Abe, Jill, and Easton Sobczak

Luang Prabang Trip

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 13:50:00 +0000

Weekend in Luang Prabang

Last weekend we had meetings in Luang Prabang, which is about 8 hours north of us. It is the old capitol of Laos, and considered to be the spiritual capitol of the country today. We loaded up at 5:30am to make the big drive north! We had been told that the road was an old, winding mountain road with tons of potholes. Nothing could have been closer to the truth, yet that simple description seems so lacking. The rainy season pretty much destroys the roads here. Huge potholes riddle every main street and side street, dirt or paved, here in the city. Once you leave the city, the roads only get worse. All that to say, the 8 hour trip north was terribly long and exhausting BUT totally worth it because the drive through the mountains was absolutely beautiful! Watching the buildings of the city fade into beautiful, green mountain tops was like taking a deep breath of fresh air!

Our view on the drive up to Luang Prabang

Once in Luang Prabang, we enjoyed going to a beautiful waterfall and river, although Easton wasn’t too sure about the COLD water. Living in the capitol city, we don’t see a ton of trees, except in our yard. While the trees at the waterfall were different, just being in the mountains in the “fall” so reminded me of being in East TN. I miss the changing colors on the trees and the cool nights of the fall season. It has cooled off here. It gets down into the 70s at night and only the low 90s during the day! Not exactly the same as home, but the trip to the waterfall was a comforting reminder of home and I loved it!

Enjoying our time at the waterfall

We also went to the night market and had a lot of fun! We actually know enough language now to have conversations and feel more comfortable meeting new Lao friends. We met a new friend at the night market. He was so fascinated with Easton’s light skin and blue eyes. We bought a ton of stuff from this little guy! He was just too fun and friendly not to buy things from him. He actually asked if he could keep Easton and raise him . . . wait. . . . come to think of it . . . . maybe he was asking if we would raise him! Well either way, guess we definitely better plan on staying in language school a bit longer.

Our friend from the night market

On the trip home, we were tired and the mountain road really began to wear on us. Easton was a trooper but it definitely exhausted him! We were driving home on a Sunday, which must be bath day in the villages along the mountain road. No one seemed to have running water in their little houses, but we saw them taking dip baths at every well and watering hole along the road. The houses are built right beside the road so driving basically went like this . . . dodge a herd of cows . . . . round a corner . . . don’t hit those chickens and dogs . . . round another switchback corner. . . watch out for the kids playing in the road . . . hit a crater size pothole . . . now follow another hair-pin turn in the road. Exhausting!!!

The other scene of the mountain road was the constant manual labor going on in the villages. Because there is no running water, it has to be carried up the mountain to the houses. On the long drive from Luang Prabang back here to Vientiane, I know we saw a total of at least 300 kids, ages 5 -12 yrs old, carrying LOADS of water, fire wood, potatoes, and fruit. It was mile after mile of kids carrying gallons of water and tons of heavy firewood and fruit, usually without shoes. I’m sorry to say we couldn’t get a picture of these kids. The road was just too narrow and winding to try to stop and get pictures. As I’m writing this blog, we have no city water coming to our house today. For some unknown reason they have randomly turned our water off with no warning at all. I was in the shower trying to get the conditioner out of my hair this morning and all of a sudden, there was no more water. That was frustrating. Just as soon as I started to complain, I remembered the MANY children who were carrying gallons of water up a steep mountain, barefoot. They don’t even know what a free flowing, much less hot, shower is like. In a few weeks, we will all celebrate Thanksgiving. So today I’m thankful for running water and electricity! Sometimes it’s good to just stop and be thankful for the little things.

Roadside convenience . . . not so much

A Day in the Life of Easton

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 01:15:00 +0000

When we first started planning to move to Laos quite honestly, my heart was filled with many more concerns than faith. I suppose this doesn’t speak so highly of me but it’s the truth. My biggest concern was for Easton. I spent MUCH time praying for his adjustment here to culture, food and people. Everyone assured me that he would be just fine. I believed them but still had the typical concerns of a mother. What if the two languages totally confused him and he couldn’t figure out what to say? What if he didn't adjust well to meeting new people? What if he didn’t like RICE?? We were going to be in trouble!

Now that we have been here for 7 months, I think I can say with confidence that Easton is doing GREAT! In most ways, he has adjusted more easily and more quickly than either Abe or me. Language has NOT been a problem. He is talking TONS! Most of the words he says are in English but he understands a lot of Lao. He is incredibly social and loves all our Lao friends. It’s been amazing to feel the grace of the Father resting on him as he has adjusted to life here. So here’s a few snapshots of the life of Easton.

Easton's newest form of entertainment is our new dog named Milo. She is a six month old Black Lab that friends of ours gave to us. Even though she's is a little big for Easton, she is very sweet and mild mannered. He enjoys running with her, as long as she doesn't try to jump up on him.

After playing with Milo, Easton's most favorite thing to do is hunting for geckos and snails. The geckos are usually too fast for him to catch. Luckily the snails are much easier to capture. He collects them in a can or jar and carries them around all day. He's so cute as he runs to show me his morning catch!

This is Joy, one of our Lao friends. Easton gets to play with Joy just about every day. When we left the States, I wasn't sure how Easton would adjust to so many new people. As it turns out, Easton never meets a stranger. He is so friendly and social!

I know that so many of our friends at home have been praying for us and for Easton. Rest assured, every prayer has been heard and answered. I'm not saying that moving and adjusting to life here has been the easiest thing I've ever done, but I know without a doubt that the Father has covered us with an amazing blanket of His grace. He has provided everything we've needed for every day. When I see Easton laughing and hunting geckos, I am reminded that His love for us is so great! He cared about every detail of this mother's heart. Now if you'll excuse me . . . I have some gecko hunting to do with a most precious 21-month old little boy!

Just Another Day

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 01:15:00 +0000

“So what’s life like there?” This question comes up in just about every conversation with people from home. Every time without fail, I’m a bit at a loss for words. Trying to articulate day to day life here is in many ways like trying to describe a roller coaster ride to someone who has never ridden one before - it’s most definitely FULL of ups and downs! To really understand it, you just have to experience for yourself. But one thing is for sure, you’re hair is going to get MESSED up! Here’s a snapshot of a couple of days in the past two weeks.

Grocery Shopping

Laos has no grocery stores, only open air markets and a few small shops with overpriced, out of date cereal and pasta. About once a month, I travel an hour across the border into Thailand to get groceries. Mostly I buy frozen meat and a few special vegetables like asparagus and bell peppers that I can’t get in Laos. The meat section of the store really is interesting. They have everything from crocodile to lamb and every conceivable part of a pig; tail, hoof, kidneys, skin. And of course there’s plenty of Mekong Catfish and squid. But ask me if they have a cut of beef for roast? That answer would be a big fat NO! So very sad! Minced beef is available but they pretty much ‘mince’ everything in that beef - bones, tubes, and all! Not so tasty. They do have chicken breasts most of the time and pork tenderloin, which is pretty good. Truthfully, there’s not a whole lot in this grocery store that looks like home, except for maybe the vegetables. They do have Lays chips but in some strange flavors; Nori Seaweed, Bar-b-que Shrimp, and Spicy Beef. Lucky for us, Sour Cream and Onion is usually available as well.

I go to one store for the food part of my list and another store for things like diapers, cleaning supplies, and other non-food items. This city in Thailand where I do my grocery shopping is the same city where we get our mail from the US. To cross the border, go to both stores, and check the mail takes about 5 hours, depending on how busy things are at the Thai-Lao border crossing. I don’t mind crossing the border and doing all that but every time I make the trip I have to admit it’s a bit surreal thinking that I have to actually go to a different COUNTRY to get groceries and to check my mail. I remember when grocery shopping was a ten minute drive to Wal-mart and checking my mail was as simple as walking to the end of my driveway! I remember those things but I have to admit that memory is getting a bit hazy even after only being here 5 months.

Giant Mekong Catfish at our "grocery store"

Buying A Car

Abe started shopping for our Speed-The-Light vehicle - THANKS TN YOUTH!!! He went to the dealership here and quickly noticed something a bit different from dealerships in America. Dealerships here have no actual CARS in the showroom. They have MAGAZINES!! Here’s the basic process for buying a car here: Pick out the make, model, and color of your desired car. You will not get to test drive it. You will not get to see an example of it. You will only get to see a picture of it in a catalogue. Make a downpayment and ORDER your car!! We are in the process of doing all of this and hope to have our car the first of next year. That’s right! It takes about 6 months from the time you order the car until you can actually pick it up and drive it yourself.

Grocery shopping in a neighboring country; snail mail box in another country; making a downpayment on a car that we won’t see for six months - that’s kind of what life is like here. Everything is a lot more trouble and takes a lot longer than you’re used to it taking. It doesn’t make any of these things wrong at all. It just makes them really different. I guess that’s the best way to sum up life here. It’s not that it’s wrong. It’s just really, really different. How many different ways can you eat rice? There’s nothing wrong with having to figure that out. It’s just different. How can you cook lamb roast to make it taste like beef roast? Again, nothing wrong with having to figure that out. It’s just different. I have to admit that adjusting to all these different ways does sometimes make me tired. But with a lot of prayer and grace, we’re adjusting to this new way of life. My hair is most definitely messed up, but I’m staying on this roller coaster ride until we’re finished here.

Lao Language 101

Tue, 24 May 2011 13:14:00 +0000

Right now, our life is all about Lao Language 101! The language has 26 consonants, 50 vowels and five tones. Needless to say it is a challenge. We attend classes Monday through Friday from 1:30 – 4:45pm. We have found that we MUST study at least 3 hours between each daily class or we are pretty much just drowning. The first few weeks weren’t too bad. We were learning basic greeting phrases and the alphabet. Now we are way passed the basics and in full time study!

It’s difficult to explain exactly what it’s like to try to learn a completely new language with all new letters and completely different sounds from your own native tongue. A doctor told me that the one way to for sure prevent Alzheimer’s is learn a new language after the age of 30. He said that your brain goes into “coasting” mode around age thirty because you are no longer learning anything new. Learning a new language is so difficult that it wakes up every part of your brain. When he told me that, it was hard to believe. After studying a new language for the last 6 weeks, I have no doubt that it is TRUE! Some days after class, my brain literally hurts! Trying to listen, understand and form new sounds that you’ve never even heard before is one of the most exhausting things I’ve ever done! I think I can actually feel my brain forming new folds up there or something!

Basically we spend our days trying to communicate; yet knowing we sound at best like a two year old when we speak. This language has sounds we just simply don’t have in English. We have the “D” and “T” sounds. They have those sounds plus a “DT” sound. We have the sounds, “B” and “P.” They have those sounds plus a “BP/PB” sound, plus a high tone “P” sound. Then we come to the vowels! Every day studying those, our class kind of sounded like a group of exhausted people having stomach troubles in the bathroom. Reciting six of the 50 vowels sounds a little like this, “uh, ughhha, ah, ahhhha, ee, eeeahhh, egh, eghhhhaaa.” Then one of the vowels sounds like, “ughaahheee.” YES! That is ONE of the “special combined” vowels. All that doesn’t even begin to include the 5 tones, which are added into the mix. Some days it feels as if at 16 months old Easton has mastered English MUCH better than we have perfected anything in the Lao!

We practice constantly and are extremely blessed to have Lao people around us who are incredibly patient with our blunders and mistakes. Because of the different tones, a certain syllable can have 5 different meanings. One example is the word “moo.” Said with one tone this word means “friend.” Said with another tone this word means “pig” or “pork.” The other day I thought I was saying, “I’m going to eat pork fried rice then go to my friend’s house.” Instead I apparently said, “I’m going to eat friend-meat fried rice then go to my pig’s house." After I completed the statement, which took me at least 5 minutes to form in my mind and vocalize out of my mouth, MUCH giggling and snickering ensued. Immediately I knew I had made some sort of major blunder! They were kind enough to politely correct me. Scenes like that happen every day!

No worries though! We’re hanging in there! Though not extremely fast, we can now read and write in Lao. Our conversation skills are growing even though we have a LONG way to go. The tones are killing us, but we’re determined to succeed! We have such a strong conviction that learning to speak Lao clearly is essential to ministry here! We simply must be able to speak the “heart” language of those we’ve been called to serve. God is helping us and we are being diligent to reach that goal. Although I must admit that oft on the way home from school Abe says, “Dang you Tower of Babel!” Ha! I have to say, I couldn’t agree more!

On the left, Lao Consonants

On the Right, Lao Vowels

(left all my notes scribbled in pencil on both pages - sorry)

Ends of the Earth

Sat, 16 Apr 2011 03:29:00 +0000

“Jesus I believe in You and I would go to the ends of the Earth, the ends of the Earth.” Those lyrics sound familiar? It was a popular song from Hillsong a few years ago. Every time I sang it, I thought about Battambang, Cambodia, where Abe and I served a year as interns. I had always considered it my “ends of the Earth,” until this week . . .

(View in XK)

Because of the Lao New Year being celebrated this week, we’ve been on holiday break from language school. We took advantage of the time off and went upcountry to Xien Khouang (XK), where we plan to move once our year of language school is completed here in the capital city. I just THOUGHT I had seen the “ends of the Earth” in Cambodia! XK, which is about 8 hours away from the capitol up a crazy mountain road, felt like an empty, tumble weed, Wild Wild West town where pretty much anything goes. This 2 street town is by far the biggest city around and home to the Plain of Jars, a World Heritage Site. It is an absolutely beautiful place with green lush mountains everywhere. The constant cool breeze and actual PINE TREES make you ask yourself repeatedly, “Am I still in Southeast Asia?”

Only about 50 miles from the Vietnam border, XK and the Plain of Jars were a huge part of the “silent war” during the Vietnam conflict. From 1964-73, U.S. planes flew 580,000 bombing runs over Laos – the equivalent of one every nine minutes for ten solid years. Per-capita Laos is the most heavily bombed nation in history. We visited the Plain of Jars and I must say I’ve never had such a feeling of death and darkness. It was just as strong as the Killing Fields in Cambodia. You can literally see huge craters on the sides of mountains where planes bombed the area. Signs mark caves and trenches where Vietnamese soldiers dug in to hold their ground. Yes, this area is littered with huge, inexplicable, ancient vats. It was difficult to stand in awe of these ancient jars because I was so overwhelmed with the feelings of death, war, spiritual darkness, and war in the heavenlies.

(Plain of Jars)

Abe and I left the Plain of Jars asking ourselves, Can we really do this? Is this what God is really asking us to do? Move our family to this dusty 2 street town with little more than 3 Lao food restaurants and an open-air market? Is this really the place God had in mind where it feels like the ground is literally crying out for justice after so much persecution, war, and bloodshed, just as Abel’s blood cried out from the ground in Genesis? I must admit the remoteness of this city – closest grocery and medical care is about 10 hours away in Thailand – and the darkness of the air were making my head truly spin. Then we met the most wonderful children . . .

(Girls Eating "New Years" Lunch)

Our STL vehicle pulled up to the ministry center for street children and immediately the air felt lighter for me. We went around to the back of the building and there on a concrete floor covered by a tin metal awning sat about 70 kids ages 5-14 years. They were excited about their special lunch of noodle soup and ORANGES – treats for the Lao New Year holiday. Some of these kids are true orphans with no extended family to take care of them. Others have simply been driven down from the surrounding mountains and dropped off in the city, left to fend for themselves, because their family cannot afford to take care of them. At the center, they have a place to eat breakfast, eat lunch, receive tutoring in the afternoons and take a good bath. Every evening, they go to a foster home type family to sleep for the night, which the director of the center set up for them.

Looking into the faces of these kids reminds me of why in the world I’m here. Why would God ask us to come to a place that in many ways feels like the ends of the Earth? Because each one of those children matter to our Heavenly Father. He knows them each by name. Somehow I hope that we can be used so that each of them will soon know Him by name as well. And that’s the reason I would go to the ends of the Earth.

(Mountain Road to XK)

Love This House!

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 15:23:00 +0000

Yes, we are alive and doing GREAT! I was blown away yesterday when I realized that we arrived in Laos almost exactly a month ago. We have been working hard to get settled here and obviously, time has flown by! I know there have been several blog-worthy experiences along the way . . .

Like at the park one day, a Lao grandmother decided to just TAKE Easton out of his stroller. She couldn’t figure out the buckle so she had her ten family members come help her. After about 5 minutes of jerking, pulling, and A LOT of Lao words that I totally didn’t understand, Easton was freely being passed from one family member to another. And where was I during this fiasco? Standing right there with my jaw hanging open, completely at a loss as to what in the world to do. Did I know this lovely grandmother and her family? NOPE! They just wanted to hold the curly blond haired American baby boy and have their picture made with him. And how was Easton? Loving every minute! He truly believes he is the center of the universe and that everyone should love him. Here in Laos, they pretty much do! Ha!

If I have any one overall impression from the last 4 weeks, it’s a strong realization that God has truly gone before us and prepared the way for every step of this transition and move. He has seen all along the desires of my heart in the tiniest of details and truly prepared everything for us. For example, He has given us an absolutely amazing house! Before we left the States, I prayed extensively about our house here. I wanted Easton to have a yard to play in. I wanted to be able to find good furniture that was comfortable enough to feel like home. As I write this, I’m stretched out on my super cute, L-shaped couch set looking out the window into our beautiful tree filled acre yard! It is more wonderful than I could have ever asked or imagined. We even have mango and avocado trees in the yard! When we ask God to give us the “desires of our heart as we delight in Him,” why are we so shocked when He actually does it? I suppose we show our serious lack of faith when we’re surprised that He’s answered our prayers.

I know MANY of you have been diligently praying for us. I want to thank you and encourage you to keep praying. He is listening and moving on our behalf. Our transition and house set up have been so smooth that it’s almost unbelievable. I feel so covered in prayer! Thank you!

Language school starts Monday afternoon. Learning language and culture is the next big step in our transition here. I am eager to know the language so I can actually TALK to the next Lao grandmother who wants to dote over Easton!

So . . . keep praying! Don’t be surprised when he does truly move on your behalf. He really is just that good!

First meal in our new house!

Feb. 26!!!

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 15:56:00 +0000

The countdown has begun! On Feb. 26, we board a plane headed for Southeast Asia. About 35 hours later, we will arrive in Laos, our new home. Which means that just 5 weeks from today, we’ll be in the land of tuk-tuks, open-air markets, and noodle soup.
Right now that means A LOT of sorting, storing, selling, and packing needs to happen! I must admit I have never felt so overwhelmed by such a vast range of emotions as when we finally booked the tickets a few days ago.
Initially, I felt total relief and excitement. We have traveled about 55,0000 miles and had over 250 services and meetings with supporters over the last 18 months. We did it!! GOD DID IT! The budget is raised! Woo-Hoo!!
Then like a bad car wreck my next thought was . . . oh my goodness . . . we did it! Now we have so much to do! We have to pack our lives into ten duffel bags, take our sweet little one-year-old boy and move 10,000 miles away!
Then like a freight train, the final blow . . . We’re going to be 10,000 miles away from family and friends we love so much! We’re going to be an ocean and several large countries away from sweet tea and vacations with friends and mom’s homemade chocolate pie.
But finally, a wave of peace rolled in which calmed my mind and spirit more than any ocean tide. God’s reassuring peace that it will all be ok, ‘cause He’s just that good!
All the bags will get packed. Our “stuff” will get sorted, sold, and stored. I’ll sneak in Lipton ice tea bags somewhere in the luggage. I know there has to be a recipe for that chocolate pie somewhere! I’ll have plenty of time to perfect it over the next three years. We will survive all the goodbyes – I’m really not good at goodbyes at all! And on Feb 26, we’ll get on that plane. We’ll leave to do all that God has asked us to do. And that will be my true act of worship. It’ll all work out ‘cause God’s in it!

Welcome to our blog!

Easton is Here!!!

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 17:04:00 +0000

This Christmas was an extra special one for us as we welcomed our little baby boy, Easton, into the family. December 19th will be a day we never forget. Words can not describe the feeling of holding him in our arms for the very first time. Time seemed to stand still as we looked into the eyes of our precious gift from God. Our lives will never be the same and we are so blessed.