village dancing

A couple of the places that we went to, Shangri-la and Lijiang, had dances in the village square every night. It was so beautiful and the people are so welcoming. Without hesistation Houser jumped in to dance with the people. They blare the music really loud and they all gather around the fire in a big circle. There are many different dances and dance steps. Every time that I would just have one down they would switch to another dance that I didn't know. It's neat because there are people there from every age, and they all really get into it. It's a really big part of their culture and there is a large group gathered every night to take part in it.
The picture of Houser and I is taken in a bus that we took to Shangri-la. It was an overnight bus and had mattress sort of things that you could sleep on. So 5 of us were together in the back, kind of like sardines in a can. The hardest part is when it was super cold and 3 or 4 people are smoking in the bus with all of the windows shut. It was really neat to be able to lay down while travelling though and we got to see a lot of great beauty along the way.
Tomorrow we fly to Bangkok to meet Beverley, I'm so excited.

Tibetan family

One of the most meaningful times for us in China was spending time with a Kham Tibetan family in their home, drinking yak butter tea. Their hospitality and kindness was generous.They served us some butter tea and fresh yak cheese, as well as some sort of bread they make. They also served us some samba which is their staple diet. They add some barley to the tea and knead it for a while and then eat it. It reminded me of that cereal Sugar Smacks that I used to eat when I was a little girl. We sat in their home and enjoyed the warmth given by their fire. We have some friends that are working with them that can speak Chinese very well so we had some form of communication.
They are potato farmers and live very simple lives. They also owned a lot of yaks.

Peking Duck

Many Chinese tourists come to this certain place in Lijiang to eat duck. The head is usually reserved for the person whom you want to honor the most. In our case, no one really wanted to eat the head except Houser, and so we all laughed and watched as he ate the duck head. He poked the eyes out as well as the brains with chopsticks. The rest he just sort of chewed on.

Lijiang

Lijiang is an incredible town in China. There is a part of Lijiang called Gu Chhen (Old Town) that has incredible Nazi buildings and houses. All of the streets are full of red lanterns and there are small streams running down the streets full of beautiful fish. Lijiang is a big tourist town domestically for many of the Chinese. It's beautiful.
I was overwhelmed by the vast development in every city that we went to. I've always had a concept in my mind that China was mostly villages and perhaps a few backward cities, but I was wrong. The roads and infrastructure of China were amazing and far more advanced than anything I've seen in India. Every small city we went to had a supermarket and we even saw a KFC.
The other thing that was a bit overwhelming was the vast number of people walking down the streets. The combined population of India and China is over 1/3 of the world's population, over 2 billion people. I'm going to have to wait until we're back in India to post a bunch of pictures becasue of the computer situation, but they will definitely come. We will meet Beverley in Bangkok in a couple of days and then will be on our way back to India.

China

We have so many pictures and so many stories and I will try to post a bunch of them in the days to come. I couldn't write in China because of security reasons and so we are now safely back in Thailand. Our plane just came in earlier tonight. Our time there was packed full of many experiences and memories ranging from having yak butter tea in a Tibetan Village, to Houser eating duck brain with chopsticks.

One of the hardest things is that we dropped off some of our best friends fom the NE there and tried to help them look for a house and get adjusted. Obviously we couldn't help much with translation, but we wanted to be with them.

Communication was a big problem because hardly anyone speaks English. We often found ourselves wanting to speak Hindi because somehow in our minds it's what we speak when people don't understand us. One of the funniest things was that Houser got his widow's peak shaved off on accident because the barber thought he didn't want it. We hardly know any Mandarin at all, pretty much, thank you, and hello.

When we first got to China, the taxi driver brought us to a place to eat and the entire menu was in Chinese. Well we were in China, but we were hoping for a little English, or at least some pictures. Houser finally resorted to flapping his wings like a chicken to show that we wanted some chicken. Then we got up and looked what was on other people's plates and pointed to that. We were a source of great entertainment there for everyone and laughed a lot. We met some of our Chinese friends later that night and so for the rest of the trip we had excellent translation.

It was an incredible time and I don't know even where to begin describing it. Again, I will post many pictures soon.

stuck

I think that yesterday was the hardest that I've laughed in weeks. I was running a little late to a meeting we had and I quickly jogged to the elevator. Houser was already upstairs and I was supposed to meet him. I got in the elevator right after a Thai man and the doors closed behind us. Little did I know that I wouldn't see them open for a long time.
So, the elevator goes up two floors and for some odd reason the door doesn't open as it should. We frantically press all of the buttons, but to no avail. I just start laughing like crazy. SOme people when they get nervous or scared, fiddle with their hands, some get angry or start talking too much, I laugh. The poor Thai guy is just looking at me like I'm a little crazy and then he starts laughing too. He finally pushes the help button and has a long conversation in Thai with the operator. We wait for about 5 minutes before we hear anyone coming for help. Five minutes isn't a long time in normal circumstances, but at this point we're sweating a little and the Thai guy is telling me he's supposed to be at the airport in half and hour.
So the people come and we see their flash lights and hear some noises outside. Really, it felt like we were in some sort of movie. Then a couple of them try to pry the doors open with their hands. I start laughing really loud with great strength of heart. My sister gets embarassed of me sometimes when we're out in public together because I laugh too loud. This would have been one of those times.
We hear all sorts of banging noises and the elevator falls a couple of inches. The poor Thai guy and I just look at each other with big eyes. I was just thinking, I have no way to tell anyone that I'm in here. The Thai guy has a cell phone, but I don't even have any way to call anyone, no numbers. So the kind rescuers outside are diligently working to free us. About 20 minutes later, we feel the elevator moving slowly and hope fills our hearts, well at least mine. Sure enough the elevator is working again and we were saved. It took another 15 minutes to find Houser though becasue he was worried becasue I was supposed to meet him much earlier and went out to try and find me.
After the meeting, we went out for coffee with our friend Sunny, and two of our friends who are going to China. This coffee shop is brand new and beautiful, it was about 10:00 pm at night. Our friend Sunny is hilarious and so much fun to be around. She truly has the heart of a child. She was running ahead of us and and suddenly we all heard this loud "thwack," and saw Sunny crumple to the floor. This place had glass doors and for some reason she didn't see them and ran straight into the door. We all start laughing so loudly that tears were filling our eyes and our stomachs hurt. She said that she was looking at the beautiful coffee mugs inside and didn't see the door because it was so clean. The guy couldn't even take our order properly because he was laughing so hard. We told them to maybe keep the doors a little more dirty so that people wouldn't get hurt. The whole night we could hardly talk about anything else because it was too funny.
So last evening was filled with great laughter.

Monks in Thailand and Valentine's Day

Buddhist monks here are considered holy beings. Woman are not ever to touch them or even to try to give or pass anything to them with their hands. If a monk wants to sit on the bus and he happens to sit by a woman, the woman must vacate her seat and move to another place. It's very interesting because the monks in NE India are very approachable. Often we have had tea with them and asked them questions, even bringing them gifts or biscuits.

Yesterday was our first Valentine's Day as a married couple and we had a nice Mediterranean Dinner. Yep. There's this tiny little restaurant here called Jerusalem Falafel owned and operated by this neat lady from Jerusalem. The food was incredible, the best I've had in months. We ordered a dish that came with 5 different dips. Hummus, babaghanoush (sp?), tzatziki (sp?), actually, I just better stop now. I'm not really sure how to spell or properly communicate what we had, but it was delicious and full of garlic. We thought it was quite incredible to find a restaurant with this kind of food in Thailand, of all places, but it was nice.

Our days are packed with activities and friends and they are flying by so quickly. We are leaving on Saturday to go to China and we are excited for the next leg of our journey. John Dawson, the President of YWAM, is here and it has been good to hear what is on his heart. He shared last night about the importance of love being lived out. He was talking about how for love to be real, it must reach it's destination. Sometimes we are in love with the idea of love, but to truly live it and breathe it in the midst of real, flawed people is difficult. He was talking about how we all say that we love people and we have all of these nice thoughts in our head, and it is vital that we share it with those people and let them know and feel it. Whether they be friends, family, people that we may minister to, or whoever, we must live out love. Love must reach it's destination and not just dwell inside our own minds and hearts. We all need love and encouragement, so we should give it liberally to all that are in our sphere of influence. Everyone thrives off of kindness and affection and we shouldn't hold back because of fear or rejection, small fights, and jealousies. Life is too short, relationships are too important, we need to forget about ourselves and love with fierceness those who are around us.

Pineapples

Somehow, for all of my life I thought that pineapples grew on trees like bananas and coconuts. They grow on the ground. That's such a mystery to me.

Our conference starts tomorrow and so day by day we have been seeing more and more familiar faces. Sunny and I were in a market yesterday when we ran into some old friends from India that aren't even here for the conference. They took us out to dinner tonight to this place where you pick and grill your own meat at your table. So it's a sort of buffet, but a huge portion of it it raw meat and fish and vegetables. At each table they have some small grills and you put your meat on there to cook it. There were all sorts of interesting things that we had never seen or tasted. It was fun.

everything new

I've never been to Thailand before and so I'm constantly overwhelmed by a deluge of new sights, smells, and sounds. This place is incredible and unlike any other that I've ever been. Actually, I'm really at a loss to explain it. Chiang Mai is a big city and it has a lot of western influence such as a couple of shopping malls and yet it is distinctively Asian. We went to a mall yesterday and they were selling dried worms, locusts and quail eggs for snacks, and yet on the next floor was a cosmetic store. The Night Bazaar is one of my favorite places here. It opens in the late afternoon and stays open until about midnight. You can buy all sorts of Thai things there as well as flowers, fruits, and traditional jewelry; it's full of mystery and beauty. There are so many people there every night from all over the world. The aisles are really tiny and crowded and you hear people speaking in languages from every continent. It is a tremendously international sort of place.

Today we have finally met a bunch of our friends from the Northeast and though we haven't seen them in over 2 years, it was like we had just seen them. We had a meeting for several hours and caught up with each other. There was about 13 of us. The big conference starts this weekend and we are all looking forward to it.

I'm also learning a lot about teeth these days. The dentists here have been very helpful and kind. They've taken x-rays and have found out that the root canal that I had done in Shillong was not good and so they drilled out the old filling there and are re-doing the root canal therapy. One root canal is already not very fun, but two on the same tooth is a little disheartening. But it is actually really good news because I won't need a crown after all.

So we are in Thailand and very much enjoying this time.

Chiang Mai

We have had an interesting journey and have safely arrived in Thailand. Monday afternoon we got a call from the travel agent saying our flight the next day had been cancelled but if we can leave that night (instead of Tues. morning) they would fly us to Calcutta and then the next morning to Bangkok. The funny thing is that they called us at 3:00 pm and the flight was scheduled to leave at 7:00pm, the airport being about 4 hours away from our home.
So we said ok and then ran as fast as fish to finish packing and arranging all of our things. Then Sunny, Houser, and I got in the car and made it to the airport in record speed.

Since they cancelled our flight, the airlines put us in an incredibly nice hotel for the night, for free. We felt like royalty and none of us had ever stayed in such a place in India. Needless to say, our hearts were overflowing with thanks to God for the hot showers and nice accommodations.

We spent all day yesterday at the Bangkok airport waiting for our connecting flight at night to Chiang Mai. We had great fun though in the airport, as it is quite modern and had things that we hadn't seen for quite some time, like Burger King, and really nice coffee shops.

We've already been to the dentist here two times today and they are very efficient and helpful. I go back tomorrow to begin the treatment. Our first meeting here is on the 10th, so we have a couple of days to rest and look around a bit.

I have never been to Thailand before and it is quite beautiful and clean here. We are looking forward to meeting our friends and making new ones in the days to come.

the crown story

Actually my story has nothing to do with this picture, but I thought it was a beautiful piece of art showing how crowns are laid down at His feet because He alone is worthy of our worship.

So less than a week after we returned to India (in early September '05), my tooth started aching and throbbing. We asked around and went to a dentist here to undergo what they call Root Canal Therapy. It took about a month for the whole process to be completed. They took out the nerve and then stuffed some cotton in the hole and I had to go back for maybe 5 or 6 times for the dentist to flush it out and clean it before she finally filled it. A week after I had it done, a portion of the filling fell out and so we had to go back and have it repaired. The dentist told us that they won't put the crown on for another 6 months, and to be careful to not eat anything hard on that tooth or else it would break off. Houser and I looked at each other with big eyes, and I said "Ok." After we left I asked him if he would still love me if one of my front teeth was broken, thankfully, he said yes.

About a month or so later, the same tooth began throbbing and aching and we went again to the dentist, but she said that she couldn't find anything wrong. Needless to say, this has been a pain (no pun intended) for us in the past few months.

We knew that we were going to Thailand and they are supposed to have really good dental and medical care there, and so we have been waiting for this time to come. I was looking online for different dentists there and trying to make an appointment. I had narrowed it down to two different clinics that I wanted to try and had e-mailed them asking about prices and services. My heart was burdened when I got the e-mails back because the treatments could be as much as 500 dollars and so I just started to pray.

The night I got the e-mails, I seriously was just crying out to God for His wisdom and for His guidance and provision. The very next day, I was waiting for a taxi because I needed to buy some groceries in a nearby town. As I waited, a friend of ours who is a pastor, pulled up and asked me if I needed a ride. I got in and in his car was an American who works in Chiang Mai, Thailand, the exact city that we are going to on Tuesday. I said "You're just the person I need to see!" I asked him if he knew of any good dentists there and he said that he goes to Grace Dental Care, this was one of the two dentists that I had decided on. He said that he has had three crowns done there and that they have really good technology and they do a good job. It was amazing, because if I had just been two minutes earlier, or two minutes later, I would have missed them. This whole incident has made me feel more than ever that God hears our cry and answers our prayers.

So hopefully when we come back from Thailand, my tooth will be cured and crowned and we will live happily ever after.

The end.

one year ago...

A year ago today Houser asked me to marry him on Mt. Wilson in Sunny California. We were talking and laughing about it today, so much has happened in this last year. We are happy.

As some may notice, he was wearing this Steeler hat a year ago. He has worn it often since and is eagerly awaiting this years Super Bowl, the Seahawks vs. the Steelers. He's planning to wake up at 3:30 am so that he can watch it. Really.

Looking back on this last year, we are so thankful to God for His kindness and faithfulness, and to all of our family and friends who have so enriched our lives with their love and encouragement.

We are leaving Monday night for our long trip to Thailand and China.

a picnic and some cricket

Today we went with the DTS to have a Saturday picnic. It was great fun. About 25 of us piled into a bus and drove up the mountain a bit. We cooked rice in the morning and then brought a bunch of vegetables and some mutton (goat) with us and made the meat and salad there. It was an adventure because it was quite windy outside and so it took a while for the meat to cook.

This was the first week of the DTS and so it was a good time of fellowship and a good opportunity just to hang out and get to know each other better. The boys played cricket for hours as they took turns "batting and bowling." I've been in India for some time now, but I still don't fully understand cricket. It's a mystery.

The life of Brianna

Today we had a day of prayer and fasting at our base. In the past couple of months over 14 YWAM Staff have died worldwide, most of them key leaders. Today we wanted to seek God asking for His protection and understanding, and pray for the labor of those who have died, that the fruit of their lives would be multiplied. I wanted to share and celebrate the life of Brianna, an American who died in Nigeria. This is an excerpt from a letter by John Dawson, the President of YWAM.

"One of the women killed was American Brianna Esswein from California. Being briefly in the US, I had the privilege of meeting with her parents, Dan and Mary Kay, and her sister, Christina and brother, Matt. This is an extraordinary family, full of Christ. As I have investigated the life of their beloved Brianna, I have become convinced that her short life is a gift to this generation.

She was in many ways similar to Jim Elliott, her hero, one of the five young American missionaries who were killed by the Auca Indians in the 1950s. Although only twenty-five, she had completed a medical degree in California and graduated from Wheaton after studying missions. She had also worked in several countries, making a great impact on all who knew her because of her Christ-like qualities. How do we deal with the death of such people, excellent, brilliant missionaries with their best years ahead of them? Think of the more recent deaths of Tony Lima in Brazil and Elisabeth Mbewe in Zambia. They were already people of immense fruitfulness and responsible for young children both in ministry and family. What is the heavenly perspective?

Brianna was deeply involved with Focus on the Family and Youth For Christ before coming to YWAM so I was able to join with the leaders of these organizations in piecing together her story, and eventually honoring her at a memorial service. Just before she died, Brianna wrote a Christmas letter from Nigeria, which is a mature and powerful statement on the compassion of Jesus for suffering people. Her life message was fully formed. Her vision and godly character shines. Those of us at her memorial service had the sense of a life completed rather than a life cut off. We discovered that though attractive and vivacious, she had decided that she would not marry and though her life may be short, she was going to be totally dedicated to missions.Her story humbles and instructs me the more I reflect upon it, and I feel a solemn duty to expand the influence of her life.

On the first day of '06, I preached the first of what will be many sermons with my 'Brianna file' open in the pulpit.Her diaries and letters reflect the theme of her memorial service, "To live is Christ, to die is gain". I was most impacted when her mother showed me a journal scrapbook that Brianna had compiled. On one page was a beautifully presented collage of a bride in her gown, and on the opposite page a representation of a banquet, surrounded by paragraphs of adoration for Jesus and anticipation of entering His presence.

Do you follow one of those one-year Bible-reading programs like I do? If you do, you read Revelation 22 on December 31st and Genesis 1 on January 1st, truly a good foundation for '06. God is the author and finisher of all things and His intent is that we enjoy the pleasures of His presence as we pass through this brief earthly apprenticeship. However, 'the eternal weight of glory' that Brianna now enjoys is far superior to the temporary graces that give joy to this life. She is no longer separated from her Savior; she has lifted the veil and gazes upon Him.

Her mother and sister both wore white lace outfits at her large memorial service to indicate identification with Brianna's ultimate desire fulfilled. Truly the family of God is amazing, transcendent lives that point unwaveringly to the inimitable perfection of the 'Bright and Morning Star', Christ Jesus.I believe that the story of each one of those who have died or were injured in Nigeria, Brazil and Zambia will instruct us as we serve and honor them and their families. The fact that so many were nurse midwives is significant and that so many nations were represented in sacrifice and suffering. "Lord, honor their lives by multiplying the fruit of their labor," we pray.

Jesus has an answer for everything, answers that come one day at a time. Our apparently small lives and our daily choices have eternal implications. Our souls find rest in spite of all that would make us fearful."