Sorry to those that are getting impatient for more pictures and stories from our Asia trip - I have a few more I want to share, I just have to take the time to write them and post them. I have many things I have enjoyed doing now that I am home; visiting with friends, surfing the Internet, cooking, baking, painting with the girls, letting them have friends over, swimming lessons.... But now have a story a rewrite from my journal, I am going to write A-day-in-a-refugee-camp-for-the-Klassen-family-from-Cindy's-perspective
- Woke up to the sound of singing -5:30 I think - I check that my mosquito net has stayed tucked in - yes it has - I see Joelle is awake too - There is someone talking below us, they are getting ready to go out in their truck - Joelle and I have to go to the washroom ( it is to the left and down a few stairs) - We remember to grab a fist full of tp on the way down. No toilet paper in the bathrooms plus you can't flush the toilet paper, so we have to carry it to the garbage can. (Now that is gross!) - I think of how happy I am to have sitting toilets instead of the usual squat toilets you see in Asia, a real luxury in a refugee camp I am sure. - We get back to out beds, tuck in our nets and hope to sleep a little more - I listen to the Bible on my Ipod. Revelations and Psalms. -About 6:30 we are all up and milling around the hut. Most of the time we spend gazing down out of our hut at the activity happening below - I make the beds and fold the nets up for the day. - The students from the Bible school that bring us our meal see that we are awake so they bring us a noodle dish for breakfast. - We try to eat the noodle breakfast but it's just not normal to us. - We force Joelle to eat 5 more noodles - 7:30( maybe) we see a group of boys below spinning their tops on the ground so we watch them - We get out some foam/plastic toy airplanes that we brought along and we sling them out the window in their direction. They seem pleased and shoot them back at us. The planes go up and down, up and down and then get stuck in the trees but the boys get them out no problem. - Dr. Simon( who we have been waiting for, for 2 days) came out of the Bible school building and called us over to visit. - He asks Ben to share in Chapel tomorrow, and possibly share in a class or two today - At 8:30 we go to chapel, upon arrival we are taken to sit on the stage facing the students beside those leading and preaching in the chapel. - A dog that looks a lot like Zeke's-Miniature-refugee-self with a tail walks in and meandered though the people. No one seemed to notice him, except for me of course. - A Karen man preaches for 30-40 minutes - The girls sat pretty good. I kept thinking of how amazing our girls really are for being displayed like this, they only need a few reminders to sit decently and not pick on themselves(something they seem to do a lot these days when bored) they are such great girls. - At the end of the chapel Ben introduces us. - Dr Simon has changed his mind he has now asked Ben to teach all day. - I got hooked up with a computer -yeah! - I use the Internet to send a few emails - good but frustrating on a mac - The girls do origami and Ben prepares for the day of teaching - A large bug has been found on the stairs going down to the bathroom. Ariel saw it first and came calmly saying to was a tarantula, Ben went to look, he then called me over for an opinion on it's identity. I looked at it and said "it's probably a large cockroach." but in my mind I though spider for sure. We sprayed the uncertain bug with raid to be sure it was dead. - Someone came to get Ben and he went down the hill to teach - It is hot enough to take a cold bucket shower. The water sometimes runs out early in the afternoon, if it doesn't rain, so it is a good time to go anyway. I go down the stairs (past the dead ???) to the shower room that is just for us to use. I spray the room with raid first so the mosquitoes won't bite me. My neck tenses up from the first dump of water but after a few more buckets I can easily relax. To be clean and cool feels nice. -On the way back up I identify that the dead insect is in fact a large spider -probably a tarantula - (about 10 am) I wash all our dirty cloths by hand in the sink and hang them out to dry on the clothes line we have brought along - I take a picture of Ben teaching.
- About noon Ben returns from his class and lays down for a nap while we wait for lunch to arrive - The girls are still doing origami and creating toys with sticks and duct tape
- Waiting....hungry. - (12:30 about) lunch has arrived, it is a large spread, again, of spicy meat and bean sauces, and Ariel's favorite soup that she likes to mix with her rice. - As we finish lunch a young man showed up at our door. We invite him in. We talk about life here for him - he is in his 4th year at the bible school and he plans to help the people along the border regions when he graduates. He has lived here without his parents since he was 12. He tells us about how he became a christian here at the camp and wants to go back to Burma to tell his Buddhist family about Jesus. - at about 1:00 another student shows up to get Ben for teaching again, he also invites me. - I go for a while to watch Ben, of course he is doing a great job. - Ariel came to get me, a woman has arrived at our hut and wants to take their picture. I walk back to the hut and the woman is talking to the girls in Karen, smiling at them and patting and stroking them. We find out her name is Mumu, she is 66 and has 8 children. She give the girls some home made rice crackers and I take the picture she requested. The girls graciously eat the crackers. She kisses the girls and hugs them and then says a blessing over them. She was so cute -old lady cute. The girls can't wait to tell Ben about Mumu. - Some time in the afternoon I return to Ben's class, while I am there I ask the students questions about their future plans. They all plan on ministry but they say it is all what the Lord wills. One that stood out to me was "I want to be world leader in Peace." - I left the class and found some boys playing Chinlo below our hut, something I had wanted to learn ever since I heard about the game. Ariel comes down and we learn Chinlo together. Other children joined in, though we can't speak the same language, we understand each other. I could see that they were thrilled to teach us. (Its got some similarities to hackysack) - Ariel's turn for a cold bucket shower, she won't go in without me. - It is so hot today, I wish it would rain and cool this place. - A lady named Esther comes to visit. We talk for while about her 3 older sons, her past and present life. It is interesting and moving. - Our friend Winner walks by the hut and I borrow his phone to make some calls to make arrangements to leave the camp tomorrow. - Ben comes back at about 4 o'clock so we decided to go to the orphan home with our paint supplies and balloons - I was sure I knew the way to the orphan home from when we went last time - We get lost. - Amazingly(God's leading I am sure) we happen across our new friend Winner, who showed us the correct way to go - At the home Ben makes balloon animals and I give the children the art supplies and start them painting. The kids were reserved and shy to begin with but they don't take long and they open up with smiles and interact with us. - Before we leave we pray with the children and for their future. - We arrive back at our hut and supper has already been set on the table with a big net over it to protect it from the bugs. Among the food there are some strange things this time, a small oval shaped veggie, with a hard shell and seeds inside - tastes awful! ( I spat it out) There is also an unidentifiable meat ..hhhmmm? ... but it tastes good. - The water has run out by now but there is enough in the large tub we filled for Joelle and Seraya to shower. - A lady who works at the bible school stops by for a visit. - Not sure what time it is but by now the sun has gone down and it is dark out. - Ben reads to the kids while I do some writing. - We keep the light on only until the gathering bugs drive us crazy. - I put the nets down and spray inside them in case something has found it's way in throughout the day. - It is time to sleep, we all climb into our own beds with nets and tuck them in under our mattress'. Ben sleeps closest to the door and I sleep on the other side of the girls. Normally I enjoy this time of day- time to sleep but I can't say I enjoy it here in the Jungle, sleeping this far away form Ben on a hard mattress and pillow. I hope sleep comes quick. - End of a day in a refugee camp bible school with the Karen in Thailand
*the next morning when we woke-up the "thought to be dead unofficially identified spider" was mysteriously gone*
Ariel felt sick last night, we prayed for God to heal her, and he did. By the time we needed to leave for the children's home she was feeling a lot better, good enough that we felt we could continue with the day. Praise God. We went to a market on the way. The amount of things to buy was overwhelming, and we were harassed to buy many things and some we bought - 2 fans and collection of note cards, 3 dresses and some shoes.( of course we had to get shoes) Then we went for lunch to an Indian restaurant, we had to spoon feed the girls so they'd actually eat. Ben and I loved the food. After "full" bellies we drove a long way to get to the children's home. As we drove the city turned into villages, and then to farm land between villages, with a little jungle here and there as well. Rice fields went by, lots of dogs(108 according to the girls count), goats and shacks selling everything from crackers to clay pots. Lots of jeeps stacked with people or bamboo or bags of rice passing by. We drove on and on. Joelle and Seraya chatted the whole way. Ariel slept. We drove and drove some more. My sense of time was way off and I thought we had been driving way too long I was sure we were lost. Though I was kept entertained by the people I saw and the new environment plus the girls did so great with the long hot drive.(very hot and humid) They(the girls) didn't complain at all. Maybe the fact that they didn't have to wear seat belts helped them enjoy the ride. Soon Ton, our driver, slowed down, he drove more unsure of where he was going. Eventually he stopped to ask for directions(something I thought he was never going to do, and should have done an hour ago). We had driven too far. So we went back quite a way and after a few more wrong turns we made it to the road we needed to take to get to the home. By now it was pouring rain(as it usually did in the afternoon there) and the children were all coming home from school. We could see some waving at us from their "school bus" I was sure it was the kids from the home. So here we were stopped at this road, honestly I thought "if we go down that road we'll get stuck for sure". The driver was unsure too it took him a long time to decide to drive down that road. He drove cautiously, it was full of water filled potholes and was very rocky, almost like a river bed. he stopped to ask for more directions and the rain was still pouring down...... (not going into detail but I really had to go to the the bathroom right about here :$, Ben and the kids had a good howl at my expense) ..... Our driver found the place. We walked down a muddy path to the home. It was so beautiful and the kids were very excited to see us. We met them all (8) and tried to remember their names. We sang songs for them and they sang for us. We played games and talked about what they like. Then we did puzzles and drawing in their sketchbooks that we brought for them. At the end we prayed and it was time for us to go. Our driver was waiting for us by the main road so we walked out to meet him. It was very crazy driving home as it got dark, we won't do that again. Praise God we made it home alive.
For the protection of the children we are not posting pictures of their faces on the internet so the few photos I show are either not showing their face or of random shots of people and places along the way. If you want to see some great photos of the kids I can email you(in which case you'll have to send me a message) or you will have a chance to see some in church.
Eating Indian food for lunch at the Nila Birani Shop some houses along the way
The muddy road just before we got to the home Puzzling with the children
On the first day we were in Yangon we took a look around the city and we stopped at this Buddist temple. The Swedagon Pagoda, it is a very famous place in Burma. The pagoda is completely covered in Gold. it is a place of great respect so when i showed up in a sleeveless shirt I was given a shawl to borrow as I walked through the many shrines. Also everyone has to take their shoes off at the entrance.
An interesting thing for a me as I saw buddism in action was how they care for the animals. They have many offering areas in the temple and even along any street in the city where people can offer food to animals and they come to eat. When I saw this offering bowl I thought how even when they don't know it they worship God by feeding his creation, but I wish they knew the one they worship.They also bring flowers to lay before their idolsAs we were leaving the pagoda it was raining really heavy and this little boy was taking a shower. I tried to talk to and befriend his mother who was sitting near by nursing her baby, but she was very shy of me and so were her other children. She appeared to be very poor.
We are home -finally - after two months of being gone from our home. The regular things I always took for granted are special now, like I have my own washer and dryer, I can cook anything I want and go into my fridge and eat anything I wish, I feel so free. Isn't that funny how the most common things can be so special after traveling. This morning I was reflecting with God, on how he brought us on this adventure and has now brought us back home to these simple pleasures. All glory to God for all that has happened. Two months ago we left on an adventure, not knowing all the details or the lessons we'd learn, but trusting God would lead with his spirit in the plans we had made, and he was faithful. Today I thank God so much for all that he lead us to and I give him all the glory for our safe return and the adventure we had in the past two months. I stand amazed with God. Join me in this praise to God.
just to note - We just came out of 10 days in the mountains, which has very slow Internet so I could not add more stories of out time in Burma and Thailand. But they will come soon.
What I see sitting here in front of our hotel - 3 Seasons Hotel Yangon - a green iron fence and gate beyond the potted plants that give protective feeling and greenery in this concrete jungle. - apartment buildings - an Internet cafe on the lower floor - a little boy playing naked on his balcony across the street 4 stories up - mothers walking their children to school, they are under their umbrellas - people walking by, many people - the hotel manager welcomes someone at the gate - Joelle and Seraya playing under their umbrellas - a woman on the seventh floor of the apartment building across from me lowers something on a line to the street below. Looks like all the balconies have a string/rope to lower items to the street - laundry hanging out to dry on many balconies - 2 dogs fighting in the street - taxis and vans and lorries and trucks and all kinds of compact vehicles pass by - it has been one hour and no one has collected the item that the woman lowered - a man on a trishaw passes by
One hotel butler with great service. They were all good but Ed like to make our life fun.
The grandmother of the hotel was thrilled with the girls but could only speak Burmese. Staying at the 3 seasons is staying as close to the people as you can, it's a small hotel, a family feel.
The front patio area was a nice place to relax and watch Myanmar go by.
Buddist monks walked by every morning, collecting their food offering for the day.
Our room had 4 beds and big bathroom, even enough room to hang a wash line. We stayed in this hotel for 2 weeks.
Ed, our hotel butler took the girls on a trishaw ride on a few special evenings.
Hey a big hello and thanks to all of you who have been following along for the past month or so. Thanks for all the prayers you prayed and times you cried or celebrated with us as we experienced so many things. Now that I am back in Canada I want to back track a little and write some stories from my journal that I could not write while we were in Myanmar and Thailand, or didn't have time to write. I also hope the kids will let me write some things they wrote in their journals, as a way of sharing the trip from another point of view. I also hope to start putting up a few pictures, maybe video clips as well. So check back soon for journal entries and pictures. This week we are with Ben's family in Langley while Ben does homework from his class he took before we left Altona.
Prayer requests - That we would find a good video editing program for our video we captured and that as we prepare for sharing opportunities about our trip, that we would do so to the glory of God. - Ben be efficient with his time for Homework, and that he can actually do it, without getting too distracted by the rest of us having fun:)
Answers to Prayer - Ben is feeling well - we all adjusted back to Canada time
How I'm feeling - Happy for the kids to play with their cousins - cold (I'm used to the heat now and 24 feels cool)
We leave Bangkok tomorrow. We are sad and happy to leave. Happy to arrive back in Canada and be with family again.
Prayer requests: - that we get over jetlag quickly - (Ben feels he is comnig down with something)-that this will be nothing, just tired
Praise - Our time at the camp was a real blessing - we rode an elephant - God showed us so many wonderful things and blessed us with so many new friends
How I am feeling - hot, smelly, ready for some new clothing choices and no more washing laundry in the sink - Extremely happy to have experienced so much and been so blessed to be able to do this.
Here we are in our bamboo hut. Just like I always imagined jungle missionaries living. Except I can hardly believe I can use the internet here. We are in an open air hut and lots of animals and people around, even running around under the hut. We have met a few people just randomly but most people are too shy to meet us they just smile from a distance because they do not speak English. There are two teachers from the Bible school that speak English and they have been taking us around and visiting with us. The stories here are amazing and often tragic. The people have a lot of sorrow but you know what the one thing we keep on hearing is singing, everyone sings. They start at 5:30 and go until 9 pm. Actually at this moment it is quiet because all the students are in class but I am sure the singing will start up again soon. We have not been wandering the camp because we were told no to, so we have only been here at the school and we went to church yesterday, where Ben did give a short message. This morning we managed to engage some children in playing with some small airplanes we brought along, and we have also been able to invite a few passer-byers into our hut for a visit. We had been waiting for a man we were told to wait for and we finnally spoke to him this morning. We were not sure what the plan would be for the next few days, so Ben was only asked this morning to teach and so he has had about 1/2 hour now to prepare what he will teach and he is not even sure how long yet...maybe up to 4 hours. We are just going with the flow of the Spirit, like we planned. They always say the motto of the pastor is "Be ready to preach, pray, or die." So here he has to live by it, though we have no intentions of the die part. It is actually very safe, except for maybe the bugs, we have sprayed a lot of insect repellant onto our skin in the past few days to be sure we do not get bit by a malaria or denge fever mozzi. So we will be protected from bugs but I'm not sure about the brain tumour we'll get from the chemicals.. Oh well if one thing won't kill you another thing will. We leave here tomorrow I think and will find our way back to the airport in Bangkok for our flight back to Canada on Friday. The adventure of the Klassen's is almost over.
We are at the beach in Thailand right now and the beach is especially nice, there is hardly anyone on it accept local fishermen at fishing time and a few other people from the guest house we are at. Juniper tree Dolphine Bay (http://www.juniper-tree.org/dolphin-bay.html) if you are curious for more. This place is so beautiful, I saw the sun rise this morning, only because a howling dog woke me. After I saw the sun rise though I wasn't so mad at the dog :) today while we were walking on the beach we saw 2 jelly fish and 3 octopi, there are also lots of crabs. Joelle was saying over and over "this place is sooo cool" We all agree. The other amazing thing we experienced today was kayaking to an island and feeding some monkeys. There were a lot of them and they knew we brought food so they welcomed us. We were not too sure at first but we warmed up to them and beached the kayaks. Lots of them jumped onto our kayaks when we were close enough to shore. We got out of the boats to take pictures and walk around with the monkeys, one climbed up my leg and another jumped on my back, that was a little too close to the wild. The girls kept them back with their paddles, though one ran up the paddle toward Seraya and she flipped that monkey off real fast. The protector monkeys didn't like that very much and came after her. That was when we decided we should get back in our kayaks and keep kayaking around the shore of the island.
Another day in paradise.
Praise: - We are all healthy - We get to enjoy God and his creation here in Thailand
Prayer: - We would be prapared for Saturday when we join fellow beleivers at the refugee camp
How I'm feeling: I think it's kinda obvious - thrilled to be here!
Warning** I'm on a time limit for the internet and no spell checking and no editing has gone into this post***
It has been more than a week since I last posted and a lot has changed since my last post. We are in thailand now at a place I will forever remember as paradise...I can not even tell you how happy I am to be here it is an amazing place the Lord has led us but before I tell you all about here let me tell you about some of the journy of our last week. We went to Lake of Shinning waters home on Monday and painted with the kids. They had a lot of fun, we all had fun. These kids are so precious. We miss them already. ON Tuesday we went back to Anita's Home the kids here are a little older adn some are already very good painters. We visted more with the parents of the home. We are feeling the connection with them, they shared many things on their heart with us. On Wednesday decided to change our flight to an earlier date to Thailand because we had our heart set on a few days at the beach and for so many reasons it was proving to be a bad idea in Myanmar. Thursday we went to Lake of Shinning waters again and then friday we enjoyed one last day at the market shopping for gifts and souveniers. Sorry if I am running through nthis a litte fast I want to get to the good part before my internet time is up. We frew into Bangkok Saturday with a plan to go straight to Pattya to a nice fancy hotel with a pool by the beach but as we were getting off the plan we mentioned our destination to a dutch woman and she and a few others that heard our plan strongly advised us not to go there. So now we were in the airport without a plan. it was a very frustrating 2 1/2 hours but we chose a hotel in the city and went. It was a very nice hotel fancy for us adn it cost a lot too. so we only stayed 2 nights and tried to enjoy it. But the best part happened last night when a place we had really wanted to go to had room for us so we took the 4 hour bus trip and we found paradise. This place is on a quiet strip of beach this is not a hotel it is a rest house for Aisian missionaries. It is like an all inclusive. we have been here one night and plan on staying 4 before we go to the refugee camp. I hope you get the picture I am so happy and I have nothing more to ask God for because it is all praise today.
We had a very blessed Sunday. Ben shared the sermon on the mount - yes all the sermons he preached in 3 months at EMMC in one sermon. It was very condensed, but it was good, as I know we all had no doubt about. The church we went to was a house church. The kitchen and living room were packed, so packed in fact that the kids and some women had to sit outside on the driveway just outside the front door. Ben stood beside the front door in the corner between the two rooms. There was also a lot of singing and prayer. Though it might not be as simple as you imagine, they had a PA system with a pulpit and flowers to decorate. All but Ben's sermon was in another language. After church they had prepared a meal for us and we ate with them. Then we returned to our hotel in the same back of the pick up that we arrived in. The girls were pretty excited to be going to church in the back of the box(covered with a canopy) We had a nap and went for ice cream before we were picked up to go to evening English church by a friend from one of the homes. We went by taxi. The church is very lively and on this day there were a lot of visitors from Mylasia and the preacher was also from there and he spoke very powerfully for 1 hour and 20 minutes. The girls managed to make it through because he happened to be very entertaining and there was a little girl just in front of us that stared at us the whole time. She seemed like she had never seen white kid before. When the service was over we went back to our hotel room but by this time we had not eaten supper and since we are all feeling better our appetties are getting bigger. So we did what we have been doing for 4 days already we took a Trishaw to our favorite restaurant. That was our Sunday. Thanks for the prayers once again and I want to tell you what the preacher said, and what we are learning to do so much more. Keep out eyes focused on the God's glory not on the enemy's glory. Enemy wants to rob us, God wants to lift us up. We may have obstacles to overcome but none are too big to overcome, look straight into the glory of God.
Praise: - I am not dizzy anymore - Ben had an awesome message from God's word
Prayer: - our one friend here will have strength to overcome her obstacles.
Well the last two days have been wonderful. We are all feeling well! I love life again. Praise the Lord! Thanks for all your prayers, they are felt. Yesterday I had this great post all witty and full of life to send you but then at the end I went to spell check it and it got deleted..turns out Canada and here has the same problems - you have to save it to get it back. So anyway, I won't cry over spilt milk, I'll just try again, the only thing is I don't feel so witty today. :) Any way here goes, yesterday we painted with the kids at Anita's home and they had such a great time, we all had a great time. The other day when we first met the kids I asked them what they wanted to be when they grew up and many of them said Artists or painters-- even before they began. They had been looking forward to it for a while. The kids are so beautiful and generous and they just love Joe, Ray and Ari. When our girls look hot they fan them and hold an umbrella over them. For our girls ego - I made sure to tell them not to get used to it. LOL all I need is our girls to come back from here more princess than they already were. It was especially hot today while we were at the zoo with the whole group. We gave the flute that our friend Peter Wolf gave us to give to them and they were so thankful, one boy started playing it right away. It has been one of their prayers to get a flute, a real flute. Big thanks going out to you Peter. We found this great restaurant to eat at. It is called the Monsoon and it is a western restaurant, we were very adventurous to begin with and got quite sick so now we are not taking chances with the food. Our appetites are very small and so we don't need to eat much - one meal a day in addition to our small breakfast in the morning that our hotel provides. One fun way to get around is by Trishaw - a bicycle with a side car for passengers. This is how we went to The Monsoon last night. It is a lot of fun. the Home parents at Anita's home are becoming close to us. There is so much I want to tell you about them - later. The grandfather invited Ben to speak at the morning service tomorrow, this is such a great honor. Now he just needs the guidance to know what to say, pray for him.
Praise - Emotionally I feel so much better - painting went well - kids are feeling better - we have made some great connections - the spirit has led in so many ways
Prayer requests - for Ben as he speaks tomorrow - as we plan for the days between our time here and flying on July 1st to Bangkok (adventure vs. stick it out in the city) - That our girls we eat the food that is served us at the home we are going to tomorrow (they eat the western food we order but the food served in a home has all gone uneaten, I fear this is insulting)
My feeling today - healthy is exciting, I love this country and I'm happy to be here, I love my family.
God is good... the girls feel so much better and we went to one home today and did the painting and balloon animals. They were so thrilled. It was such a good day.
I also feel a lot better emotionally. One prayer is that Ben is feeling sick now. I know it's working it's way around. Could I possibly stay clear of this one?
We are loving these kids so much. There is one little boy in particular that we all think would fit fabulously with our family. "Can I Keep Him?" ..Ya I know You all warned me "you're gonna want to take them home with you." Of course we can't but we can enjoy and love them all here. Till now we have been getting to know each other, tomorrow Lord willing we will start painting. the kids are so excited, we asked them what they want to be when they grow up and a good number of them have decided to be artists or painters, even before they have begun.
Thanks for all the prayers
Prayer requests: - The enemy would have no hand on diverting us with sickness - We would make good food choices - The girls will feel 100 percent - I would feel lifted and be able to sleep well tonight - The kids will all have a wonderful time painting
Praise: - Ariel is better - God is so good and we love these people a lot
My feeling: Honestly I feel down today and need to be lifted. I have prayed the breath prayer "Abba I belong to you" a lot, and tears are so close and welling in my eyes even as I write this.
Thanks for being there for us, I really feel the connection.
Ariel was not well last night, this morning she is feeling a little better but can you please pray that she will feel 100 percent better. Also pray that we find a restaurant we like today we have all been eating so little. This place is very different. The people have been so great and we have taken many pictures and short spurts of video. Today we have a driver hired for the whole day. We plan to go to the Lake of Shining Waters home but we have to wait to see how Ariel is feeling. Our time difference is 12 1/2 hours ahead of Manitoba time in case you are wondering.
We went for a walk just for our first look around, lots of old run down > building, puddles from the rain, beautiful friendly people, vendors > selling anything and everything. On our way back we passed a sign that > said baptist church we went to the door and there was a group gathered > inside. The usher spoke English and invited us in. I looked at my family > thinking - will they really enjoy this? - in another language and in this > heat?? we have only been here for a few hours...my legs and mouth moved, I > hardly think it was me because I did not want to go in. Ben agreed I know. > We went into the church and sat somewhere in the middle were there was a > pew open. We turned a lot of heads as we entered. Almost right away the > girls complained and wanted to go... the service was not going to be over > very soon. I kept thinking "why are we in here? was I so tired from the > flight that I walked in my sleep into here." The heat was bad, there was > no breeze. A kind lady behind us passed a hand held fan to the girls. It > felt good but how much could we take. The man speaking in from bowed his > head - It was time to pray. We bowed our heads and I started to pray my > own prayer "Oh God what are we doing in here? Please help the girls make > it through the service..it would be so rude to leave just after we've > arrived. there must be a reason you have led us into this church. Please > Lord why are we here, help us make it through." I put that prayer on > repeat for a while -- it was long prayer. When the prayer was done I felt > confident some who if we waited God would show us the answer. a few > minutes passed - We had been there maybe all of 15 minutes, Seraya asked > has it been an hour yet? Can we go?" Ben looked over at me-- we can't make > it to the end of the service, I feel like I am going to faint. I see it in > his eyes too. I whisper to him that he and Ariel should go now to the back > and we will follow --so we don't make a scene. he goes I wait. Suddenly > the prayer is being answered A man who can speak perfect English comes and > sits beside me > telling me that an English service held in a different place in the > Evening is the place we should go, he understands we are struggling, with > the language and the heat. I see we were led to this seat to get this > information and so I know I can leave in peace. Thank God. We go with this > man later to the English service it is a huge blessing to worship with the > believers here and being led in this way. I was in awe of God. The last > thing I will write is the writing on the wall in the church. Sorry if my > writing it very choppy my time is short here. > > "To have ten thousand members who are Christ centered and spirit filled > believers and to reach the people with the gospel and plant many churches" > > Prayer requests > - We will stop feeling dizzy and get good nights sleep > - the home tomorrow will be a blessing > > Praise > - the way God leads > - safe travel here > > feeling > - surreal > - happy > > > > > >
We drive to the coast today(about a 6 hour drive). One more sleep until we fly out. Tomorrow we leave!!
Prayer requests: - that we won't forget, lose or have anything stolen, like passports or a bags - the girls will get along well, squashing selfishness and jealousy (good one for all of us) - that we will move through the airports with ease and there will be angels to help us along the way
Praise - for the great time at my parents and Zeke really adjusting well - Ben and I have such an amazing friendship
How I'm feeling: - Extremely excited and a little nervous
Yesterday morning started out pretty normal. I woke up at 6:00 my dad was already up and had mate(green tea) ready. We usually sit at the table, drink mate, visit and then read our Bibles, and my dad reads the daily bread, but first we needed to take Zeke to do his business in the pasture(training him where to go). The dogs played and did their stuff and we came back inside. Then Dad looked back out the window and saw a black bear wandering in the yard, right were we had just walked. Can't believe he was there with us and we had no idea. Tito barked and attacked, Zeke started barking from a distance and then went to the opposite side of the house to bark--what a chicken! Can't expect too much protection from him. LOL I ran to get the cameras and to wake Ben and the kids. Soon we were on the front steps watching this authentic nature show before us. It was very cool. The bear seemed to have no fear of the dog or us, he just calmly sauntered where ever he wanted, at least until Dad shot him with the sling shot. Then he made a quick exit up the hill. We won't soon forget the experience. Thanks God for letting us see a bear.
What time is it when the clock says "Who cares"? - It's the best time of your life. The clock on the wall of my parents house ticks away pointlessly with these words scrolled over it's face. That's life in the mountains. It feels so relaxing not to care about the time, you eat when you're hungry, you work and play in the day and sleep at night. But it's hard not to care about what time it is because it is something I'm so used to. I hope you find some time today to say who cares about the time, don't have to be in the mountains to relax a little.
The adventure has begun. I don't know how to really feel about that, I'm terribly excited, almost like I'm living someonelses life, yet I am afraid, not for what is to come(like many of you think we should be) but now that this long awaited adventure has begun it will all too soon be over. But no sense wodd'n up my panties over it, instead I'm going to spend every minute living in the moment. And at this moment I'm going to share some time with you. We left Altona Saturday at 1:00pm drove through the night and arrived here just in time to enjoy some of my mom's home cooking got supper and to help milk Buttercup. A small thing but huge prayer request was answered upon arriving here at my parents. We wanted Zeke(our dog), who will be staying here for the duration of our trip, to get along with the farm animals. He has done really great so far -No dead chickens and Zeke and Tito(my parents Dog) are best friends already. PTL
Answers to prayer: - I want to tell you God cares about small details. Like the prayer for Zeke, in the last week God has answered so many that might seem small but are just what we needed. - Someone to help Ben in a pinch at the Costco Pharmacy to get our malaria drugs -Thanks God. Then I found out they would cost more than we thought but minutes after finding this out and beginning to stress about the extra expense Ben walked in with a card from a friend with a beautiful encouragement in it and some $! I felt the arms of God wrap around me in that moment. Wow! Why do I always forget God's provision and faithfulness? - Another item we needed at the last second at Rexal drug store, that they apparently never carry, they just happened to find in the back and sold it to us for 25 cents! I was praying right there at the counter as they were looking for it. God rocks! - Zeke getting on with the animals - All the preparations were completed before departing, only forgot a few items - that we have noticed so far. What a praise!
Prayer requests: - That we will follow the spirit every day - That we'll have a uneventful flight on Friday and that our luggage will make it too. - That Zeke will get used to being a farm dog (outside all the time)
My feeling today - Sooo happy! -I just love the mountains, hasnt really registered yet that we leave for Asia on Friday.
I am thankful to God for - Ben who is just sooo awesome! - Ariel who is compassionate - Seraya who loves to snuggle - Joelle who is a good listener - people groups who make the world interesting - internet to communicate long distances - health - a calm and peace that surpasses understanding - people who support and pray for us as we go to Asia - all the people who have wished us a good trip - sun - 2 days till we leave - people who invite my kids over - my parents and their beautiful place
A 2 square km area with 40-80 thousand people living in it. A refugee camp in Thailand, This is one of the places we will go to on our trip to Asia.
Answers to prayer - We are now confirmed on our invitation to the refugee camp. Just got the email this morning - Ben and I have felt unified
Prayer requests - That God would prepare our hearts and minds for what is ahead. - that nothing important will be forgotten - Ben will be efficient in his school work. (He is no longer auditing the class)
My feeling today - on top of the packing and cleaning and motivated, with a smidgen of worry that something important will be forgotten
So the good news is the Canadian Embassy in Bangkok reopened this week. The situation there has been looking a lot better this week than it did last week. We really praise the Lord for that. I check twitter for my instant news feed. Technology is so great. We also praise the Lord for all the people that have supplied items for the children we are going to be with. I have a pile of stuff in my living room now. Paints and chalk and stickers and ball pumps and sketch books.... it is so awesome. I am excited to see what the kids will do and think of all these things, I am also a little nervous about doing the painting sessions with them. Will they understand me? Will I prepare to do the things they are interested in? These are things I pray the spirit will lead me in from now until then.
Answered prayers - Bangkok is getting safer - We have all the items we requested for the home
Prayer requests - I'll be prepared for the painting session
How I'm feeling - swinging between relaxed and stressed, excited
My feeling today - humble, challenged, joyful Prayer request - Pray that we will continue to make good decisions and that Ben and I would be unified in them. - also pray that I'll be able to get all the things done in the next week and 1/2 that I need to do. Answers to prayer - the stress of making some decisions has lifted and the Lord has given me some truth to focus on. I realized how I have been focusing on my will in this trip not the Lord's will. The Lord challenges me to hold it more loosely, with an open hand before him. I now want to say "We will go to Asia and do the things we've planned if it is the Lords will.... as James chapter 4 encourages.
We are leaving June 11th on a family missions trip(Leaving for BC June 6) . If you have not received the trip plan and general info please leave me a message or contact me some way and if I know who you are I will send you the details. I am going to be using this blog to update on my feelings, stories, the plans and the prayer requests but for privacy in some areas I am going to leave out details, keep it general or change names and that kind of thing.
My feeling today - concern, anxious, wonder prayer request - We have some decisions to make and I am feeling the stress and the unknown of it all, please pray that we follow the Spirit and not ourselves
What's on your bucket list. What random, thrilling, simple yet meaning-rich things do you hope to do before you die? It's really a curious thing to me. A bucket list says a lot about a person. A few years ago I wrote my bucket list, just to see what I'd put down and see if I'd actually do any of it.
So you wanna know what's on my bucket list? .....
I can't give you the whole list but here are a few of the 50 things I have on my list right now that I want to do before I die. If not before I die then Ben tells me there's always the millenium.
1. Run a Marathon ----check -June 2008 2. Do an over night canoe trip 3. Take the kids on a missions trip --- soon 5. Skydive 6. Go to a Seeds of Hope children's home --- soon 10. Write a book 12. Sail a long distance 14. Read a book in one weekend ---check - December 2009 over Christmas 15. Learn an instrument 18. Sleep under the stars ----check - August 2009 at my parents 20. Climb the big tree in Campbell Valley park with the girls 21. Go fishing for crab 22. Learn to swing dance with Ben 25. Learn to weld 27. Build a tree fort with the girls -----check - June 2008 with my dad 28. Write a good song 29. Share my story with the women in our church ---- check -November 2008 30. live somewhere hot again 36. White water raft 37. Teach my girls how to snowboard 42. Live in community living 41. Home school 44. Hide treasure 47. Complete a university degree 48. Act in a play
For a long time I blogged weekly, in some cases daily, then I hit a bloggers block. It's like a part of my brain just fell out... I am still waiting to get back my blogging brain. I know a few things have been going on -partly I just don't know what to say and the more time that passes the more I lose confidence that I have something worth reading to write about, so I'm in the middle of this but I am sure I'll be back to writing when I find the words and confidence to write them, or have something interesting happen in my life. I know some were wondering if I'd do a 28 day challenge again this year and I really wanted to but I just never felt the drive to do so. Sorry if I disappointed any. Anyway, that's all for now, Blessings
How do we keep being captivated anew with radical faith in a "Jesus bubble", where Jesus is familiar and has always been there? How do you create an expectant faith filled atmosphere as we raise our kids? When I was journaling through Mark I found this question surface. I think when Jesus has been taught to us from childhood the thrill of what he does in our lives is mistaken for something small, and we loose the significance of it or because he so common we forget to see him and maybe sometimes we loose faith, or forget to have faith. So since our home would be considered a Christian home, where Jesus is a big part of our everyday, I have been thinking about this. How do we keep Jesus fresh and vibrant in our little "bubble"? How have you tried to do this in your home?
"A recipe is merely words on paper; a guideline, a starting point from which to improvise." I read this on recipe site a while ago and now I can't remember where but I couldn't agree more, this is my view of cooking. It is what my mother instinctively taught me. I do few things exactly as I'm told actually. I like to be creative and try to do almost everything some way that maybe few people have ever done it. Things don't always go well though, for instance I came up with a really bad one the other night in the name of creativity, awful really. I was trying to make my own version of Kari Kari, which is a Filipino dish. I didn't have all the ingredients so as you can guess I either skipped them or added something similar, oh and I didn't follow the cooking instructions at all either. When it was all said and done I had a feeling it wasn't going to go well at the supper table that night. I contemplated not even serving it but I'd invested too much time, pride and ingredients to just toss it, so I looked at it more as a character building experience. My hunch-niggles where right, "what is this?", "It smells weird", "Is this all we're having?", "I'm not hungry." I forced the kids to eat it, I saw Ben grimace as he told me "It's OK....."(do you think he lied?), I Could barely stomach 1/2 my plate. Later that evening Ben said, "Can I just say one thing, can you not make that again." We laughed and I said "I know it smelled like dog food. I will never intentionally make that again." Oh ya in the name of creativity I have made some pretty awful things, but I've also made some good ones I think. Ok ok I have one more wipe-out story for you due to my over creativeness. Some of you will have witnessed this unfortunate birth of my imagination. In one of the first years when Ben and I came to this church I was in charge of something creative for the Purpose driven life and I created this huge globe, I think about 5 foot circumference, for the church stage. It was paper mache and tin foil. The skeleton of the globe was something like 6 hula hoops. Plus it had several directional arrows shooting out from its surface. Oh it was ugly, the tin foil kept falling off and I keep sticking it back on with a opened stapler or sticky tack, the arrows kept slinking lower and lower, some eventually pointed down and then fell off. Every Sunday it was up there I was so embarrassed by it but of course I kept those insecurities buried deep below my confident creators mask. I don't remember anyone ever saying anything to me about what they really though about it but I can only imagine how many other people have heard about it. Anyway I am laughing about it now because I feel like I was able to redeem myself with this last project that hangs on the wall. Besides why not laugh about it. If you remember it I am so sorry you had to endure it on stage all those weeks. The trash heap is bigger because of me ;)
I also love what this photo captures - pure enjoyment of the moment, Joelle is captivated by the beauty and the fun of the huge flakes. Thanks to all who played along.
I'm a little behind (6 days) but I know you still want to see them - the best photos of 2009(our kids) And you get to vote for your favorite.
January - The Attempt to Sleep in the Quinzee February - It's a Krazee House Hold March - Zoom Zoom April - Happy Hat May - Play Day June - Old Fashioned Picnic July - Aaaaa the Ocean Air August - Sshhh... Attack September - Abandoned Baby October - First Snow November - The Best Thing About a Twin is ... December - The Happiest Days of our Lives
Chapel time at the Bible School. Singing of course.
The children in the orphanage Painting.
The Children singing.
We were there on ration day, which means that UN trucks bring in their needed food and supplies. This truck load was coal for cooking.
The view from our hut looking out. A few steps down and then it goes up the hill.
Our hut at at the refugee camp.
The mountains one has to cross to get back to Burma.
They also bring flowers to lay before their idols
As we were leaving the pagoda it was raining really heavy and this little boy was taking a shower. I tried to talk to and befriend his mother who was sitting near by nursing her baby, but she was very shy of me and so were her other children. She appeared to be very poor.
One hotel butler with great service. They were all good but Ed like to make our life fun.
The grandmother of the hotel was thrilled with the girls but could only speak Burmese. Staying at the 3 seasons is staying as close to the people as you can, it's a small hotel, a family feel.
The front patio area was a nice place to relax and watch Myanmar go by.
Buddist monks walked by every morning, collecting their food offering for the day.
Ed, our hotel butler took the girls on a trishaw ride on a few special evenings.
We were this excited!
And this excited about the food.
But the kids of Burma are the best part.
A 2 square km area with 40-80 thousand people living in it.
