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Birth Announcement Danai
Lukas + Emmet's little brother:Danai
Born in Chiangmai, Thailand on Thursday 20 October 2011 at 6:31 pm, weighing 3608 g and measuring 53.5 cm.
Danai Jozef Immanuel Passchier
"Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground!"
(Psalm 143:10 ESV)
His full name is Danai Jozef Immanuel Passchier. Danai is a Thai name that means the joy of the heart. Jozef is (apart from being the name of a number of famous people in the Bible) the second name of Peter's stepfather Bert who passed away this year, and means God has increased. Immanuel is the name of Jezus that means: God is with us!
Christmas 2010
Christmas wishes 2009
Yes, still from Thailand, but this is at sunrise in the winter, on the highest mountain of Thailand: Doi Inthanon, 2565 m. and the temperature was 6 degrees Centrigrade, but it felt much colder -- we're not used to much..!)
Lots of love and blessings, Peter & Kelly + Lukas + Emmet
Newsletter August 2009
Click here for reading with pictures! (PDF)
As we sit at our desks at home, we look out across the road onto a small field where cows are grazing. Beyond the field's wall-like fence farmers tend the rice paddies -- we can see them if we walk 10 meters down the road. Turning our heads to look out the back windows, we see a sea of green bushes and trees, and the mountains beyond, just a 10 minute ride away! Yet we are also only 10 minutes away from Lampang's old city centre with its maze of markets and local shops, punctuated with famous temples on both sides of the river that runs through its core. Almost 4 weeks ago we left our language school, fellow students and friends behind in Lopburi and arrived here in Lampang with our car packed to the brim, after a 7 hour journey. Many trips to many shops later our house is fully livable -- we even have a guest room in case you'd like to visit! This house is slightly smaller than our previous one, but newer and nicer looking, however, the ants and geckos still manage to find their way into every room! Our friends and colleagues live only a 10 minute walk away, and we've already made friends in the village next door... well, Emmet made friends and rest of the family followed!
Our team in Lampang consists of three families: us, a South-African family with three children, and an Australian family also with three children (but they just left to be back home for a number of months). In the 16 months that they have been here, a centre --The Lighthouse-- has been established at a visible location in the city centre. From there we are establishing our network through hospitality, events, outreaches, English classes, Kids club, Student evenings, and anything that we can think of that will interest people and build friendships. Although we have left the language school behind, we continue with formal Thai language study part-time with a language helper, whom we have already found! Peter is moving on to Level 2 of our language programme, having completed Level 1 with flying colours in Lopburi. Kelly still has two more modules to go before finishing Level 1 as she continued at half-time after Emmet's birth.
Lukas is doing very well with all the transitions in his life over the last 6 months. What with toilet training, moving to Bangkok for a month before Emmet was born, staying for the first day and night without Mama & Pappa, getting a new baby brother, saying goodbye to his best friends whom he has played with at least 5 days a week since we left Canada, meeting new friends, saying goodbye to all the friends in Lopburi, especially his well-loved Big Sister Lina who looked after him at daycare, moving to a new house, meeting more new friends, saying goodbye to some of them as well... he's been a trooper! He turned 3 in June and annouces proudly "I'm 3 years old!" when asked. He enjoys puzzles, "movies", playing with cars, trains, and building blocks, and makes up stories and games with them. He loves playing in the pile of builder's sand Peter had delivered to our yard. The many cows living nearby capture his attention and he loved going with an elderly farmer to feed his cows when we went to visit our new friends in the local village. He loves his baby brother and brings him toys to play with or reminds us to "go and get him" when he is crying. His sometimes enthusiastic games with Emmet (that Mama worries might be too rough) often elicit delighted giggles. We are considering a Thai school for Lukas -- in Thailand, children start school full-time (6 hours a day, 5 days a week) when they are 3 years old. While we are not quite prepared for that, we are hoping that he will get the opportunity to learn Thai and make friends with three mornings a week in a more interactive and less rote-learning-at-a-desk school which we have found in town.
Emmet, now almost 6 months old, continues to fill our lives with joy. He is a happy fellow with a ready smile. He adores his big brother and tries to interact with Lukas whenever he can. Now that Emmet can pretty well sit up by himself and reach for toys he is getting closer to being able to join in which he would so love to do. At the dining table he dives onto and devours any food within his quick reach. He is very social and is willing to be held by anyone, which is just as well because his ginger hair and blue eyes attract lots of local attention along with the comment "he's just like a doll." Already he has made many friends on behalf of the rest of us! He is such a blessing!
We are really looking forward to sharing the boys with their grandparents who will be visiting -- Kelly's parents are coming in September and in November, Peter's father and his wife will visit us for 2 weeks as well! We have found relocating in another country and culture to be quite tiring, so we are looking forward to being refreshed during some holiday time!
Lots of love and blessings, Peter & Kelly + Lukas + Emmet
Newsmail Emmet's birth
We got so many replies on our announcement of the birth of Emmet in the form of emails, messages on Facebook, text messages, phone calls, e-cards and real cards and even presents..! We have been quite overwhelmed, in a good way, also by the many questions we received, so we decided to write another email to tell you a bit more of the story and to answer some of the questions we have been asked. We totally understand if you're too busy to read this, in that case please just delete this email!
First of all, we want to thank everyone for your thoughts and prayers during our pregnancy and birthing experience. For most of the pregnancy Emmet lay with his head to one side, except for during one check with the doctor at 38 weeks when he was lying head down, after which he resumed his old comfortable oblique position. On our due date we had another appointment with the obstetrician and she had already told us that if he was still lying oblique she would try to turn him and then induce labour so we should come that day prepared to give birth. So we left Lukas in the care of friends at the Guest house in Bangkok and brought our bags. Sure enough, Emmet was lying oblique. Thankfully, when the doctor tried to turn him by pressing on Kelly's tummy he turned easily head down and she was able to induce labour with hormone pills - a gentler start than with intravenous hormones. After walking around the hospital for a couple of hours the contractions were progressing well, the baby's head was really down and we got to spend the rest of the labour in a lovely natural birthing room at the hospital that we had thought we would have to forgo with all the talk of inducing labour. Actually, as it turned out, the labour was essentially natural except for the little jump start. After 5 hours of bearable labour the doctor broke the waters, after which the contractions got substantially more painful, but the midwives had prepared a warm bath that helped to soothe and Peter's hand was there to squeeze. The midwives kept saying "if you need to push, let us know" but since the doctor had just said there was 5 cm dilation and 80 % effacement, we thought we still had hours to go. But after half an hour in the bath all of a sudden Kelly said "I think I need to push!". She was quickly helped out of the bath and onto the bed, and one exclaimed "I see the head already!" so the doctor was rushed in and less than 10 minutes later first came Emmet's head, then torso, then all of him and he began to cry. Emmet got to lie on Kelly's tummy right away, Peter got to cut the umbilical cord, and then Emmet got to drink for the first time and Kelly got stitched up. We could stay in the birthing room for a couple of hours to catch our breath before being moved to a room in the maternity ward. We spent the first night there just the three of us while Lukas had a sleepover with his best friends back at the guest home. He thouroughly enjoyed his first night away from Mama and Pappa although he was glad to see us again!
Kelly and Emmet spent another night in the hospital -- a very modern hospital with excellent care and caregivers who spoke good English. When Lukas came with Peter to pick them up and he saw Emmet for the first time his comment was "baby come out!". We returned to the guest home and stayed a week longer in Bangkok for Kelly to recover and gather strength for the two hour car trip back to Lopburi. Now we are back at our home in Lopburi, adjusting to our new family configuration and routines as a foursome. Emmet is an easy going and quiet baby - he sleeps well and eats well. If he has air in his tummy he mostly only makes little bleating noises (as opposed to Lukas, who used to cry at the top of his lungs). We feel blessed, and are grateful for a healthy baby and a good delivery.
As for the name, the Hebrew meaning of Emmet is Truth, the Germanic meaning is Stength, and the Old-English meaning is Industrious. Emmet is pronounced with all letters audible -- we try to pick names that sound the same in English and Dutch. He is named after several family members by his two middle names Thomas and Johannes. The nickname "baby Tuck" was mostly intended to have something more personal to use when referring to the baby while he was in utero, and not one we really intend to keep using -- although Lukas still calls him "baby Tuck" more often than he calls him Emmet.
We put up some photos on a seperate page:
www.emmet.passchier.net
Many blessings, Peter & Kelly + Lukas + Emmet
Birth Announcement 2
Lukas has a little brother: Emmet !!
Born in Bangkok on Wednesday 4 March 2009 at 2:53 pm. He weighed 3280 grams and measured 53 cm.
Emmet Thomas Johannes Passchier
"Your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be."
(Psalm 139:16 TNIV)
Many blessings, Peter & Kelly + Lukas
Newsletter January 2009
Click here for reading with pictures! (PDF)
Greetings and Happy New Year for 2009! We're a bit late for a Christmas letter but thought we'd still make it in time for an update on the second half of 2008. Little did we know when we wrote our newsletter last June that we are actually a family of four and not of three! We found out shortly after sending out our news that we are expecting our second child, who in the meantime is making his presence known by active movement in Kelly's growing tummy and is due to make his appearance in two short months on 4 March. The Thai teachers at our language school have gotten much milage out of our 'made in Thailand' baby and have taken turns placing their hands on Kelly's tummy then proclaiming they think it will be a boy! All without the help of the ultrasound (which we had the advantage of seeing). We have been recommended an obstetrician and hospital in Bangkok and have been making the two-hour trip to Bangkok for check-ups at regular intervals over the past months. In the middle of February we will be going to stay in Bangkok temporarily to wait until "baby Tuck" (the baby's nickname as given by Lukas) is born. Although it is a bit of an upheaval to move away from our home and network of childcare and friends for the birth, we are thankful to be able to stay at the guest home that is run by our organization, where we have also gotten to know some friends and colleagues. As for the hospital, we are impressed with the level of care (and comfort!) available.
Our everyday lives of the last six months have revolved around studying the Thai language fulltime at the language centre here in Lopburi. We have progressed from learning the sounds of the language to simple phrases to actually being able to hold very basic conversations to recently learning to read and write the beautiful but unfamiliar script. We are now halfway through our first year course after half a year here, so we're keeping pace. We still have roughly six more months that we can stay here and study at the language centre before needing to move on and make room for incoming students. Peter is hoping to finish his Level One exam before we leave and Kelly is hoping to continue studying part time after the baby is born, although it is unlikely that she will be able to finish the entire Level One before we need to move.
The second most exciting news is that as of three weeks ago we now know where we will be moving to at the end of our year here in Lopburi. Before arriving at this decision with the national director of our organization, we took two vision field trips to visit teams we might possibly join. In October we boarded an over-night train and headed North to Lampang, a provincial capital located about one hour South-East of Chiang Mai. The team there has only been working together for less than a year and so far has established a community outreach centre as the base of their work. The main contact points with local people at this point in time are through teaching English classes and offering Kids' club activities but the vision is to see the centre expand to a place that will serve the community in a variety of ways as well as hoping to see the development of a network of low-key house churches for those who believe in Jesus. We were really stimulated by the vision of the work there and we could see ourselves fitting into the team, which consists of two other families, also with young children. In November we headed South to visit Phang-nga and Nakhon-si-thammarat provinces again by way of over-night train -- which Lukas absolutely loves! The teams in the South (mid-South, not deep South) work in a variety of locations from a small village recovering from the 2004 tsunami to a fair-sized towns. One team is planning to start a combined mentorship-vocational training centre for young people; another is working out of an outreach centre again with offering English classes and Kids' clubs. In Phang-nga province we visited a gorgeous beach bordered by giant trees bearing ladders and signs "tsunami climb up"; a moving tsunami memorial in a town one-third washed away by the wave; and some boats that rest where they were washed over a kilometre inland. In Paak Phanang we were treated to warm hospitality with friends new and old (some of our language student colleagues had joined the team there), which contrasted greatly to the pouring rain outside. We didn't really dry out completely until we got back to Lopburi after an epic 28 hours en route! The result of our explorations and discussions with the director are that we have been designated to the team in Lampang and in June or July of this year we will be moving to this city known for its horse-drawn carriages, ceramics, brown coal and cockerel emblem.
Apart from these work-related trips, we had a family retreat/holiday in August to the beach on the Gulf of Thailand and during our Christmas break, a short but beautiful two-day getaway to an island South-East of Bangkok. Both of these times were wonderful family times of refreshment outside of the city where we enjoyed hikes, swimming, and playing in the sand as well as long conversations with each other and with friends. We even celebrated our 5th anniversary at the end of August, walking in the moonlight along the beach. Lukas especially enjoyed digging in the sand, throwing rocks in the sea and riding on an inner tube with Peter -- although one morning the floating motion was so relaxing he fell asleep with his arms clasped around Peter's neck! He is growing up almost day by day it seems and announces with great satisfaction when he accomplishes something new, like washing his hands in the sink by himself -- "I did it!" His understanding of the world is growing and one day when we were out in the car without any snacks he proposed his solution with an emphatic, "Buy snacks, Mummy!"
We have really enjoyed hearing from you in Christmas letters and email responses -- it helps us to feel connected. We hope you have a great start to 2009 and a fulfilling year.
Lots of love and blessings, Peter & Kelly + Lukas + baby Tuck
A Wonderful Christmas 2008
Christmas in Thailand is very different than we are used to. On Christmas eve, we went to see the sunflower fields that Lopburi is famous for, they are in bloom in November and December. It was a warm and sunny day. In the evening, we sang Christmas carols in the neighbourhood of our church with church folk. Later at home, we read the Christmas story to Lukas from his Beginner's Bible that he got for Christmas. We had a special day! We hope you have a wonderful Christmas!!
Love and blessings, Peter & Kelly + Lukas + baby Tuck
Newsletter June 2008
Click here for reading with pictures! (PDF)
Greetings from Thailand! Welcome to the first edition of our family newsletter to be sent out from Asia! Our apologies to those of you who hadn't realized that we'd finally left for Asia -- we now seem to have overcome both our logistical and organizational communication issues! We have been in Thailand now for three weeks, preceded by four weeks in Singapore for orientation with the organization we are working with --OMF International.
Since our last newsletter about a year ago (!) we have been in Vancouver with Peter working with international students at UBC and Kelly at home full time with Lukas and volunteering here and there with the students and at church. At the end of February of this year we heard that everything was in place for us to go the OMF orientation course in Singapore in May 2008 which left us 10 weeks to pack up our lives in Vancouver. The complicating factor was that six of those weeks were booked for a trip back to The Netherlands to put things in place with our church there and the Dutch branch of our organization and to say goodbye to Peter's family and our friends! Being a cross-cultural family and working with teams from two home countries brings lots of richness but certainly adds complexity to our lives as well! So we packed up our appartment in two weeks, trying to keep straight all the strands of things staying in Canada, coming to Europe and those ultimately going with us to Thailand!! We had a busy but good time in Europe talking at different groups from our church, meeting friends and spending time with family. Lukas' loved playing with his cousings but his highlight was probably riding on a pony at local children's farm. Every time we saw a horse after that he wanted to ride on it and was very disappointed whenever we rode on the train that we didn't get off to go and ride on the horses that he could see out the window just waiting for him!
After our trip, we had 12 days back in Vancouver to get everything ready to move to Thailand. Needless to say we were crazy busy but somehow managed to fit in all the logistical matters as well as many goodbyes to dear people. At times we felt we didn't have enough time to spend with the people in the midst of it all but we were grateful for the many events and occasions we did have to connect with people before leaving. Coping with nine hours of jetlag every few weeks takes it toll and facing our third set of jet lag in two months found us panting in tropical heat, looking at palms trees and bouganvillea and emotionally trying to catch up with ourselves.
Our time in Singapore introduced us to tropical heat, tropical vegetation, tropical wildlife, our team of eight adults and three children headed for Thailand, other colleagues headed for different countries, and the international directors and staff of OMF. Lukas was fascinated by the turtles swimming in the pond in the Botanical Gardens across the street from where we were staying, the lines of ants marching across the floor to eat the crumbs he dropped, the frangipani flowers dropping from the tree outside. Every morning he spent time in a kids' programme with four other little boys. It was the first time he had been in any regular sort of childcare but he took to it like a fish to water and loved spending time with his friends and the childcare helpers. He learned to sing songs, drink lots of water to keep hydrated, and clean up his toys. In their free time the boys could be found riding bikes and toy cars outside. It is great that a couple of his friends have come to Thailand too but it was heartbreaking to watch his goodbyes to those that went to other places. He still talks about his friends who went away on an airplane.
We arrived in Thailand on 1 June and a couple of days later arrived in the city of Lopburi at our new home for this coming year. The next day (4 June), we began orientation to our Thai Language and Culture Training programme and celebrated Lukas' second birthday. We were so grateful that the welcome party coincided with Lukas' birthday. One of our training directors baked a birthday cake for him so we could celebrate in fine style even though our food supply at home consisted only of many litres of juice, ten eggs, jam, peanut butter, a loaf of bread and a bag of rice!! Apparently we were a bit absent-minded when we went grocery shopping the day we arrived! We are staying in a house rented by our organization from a local family. There are five houses and families in our compound: our landlords, another family (colleagues of ours) also studying Thai, a Thai military man and a currently empty house. There is also an orchid nursery outside our living room windows so we have some green to look out at with splashes of gorgeous colour as the orchids bloom. We live in a lower class neighourhood and so far our neighbours seem fairly friendly and the many stray dogs are more scared of us than we are of them. The language centre where we study is about a five minute walk from our house. We study one-on-one with a language helper for two hours a day with the rest of the time in self-study, homework and practice on the street. After one and a half weeks of language study we can ask people for their names, buy a few basics at the market, tell what country we come from and how long we are planning to stay here, and tell a few basic things about what we do each day. But every sentence comes very slowly with great thought and concentration and we can't always understand all of the answers we get!!! Every morning Lukas goes to another house (the overall training headquarters) and has a childcare programme for 4 hours. He can already give a greeting in Thai (could do after 2 days!!) and now also understands quite a bit of what his Thai-speaking caregiver says to him. He is a little sponge. He has also picked up some new English phrases from the American neighbour girl: "time out", "come on!" and "I want..." being the most prominent! Besides language study, eating and sleeping take up most of our time. In the heat and with concentrating so hard all the time we find we need more rest -- apparently this is normal. In terms of eating, it is cheaper to buy food already prepared and most days we buy our dinner at the market or at one of the ubiquitous little house-restaurants. We have been enjoying tasty curries, yummy fried rice and some other less spicy but very delicious dishes. We haven't cooked more than rice for dinner yet in three weeks!
There is too much to tell you without causing information overload, so we will stop for now. If you want to see and hear more, check out our new weblog on our website at www.passchier.net !!
Lots of love and blessings, Peter & Kelly + Lukas
News Mail May 2007
The trees in front of our house have gone from bare to leaf buds to blossoms to full leaf, and it is time to share some news from our end!
A lot has happened the past few months. OMF decided to delay our departure for Asia until the beginning of 2008. The main reason is to give time for some health related issues to be resolved for Kelly. We also still need more financial support, although we are getting closer to our target.
Knowing that we would be in Vancouver for the rest of 2007, we wanted to spend our time wisely, in a way that would prepare us for life and work in Thailand as well as bless people here. The timing was just right for Peter to become a full-time staff worker with the group we had been involved with as volunteers for the past few years. As of May, he is an Associate Member of OMF International, loaned to Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship to work among international students around the campus of the University of British Columbia. We are thankful that this is financially possible thanks to people that have already started giving over and above our outgoing cost.
We jumped straight in and had our Spring Camp on Mayne Island off the coast of Vancouver in the last weekend of April through the first week of May, where we had a mixed group of 14 nationalities that we are building relationships with. They are great people, a few of them are already in a bible study with us, and we hope more will join. This summer season we will be organizing lots of hikes, picnics and cultural activities too. Peter will be meeting with more people one-on-one, and it's great to be able to spend that time as part of an official job! As always, our desire is to see people draw closer to God.
Before the 'new year' starts on campus in August, we will make a trip to The Netherlands, from 16 May to 20 June. OMF thought it would be good that we strengthen the ties with family, friends and supporters there -- which we love to do!
Kelly's focus remains on learning the ever-changing ropes of motherhood with a fast-growing baby. Lukas is now 11 months old and has added to his repertoire of accomplishments babbling (the current favourite phrase being "dodn-dodn-dodn"), crawling, walking while holding an adult's hands, and pulling out of cupboards and drawers whatever he can get his dimpled little hands on.
Although we are sinking our teeth into a new and unexpected phase here, we are still very much focussed on going to Thailand with OMF early next year and we will keep you updated on the unfolding of those plans as well as the adventures of the intervening time.
All best wishes from us here, Peter & Kelly + Lukas Passchier
Merry Christmas and best wishes for 2007 !!
News Mail November 2006
Click here for reading with pictures! (PDF)
Greetings from our half-underground apartment in overcast and rainy Vancouver!
Moving
The big news is that we are moving house into the sunshine! Not to Thailand yet... just to an apartment in Vancouver that is above ground and gets sunshine in through the windows -- if the sun makes it through Vancouver's clouds, that is. We have been dealing with mold, dampness and dimness in our current apartment for the last months and agonizing over what to do, because --in spite of it all-- we actually quite like the home we have made here in co-op housing in the neighbourhood where Kelly grew up. Kelly consciously thought "Unless someone offers us a place out of the goodness of their heart, there is no way we will be able to get approved for another place." Later that afternoon Peter received a phone call from a woman at church who works with a Christian foundation to say that we were approved to live in one of their missionary apartments! These fully furnished apartments are made available to missionaries on a temporary basis. This answer to prayer and solution for our housing dilemma arose out of a prayer meeting at our church -- God works in mysterious and practical ways through His people! Although we'll be moving again in a few months when we leave for Thailand, this move will provide us with a good opportunity to sort, pack, pare down and part with many of our belongings prior to the big move while the emotional tide is not running so high. So we are looking forward to this move, though there have been pangs of nostalgia in thinking of leaving our cosy home here where Lukas was born.
Lukas
Lukas himself is yet oblivious to the move and is thoroughly enjoying life as only a 5-month old can -- eating, sleeping, and playing with abandon. He is a happy little guy who generously gives smiles to everyone -- even to strangers on the bus or street corner. He has a ready laugh and we have had some hilarious family 'giggle-sessions' of pure joy. Lukas' recent learning curve is in using his hands more to grab, hold and examine items. Peter has set him up with his own keyboard and he loves to bang on it with both hands together and full enthusiasm! He also loves to move his legs, which we knew even before he was born, and that has continued -- one of Lukas' favourite activities over the last two months has been jumping in his Jolly Jumper (a harness attached to a spring suspended in a doorway). We accidentally discovered that it is even more fun in front of a mirror, although real people jumping with him is the ultimate in entertainment. He is growing well and Kelly has been accused of giving him pure cream! At the time of writing he is about 20 pounds (9 kg) and 26 inches (67 cm) long. He falls into the 99th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for height (so out of 100 babies he is heavier than 99 and taller than 75) and, according to us, into the 100th percentile for cuteness!! In short, we are in love! We are enjoying being parents -- it is amazing to watch him learn and grow before our eyes. And yet, parenthood draws deep on patience, love and resilience in the face of little sleep. We are also growing as we discover hidden reserves and develop new capacities. Sometimes the reserves wear a little thin but so far team Passchier is managing to help each other along and survive. I wouldn't like to enter a house-keeping competition (!!) but we still manage to eat a few times a day, get out of the house for walks and gatherings of various kinds. We're still involved with the work among international students, see the website at internationalfriendship.net.
Towards Thailand
Some of you may be wondering about the recent coup in Thailand and whether that affects our plans. Actually, the coup has been welcomed by many Thai, and the democratic process seems to be on track again. It is almost like coups are a culturally appropriate way to intervene when a government that has gotten too corrupt. We hope and pray that the new government will do well and contribute to stability. In terms of the spread of the Gospel, Thailand is doing far less well than the more closed countries around it. In Cambodia, Christianity is really growing fast now -- a pattern that we would love to see in Thailand too, but it's a different country with a very different recent history. Yet the church in Thailand is starting to prepare for more growth, and the OMF people there are sensing that there may be new opportunities in the future. There's a call to fast & pray for the Thai people, that they may be desiring to know Jesus. Our sights are still set on Thailand and we are planning to attend the OMF orientation course in Singapore in March 2007 on our way there, although our support level will be assessed just before Christmas to see if we can go then or if we will have to go later. Further opportunities come in May, July, and then November. So far the pledged support is 40% of what we need, but we know that more is coming. We also still have some outstanding paperwork (including an unexpected requirement for Peter to get a new passport) that needs to be set in order before we are clear to leave.
The Body of Christ
We have been active this fall speaking and sharing our vision in groups of various sorts and sizes -- from small groups in our church to OMF day conferences and prayer groups to a youth night with 200 young people. We have been tremendously encouraged by meeting with others who have a heart for mission and who are committed to praying with and for missionaries. It is humbling to receive the affirmation of support from others and also exciting to see the body of Christ functioning with its different parts exercising their different abilities. If you would like to hear more in person, let us know! If you would like to receive our prayer emails (shorter and more frequent than these letters), please fill in and return the attached "yellow card". You can read all our newsletters and prayer letters on our slightly revamped website. We will be adding more photos of Lukas to his website at lukas.passchier.net for your viewing leisure. Stay tuned..!
- for our new apartment
- for opportunities to strengthen existing friendships and to meet new people
- for people willing to partner with us in prayer and giving
- for strength and stamina as we move again in the midst of a heavy load of preparations
- for wisdom in prioritizing tasks
- for prayer and financial partners to join us
- for the word of Jesus to spread in Thailand
Much love and God's blessings,
Peter & Kelly + Lukas Passchier
News Mail August 2006
Here is our latest news update:
We want to say a big thank you for all the well wishes and greetings sent to us over the last 10 weeks in the form of cards, emails and gifts. We've been heart-warmingly overwhelmed by all the love and support showered on Lukas and ourselves. We haven't yet managed to respond to everyone personally in the midst of everything but we are very grateful. We wish you could see the pair of bright little eyes looking with concentrated interest at the garlands of cards that decorate our living room! We are doing well as a family and are adjusting to life with a little person. We are coping reasonably well with limited sleep and are really enjoying Lukas with his many and varied facial expressions and new discoveries. One of the latest is creeping across his mat, using his toes against the floor with frog-like kicks! If you would like to see a visual report of some of his adventures, Peter has set up a website for him at lukas.passchier.net. We are a bit behind with choosing photos to post but it will give you a bit of a taste..!
This coming Sunday, August 20, we are going to dedicate Lukas to God in the 10 am worship service at Granville Chapel - you are welcome to come if you are within visiting distance! :-)
In terms of our preparations for Thailand, we are now focussing on communication of our vision and plans. We will be sharing in Victoria at OMF's Heart for Asia conference on September 9, sharing devotions at Vancouver's Heart for Asia conference on October 21, and participating at OMF's Youth Night on October 20. We are also looking forward to sharing at some of the church's home groups. We are open to invitations!
At the end of this year we will be making an assessment to see whether our support is sufficient to leave for Thailand in February/March 2007. So far, we are very encouraged by the emotional and prayer support we are already receiving! Financially, our one-time outgoing costs are over 95% covered, but the periodic commitments towards our ongoing support are coming more slowly, and are now only around 15%. They will need to be over 90% before we are able to go.
By being on this newsletter mailing list, you are encouraging us with your interest, for which we're really thankful! For those who would like to pray for us, we also regularly send out prayer updates. It is also possible to support our work financially. If you are interested in supporting us by prayer or giving, please open the attachment and send it in.
In any case, thank you for hanging in there with us!
Our love and many blessings, Peter & Kelly + Lukas
Birth Announcement
Lukas Malcolm Maarten Passchier
Born at home on 4 June 2006 at 6.18 pm, weighing 6 lbs 14 oz and measuring 18 5/8 inches.
"connected with heaven
infinite deep bond
for your name is already written
in the hollow of His hand"
Many blessings, Peter & Kelly + Lukas
More pictures of Lukas: lukas.passchier.net
Happy New Year January 2006
Just a quick note to tell you that we're still alive & well! Peter has a job, and we found a nice place to live in Vancouver. We're looking forward to moving in on Februari 1st just before our trip to The Netherlands.
We wish you all the best in 2006!
Peter & Kelly
P.S. For the discerning, on the laptop display in the picture our little sprout makes its first digital appearance!
News Mail October 2005
On returning to Vancouver at the beginning of October a test confirmed it: we're expecting!! Our family addition is scheduled to arrive around the 19th of May.
In the middle of October we received word that we have an official welcome from OMF Thailand to come and work there!
So what does the future look like for us at the moment?
- When the required financial support has come in (hopefully by the beginning of 2007) we are expected in Singapore for a three-week Orientation Course. Then we're off to Lopburi in Thailand (about 150 km North of Bangkok) for a year of full-time language & culture study. We will be living on our own while putting to practice what we're learning in our neighbourhood.
- Because our life has been so full of transitions for the first 2 years of our marriage, and because we're still living with Kelly's parents at the moment, OMF has counseled us to live on our own during the time we'll still be in Vancouver. That will also make it easier to adjust to living on our own in a new culture when we get to Thailand.
- In order to be able to afford living on our own we are currently looking for jobs. The other major focus of our time and energy will be to build up financial, emotional and spiritual support. The time of saving up in order to go out has come...
This may all sound quite businesslike, but of course we're also being affected spiritually and emotionally by all that is happening. We are grateful for being part of an international community, of which you are a representative. Thank you so much for your interest & support!
Love and all the best, Peter & Kelly
News Mail 2 September 2005
We're in!! Our course at OMF (www.ca.omf.org) in Toronto has just finished, and we've been accepted as members! Their recommendation was that we live on our own in Vancouver for a year before going to Asia. We'll need this time anyway to work on our medical and financial clearance. We'll also be communicating with the people in Thailand — our likely placement.
The week was intense and tiring but encouraging and inspiring, and all the people were really great. We even got in on a field trip in to Niagara Falls. Impressive — a lot of water..!
We'll keep you posted.
Love & all blessings, Peter & Kelly
News Mail 1 September 2005
Finally a quick update on our life here in Vancouver:
We are overdue in sharing that Peter was accepted as a permanent resident of Canada in May and has been happily living and working here all summer in computers. The autumn, however, brings a changing point for us - we have been invited for a candidates course with OMF International, the organization with which we hope to go overseas. Overseas Missionary Fellowship began 140 years ago with a young Englishman, Hudson Taylor, who went to live and work among the Chinese as much as possible as one of them - which was unheard of in those times and in these days is called 'culturally sensitive'.
On September 13th we get on the 4-5 hour long flight to Toronto and on the 15th begin a 10-day course with seven other candidates. The course is kind of like a two way interview where we have a chance to get to know the organization better and they have a chance to get to know us and the way we work. On the 22nd or 23rd we will have a panel interview and the outcome will determine our longterm future - perhaps it will lead to us spending a significant part of our lives in Thailand! However we won't be getting on a plane the next day - in fact it will probably take us about a year (or possibly more) before we go as we have to get medical clearance and enough financial support for our first four-year term organized. Our first year overseas would be full-time language learning and the second also heavily learning oriented before we would start working, most likely in the area of teaching and/or church support. But that will unfold as we go along. For the moment we are focussing on the course and also looking forward to a bit of sightseeing and family visiting "out East" before we come back to Vancouver for Thanksgiving in October.
We know that your lives are busy too but we really enjoy hearing from you! We will try to respond with personal mails too! Also if you have any questions for us, please be in touch.
Thanks for your interest and living along with us,
Love & blessings, Peter & Kelly
News Mail April 2005
Greetings from under the blossoming cherry trees in Vancouver! Time is flying by and we have been in Vancouver for five months already. At this point we thought it was high time to send out a current new update - so here is the latest round letter:
We have two bits of news at the moment: firstly, Peter's application for permanent residence is in its final stages and so we are going to The Netherlands this month (April) so that he can finalize that. The timing coincides with the wedding of really good friends of ours from college in England and so we are feeling blessed that we can be a part of that celebration and see quite a few dear friends at the same time. Of course we always love any opportunity to spend time with our family there as well. Secondly, we have decided to apply to the missions organization OMF International which focuses on work in East Asia and so we find ourselves in the middle of the application procedure, answering lots of questions about ourselves and our vision. We might even be going to a candidates preparation course as early as July to get to know the organization better and see if they really want to have us on board! Things are going ahead faster than we anticipated in this stage but we are enjoying being swept along a road we initially thought would be harder going.
The last months have been full of volunteer activities with an ESL Alpha course at our church (a course that explains the basics of Christianity), and work with international students at UBC (Kelly's alma mater) with the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. Peter has been teaching English as a Second Language two mornings a week while Kelly has been sorting through previous eras of her life and getting back into creative outlets such as crafts. We have had lots of opportunity to build relationships with both old friends and new contacts but have been a bit surprized at how much energy it takes to build up a life in a place - even when it is partly familiar!
On 2 May we are returning again to Vancouver, the final moment of truth for the decision about Peter's permanent residence, when he lands in Canada again. We feel that that will begin a new stage in our life here in Vancouver with new possibilities. In June we have the opportunity to go (sponsored!) to an international conference about working with international students to be held in Portland, Oregon and we are hoping to be able to see some of the famous stunning coastline during our road trip there and back. Then in July possibly the candidates course with OMF in Toronto. Neither of us have ever been to Toronto apart from the airport so that in itself will be a new experience. So we find ourselves still in a changeable and somewhat unsettled stage but one with many new and exciting possibilities and interests.
We always appreciate hearing from you and Kelly wants to apologize for her sluggishness in responding to emails in the last months - it's not personal but a sympton of transition stress.
We hope you enjoy beauties each day brings in whichever season you're in.
Love & blessings, Peter & Kelly
Happy New Year January 2005
We wish you a wonderful 2005! May you be blessed in all the good things you do and be kept from any evil.
Love, Peter & Kelly
News Mail November 2004
A quick message from us to say that we have arrived in Canada safely, with all our luggage, and we also got through customs without any problems. We have —finally!— managed to update our webpage with a fresh newspage, and Peter is proud about the 'technical' improvements..! Now we hope to get our life streamlined here, which at least means a job for Kelly and starting permanent residency for Peter. We are happy to reconnect with friends and family, and we are enjoying being involved in an Alpha-group with PhD-students from China!
All good wishes, Peter & Kelly
News Mail October 2004
Although it has been a long time since we last wrote, we have not been kidnapped or disappeared in some far off land unbeknownst to anyone... unless of course wandering off into the beautiful beech forests of The Netherlands counts..!
The odometer on our English car showed that the last four months have been rather nomadic ones for us: 5000 miles (yes, miles, not kilometers, but equal to 8000 km) since the end of May! and the car couldn't count the distances travelled by boat, train and plane!!
In the last week of June we finished our time at All Nations Christian College in a blaze of triumph and a flood of tears — so pleased to have perserved in our studies to each earn a Bachelors of Arts (Honours) in Biblical and Intercultural studies but sad to be leaving the special community and good friends that were the core of our lives for the last two years (for Peter) and three years (for Kelly).
July we spent tying up loose ends in the UK: road trips to visit friends to say goodbye and a frenzy of cleaning our apartment and packing the majority of our belongings to ship to Canada. We, however, took our heavily-laden car on a boat across the North Sea to The Netherlands with the prospect of catching up with Peter's friends and family.
August was a month of delightful family holidays. To start with, we had two weeks in Sweden with Peter's father and his wife at their holiday house, also with Peter's two sisters and their families. Our travelling highlights were sailing up the Oslo fjord, enjoying the statues in Vigeland Park in Oslo depicting people in different stages of life, camping in the 'wild' in our new tent (except for the half-hour long battle to remove the many dozens of tiny ticks we found crawling up our legs and arms!) Our days in Sweden were both restful and active; they included swimming in and rowing on the local lake, eating wild blueberries as we hiked through the forests, cosy dinners on the veranda and various games with the children, like playing house under the table! Following this holiday time, we stayed for a week in a renovated barn in Drenthe, a rural Dutch province, with Peter's mother and her partner along with Peter's brother and sister and their families. Peter was a big hit with his eight-year-old nephew... it had something to do with computers and games! Kelly was a favourite with the nieces and was in demand to sit beside at the table and to play with — barbies, playmobile and friendship bracelets. Apart from playing, we also picked blackberries, cycled through the fields and along the canals, visited an open-air museum and an old-fashioned village, and ate real Dutch pancakes at a local cafe. It was great to catch up with the family and Kelly's great excitement was that she could speak enough Dutch to play with the children and understand basic group conversation. August newsflash: we celebrated our first wedding anniversary and are more in love than ever! And we are getting to know each other better and are learning how to live together. It is both an art and a science... but fun!!
September was a month of eclectic holidays: two weeks house-sitting in Amsterdam, a quick visit to England for a wedding and to sell our car, a week in Switzerland to see some college friends (we managed to fit in a mountain hike too!) and a week of retreat in a cottage in the Gelderland (NL) forests. Given all the weeks of hellos and goodbyes in rapid succession, we really appreciated the week of time being neither guests nor hosts, to sit still and set aside the daily pressures, to think and pray about who we are and how we want to express that among the wider community in the things we do in the future. On the practical side, we booked plane tickets to Vancouver for November 3!
With this leave-taking looming, October is for us a more settled month, based in Groningen (Peter's hometown in the North of The Netherlands) at Peter's mum's house. We are focussing on connecting with friends here and preparing for our move. Kelly continues to be enchanted by the mix of old and new coexisting side by side in Europe — the horse drawn carriage beside the tractor, the 14th century cloister now made into tasteful apartments, the small boy walking along in his father's wooden clogs carrying the latest fad-game, the jeans-clad workmen thatching a cottage in traditional style. Although modern and up to date, life in the 'old world' definitely has a different flavour from life in the 'new world.' Peter will have his turn for experiencing the difference in the coming months!
As we currently see the coming months, they will include staying with Kelly's parents upon our arrival in Vancouver while we find our feet. We are looking forward to this time spent under the same roof with them and with Kelly's brother Pete before his wedding in December. Eventually we hope to settle on our own for a while as we continue with the process of obtaining permanent residence for Peter in Canada, which requires that we stay in Canada for two years out of the next five. But lest you think that we have abandoned our overseas plans, we need to say that we are continuing to investigate and follow-up options for going to live and work in South-East Asia. Vancouver seems to be a good base from which to do this and to be involved in Asian communities before we get to Asia. We are aiming to find jobs to sustain us, which may seem like ordinary common sense to you, but which seems like a bit of a novelty to us who have not worked for two and half years (Peter) and three and a half years (Kelly)!! We are looking forward to reconnecting with Kelly's friends and becoming involved in her church, Granville Chapel, and in the community at large. It has been six years since Kelly has lived in Vancouver (!) and that was still in the single, student phase so she is aware that there will be some adjustments to make upon returning to the familiar, which has moved on, even as she has herself moved on in her own direction and now returns as a married, non-student. For Peter, this is a new country that he had not ever dreamed of living in before a year ago, so there will be some adjustments for him too. However, we are looking forward to ordinary, every day life in this new chapter in our lives. We don't quite know how it will look, but it seems to look interesting and challenging and fun too. We are hoping that with some constancy in our routine we will be better at corresponding but we daren't promise anything! We would love to hear from you too, when you find a moment. Our email address stays the same: peterkelly@passchier.net and if you want to check out some photos and other info concerning us, we are hoping to update our website this month: peterkelly.passchier.net
For those who want to pray for us:
We are thankful...- for a good ending to our time at All Nations and finishing our degrees
- for this time in The Netherlands to catch up and reconnect with church, friends and family
- for exciting prospects for the immediate future.
- that we can arrange all that needs to be arranged for Peter to move to Canada
- that we can find appropriate jobs in Vancouver
- that we can adjust well to the new life situation
- that we would integrate well into the community in Vancouver.
All best wishes, Peter & Kelly
News Mail April 2004
We are back safe and sound and thought we'd update you on our block placement in Myanmar (formerly Burma). We had a really good time there. We were part of a team of international and local staff, who, among other things, run an English language school and work in the local community. For our frist three weeks in Yangon (formerly Rangoon), we worked at a language school giving English lessons to six groups of students at three different levels. Most of the students had already finished secondary school and many had also complete university. Their English was quite good in terms of grammar and reading although thier speaking and listening skills were not so developed. The goal was to build friendships with the students but we weren't really there long enough to properly do that although we did have some good contact with our students. Some of the students were Christians but most were Buddhist as Myanmar is primarily a Buddhist country. Because of the rigorous schedule and not having really had the chance to make friends yet, we didn't find many opportunities to talk about faith, however, when we did, the students were very open to discussing belief and there was none of the defensiveness that usually accompanies such discussions in the West. All in all, the English lessons went well and it was good to have this experience, although if we were to do it again I would want to have a bit more training of some sort. Teaching your mother tongue officially in a classroom when you have imbibed it on mother's knee is not so easy without a few pointers in how to make it intelligible to others.
We preached in local churches twice during our placement — always with translation, which gave time for formulating the next sentence! It was such a blessing to see the local congregations alive and living all out for Christ in difficult circumstances. During the fourth week of our stay, the language school was closed (it was the national New Years Water Festival Holiday) and we spoke instead at a local church conference over three days. Our topics, chosen by the pastor, were spiritual gifts, temptation, sects and surrender to God. We also gave a couple of talks on relationships at the youth camp of another church. Apparently the topic is not often taught upon and there was real need for some of the issues to be addressed. I think the national leaders thought that since we were Westerners we would be less shy about speaking more straightforwardly about guy-girl relationships—at any rate, we took the plunge and I think it went over ok. We even had some feedback that our talk had been challenging and helpful. All of these seminars were translated by great people.
The test of living in another culture seemed to go well too. I am sure that if we stayed longer we would get over our honeymoon phase and begin to find more frustrations but as it was we really enjoyed our time in Myanmar. We found the people here friendly and open. There is some Western influence in the capital but not too much. Most of the people still wear the traditional dress—longyi, a skirt-like garment, worn by both men and women, although tied differently. Affordable and beautiful fabrics abound in the market and most clothes can be tailor made to whatever cut you want by seamstresses. Walking down the streets was like being in the middle of a colourful fashion show. The food is tasty and rice-based which was so helpful for Kelly, and we didn't have any tummy troubles either — even when we ate at stalls in the street! The fruit was wonderful: watermelon, papaya, grapes, mangoes and the more exotic durian and mangosteens — Peter's favourites. The climate was bearable even though it was the hot season and about 40 degrees Celsius every day — mind you we slept in air conditioned quarters where the ambiant temperature was 25 degrees instead so we were a bit pampered on that account. The flowers were also very beautiful and fragrant... a few times we found some fallen frangipani blooms to decorate Kelly's hair. Strings of perfumed jasmine blossoms were sold in the streets and many of the local women wore them in their hair, as Kelly did one evening — and her hair smelled like jasmine for 3 days!! We had contact with different ex-pats working for various different companies so we got to know what kind of work is being done in the region as well as the opportunities that are available should we think of returning for a longer stay.
The coming years are probably an important time for the development of the country as it seems to be opening up some. Just recently —within the last 6 months— has the internet become available within the country, and so outside information is starting to come in. This heralds big changes for the whole culture, I think, which will feel more and more the tension between being and Eastern culture with much Western input. It is probable that there will be a fair amount of upheaval in the coming years that will call for rethinking and rediscovery of foundations for norms and values. We are still unsure of where in the world we will serve, but we will certainly be seeking God to see if He would call us back to this country. We value your prayers for us as we seek vision for the future. But at the moment we are settling back into spring in England and our last term here at All Nations.
Many blessings, Peter & Kelly
Invitation to our reception at All Nations Christian College
Invitation to our reception in Medicine Hat
Announcement of our Engagement For reading (PDF)
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