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Well, I have now made it past the halfway mark! It is hard to believe, yet at times it feels as if I have been here forever! God really has blessed my time here in many ways and I am excited about what He is going to do in the second half.
The month of December started off with an adventurous trip to Vietnam and ended with the celebration of Christmas. Not much teaching was done at the college due to the mid-terms and our trip, but we were busy with many other Christmas celebrations at various churches and some of our own Christmas parties that we had. I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas with your friends and families and that you had a good chance to reflect on God’s gift of His Son, Jesus Christ, as our Savior! What Good News that truly is!
Vietnam
The trip started out with a 2 hour drive to the border with Laos and then a boat ride across the MeKong River to Laos. After arriving in Laos we learned that there is a bus that goes to Vietnam every evening except Sunday. Oh yeah, we were there on Sunday. So, we decided to stay the night in Savanaket, Laos. We met two Thai men at the hotel and the 10 of us decided to rent a van to take us not only into Vietnam but all the way to Da Nang. The road in Laos was completed not too long ago so it was the nicest road I have been on in a long time. It was a nicely paved two lane highway that took about 4 hours to cross. However, once we made it into Vietnam the road situation quickly went downhill. Actually, they were terrible. Mostly because almost the entire road is under construction all the way to the beach. That part of the trip took a lot longer, about 7.5 hours including a stop for lunch. We found a nice place a short walk away from the beach (China Beach) that cost us $2 each per night. I know that’s a little steep but it was worth it. :) We stayed there for 3 nights. Where we stayed was right next to the Marble Mountains and in the heart of the marble cutting district. There was marble being carved everywhere and hundreds of marble shops. It was beautiful stuff.
The weather was uncooperative for a beach vacation and was cold and rainy the entire time that we were in Vietnam so no real beach time other than just walking around in sweatshirts. That’s all right. It just meant that we were able to experience more of Vietnam. On the second day we took about a 20 minute taxi ride to Hoi An where we spent the day. Hoi An was a cool little place. I think it was my favorite. We walked around a little market, went on a boat ride with a local, had clothing made for us in under 6 hours, and much more. I felt the most in the culture of Vietnam here than the other cities we visited.
Then the next day we drove up to Hue for a visit and stayed there for a night (also at a pricey $2 each). On the ride to Hue we stopped in the mountains just outside of Da Nang and saw some bunkers that were used during the Vietnam War. Very interesting stuff. The Forbidden City in Hue was cool. But even better were the tanks at the military museum that you could climb on and get inside. No, I’m not kidding! Our driver fought in the war and drove a US Army tank. I think visiting some of the stuff was difficult especially with all the propaganda and the reference to Puppet Soldiers, etc.
The last day was spent driving back to the border and trying to get there before 4:00 in order to cross into Laos and make it to the border of Thailand (the border between Vietnam and Laos closes at 5:00 PM). A couple of stops were planned along the way, with one being the tunnels in Vinh Moc. This is a city that was built (or rather dug) under ground during the war to keep safe. The ground is made up of clay and people actually lived under ground for 6 years! 17 babies were born underground.
Anyway, sometimes things don’t go quite as planned….. The last day turned out that way and was the craziest day of the trip. It started out when a communist official watched one of our team members drop a Bible cartoon book out the window for some children nearby. He had us followed to the tunnels in Vinh Moc, then more officials appeared when we stopped to take pictures near the beach outside of Vinh Moc. We then got lost trying to get to Lao Bao (the border between Vietnam and Laos) from there. Once we found our way again our taxi got a flat tire. The drivers had it fixed rather quickly. Then there was a major back up due to road construction in the mountains about 25 km from Lao Bao. We thought that we were never going to make it to the border in time. Each time something happened it set us back further and further, but we did make it with a few minutes to spare although we didn't get to go to Khe San as we had wanted. Oh well. I enjoyed visiting Vietnam. I learned a lot about the Vietnam War that I didn't know and it was interesting to see the remains of the war, the bunkers, etc. It was definitely worth it but I am definitely glad to be back in Thailand.
With it being a retreat, a couple from Chiang Mai came along with us for some team building. It was awesome to have them there. They are wonderful people and Bruce said some very key and instrumental things that will have a huge impact on my life. It is awesome! I am still processing through it all so that it clearly makes sense, but it is good stuff!
Other Miscellaneous Info about Vietnam:
1. The traffic in the cities is terrible and it is 99% motorcycles and bikes...thousands and thousands of them.
2. The exchange rate was 15,000 Vietnamese Dong to $1.
3. I heard more English than in Thailand.
4. They still have Army vehicles driving down the road.
5. They are still clearing old bombs and shrapnel at the Vietnam-Laos border.
6. It is a great place for good, cheap art. Beautiful stuff.
7. In some places they are still plowing fields with water buffalo or cows.
8. On the way back from Vinh Moc, we saw many children with World Vision backpacks.
9. They have wonderful bread there from the French influence. Yum!
10. I was overwhelmed with the amount of honking that exists throughout Vietnam. Makes Thailand seem
much quieter
11. I was amused by the live pigs tied up and riding on the backs of motorcycles.
12. It was great to see some beautiful and tall mountains again. I have missed the ones from home.
13. I did not enjoy being constantly hounded by the people trying to guilt me into buying things. Of course, I wanted to buy from each one but couldn't possibly, so it made me feel so mean when I had to be to the point of rude so they would leave me alone.
The trip ended by crossing back over the MeKong River and getting our cars to drive home. Of course we were delayed by the dead battery in the white car. But at least we made it home safely.
The Northeastern Polytechnic College
As I asked you to pray about earlier, Kim and I had a chance to share about Christmas in America and the Gospel message with all of our classes, about 110 total. Bum came and translated for us so that we knew that they clearly heard what we were sharing. Some of the church people also came along and sang a Christmas song in Thai for the classes. It was such a great opportunity! We had around 40 students sign up for us to bring them a free copy of the Gospel of Luke in Thai. Very exciting!
The Church
We invited our English class from church over to our house for a Christmas party. It was fantastic! Kim showed them how to make sugar cookies and frost them. We then fixed somewhat of a Thai dinner for them and watched “Home Alone” dubbed over in Thai. It was funny to watch the American actors speaking in Thai voices. They then played a little bit of ping pong and Kim took them back to church. All in all it was a fun evening.
We also had the church Christmas celebration on Friday night, December 17, and there were a ton of people there too, probably a couple hundred. The Thai people sure like to put on a big show. The church got permission to close off half of the road so that we could fit everyone in. They also rented a stage, had two emcees, the bands played, acted out the Christmas story, and filled the stage with over a hundred gifts to give out to everyone who came. It was quite the spectacle. It was a lot of fun and great to see so many people around!
Christmas
We had a traditional Christmas here in Thailand….new traditions that is! I experienced many firsts for Christmas this year. I met people who had business appointments, orthodontist appointments, and other such stuff on Christmas day. It was business as usual here. But I did have a good Christmas despite being far from home.
New Christmas traditions started here in Thailand:
1. I wore shorts for the first time on Christmas day. I don’t care what anyone says, I’m doing it again next year! :)
2. I managed to get a little darker tan
3. I fed an elephant
4. I ate fried rice for lunch
5. I ate fresh shrimp for dinner
6. I went shopping
The days leading up to Christmas were filled with much activity. Besides the church and school activities mentioned above, we also had a farang (foreigner) party at our house including a white elephant gift exchange. Then on Wednesday, we went to the Bible college about 2 hours from here for a very large Christmas shindig that somewhat resembled a carnival with around 2000 people there. Thursday, Kim and I had our fellow (Thai) English teachers over for dinner and games and gift exchange. Friday, we drove down to Sisaket to be with the Bakers and went to their church Christmas party as well. Then Kim, Bum and I spent the night at the Bakers to have a “family” Christmas. It was great to be there for that. Rita fixed eggs and bacon for breakfast and then we opened presents. To make it feel a little more like home I stayed in my pajamas for that. Then we got ready and drove about an hour away to a little village which is where I was when I was here in 1998. I hadn’t been back so that was fun to see! To wrap up our Christmas celebrations we had all our church friends over on Sunday after Christmas to eat some food, have a white elephant gift exchange, give them some little gifts, and watch a movie. Overall, considering I was far from home, I had a great Christmas (even though it was hard to feel like it was Christmas with the 90 degree temps!), BUT I am looking forward to being home next year!
Prayer Requests
1. Communication within the team along with unity. Right now things are going well between all of us.
2. Pray for confidence in my teaching ability as well as quickly building relationships with the students. Pray for effective teaching. I feel very overwhelmed at times with the responsibilities that I have. Pray that I will continually give everything to God and realize that through Him I can do anything.
3. English at church has ended for the holidays but we will begin again in January. Pray that the kids we have coming now, as well as new students, will sign up for the second session.
4. Pray for safe travel to Singapore. December 28 thru January 4, Kim, Bum, and I are going to Singapore for a vacation as well as visa trip for Kim. Pray for safety and a good time of relaxation and rejuvenation, as well as for Kim’s visa to come through.
5. Pray for continued health. I am doing well right now.
6. Pray for my family and me that we don’t miss each other too much. Christmastime was difficult for me and my birthday next week will be difficult as well.
7. Pray for the Thai people, that God will open their hearts to Him and they will see the truth of Jesus.
8. Pray that ultimately everything I do will glorify and honor God! That people will see Jesus through me.
9. Pray for my attitude as it is sometimes focused on the wrong thing due to frustrations. Pray that I won’t let circumstances steal my joy and take my focus away from my purpose.
10. Pray for accountability in prayer for me. I sometimes feel hypocritical asking all of you to pray for me and then I fail to pray for these things myself. For some reason, I find it easier to pray for other’s issues than my own. Pray that I will lift my own needs up to God.
Praises
1. A safe and adventurous trip to Vietnam.
2. A time at Christmas to remember God’s gift of His Son as our Savior.
3. An unplanned break away from school the week of Christmas.
4. The freedom we have in Christ.
5. The sun that shines here everyday.
Words of Encouragement
I was given a good reminder of God’s love through this passage, so I thought I would share it with all of you. Be grateful for God’s gift of His Son this Christmas season and all throughout the year!
1 John 4:7-21 (NLT)
Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is born of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God—for God is love.
God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love has been brought to full expression through us.
And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. All who proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in him.
God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we are like Christ here in this world.
Such love has no fear because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of judgment, and this shows that his love has not been perfected in us. We love each other as a result of his loving us first.
If someone says, "I love God," but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don't love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we have not seen? And God himself has commanded that we must love not only him but our Christian brothers and sisters, too.
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5. December 2004
