting

We have been working on typesetting a Bible for the Wa people group. This will be released in April, the 100 yr anniversary since the first Wa believer. We have become interested in the development of software tools to support Bible translation work.

With some of the children at Hoay Maw

Helping the large orphanage at Hoay Maw has had its challenges. The establishment of an organic pig farm has been a slow process but we are pleased to announce that a second litter of 9 piglets was born on Christmas eve.

Adrian inspects the piglets

A positive area of progress has been the introduction of a staff team who have improved the care of the children making it more personal. They have recorded personal details with photos for each child in the home. They have also organised the children into small ‘family’ groups with young leaders as a forum for relational, spiritual, social and recreational development.

Ban San Faan children at Oct Play-Scheme

We have continued to spend regular times with the children and staff of the local Ban San Faan children’s home. The 17 children are a delight. We have again worked on a Christmas production which they have presented at a local school, church and community events.

We have worked hard on PocketWeather. Our original plan to release an upgrade by Christmas ’06 has extended until the present. Adrian released the new version for Pocket PC on Christmas Eve. The Smart Phone version will be released on New Year’s Eve. We hope this will be fruitful.

With cousins in Tonbridge

We enjoyed a 2 month stay in the UK spending some quality time with family, friends and church. It wasn’t exactly a holiday though as Adrian worked full-time on-site at Eurotherm.

The children continue to thoroughly enjoy life here. They love the school and enjoy many good friends.

Tom at Swim Meet

Thomas (13 ½) is in Grade 8. He is now a teenager! Tom had the opportunity to study with a friend for ABRSM music theory grade 5 and got 75%. He got 80% clarinet grade 5 with merit in early December. In Sept he was in the swim team. He had a great time with the middle school at a residential camp led by a team of young Americans.

David's Birthday

David (12) is in Grade 6. David has started band and is learning to play tenor sax – which is big and loud. I think he wanted to compete with Tom’s clarinet. He still devours books. He has partially fulfilled his dream of having a pet by looking after the class albino hamster, ‘Fatima’, during break and also stocking the garden pond with goldfish.

David and Jess both took part in after school sports including soccer, basketball, futsol and tag rugby.

Jessica at Charin Garden Pie Shop

Jessica (9 ¾) is in Grade 5. She copes well with working up a grade level and we were delighted that she received the ‘Academic Excellence’ award in her class last year. She has started learning the clarinet.

After Christmas Lunch at The Dukes

Jenny’s Mum, Jillian, is here with us for Christmas. Our friends and family near and far will be in our thoughts as we celebrate this Christmas - Emmanuel – God with us!
Our love and prayers for a peaceful and happy Christmas and New Year.

Jenny, Adrian, Thomas, David & Jessica
XXXXX

At the time of writing last years Christmas letter we were anticipating our visit to Thailand at Easter. We didn’t realise that we would be writing this year’s Christmas letter based here in Chiang Mai!

After returning from our Easter visit we began to seriously consider whether this would be the right step for our family to take. The further we got into investigating the feasibility of spending a year in Thailand, the more our conviction grew that this was how God was leading us even though the practicalities were not straightforward.

The rest is history. After a whirlwind of preparation during the Summer, we flew out to Chiang Mai on 25th August. The children are now attending Grace International School. The school is based on the American system and is the second largest school of its kind that caters for children of missionaries.
We hesitate to call ourselves missionaries in the traditional sense but we do have a “mission” which is to help a large orphanage in the North of Thailand develop a sustainable source of income. More details and photos of our life, work and experiences here in Thailand can be seen on our blog.

We also spend time at a small local orphanage for 16 children. We visit as a family each Thursday evening when we have a time of “family worship” and prayer with the children and staff. Jenny has produced a Christmas musical with them. There are several performances of “Hosanna Rock!” including at Grace school, our church here and at Airport Plaza (the main shopping mall in Chiang Mai). It is a privilege to be able to help these Thai children present the message of the birth of Christ.

Adrian and Jenny are both working on PocketWeather and also doing a little contract work for our old company, Eurotherm. Together with the rent from our house in the UK we are earning a living.

The children have acclimatised incredibly well. They have all made good friends and enjoy living in a neighbourhood were they have freedom to cycle around and meet up with friends after school. It is wonderful for them to experience a multi-cultural school, something that Adrian greatly values from his upbringing in an International school. The school also has a HUGE swimming pool.

Thomas (12 1/2) is in Grade 7. He has enjoyed competing in the school swim team. Swim training was 1 ½ hrs 4 nights a week with a coach who has trained Olympians. In England Thomas got a Merit in his Grade 4 clarinet and also got Grade 2 piano. Here in Chiang Mai he is privileged to have an hour weekly individual clarinet lesson with the Professor of music at the Payap University. He has been able to work on his tone in a way that wasn’t possible in group lessons.

David (11) is in Grade 5. He celebrated his birthday soon after we arrived in Thailand by inviting a bunch of friends to a paintball tournament. This would not be allowed in UK but despite tears and large bruises, the boys all wanted to play again. David has also had a haircut under not too much duress and still looks very handsome and cute (OK, we admit it – we’re biased).

Jessica (nearly 9) is in Grade 4. She went up a grade because there wasn’t space in G3. She is coping well with the work. We encouraged her to take to opportunity to get involved in a sport and she has enthusiastically joined the girls’ soccer team.

We are looking forward to having Jenny’s Mum, Jillian, join us for 5 weeks over Christmas. We will meet up with our friends the Mays and the Wongs for the Christmas week.

Our friends and family near and far will be in our thoughts as we celebrate this Christmas.

Our love and prayers for a peaceful and happy Christmas and New Year.

Jenny, Adrian, Thomas, David & Jessica
XXXXX

Another eventful year has passed and its time to send our news and greetings for Christmas 2005.

"Reindeer" from a dye painting by Jessica

Thomas (11 1/2) has started at secondary school and is settling really well. He got a good Merit in his Grade 3 clarinet and is working towards Grade 2 piano. He plays clarinet in an ensemble at school and also in the Southern Area band. In the Summer he played in a concert at the Assembly Halls which was a really inspiring evening. We all dressed up posh and thoroughly enjoyed the evening.