Life in a Northern Town

My name is Shayne Rochfort and I am a servant of God,

volunteering in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

I am Legal Advisor at Christian Outreach Centre Thailand (COC)

and helping coordinate visas and work permits and the whole

work in local churches and communities all over Thailand.

My main role involves everything and anything, STILL.

Please consider partnering with me, building God’s kingdom in

Thailand.

Welcome to “Life in a

Northern Town”, I have

changed jobs and I

have been learning all

about the new

foundation and its

work in Thailand and

surrounding nations.

Hello everyone!

My life just seems to be a never ending opportunity to

help people in their walk through this life, AND LOVING IT!

God is so good to give me the gifts of service or helps,

administration and encouragement. These are

invaluable at times when others

come calling for a bit of advice or

assistance through their

challenges. Praise the Lord that

He is patient with me and gives

me patience and wisdom to help

others.

GET READY!!! I will be in Australia in October and November!

I would love to catch up with as many people

as possible. My time will be split between

Brisbane and Melbourne (17th-28th Oct ish).

I hope to see you then!

Highlights -

Moved house in

to Chiang Mai

Completing my

TESOL course in

February

Started working

for Christian

Outreach Centre

Thailand

Foundation and

The Haven

Foundation

The year started with a

bang! A new house, a

new church, a new

course, then a new job,

then new friends, a new

local restaurant, so many

new things to take in, but

it was so good to be in the

middle of all the new

things God had for me!

Life in Thailand can

sometimes be

challenging, yet once you

are a little more

comfortable in the culture

these big challenges can

be overcome more easily.

It has just turned six months in my

little house/apartment. It is so cool,

well it is more than that! I live in an apartment building

called Baan Rom Yen, which in English is Cool Breeze

House or House of Cool Breezes. Well my apartment is

the reason for the name! I get constant cool breezes

due to my positioning at the end of the building and the

4th floor being above the surrounding rooftops.

The building occupants are about half Thai and half

foreign, so it is a good mix of people and many are long

term residents. The surrounding area is very Thai, in the

middle of several universities and technical colleges, so

it is quite a young population.

There are so many things to love about my place -

cleaning takes 15 minutes, including sweeping, cleaning

the bathroom and toilet, sinks and shower, NICE!

The only downside is some nights it is a little close to the

local bar area if they have the music turned up!

Please pray that I can make some solid relationships

with the others in the building and that I have

opportunities to share Jesus with them.

New House

My new church is

Christian Outreach

Centre (COC)

Thailand and my

Pastor and Boss is

Ajarn Jonathan Vickers. It is a

unique church in Chiang Mai.

Most of our church members are

full time missionaries in weird and

wonderful places doing amazing

things for God. I am helping on

the worship team every

month and loving being a

part this great church.

We have Thai and

Burmese services also

every Sunday morning.

New Church

Baan

Rom

Yen

Highlights -

COC

Conference

Meeting heaps

of new people

and feeling like

an integral part

of the whole

COC work

Songkran

Couch Surfing

meetings going

well

Well, late last year

I applied to do a

special TESOL

course in Chiang

Mai. The course is

specifically for

Christians who wish to use TESOL as a

ministry and it is extremely cheap

compared to the other courses around. I

was accepted and given the pre-

reading book so that I might know some

theory and other information before the

course. Well it bored me to tears, but I

got it done.

The course is the real deal when it comes

to studying TESOL. With this course you

learn or teach the full 120 hours, then

head off to prepare lessons for your

assigned English learners. I loved the

course, as every single lesson we learnt,

TESOL - Teaching English to

Speakers of Other Languages

was prepared and taught using the

techniques we were learning to use

ourselves. The class was multicultural

and lots of fun, we all worked really well

together. About half of the class is still in

Chiang Mai.

Well I worked very hard for that five weeks and believe me it

was not easy, but it was fun and a necessary challenge. The

assignments, the teaching, the debriefing and just all the extra

little bits made it for a great time overall.

The practical part of the course was

run at COC Thailand with many of the

trainees in the project there. Well, that

was a great beginning to taking up my

new role. I was able to get to know

many of the young men I am now

working with.

I wish that I had done the course 3 years earlier so that it would

have been a greater benefit to me. Nowadays, I don’t teach

anymore and it is a little frustrating to

have gained this certificate and

training and then not use it. Ah well,

maybe one day!!!

I am now working for COC

Thailand Foundation and The

Haven Project.

COC is a relational network of Spirit filled

churches and ministries whose mission is to

equip and empower national leaders to fulfil

the Great Commission through church

planting and evangelism (Matt 28:18-20).

The goal is to establish compassion, education, and justice works that

meet the practical needs of the communities we serve.

http://www.cocthailand.com/

The Haven Project is a not for profit welfare organisation which seeks to

help the disadvantaged in South East Asia. Standing for Hope, Aid,

Vision, Education and New Life we endeavour to respond to the unmet

needs of people struggling with basic rights of life.

Currently The Haven Project has different works with children's homes,

trainee programs, medical programs, disaster and community

assistance programs, we reach out to

the sick, elderly and those who are

shunned by society.

http://www.thehavenproject.net/

New Job

My role is to assist and coordinate on the legal side, this includes

assisting people with visa requirements and work permits, Thai laws

regarding NGOs and labour, communications and reporting to the

Government about both foundations and various other duties.

So my few months here have been trying to get my head around who

is out there and what they are doing. I hope that soon I will be going full

steam ahead. I believe that this year will be one of great challenge

and learning, great personal growth and also one that will help God’s

kingdom to grow in Thailand and south east Asia.

The person I replaced left in May, so I have been flying solo ever since,

it is hard, but I will get there.

In March, we hosted a very successful Asian

COC Conference with around 150 delegates

and over 220 joining us for the free evening

sessions. My main activities for conference

were to meet all the foundation members

under both COC and The Haven Project, so I

was busy meeting and catching up with all that was happening in the

different parts of Thailand. Its starting to make more sense to me now,

but it is still a little unknown how big it all is. I am loving being able to

serve all the special people doing the work around Thailand. During

conference, I helped out a bit with worship, welcoming, cleaning up

after morning teas and had a fair bit of paper work to help with also.

Wherever I go, I meet people, at my job, I meet

people, in and around Chiang Mai, I meet

people and every week at our Couch Surfing Meetings, I meet

people.

When I meet people, I try to connect with them and then connect

them to others. I answer their questions (or find someone who can),

I try and meet their needs.

I have been fortunate to continue to meet awesome people and

just being out anywhere in Chiang Mai, I am always running into my

friends.

Though I am not the evangelist type, I am the one who will make

things happen. I am the one here to serve the goals of the team,

and I am the one to back up my leader in any way I can.

Firstly, one of my new dearest friends, Dr Jeff Brodsky,

http://joy.org/index2.html and

http://www.facebook.com/joy.org , is

an amazing man with 30+ years bringing joy to

the "least of these". His organisation is working in

many countries to eradicate child trafficking. His

team works closely with local law enforcement

and authorities to not just rescue a child, but to

incarcerate the perpetrators. This amazing man

has clocked up three years being barefoot to

raise awareness of the children caught in these

situations. It is a great conversation starter.

New Friends

Dr Jeff

If you know me, you will know

that I am a very simple man (OK,

maybe not!).

Well this last little bit is about

“my” restaurant! I am lucky

enough to have a fantastic

“personal chef,” May, who cooks

for me at least five or six times

each week. Her food is consistently fantastic.

I order from & eat from a menu of three or four dishes and they are

always awesome. I like stir fried veges with egg and rice, a fried

chicken with rice and special sauce, and my current favourite is her

special spaghetti. Her staff are great and since I started going there

when I moved in to town, the crowds are now flocking to her for

simple fast scrumptious food. In the midst of a fairly poor Thai student

area, her (“my”) restaurant is always busy. She must be doing

something right!!!

The best part is that it is between my house and my office. So it is

very easy to get lunch just a short walk away, or do dinner on the

way home. Win, win, win!!!

If you want to meet me or to talk or thank me or do anything we will

meet at “my” restaurant and we will both be very happy afterwards!

Just next door is a good alternative and they make my Pad Seeiw!!!

New Restaurant

Clockwise from above left … My

elephant friend, CS Friends, Lunch

with more CS friends, TESOL Boys and

the trusty 400cc Honda which got me

to Pai and back through 762 turns

each way.

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO PRAY:

Praise for God’s blessing on the work of COC Thailand and the

Haven Foundation and all its subordinate members and organisa-

tions.

Please pray for the finances and ministries of COC Thailand and

the Haven Foundation. It is a massive work and without the finan-

cial support from individuals in Australia, UK and other places, the

work would not continue. Please pray with us as we pray that you

will prosper those who support the work.

I would like to Praise God and thank the people who have started

to support me. However, I still need to raise more support to

continue to serve here in Thailand. I will be in Australia October

3 - November 20 this year.

Any questions please do not hesitate to send me an

email, schoolies2@yahoo.com or give me a call.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of

believers. Galatians 6:9-10

PO Box 90

PRASING POST OFFICE

CHIANGMAI 50205

THAILAND

Phone +66801202074

Email -

shayneinthailan@gmail.com

Skype or Line -

shayneinthailand

COC Thailand Foundation inc The Haven Foundation

Shayne out

and about

I am committed to being in

Thailand. I would like to let

you know that if you are

able to partner with me in my work, then you can do so through

One Mission Society. There are many ways you can support me,

through prayer as well as financially. This partnership is helping serve

the great need for Thai people to come to know Jesus.

My prayer card with all the details is available at

http://issuu.com/shayneinthailand/docs/prayercard .

Please include my missionary number #803833 with any donations.

You can support me financially by :-

Cheque - Please make cheques payable to: OMS International, PO

Box 897, RINGWOOD, Vic 3134. Include a note with my name.

Direct Debit - If you wish to make a payment directly through your

bank, pay to: Westpac.

Acc Name: OMS International Australia- Inc.

Acc Number: 733172 BSB: 628724.

NOTE: In the transaction details please be sure to include your name

and ROC.

Credit card donations - can be made

through the website.

http://www.onemissionsociety.org.au

OMS phone – 03 9872 4209

Supporting Shayne

Thank you for

reading this, thank

you for

encouraging me

and I want to

especially thank

you for supporting

and praying for

me and The COC

Foundation and

Haven

Foundation!

A bit

of

fun!

See you in

Australia in

October!