Thursday, December 23, 2010
Sunday, November 07, 2010
November Team Possible Update
As we continue celebrating our Thankfulness to God and begin the Holiday season which celebrates our Saviors birth, we think it only fitting to take a moment to Thank all of you who so diligently continue to pray and give financially to our family. As we look at the journey that we have had over the past 5 years, we know that it wouldn‘t be possible for us to be where we are with out you. You are what makes all of us a team – and we know the sacrifices that you make in order for us to be the faces of Team Possible - for that, we are truly thankful. Our prayer for you is that God pour out amazing blessings on you as you continue to serve Him through your financial and prayer support!
We were so thankful to arrive back in the states safe and sound and be greeted with the news that a couple had lovingly opened up their home to allow our family of 5 to live with them until we found something more permanent. What an amazingly generous family! After 2 months of searching, our family moved into a home in Forest Lake, MN, only a few minutes from our home church and many dear friends. At the same time, we were given back our old van as well as the loan of a second vehicle, which is wonderful considering Troy will spend most of his days on the road, potentially leaving Cheryl and the kids without a vehicle. What a wonderful provision from our Heavenly Father.
Future in Thailand:
Our family is so excited about the future that God has presented to us. Before leaving Thailand, our family was asked to consider being the liaisons to the tribal people for the Thailand Assemblies of God. That excited us incredibly, as we were already feeling the pull to work more with the unreached people groups in Northern Thailand. We had already began to talk with pastors about the possibilities of focusing on the needs of the tribal people in the villages as a way to open their hearts to the Gospel. Many organizations are forcing people to convert to their “religion” in trade for help. We believe that when we share the “Love” of Christ by meeting their physical needs (ie: clean water, avenues of income for their community etc) they want to hear more about the one who sent us! We don’t need to twist their arms - they will WANT to know Him!
Travel:
One of the biggest needs we have right now is for speaking engagements and appointments with Pastors. It is required that we speak in 8 churches a month – and this time of year it is VERY difficult for churches to squeeze missionaries into their already full services. Please pray for God’s guidance, direction and divine appointments as we seek to share what God has done in and through us these last few years, as well as our vision and calling for the future.
Financial:
We are so thankful for all of you who so diligently pray for our needs. Our biggest need right now is financial. It has been very difficult to schedule with churches to speak, but when we have, many have not taken an offerings for us, or the offerings have been very small. Our personal, business and travel expenses are running over $4000 a month, but we are only getting a little over half of that each month - simply -we are going into debt. Please pray that Churches and individuals will be willing to give in order for us to operate in the black.
As always we feel so grateful for your prayers, and we desire to lift up your needs as well if you would like. Please let us know if there are any needs and prayer requests that you have, so that we too can lift you up to our Heavenly Father! J
Thank you to all of you who have welcomed us in your homes and churches - we would never be out here without your incredible generosity. May God bless you for all you do and all the ways you serve Him.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Songkran
Songkran is one of our families favorite holidays here in Thailand. It is a 3 day event that celebrates the start of the Thai New Year. Songkran originates from the Thai Buddhist tradition of sprinkling holy water on elders and Buddhist statues as a symbol of spiritual cleansing. It has lost a lot of its spiritual significance with the younger generations, and has now simply turned into a huge country-wide water fight. Thais travel to large cities to participate in the huge water fights there. In Chiangmai, the city is filled with people in the backs of trucks, songtheows and standing along the streets with squirt guns, hoses and buckets of water ready to soak each other. Since this is the hottest time of the year, being doused with the water is incredibly refreshing. Our family celebrated by Troy filling up the truck bed with water, and us riding around the city soaking everyone in site, while being soaked in return. The occasional ice water being thrown on us took our breath away, but must admit, was most welcome. We had a great day of celebration and are thankful for a refreshing activity for a tremendously hot time of year!
Friday, April 09, 2010
Natalie's Hospital Stay
Thanks for all your prayers for our family!
Blessings,
The Scott Family
Monday, March 15, 2010
Update on Political situation
Protests Urge Resignation of Leaders in Thailand
Supporters of Thaksin Shinawatra, the ousted prime minister, gathered during a protest on Sunday in Bangkok.
By THOMAS FULLER
Published: March 14, 2010
BANGKOK — Tens of thousands of protesters poured into Bangkok on Sunday demanding that the government step down in what was one of the largest demonstrations in Thailand’s recent tumultuous history.
Convoys of farmers in pickup trucks and busloads of families wearing the protesters’ trademark red shirts blanketed a district of ministries and government offices.
“We are here to announce class warfare, in peace and for democracy,” Nattawut Saikua, a protest leader, told a roaring crowd not deterred by the scorching sun and 90-degree temperatures.
Organizers estimated the crowd at 250,000 people and said more were on the way by road and riverboat. The police estimated the number of protesters at 120,000 but said that was likely to increase. The protest leaders have vowed to continue their demonstration well into the week if their demands are not met.
In four years of political turmoil here, the divisions in Thai society have been complex and manifold. But on Sunday, protesters and their leaders portrayed the demonstration as a struggle of the poor and disaffected against a government supported and controlled by the elite.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, a former economics professor educated at Oxford, was described in speeches by protest leaders as the son of “privilege” who had evaded military service and now presided over a veiled dictatorship.
“They have never felt pain,” Mr. Nattawut said of the governing class. “We don’t have their connections, but we’re ready to die.”
Mr. Abhisit came to power in December 2008 with military backing after a court forced the dissolution of the previous government by disbanding a political party loyal to Thaksin Shinawatra, the prime minister ousted in the military coup four years ago.
Mr. Abhisit’s government, which has two years left in office before it must call elections, has poured money into rural development projects, but Mr. Abhisit remains unpopular among voters in the rice-growing area of northeastern Thailand, a stronghold for Mr. Thaksin.
In his weekly television address on Sunday, Mr. Abhisit rejected the protesters’ demands to step down, calling them “unpractical.”
“I cannot accept any demand that is considered a threat,” he said. “I came to power in a constitutional way.” He added, “I have the right to complete my term.”
The depth of the distrust of the elite and the sense of victimization was on display among protesters at the rally on Sunday. Vendors sold hats that read: “Whatever you do is right. Whatever I do is wrong.”
“We’ve come to ask for justice and democracy,” said Sompaan Nhongbor, 63, a rice farmer from the northeast who drove to the protest in a pickup truck jammed with 12 people and a large bag of sticky rice to sustain themselves.
“We’re not doing this for Thaksin,” Mr. Sompaan said. “If Thaksin were a bad person, we would be chasing him out, too.”
The protesters, or redshirts, as they are called here, say they had more opportunities during the five years when Mr. Thaksin, a telecommunications tycoon, was prime minister. They credit him with creating a heavily subsidized health care system and with cracking down on illegal drugs.
Voters from the northeast still speak bitterly about the 2006 military coup that ousted Mr. Thaksin, a move they say was carried out by the Bangkok establishment.
A Thai court decided in February that the government could seize $1.4 billion of Mr. Thaksin’s assets because he had used his position in government to advance his business interests.
Many here say they perceive the decision as continued persecution of Mr. Thaksin by a shadowy elite.
Mr. Thaksin addressed the rally by video on Sunday night from an undisclosed location outside Thailand, The Associated Press reported. “The people who caused the problems in the country these days are the ruling elites,” he told the crowd.
Near Parliament, there were hundreds of trucks, bearing license plates from across the rural heartland, serving as makeshift kitchens.
Many Bangkok residents say they fear the demonstrations will turn violent; some wealthier families left, while others stayed indoors. But most parts of Bangkok, a vast metropolis of about eight million people, were calm and unaffected by the protest.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Verdict Unlikely To Heal Divide
Verdict on Thaksin billions unlikely to heal divide
 Mr Thaksin still enjoys a loyal following in Thailand |
Thailand's Supreme Court has confiscated much of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's family fortune, but, as the BBC's Vaudine England in Bangkok reports, the verdict is unlikely to end his appeal or heal the country's deep political schisms.
Back in 1976, Dr Weng Tojirakarn was a young student leader in protests that ended with the military opening fire and killing many of his fellow demonstrators.
He fled to the hills, where Thailand's Communist Party offered a haven for many in the radical intelligentsia of the time.
Not necessarily communist, several of those activists have since become leaders of the red shirts, like Dr Weng. Some, such as Chaturon Chaisang, were even members of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's cabinets.
Equal rights
For men such as these, the Supreme Court verdict against Mr Thaksin's private wealth is of no importance whatsoever to the struggle.
 |  I'm not fighting for Mr Thaksin. I'm fighting for my country to be a genuine democratic system  Dr Weng |
"Mr Thaksin is just only one person in this country," says Dr Weng.
"He may be an ex-prime minister but he is nothing to do with what I'm fighting for, because I'm fighting for the genuine democratic system in Thailand."
Dr Weng wants a system where "real political power must be in the hands of the people and all man is created equal, every citizen must have an equal political right and also economic chance".
"But that never happened in Thailand," he says, adding that he looks to Britain or Japan for states where the monarch is supreme and democracy thrives.
"I'm not fighting for Mr Thaksin. I'm fighting for my country to be a genuine democratic system," says Dr Weng.
To that end, Dr Weng shuts up his small, poorly decorated doctor's clinic off a frantic highway in northern Bangkok every weekend and drives back to communities of the rural poor he once ministered to as a radical young student.
There he and other leaders of the red-shirted United Front for Democracy (UDD) hold what they calls schools, to raise the political consciousness of the people.
The arguments put across and discussed with varied communities focus on the injustice of the coup in 2006 that deposed a freely elected leader.
Genie released
These lessons have added pungency as they are delivered to communities that voted for Mr Thaksin, once they realised he was going to fund small businesses, provide cheap healthcare, and generally support his voter base beyond the urban centres.
To many in Thailand, that style of governance - where a shirt-sleeved Mr Thaksin, without pomp, would tour rural areas and listen to people's problems - was new.
| THAKSIN TIMELINE  2001: Elected prime minister 19 Sept 2006: Ousted in military coup 25 Sept 2006: Corruption investigation begins 11 June 2007: Thaksin family assets frozen 25 Aug 2008: Prosecutors ask Supreme Court to seize frozen assets 21 Oct 2008: Sentenced in absentia to two years for conflict of interest in land deal 26 Feb 2010: Supreme Court seizes $1.4bn (£910m) of Thaksin family's contested assets |
But to some Thais - who cannot imagine that their servants should have a vote equal in power to their own - it was threatening.
Their preferred exercise of power has been through a strong military, monarchist bureaucracy - a system Mr Thaksin cut through.
The anti-Thaksin yellow shirt protesters who helped usher in the current government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejajiva openly spoke of wanting a new system where some people's votes counted for more than others.
This is why a billionaire businessman and his cronies can be in the same alliance as men such as Dr Weng, all of them convinced they are fighting for genuine democracy.
"This is a united front - meaning we have to co-operate where we can co-operate. What we can't co-operate on, we put aside," says Dr Weng.
Analysts are agreed that many Thais are more politically aware these days.
They call it the genie that cannot be put back in the bottle, or the toothpaste that cannot be squeezed back into the tube.
They also note that the wellsprings of anger and the sense of disenfranchisement engendered by the 2006 coup are only growing deeper and more bitter with each setback to the man they regard as the only one who cared for them.
For this reason, any hope Mr Abhisit's government might have that the latest court ruling against Mr Thaksin will fatally weaken his support base, could be in vain.
'No rabble'
Some argue that a possible lack of money to fund further red shirt demonstrations could lose it numbers and damage its ability to stage massive protests capable of bringing down the current government.
|   |
Others argue the anger will only grow and fester, becoming more dangerous over time, with or without the money.
So far the red shirts are holding to their line that they are not the violent rabble the government calls them, and their decision to hold off on any protests until the middle of March is a principled one to reinforce their point that they are not lackeys of one rich man and his wealth.
Others say they have postponed the protests because they could not be sure of getting adequate numbers to the capital - an ability likely to be diminished with the prospect of less funding in the future.
Dr Weng and his colleagues say they have been developing a red shirt movement without the benefit of any of these frozen funds.
Mr Thaksin will not be alone in seeing the judicial actions as "very political". He insists he is innocent, and a fighter, and will not be deterred.
The latest court verdict against him appears unlikely to change the political balance much either way.
Nor will it heal the divisions in this country. Brought to the boil by Mr Thaksin, many of those divisions long predate his emergence, and are likely to outlast him.
Thaksin Court Update
Thailand top court seizes part of Thaksin fortune
 Security was increased in Thailand ahead of the court's verdict |
Thailand's Supreme Court has ruled that former PM Thaksin Shinawatra's family should be stripped of more than half a contested $2.3bn fortune.
The court said $1.4bn (£910m) of the assets were gained illegally through conflict of interest when Mr Thaksin was prime minister.
The funds were frozen after Mr Thaksin's elected government was overthrown in a military coup in 2006.
Mr Thaksin, who is living abroad, has denied any wrongdoing.
The Supreme Court said "to seize all the money would be unfair since some of it was made before Thaksin became prime minister".
| ANALYSIS  By Vaudine England, BBC News, Bangkok By choosing to confiscate some, but not all of Mr Thaksin's known assets, the court has managed to dampen arguments from his "red shirt" supporters that the entire judiciary is suborned to a military-bureaucratic elite which intends to finish off Mr Thaksin once and for all. But it will also weaken the government's demonisation of Mr Thaksin. It appears to be saying that the former prime minister did cheat on the hiding and increase of his fortune, but he was significantly and legitimately wealthy when he entered office. He remains a rich man by any standards. What this verdict will not do is heal the divisions in this country, polarised by Mr Thaksin's hugely popular appeal and the threat this poses to the military-bureaucratic elite. The 2006 coup that deposed him continues to damage the legitimacy of the current military-backed government of Abhisit Vejajjiva - this basic issue also goes well beyond one man and his money. |
The court took several hours to deliver its verdict, with security forces on high alert amid government predictions of violence by Mr Thaksin's red-shirted supporters if the court decision went against him.
The judges said that Mr Thaksin shaped government mobile phone and satellite communications policy to benefit his firms.
He abused his power to benefit telecoms company Shin Corp, which he owned then, earning wealth from shares sales in the company through "inappropriate means", they ruled.
The sale of Shin Corp to Singapore state investment firm Temasek in January 2006 was one of the main catalysts for widespread protests calling for Mr Thaksin to resign, and the government applied for the seizure of the proceeds from the sale.
The court dismissed defence arguments that the anti-corruption commission that instigated the proceedings against Mr Thaksin was illegitimate.
Mr Thaksin addressed his supporters from Dubai after the verdict.
"This is total political involvement. The government knew the result in advance," he said, according to Associated Press.
"I've been prepared for the result since yesterday. I knew that I would get hit, but they are kind enough to give me back 30 billion [baht]."
He had previously told them he would continue his political fight against the "military-bureaucratic elite" that deposed him - with or without his family fortune.
He has said the money he and his family earned was acquired legally. The full extent of fortune is unknown, but he is thought to be very wealthy.
Tensions in Thailand remain high. Tens of thousands of extra police have been placed in and around the capital, and in areas of the north-east of the country where some of Mr Thaksin's supporters are based.
| THAKSIN TIMELINE  2001: Elected prime minister 19 Sept 2006: Ousted in military coup 25 Sept 2006: Corruption investigation begins 11 June 2007: Thaksin family assets frozen 25 Aug 2008: Prosecutors ask Supreme Court to seize frozen assets 21 Oct 2008: Sentenced in absentia to two years for conflict of interest in land deal 26 Feb 2010: Court seizes $1.4bn of $2.3bn in contested assets |
There were only small numbers of Thaksin supporters outside the court. The pro-Thaksin United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), which leads the red shirts, has said it has no plans for any demonstration until mid-March.
Local media had predicted huge disruption, counting down to what they called "judgement day".
The judges looked at whether Mr Thaksin illegally deposited his fortune with family members because he was not allowed to hold company shares while prime minister, and whether his administration implemented policies to benefit his family's businesses.
They have also considered whether telecoms liberalisation measures unfairly benefited the country's main mobile phone service provider, then controlled by Mr Thaksin's family.
And they have investigated whether he unfairly promoted a $127m low-interest loan to neighbouring Burma to benefit a satellite communications company also controlled by his family.
Thaksin Shinawatra verdict is being read by Thai court
Thailand's Supreme Court is delivering its verdict on whether to strip former PM Thaksin Shinawatra's family of more than $2bn (£1.3bn) of assets.
One of the nine judges has said Mr Thaksin illegally concealed shares in his family-owned Shin Corp telecoms firm while still in office.
The funds from the sale of the firm were frozen after Mr Thaksin was overthrown in a military coup in 2006.
Mr Thaksin, who is living abroad, has denied any wrongdoing.
Security forces are on high alert amid government predictions of violence by Mr Thaksin's red-shirted supporters if the court decision goes against him.
Key pre-condition
The BBC's Rachel Harvey in Bangkok says the court will be ruling on whether or not Mr Thaksin abused his power during his time as prime minister.
| THAKSIN TIMELINE 2001: Elected prime minister 19 Sept 2006: Ousted in military coup 25 Sept 2006: Corruption investigation begins 11 June 2007: Thaksin family assets frozen 25 Aug 2008: Prosecutors ask Supreme Court to seize frozen assets 21 Oct 2008: Sentenced in absentia to two years for conflict of interest in land deal |
Deciding that Mr Shinawatra and his now ex-wife concealed their shares in Shin Corp is a key pre-condition to deciding if there was conflict of interest in the sale of the firm in early 2006, while he was still in office, our correspondent says.
The court has also dismissed defence arguments that the anti-corruption commission which instigated the proceedings against Mr Thaksin was illegitimate.
The court is expected to take several hours to finish delivering its verdict, finishing after the Thai stock market closes ahead of a three-day weekend.
Mr Thaksin, now living in Dubai, says he will continue his political fight against the "military-bureaucratic elite" that deposed him - with or without his family fortune.
'Judgement day'
Tensions in Thailand remain high. Tens of thousands of extra police have been placed in and around the capital, and in areas of the north-east of the country where some of Mr Thaksin's supporters are based.
There were only small numbers of Thaksin supporters outside the court. The pro-Thaksin United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), which leads the red shirts, has said it has no plans for any demonstration until mid-March.
Local media have been predicting huge disruption, counting down to what they call "judgement day".
But some government and opposition figures have sought to calm fears.
 Red-shirted supporters of Thaksin Shinawatra want their leader home |
Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, who is in charge of national security, tried to play down the wider significance of the case, saying it concerned only Mr Thaksin's wealth.
"Thaksin must respect and accept the rule of law as well as other Thai people. It's not possible for the whole Thai nation to respect the law but not Thaksin," he said.
Mr Thaksin's supporters have said they resent being painted as a violent rabble and insist they are fighting for democracy and against military-backed government.
"It [a judgement] would not put an end to Thailand's crisis because now Thaksin's supporters, the red shirts - the UDD - they have evolved into their own force to be reckoned with," said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist from Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.
The judges have looked at whether Mr Thaksin illegally deposited his fortune with family members because he was not allowed to hold company shares while prime minister, and whether his administration implemented policies to benefit his family's businesses.
They have also considered whether telecoms liberalisation measures unfairly benefited the country's main mobile phone service provider, then controlled by Mr Thaksin's family.
And they have investigated whether he unfairly promoted a $127m low-interest loan to neighbouring Burma to benefit a satellite communications company also controlled by his family.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Team Possible News
The newest addition to TLC Java...
Read all about what's happening with TLC Java in our latest Newsletter!
Team Possible Newsletter Winter 2009-2010