Season's Greetings

Christmastime is coming around once again, and celebration is in the air.

It's nothing new, of course. Most of us have done this our entire lives, complete with candles, candy canes, and Christmas dinner.

We’d like to pray that the Holy Spirit would be present in all of your Christmas celebrations this year, and that you would be filled with His joy and peace throughout this season.

Please pray for us as this will be our first Christmas outside of Chiang Mai, and our first trip down south as a family. Blessings to all of you, and a Merry Christmas!

Our Christmas Picture: (clockwise from far left) Eli, Eric, Eng, Evan, Linda, and Ethan.

The Liujiang

All of us here in Chiang Mai, Thailand apologize for the late updates.

Last week my father was going to update about his trip up to Doi Inthanon, but was unable to due to his heavy work load.

This week’s Unreached People Group is the Lijiang. Like the Hongshuihe and the Yongbei they live in Guangxi, China. There are much less of them, numbering only 1.65 million. Unlike the first two, they are not being worked with.

Pray that the Lord would send sufficient workers to reach all in that area, that His holy fire would spread through people groups and would not be kept within only one village or people. Pray that the fire would spread.

The Future of Grace

Some of you may have heard about Grace International School and the issues that have been going on legally as well as relationally.

Our school is located within the muubaan (neighbourhood) World Club. In fact, GIS’s main building is the muubaan’s clubhouse, which was essentially a place for the people living in Word Club to work out and swim and such.

Recently the muubaan has come up with many complaints about Grace, one of them being that the building was sold to us illegally. Considering all of the money that we have poured into it cleaning up the property, setting up classrooms, and just generally improving the entire building, you can imagine our shock when we found that World Club wanted us to leave.

Recently an email has been sent out to all of the teachers and, my mother being the first grade teacher, received a copy. It reads as follows:

Statement from the Grace International School Educational Foundation (GISEF) and the Trustees:

We have prayed and come together as the GISEF and Trustees to discuss GIS’s future. It is our decision to direct the Superintendent to locate suitable property for building a K-12 campus. It is our intent to see GIS become all that God has planned.

That plan may also include continuing to use our present location. We await the outcome of the action being taken against the school to determine the future use of our current facility. In the meantime, the school will continue to operate as usual. God has blessed us greatly in the past and we will continue to trust in Him for the future.

Basically this means that Grace is now looking for new property, and is fully ready to leave once we have found another building or land on which to build a new one.

No matter what happens, I believe that God will work things out for His own great purpose. His ways are higher than our ways, and He works everything out for good.

Please pray though, for all of those who have put their wholes lives into the school, building it and watching it grow into what it is today. For many of us who attend Grace, nothing is certain, but even if we have to move, pray that there will acceptance of what God wants.

The Yongbei

The Yongbei number 2.31 million, and have 0.35% of the population recorded as believers. They are currently being worked with and live, like the Hongshuihe, in Guangxi, China.

Please join us in prayer for the Yongbei.

Also, I apologize for the lack of posts recently. We have been very busy lately.

-evan

November Recap

November last year was an eventful month, and considering that I’ve missed out on writing for the past two weeks, this is the post to fill you in on what’s been going on.

As a repeat from last year two events were repeated: Music Mania (a.k.a. Battle of the Bands) and Loy Krathong, which were both posted about last year.

Music Mania came around this year without a band for me to play with, and so I teamed up with my friend Sam Walden to sing an acoustic song; with him on guitar and me singing. We didn’t place, but I had a lot of fun singing up there on stage.

Loy Krathong is a festival celebrated on the full moon of the 12^th month on the traditional Thai calendar. The word ‘loy’ means float, and a ‘krathong’ is a raft about as big as your hand, which are floated for the forgiveness of sins.

This year we celebrated as a family by shooting off fireworks and firecrackers, and the night before I went down to the bridge to do the same with my friends. It was an exciting time, with explosions and lights, being both blinded and deafened by the festivities.

November also called for a lot of traveling on my father’s part, and he has gone to both Singapore and Malaysia this month on business. This Friday he will be going to Doi Inthanon, a nearby mountain, to spend time with his friend and to take a break.

The track meet is also this Wednesday, and Eric will be running the 400 metre dash, the 4 by 100 relay, and the 4 by 400 relay. He has gone to practice four days a week for this, and we know he will do well, both for himself and the school.

A lot of things have been going on, and God has been good to us in all of them. We thank you for your prayers for us, and ask that He would bless you in return, many times over.

The Hongshuihe

The Hongshuihe are a subgroup of the Zhuang. Both the Zhuang and the Yi people groups are in urgent need to assess ministry language questions (as I failed to point out in the last two posts). Please pray for answers in this area.

The Hongshuihe live in Guangxi, China, and number a whopping 3.26 million. Of this number 0.35% are believers, and they are being worked with.

Please pray with us for the Honshuihe, and the Zhuang and Yi people groups.

A Prayer for Safety

My father left this afternoon for a ‘restricted access country’. Generally this means that he is very strongly encouraged not to be there.

While in this country he will be part of an Accountability Group for a Vocational School. He will be there for two days for meetings and will fly back to Chiang Mai Sunday.

He hopes to connect with people while he is there.

Please pray for his safety and that his trip will be successful, that God would be with him and work through him.

The Laluo/Mishaba

The Laluo/Mishaba, like the Nisu, are subgroups of the Yi. They also live in Yunnan, China.

There are less of them, numbering lonely 0.58 million, or, to be more specific, 580,000. However a higher percentage of them are believers, with 0.09% of the population.

Please join us in prayer for the Laluo/Mishaba.

He's Back!

My father only just having gotten back from Singapore yesterday, there wasn’t time to put up a blog posting. I did, however, sit down with him and jot down a brief summary of everything that he did during his trip.

First, and most importantly, he enjoyed himself. His overall highlight of the trip was running in the botanical gardens in the mornings. Unfortunately, he was unable to do this a lot, due to a lot of meetings that went on; it was also the rainy season.

One of the many meetings that my father attended was the IFC, or International Financial Conference. This took place over the course of three days.

The other highlight of his trip was taking the overnight bus to Malaysia and celebrating his mother’s birthday. This was the first time for him to celebrate with her for seven years. He was really glad that he was able to take the opportunity and turn what was supposed to be a business trip into a time to visit with his mother.

Another meeting that he attended was the AMB, or Asian Business Manager, meeting. This also took place over three days. After this there were two days of annual estimate review.

While visiting a church during his visit he was able to participate in a quiz. The question was to identify the theme song being played. It had barely even started playing when he knew the answer: the theme from Chariots of Fire. For answering this question he received a CD.

Following this was a CHANGE Management seminar that lasted a few more days. He really enjoyed it, and felt he learned a lot.

In closing he had a really good time in Singapore. He was able to eat a lot of different kinds of foods, and even meet old friends. We are all glad that he’s finally back with us here in Thailand, and that the Lord answered our prayers over his trip.

The Nisu

The Nisu are a subgroup of the Yi, and live in Yunnan, China. Their population numbers about a million, and they are being worked with. 0.01% of them are believers, making the total number roughly a hundred. Pray that these hundred would spread God’s word to the rest, and that it would come to the point where workers are no longer needed.

Hume Lake

Sitting here typing this, tired and sore, I am reminded of where my aches and weariness came from.

Every two years Hume Lake Christian camp comes to Chiang Mai all the way from California and holds a three day camp for both middle schoolers and high schoolers respectively. The high school camp was held from last Saturday afternoon until Tuesday morning this week, and both Eric and myself attended.

The camp consists of team games, worship times, seminars, and chapel times. This year’s speaker was a man named Chris, who was struck by a nerve and muscle disability when he was in eighth grade. He taught us to persevere, and to be everything that we could be, among other things. He was a huge inspiration to us all, and I was very impacted by his teachings.

Each Hume Lake camp also comes with a video, with segments watched at the beginning of each chapel time. Last year’s theme was ‘We Like Sheep’, and taught about the parable of the lost sheep and the shepherd who went out to search for it. This year’s movie was ‘Many Returns of Honorable Grasshopper Fighting’. It discussed the parable of the talents, with each talent representing a martial arts technique in the movie. They are always very entertaining, while teaching valuable biblical lessons.

While team games contributed to most of the points that would decide who went home with the championship t-shirts, they were not the only ways to score for your team. Memorizing Matthew 25 verses 14 to 30 would earn over a hundred points for your team, and these points are what decided this year’s champions.

Enthusiasm was also required to avoid ending up in last place. Team spirit was evaluated by the counselors in charge of the games, and at the end of each one a few minutes were given to each teams to come up with their own unique cheers. This coupled with the intensity of the games played ensured that all participating ended their days with sore bodies and voices.

Hume Lake was an experience I will sincerely regret missing in my upcoming years. It showed the love and care felt for us hundred of thousands of miles away, with the counselors flying over and bringing with them their games and videos and commitment. I thank God for the experience that was given to both Eric and me, and for his blessings on those who sacrificed to come overseas for our sakes.

The Wa

The Unreached People Group for this week are the Wa.

The Wa live in China and Myanmar. There are roughly one million of them, and they are being worked with.

While you pray for the Wa, please also lift up Myanmar and the issues that are going on. The country is in a lot of turmoil, and the people need your prayers and God’s help. Thank you.

Ethan as Ringbearer

Recently, Ethan was asked to be the Ring bearer of Phung's (one of Eng's Thai staff - please read the 25 Sept. 2006 posting if you want to read about her) wedding.

The picture on the right is Eng, Linda, and Ethan, all dressed up for the wedding. If you have a hard time recognizing Eng, it’s because he has recently been growing out his facial hair. It’s become sort of his ‘Fu Manchu’ look as it’s grown, and he happens to be very proud of it.

Phung is Thai but there was nothing similar in her wedding to all the others we've ever attended here. We're beginning to wonder if Thai weddings are all unique! This time around, the bride and groom walked up the aisle at the beginning of the service. Then, they separated when they got to the front of the altar. Ethan was later called to the front to stand at the side while they exchanged their vows. He only dropped the rings once! Having yawned for the nth time, paced back and forth, jiggled and swayed several times, his role finally ended. But, considering what the other kids in the entourage did, he did an excellent job. Thanks, Ethan, well done!

A Dance in Disguise

Last Saturday was Grace International School’s “Dance in Disguise”, and the first dance of the year. It turned out better than I believe almost anyone expected.

The picture below shows us upon entering the hotel where the dance was being held. From the left to the right we are: Seneca, yours truly, Anna and Matt (in the back), Beth, and Patrick, with the guys going with the girls on their left.

Pre-dance arrangements consisted of eating subs at Matt’s house, and watching the Notebook. Awkward moments that could have been birthed by viewing this particular film were avoided by fast-forwarding certain parts and with a well-placed pillow.

Upon arriving to the dance we were greeted with a room full of lower classmen. This was one of the few dances open to the seventh and eighth graders, and they seized the moment and turned up in droves.

Fortunately the dance lightened up a lot. The songs got better and, through meeting other friends, we all relaxed a little and forgot about the little people frolicking about our ankles. And through the dancing I actually had to step out of my shell a little, which was good.

Seneca and I dressed up as Anastasia and Dimitri, from Anastasia, Matt and Anna went as Peter Pan and Tinkerbelle, from Peter Pan (which doesn’t match up, we know), and Patrick and Beth went as Prince Eric and Ariel, from The Little Mermaid.

Suffice to say we all had a great time, and we’re all pretty glad we went. (Oh yeah, and God answered my prayers about the dance, and I thank Him for that. He’s awesome.)

The Tujia

The Tujia live in China, in the provinces of Hunan and Sichuan. Their population is very large, numbering about 7.35 million; more than most people groups.

A number that is also greater than most people groups is the percent of believers. 0.41% of the Tujia are believers, and although this does not seem like a great number, coupled with the large population it is the largest number I’ve written about thus far.

Pray for the Tujia, and for the Church to send workers. Also pray that those who believe would spread their fire to the lost.

GIS' Urgent Call to Prayer

Recently a document was sent to our school office informing us that GIS was obligated to turn over the management and deeds of the school to the legal association of the neighbourhood where the school is situated. November 30 is the deadline before the school faces legal action. Consequently, the school is coveting prayers from everyone. Below is a plea to join the GIS Board of Trustees in prayer as they meet up with the people involved to come to an agreement so that GIS can stay where it is. Please pray with us. Thank you.

A CALL TO URGENT PRAYER

The only reason we are here is to be a witness for Christ. Our heart’s desire and earnest prayer is that we would act and react in a Christ-like manner. Those who are charged with the governance of GIS are trying to find the course of action that would glorify Him the most. We want every action to be under His direction. Will you be a partner in prayer? The school and foundation boards meet on October 5. There are many things that we neither know nor understand and find hard to accept. “Why?” immediately surfaces. Whose fault is it? Who is to blame? We can ask every question in our heart before the Lord. He has told us to come boldly before Him. Recent research on that word “boldly” revealed that it comes from two words, “all” and “speech”—unreservedness of utterance. We are trying to tell God anything and everything and get it all “off our chests”. We are listening. We know that He speaks to us and gives us wisdom. We will know what to do. We want to worship and praise Him and be present to His Presence. We want His Power to be released through us and experience His Peace. We want to become ever increasing channels of His Agape love that reaches those whom He loves. Like—everyone! “May your praise fill our hearts and be on the lips of every one of us in the Grace community. Your kingdom come, your will be done. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Answered Prayers

This weekend, we were at a gathering that allowed us to hear about the work going on with the unreached people groups we've been writing about in the blog. It was surely encouraging to hear 'God at work'. What a wonderful testimony of His goodness and His faithfulness. He truly does not want anyone to perish and is at work to touch as many as would care to listen and respond to Him.

Instead of praying for a people group this week, I thought it would be great to praise the Lord for His work, for answering all of our (yours and our) prayers, for His heart, for His compassion, for His mercy, and for His love for us all. Amen.

Thank you.

Linda.

September 27

I guess apart from birthdays, anniversaries and the holidays, this date is the most significant in my life. Why this date exactly, I do not know. Back then, I traveled with my father, my older sister, and my younger brother. However, it is the date I left Manila, Philippines (September 27, 1979) as an 18 year old to migrate to Canada. Then, 18 years later to the day, I, along with Eng and our 3 sons Evan, Eric, and Eli moved back to the Philippines. The date was September 27, 1997.

So much has happened since. We have been living in Thailand for the last 3 years but have lived for 5 years in the Philippines and 2 in Canada.

A little while ago, the date being September 27, 2007, Eng, our sons who now include Ethan (who was born in the Philippines) ate at a special restaurant to celebrate the 10 years since we left Canada. We reminisced and talked about what we liked that happened in the last decade. Eng thanked the Lord for our good health. Evan and Ethan fondly recalled their time in Canada and the friends they made there. Eric was grateful for none of us seriously getting hurt, the things he’s been able to do and the friends he made in the different countries we’ve lived in. Eli was grateful for all the traveling and his friends. Myself? I recalled His blessings and all the times that He proved faithful to us.

What a God, that He could so bless and give us wonderful lives. We are thankful and told Him so.

Linda

An Answer to Prayer

The Lord has finally answered our, and many of your, prayers by providing the RAC Office with a new set of hands to help with all of the work that needs doing. The name of that answer to prayer is Khun Oh, and she is becoming a very useful asset to my father as well as the rest of the staff.

Khun Oh is recently wed, having only just been married last year. Her husband woks with CBN (Christian Broadcasting Network) with the IT staff.

She started work with various Christian organizations since 2001, such as Campus Crusade, the Thai Christian Resource Centre, and the Upland Holistic Development.

She is proficient in both spoken and written English, and will be working as a junior accountant. Her dream is to one day own her own food business.

We praise God for this miraculous answer to prayers, and for what this means for the Mekong Office, where the workload has been increasing lately. Thank you for those of you who have prayed for us, the Lord really answers your prayers.

The Tay

1.5 million Tay live in Vietnam.

There is currently no one working with them at the moment, though 0.01% of them are saved.

Please join us in praying for the Tay, and that workers would be sent to bring His word to them. Thank you.

Pray for Grace

This month, Grace International School (GIS) would like to call you to a specific time of prayer for GIS. Please pray from September 10, 2007, through the end of the month for the school and its leadership. GIS needs your prayers as the Foundation, the Board of Trustees, and administration navigate challenges that lie ahead. We cannot go into more details at this time. The Lord knows the needs. We ask you simply to pray during the next couple of weeks that the leadership will be led by wisdom from above, that God's will be done, and that God's peace will guard our hearts. We will share more in the days to come as we are able.

The above was written by Superintendent Don Williams and has been sent out by all of the teachers and staff at Grace International School.

Please also include in your prayers the multipurpose building that is being constructed due to the insufficiency of the present one. The construction on the building has been brought to a halt for almost a week now. Pray that whatever is going on would be resolved and that additional funds would be provided for the building. We know that everything will work through God’s will.

Visit the website at www.gisthailand.org.

The Tai Yuan

The Tai Yuan number roughly 6 million and live in Laos and Thailand. There are currently no believers among them, though they are being worked with.

Please pray for the Lord to sweep through these people, and for His word to be spread to them through His children. Thank you.

From The Writer.

Good news for the blog!

Just tonight I was able to figure out why the blog kept deleting all of the spacing in my postings and mashing all the text together. Apparently blogger.com likes it a lot more when you first write the blog in Microsoft Word, and then paste it into their site.

Also, apologies for the lack of blog entry last week, the newsletter was being written and I was unable to keep up with all the writing.

Thank you for reading; I appreciate your comments and your prayers for our family. God bless you all.

-Evan Yeong

The Tai Ya

The Tai Ya can be found in Yunnan, China. Apart from that, very little is known about them. Their exact population and percentage of believers is not available, and they are not being worked with.

Please join us in prayer for the Tai Ya, and for their salvation. Pray that more would be known so that workers could be prepared to go.

Everything Works Out For Good

It is always time to celebrate when the Word is made available to those of another language or people group. With a lot of prayer and God’s overflowing mercy the Thai Mien script Bible will be published very soon for Canada, America, Thailand, and other Southeast Asian countries.

Those working on it had only just finished typesetting the Bible when they found that the spacing was no good, and that the vowels below the line kept clashing with the vowels and tone marks in the line above. The obvious solution was to widen the spacing between lines. Unsurprisingly, they weren’t too thrilled about repeating all of their work over again.

Then God revealed to them a flaw that had gone unnoticed; in re-typesetting they realized that Jeremiah 4 was absent from that one particular script. If it hadn’t been discovered it probably would have been missed from the final copy. The text was available, but it had not been put into the VTeX program that requires for calling each chapter in turn.

Within five days of hard work two of them managed to re-typeset all 66 books of the Bible! Praise the Lord that the mistake was not left in and pray for the Thai Mien Bible and for three other Bibles that should be done in the next two weeks.

As you go on with your day, remember that God works everything out for good, and that even events that seem to equal more hard work or difficulties can become blessings.

The Tai Lue

The Tai Lue are located in Yunnan, China, as well as in Myanmar and Thailand. There are 1.4 million of them, and they are being worked with.

Please pray for them and the workers, as Myanmar, or Burma, is not the safest place to live in. Pray for their safety and for continued blessings and protection on those who live there.

The First Week

The summer has finally come to an end and it's back to the systematic schedule of the school week and the work day.

We started August 14th, on a Tuesday, and started right where we left off last year. I am now in 12th grade, Eric is in 9th, Eli is in 6th, and Ethan is in 1st. As a Senior (12th grader) I was and am constantly told and reminded that the classes I take this year will affect me for the rest of my life. My guidance counsellor actually said that I had better get straight A's this year, and that he was counting on me. Which is great, because motivation is always a good thing.

Along with obvious changes in courses, there are the other, less expected ones. As usual the school underwent a type of massive renovation in and around the building. This year's surprise was an extension of some of the staff offices and retiling some of the walkway beside the pool. This new cement contrasts brightly with the old tiles, and effectively blinds all who walk on or near it when the sun is out.

There are also many new students. This year Grace International School actually has roughly five hundred students, more than any other previous year. This became evident when I started to have the strange feeling that I was at a new school, one with the same uniform and building, but with completely different people.

(The picture to the left is my mother with her Grade 1 class.)

Speaking of new people we are now driving four families to school everyday. We are still driving the Millers and Samuel Hatton like we used to, but we now have an extra four people riding in our van (bringing the total to 11 plus Papa who drives us). Starting back to the first week of school we started picking up a Pakistani family that just moved here. Suffice to say, our van is now very cramped, but it works out and we have yet another opportunity to bless others through it.

To end off this summary of school life so far, my mother's been having a great time teaching. She wraps it up, saying, "It's a lot of fun, but a lot of hard work." We thank God that she's managed to get into the groove of teaching and is now managing her time a lot more wisely than before. We continue to ask God's help in her teaching at school and for her stress levels.

This being my last school year I also ask for prayers from you, and for the rest of my brothers as we strive to do our best in all that we do. Thank you, and God bless.

Same Friends, Different Country

There is nothing quite like seeing old friends; especially when the reason you haven’t seen each other recently is the price of a plane ticket. About a week ago we bid farewell to the Fullers, a family with whom we share not only an organization, but also two previous neighbourhoods. The last we saw of them before this year was the summer of 2005, at their new house in Singapore.

The Fullers were our co-workers in the Philippines, and among one of the first families we met. We lived roughly two streets away from them in Davao, which is a far cry from the present country (Malaysia) that now separates us. They then left for Canada a year before we did, and were actually responsible for setting us up with the house we lived in for two years. At that time they were living in a complex of townhouses, and they upon hearing about our need for a place to stay, notified us of a townhouse one unit over from where they lived. They moved to Singapore a year after we moved to Thailand.

For their vacation this year they came to Thailand to, among other things, visit us. They arrived in Chiang Mai on the first of August, along with Anna-Claire McMahon, whose family we also knew from the Philippines and whom we were also very happy to see. Unfortunately we were unable to see them for the first six days due to the fact that they were at a conference. So once we knew they were in Thailand we were forced to sit around in our excitement and wait for them to be finished.

One thing I’m sure they will attest to doing is shopping. We first met up with them to drive them over to the night bazaar, a must-visit tourist area in downtown Chiang Mai. Anna-Claire personally made up for about fifty percent of all purchases made that day, with five or six shirts and a purse. It was a new and exciting experience for them to barter the prices as opposed to just paying a fixed price. Unfortunately we were unable to do many things as a full family due to my father’s work at the office and my mother’s in her grade one classroom. We (the kids) were, however, able to join the Fullers on their trip to the elephant farm.

On the night before they left we were able to get together and play family games over at our house. They were able to teach us a few games we didn’t know and we all had a lot of fun. The last thing we did with them was to pray for them and see them off with God’s blessing. They were such a blessing to us and we look forward to seeing them again in the future, though we don’t know how long it’ll be until the next time.

The picture to the right is as follows:

Clockwise- Evan, Emily, Eric, Eli, Bethany, Ethan on Katie's lap, and Anna-Claire on Emily's lap.

Tai Daeng (Red Tai)

It's been awhile since we've done this, but this is this weeks Unreached People Group.


The Tai Daeng, or Red Tai, are located in Laos and Vietnam, and number about 30,000. They currently have no one working with them, and there are no believers.


Please join us and commit these people in your prayers.

All Set

By 8:00 A.M. tomorrow, the 2007-2008 school year at Grace International School (www.gisthailand.org) begins. This time, 500 students will be walking through the front doors, 51 students more than last year. With over 20 nationalities represented, the student body is truly multi-cultural.

It should be fun, challenging, tiring, enriching, delightful, and worthwhile to teach there. All summer I've prepared for tomorrow and beyond. The pencils have been sharpened, the name plates have been set in place, the bulletin boards have been decked out, the week's lesson plan is awaiting delivery, and hundreds of other things have been prepared in the classroom. It's as ready as can be with flowers to add on a vase tomorrow as a finishing touch.

Tonight, Eng and our 4 sons joined me there for a short worship time and to pray together for
the students and for me as I begin to teach Grade One there. I also called my parents in Toronto to receive their blessing and prayer. I am absolutely desperate for the Lord's help and hopelessly dependent on Him. Thankfully, I know He can be relied upon and will not let me be put to shame as I trust Him. I hope you'll remember to pray for me too. It should be an exciting half a year of teaching. Like the school's name, His grace will live out in me. Amen, so be it.

Our Time In Malaysia

Having only gotten back this morning at 10 AM, our trip to Malaysia is still very clear in my mind. After two weeks away, from the tenth to the twenty-fourth of July, it’s nice to be back in Chiang Mai, and good to rest after all of that traveling.

The entirety of our stay there can easily be summed up in one word: Blessing. From the beginning of our stay in Kuala Lumpur to the point of unpacking here in Chiang Mai it’s been one blessing after another.

Originally the plan had been to stay a week at my dad’s friend’s house in KL, but Uncle Ravi decided that it would be more convenient to book us into the Peninsula Residence, a service apartment, fully paid for. Our suite consisted of a kitchen, a sort of living room, and two bedrooms each with a double bed and its own bathroom. In each of the bedrooms and the living room was a television. All of the rooms were air conditioned, and we were even able to enjoy the swimming pool and weight room they had on the top floor.

From there we were able to get around, which included shopping at the Kuala Lumpur City Centre, which is located underneath the Petronas Twin Towers (which can be seen in the background of the picture above). While there we also visited Aquaria, an aquarium where we got to see a lot of fish (in front, above, and all around us!). We were also able to enjoy swimming and playing at Sunway Lagoon, a water/theme park courtesy once again of Uncle Ravi. His driver took us around KL in a very spacious air-conditioned van, which was really good considering how much taxis cost there. We spent some time with him and his family, especially his two children, Liyanna, fourteen, and Qalif, thirteen, who seemed to really enjoy our company.

After taking a bus from KL to Ipoh we moved into my uncle’s house for a week, which was vacant since he and his wife are living in Australia for two years. Although only he and his wife live there, it was easily large enough to accommodate our entire family. To get around we used his car, which he let us use while he’s away. While we were there we visited a lot of family and often spent time at my other uncle’s house with my grandmother.

We were further blessed by a visit to my dad’s old classmate, Joseph, in his hometown of Sri Manjung. He took it upon himself to take us to what he called ‘the best restaurants in town’, and practically begged us to stay for an extra night. He, along with his wife and daughter, took us to Pangkor Island, where we were treated to a thrilling motor boat ride around the islands and a chance to snorkel and see beautiful rainbow-coloured fish (some ate right off our hands while we swam with them!). Our boat driver hand caught some of the fish which we later ate for supper, along with sea snails (yum!)

The way everything lined up so perfectly we spent very little on the trip. The most we spent on while we were there was the entrance fee to Aquaria, which was amazing. The food courts in Malaysia were filled with foods from all sorts of different countries, and I personally enjoyed the Chinese food the most.

Everyone had something they enjoyed doing, whether it was shopping in KL, or playing at Sunway Lagoon, or simply enjoying the food and the company of others. For my father I’m sure it was reconnecting with old high school friends, most of whom he hasn’t seen since their last reunion almost three years ago (and for some, close to 30 years ago). Being with family was a lot of fun, and I felt a closeness I hadn’t felt before being around them.

We thank God for all that He’s done for us, in blessing us through so many people in so many ways.

The picture on the right was taken at Aquaria. Eric, Eli, and myself have live scorpions on our arms (Ethan was too scared to try it) It was literally creepy!

Tai Kaos (White Thai)

This week's UPG are southwestern animists. They are the Tai Kaos. There are 225,000 of them living in Laos and Vietnam. Unfortunately, out of that number, not one believe in our Lord. Worse, no one works with them. How on earth can they be saved? Thank God that with all our prayers, nothing is impossible and it can and will happen. Let's please pray for them. Thanks!

First Summer in Thailand

Each summer, the community of foreigners that we know in Thailand does one of two choices: leave to go to their home country for various reasons, or stay here in Chiang Mai. This year, for the first time, we are doing the latter. Our first summer here, we went back to Davao City to get the things we left there then on to Singapore for our Orientation Course. Last year, we were back in Toronto to visit my parents.

In a couple of weeks, we'll be visiting Eng's mother in Malaysia for two weeks, but apart from this, we're home for the summer. This is a refreshing change. There is no need to rush, pack, travel, or live out of suitcases. On the negative side we don't get to visit any family or friends in the places we could be in (this is always a real treat!) but it's also good to just 'be' for a change.

It's actually perfect timing as I'll be teaching Grade One for the first time at Grace International School. Not having done it before, I've got a very steep learning curve that I need to overcome. There is a lot to do and learn. I'm so grateful that I'm able to go to school early in the morning before the kids even wake up. I've got a crash course in lesson planning, selection of activities, classroom management, classroom procedures, and even learning how to read Big Books effectively. I truly have a new appreciation for teachers now. Having helped Mrs. Austin last school year, I saw the results of the hard work she put in. Now, I do understand what the hard work feels like.

Back to the summer, we've also had our share of swimming, watching movies, hanging out in malls, eating out, or simply relaxing. Life is just as busy for Eng and I but it's great to have the boys home to spend more time with when our energy permits it.

The Tai Dam

'Tai Dam' in the Thai language translates roughly to 'black thai'. The Black Thai can be found in Laos, Vietnam and (of course) Thailand. They number almost approximately 1 million in number. Unfortunately, there are no records of believers among the population at this time.

Please pray with us for the workers who are trying to reach out to the Tai Dam.

The Last Few Days...

Sitting here writing this blog (this is Evan) I'm only three days away from the beginning of my first trip 'alone'. Some of you know from reading our newsletter that I will soon be embarking on a missions trip to teach at a camp in Inner Mongolia, China.

I will be going with the CMCC (Chiang Mai Community Church) youth group and will be staying in China for two weeks. This adds an interesting twist to the whole thing, as I don't attend the youth group and only know two guys (the rest going are girls). Though suffice to say, I'm not all that worried about getting to know people and such.

At long last the China visa is completed, the Thai re-entry permit has been taken to the consulate and there only remains one thing left to do: pack. Yesterday was a full day of shopping and driving around. The re-entry permit was approved and things were bought for the trip. The items bought were a small bag of engraved elephant keychains, to explain to the kids at the camp about Thai culture, and a bag of coffee from the supermarket, to supplement the camp's dwindling supply. Both items were requested by the camp as optional, but we decided that we would help as much as possible.

Today will be spent packing enough clothes for two weeks, and making sure I have everything on the list they sent, ex. towel, flashlight, etc. I am actually hoping and praying that it will be very cold when we get there. It's not in my nature to really enjoy the summer weather, I just can't take the heat as well as I can appreciate the cold.

Please pray for the Lord's provision, safety and sharing opportunities as we embark on this trip. I have never been to China and honestly find it slightly embarassing that I won't be able to speak to a lot of people as I don't know Mandarin or any of the other dialects. Pray for a lot of communication between us and the 'campers' and that we will be able to affect them a lot by radiating God's glory through what we do.

The Shuis

The Shuis are from China in the Guangxi and Guizhou areas. Thankfully, 0.05% of the 430,000 Shuis are Christians. It's not a lot but better that than none! Let's please pray that the Lord will be able to move through those who already believe so that more can be added to their number. No one works there right now. Please ask God to send workers. Thank you.

Monitoring Recess or Lives?

Part of what I did last year as Teacher’s Aide was to be the Morning Recess Monitor at Grace International School. This meant standing watch in the playground while the Kindergarten, Grade 1 and Grade 2 students played for 15 minutes. It sounded easy enough. All I had to do was be there to watch the children and then blow the whistle when 10 AM came. I enjoyed being outside. It also allowed me to watch our 6 year old son Ethan interact and play with his friends. I did not have the novelty of watching my older sons as closely as I did Ethan. I particularly delighted in watching him run across the field while watching his shadow. It’s just too precious.

The Recess Monitor job itself might have been uneventful and boring if the children behaved as they did during their 1st month in school. It was nice and easy. But by their second month, they got used to each other and were soon completely unpredictable and daring. The boys were climbing anything that stood, swinging sideways, and throwing dirt at each other. I’ve had to be the ‘bad’ guy and spoil their fun in many occasions. Once, a second grader actually needed stitches when a swing accidentally hit his head. During rainy days when the children stayed in the gym, they kept running every which way and would inevitably bump into each other. With the noise level being much louder in that self contained play area, it was hard to tell when someone was crying. I actually watched the time and prayed for 10 AM during those ‘hairy’ days so I could blow the whistle.

By Songkran time (in April) I was praying for them incessantly. I remember discussing the difference in the disposition of the children with a parent volunteer helping me out. The kids were tense, impatient, and quarrelsome. The spiritual climate definitely made a difference in how they behaved and I was glad someone else saw it too. Children are so susceptible to the wiles of the enemy. I’m truly glad I helped at recess or I wouldn’t have prayed for them as much as I did. While praying I always remembered a Principal in another international school in the city who grew up as a Missionary’s Kid (MK). He does not want to have anything to do with God and strictly enforces the ‘no-sharing-of-the-gospel’ in their school. But for the grace of God, what would become of our MKs? Pffffttt!

Teaching Aide

Mrs. Austin and I with the Grade 1 Class

If I had to summarize my work as Grade 1 Teaching Aide at GIS from 2006 to 2007, I’d have to say it was a tremendous learning experience. I started out feeling very humbled with filing tasks and the monitoring of kids during recess, but now that the year is drawing to a close (school ends with a half day on June 6), I can honestly look back at the school year and say it was an eye opener for me. I am so grateful to have been helping Mrs. Natelle Austin. She’s been teaching for 20+ years and it’s surely reflected in her classroom management and teaching expertise. From her, I’ve learned how to handle kids who can’t keep their hands to themselves, who blurt out all the answers, who steal, and even those who literally have ‘accidents’ pertaining to the not-making-it-to-the-toilet-in-time kind. On top of that, it was a pleasure to watch her encourage her students and draw out the best in them. Last year the students came not knowing how to read or even identify some of the letters in the alphabet. Next school year, they will all move on to Grade 2 as readers and writers and it truly is a joy to know that we’ve been a part of their learning process. I’m grateful to have been helping in Mrs. Austin’s class. To the onlookers, it might have simply looked like I was assisting her. In reality, she also taught me valuable lessons in being an effective teacher. I am truly indebted. Thanks, Mrs. Austin!

Tai Khamtis

Just a little bit of a name change and we've got an entirely different unreached people group with the exact same statistics as last week's group. The Tai Khamtis are also from Myammar and also number 100,000. They are as well unengaged. No one works with them, no one there currently believe in our Lord. Please pray for them to have visions, dreams, whatever it takes, for them to know whom they should rely on. Thank you.

Spring City Indeed

From the 13th to 17th of May, Eng and I had the pleasure of visiting Kunming, China. The historical moment came about because we had our 20th wedding anniversary and we thought it deserved to be celebrated differently. So, for the first time in our marriage, off we went by ourselves to the Spring City (It has an average annual temp. of 15 degrees C! Really cool!). Please read the previous postings on what happened to our sons.

It was hard to believe that a mere 2 hour flight would bring us to China. For at least 2 days, I kept marveling about actually being there, a country I’ve been praying for since I was a teen. There was a side to Eng too that I saw for the first time. He was like a giddy kid taking pictures of just about everything (food before we ate it, streets before we walked it, stalls, sceneries, landscapes, etc.) We had a wonderful time, balancing it between checking out the sights and shopping. With regard to the shopping, it was overwhelming to find so many items to choose from! As to the sights, we saw the Stone Forest, Minority Village, Western Hill, Green Lake, and the Jiu Xiang Cave. It’s hard to say what you shouldn’t miss if you ever go to Kunming, they were all awesome. However, I just need to point out that the Jiu Xiang Cave doesn’t sound too well known but of all caves we’ve ever been in, it was the best! It was massive, complex, utterly fascinating (with no bats!), and aside from the usual stalactites and stalagmites, it even had a gorge, twin waterfalls, its own blind fish (since they’re so used to the dark), fossils, and natural pools. And to top it off, the tour starts with a 6 story glass elevator descent and ends with a cable ride over the two mountains containing the cave. Enough said.

Atop Western Hill, we had the chance to repent of the sins our ancestors committed (something the Lord laid in my heart before we even left for Kunming) and to pray for China as a nation. Eng’s father left China as a boy but did not want to ever go back to it. Linda’s grandmother’s mother was Chinese. It was a touching moment, repenting for the past that re-shaped and transformed our future.

Lastly, all our touring would not have been possible without our Korean friend Kwang Kim helping us out. He was simply amazing and a joy to be with. We thank the Lord for the glorious opportunity we had. It was an enormous blessing.

Tai Khuns

The Tai Khuns belong to the Shan-Tai People Group. They are all from Myanmar (Burma), numbering 100,000. Unfortunately, no one works with them and no one believes in God either. Let's please pray for this group, that they would receive divine revelations about who God is, and that some people will go over to share the Good News with them. Thank you.

The Tai Nuas

The Tai Nuas are actually a subgroup of the Shan-Tai, and number roughly 300,000. They can be found in China and Myanmar, and are being worked with. Much like the Tai Long and Tai Mao, there are as of yet no believers. Please join us in prayer for the Tai Nuas, that the Good News would be spread, and that it would lead to the growth of churches, and that it would continue to grow from there. Thank you.

Just Last Week

This week can be best described, I think, with the words "return to normalcy". It's been a very long while, it seems, that the six of us were all in the same house, sharing meals and so on.

Last Thursday marked the return of my mom and dad from their trip to China. It was also the day on which Ethan and I were picked up from the OMF dorm, and the day Eric and Eli were picked up from the Feniak's house. My parents were gone from Chiang Mai from Sunday, the 13th, to Thursday, the 17th. On Sunday we were each driven to our respective homes for that week and my parents left that evening for their trip.

To say the least, I enjoyed dorm life. It was a very interesting experience since I had never lived in a dorm before, not even for a few days. It was really encouraging for one thing, seeing how all of the dorm kids lived in relative harmony with one another. They had homework times and chore sheets and everything. I was even drafted onto the after-meal duties. It really made me feel like I belonged.

Please pray for blessings on the Feniaks, as they had only just moved before my parents left. They moved only just down their street, and did not have too much trouble transporting their furniture and things. We are all very grateful to them for taking in Eric and Eli despite their minor inconveniences. Pray for the dorm also, I could tell they tried their best to acommodate Ethan and myself.

We thank God that we are all safely back at home with each other.

ps- This is also my first post back from what you could call an 'extended hiatus'. It's nice to be back posting again.

Silent Retreat?

Usually, I would get through my once a month 1-day silent retreat without even a glance from anyone. If I do happen to be eating a meal in the dining room and another retreatant walks in, we just avert each other's eyes and concentrate our attention on our food. It's been an unwritten rule; no one talks in this Catholic retreat place. I often go there for an independent 24 hour period where I sleep, read my Bible, pray, be still, listen to the Lord, and finally, take communion. I simply love and treasure my time there.

Imagine my surprise when a knock on my bedroom door (a first!) distracted me from my silent musings. It was followed by a voice inviting me to eat (another first!) supper. I told her I wouldn't eat but she asked again. At this point, I opened the door and was truly shocked to see a Catholic Nun (habit and all) standing behind it. She asked another question and soon found out I was from the Philippines. As it turns out, so was she! She was an English teacher in another province and was just finishing a six-day silent retreat. Having been quiet that long, she was really ready to talk.

I asked to pray for her and she was soon in my bedroom pouring out her problems and concerns. It occurred to me as I listened to her that it was like being in a counseling session. Duh?!! It was a counseling session! Only, this one was obviously ordained by the Lord. Later, she kept saying it was providence and I had to agree with her.

When she left after over an hour, I had to marvel at how the Lord orchestrates situations. Although I thought I was quietly tucked away somewhere, I obviously wasn't. He still managed to send someone to me. I was actually pleased to be used this way. I just knew she had to be heard and knew the prayers had to be said. As Graham Cooke likes to say, the Lord is always up to something. This time, it was great to be able to see what He was up to and take part in it.

Prayer Counseling

Last week, I (Linda) was able to once again participate in the Prayer Counseling Seminar (PCS) offered to our organization's workers right after Reunion. This is the 3rd year that I've been involved in it. My roles have ranged from Dish Washer, Logistics Coordinator of Snacks and Lunches, Worship Leader, Teacher, Secondary Counselor, to Lead Counselor. It gets to be very tiring when it's all over but worth every effort for me just to see the Lord moving in the lives of those who attend.

At Reunion, one of those counseled last year shared that he was at wit's end and wanted to not just leave the field, but end his life! He signed up to attend the PCS as a last resort and with a lot of resignation. In his mind he was thinking that it was for weak people and was truly quite surprised when he was ministered to enormously. His wife said he came back a 'changed man' after the seminar last year.

Each seminar starts with 2 days of intensive teaching followed by 2-3 hours of Prayer Sessions for each attendee. It's such a wonderful process especially since as 2 of the attendees are counseled, the rest are simultaneously praying for the sessions. What a remarkable experience when people in the counseling sessions are prayed for in specific ways (or receive a word) while the rest of the attendees praying in a separate room are praying for the exact same things. Then, it becomes too apparently obvious that the Holy Spirit's moving and it's so awesome to witness. I am grateful and shall always take great delight in being a part of PCS no matter what role I play.

Tai Longs and Tai Maos

There are 4 million people in this unreached people group. They live in Myanmar, China, and Thailand. Thankfully, there are workers reaching out to them but for such a big population, not one is saved! How can this be possible? Let's please pray for them in the next two weeks, that folks like you would be convicted to pray for them regularly to know our Lord. Secondly, let's pray that workers will be burdened to go and effectively minister to them. If even just 1% of them turn to the Lord, there would be 40,000 of them. Now wouldn’t that be awesome?

Omkoi Miracle

Pastor Sydney, a Thai pastor very much involved in the work happening at Omkoi wrote the email below (with some of my revisions for clarity) just this morning.

"I came back early this morning (2 AM) from Soblan, Omkoi. We had a wonderful healing meeting in the village. We prayed for a girl whose foot got caught in a motorcycle's spoke. When I saw it, I felt sorry for her. They might have needed to amputate it because she had no feeling in it, it was swollen, and it looked hopeless. The wound was still open after a month. A doctor tried with 22 stitches to put it together but could not get her skin to heal. We prayed for over 5 and a half hours but it was worth the long prayer when we saw the healing process happen right before our eyes. Her foot became normal and all the feeling came back. Her wound was completely healed! She still skipped around with one leg but after a few more short prayers, she started walking normally. The whole village went wild!"

And I believe we all would have, had we been there. Let's praise the Lord for this wonderful miracle that is sure to transform more so the people in Omkoi. Let's pray that the Lord will move in a more powerful and greater way setting off the unprecedented hunger for God all over Thailand. Thank you.

Reunion

Starting tomorrow until Sunday, our group’s workers here and from its neighbouring countries will gather for a time of worship, teaching, and praying together. For some, it’ll be the first time in a long time that they will be in a gathering that can freely express their faith in Jesus. Consequently, this week’s gathering is looked forward to by many of its attendees. It’s the time to receive from the Lord and be refreshed spiritually, physically, and mentally.

If we could be closer to the Lord as a result of having gathered together, we would be more effective workers in whatever we’re doing. If we would love Him first and foremost as the first commandment states, it would do us so well. As Bob Sorge said, the Lord is turning us into lovers who work rather than workers who love.

Please join us in praying that this week will be an exceptionally powerful time for all of us as a fellowship. Please pray that we’ll go back to the work that we do as people very much in love, serving Him. Amen. Thank you.

Overheated

As stated in last week's posting, our 15+ year old car overheated on the way to Omkoi. This being a first time for me, again, I had no clue as to what to do. Thankfully, a friend who was traveling with us knew what had to be done. She pointed out the radiator (busily steaming at this point), that it had to be uncapped (but not yet!), and that lots of water had to be poured into it. I was relieved; at least someone knew what had to be done.

However, 10 minutes had already passed but the water she kept pouring on the still capped radiator just kept evaporating. How long was it going to take to cool it down? And will our 4 bottles of drinking water be enough to fill the radiator once we got it cooled down to open it?

As I thought of our predicament on the side of an uphill, deserted road, in between towns, I started to earnestly pray. And sure enough, two men in a motorcycle pulled over and offered to help us. My friend (who was also fluent in Thai!) easily translated to me what they were saying. One of the men used Ethan's spare shorts to open the cap of the still hissing radiator. He emptied his own drinking water and some of ours in it. Soon, he got our car going and we were profusely thanking him.

Just before he left, he explained that he was a Christian and didn't feel right about not stopping to help two women (our four sons were in the car asleep) that looked in trouble in the middle of nowhere. Later, as we prayed for those men who cared to stop, we had to marvel at the Lord's mighty hand. In Thailand, which has a population of 64.8 million with 95% of those being Buddhist, the Lord still managed to get one of His own (Christians being a mere .5% of the Thais) to be there to help us.

What a Lord! In the midst of my shortcomings, again He proved Himself faithful. Please join us as we praise and give Him the glory. Surely, He alone deserves it.

Omkoi Revival

Last Sunday, we had the privilege of attending the tail end of a conference at Omkoi, a town situated on the mountains approximately 3 hours away from Chiang Mai. It was quite a trek, with our 15+ year old car heating up twice on the way and once on the way back. But, since almost all the Christian Thai people I knew wanted to be in Omkoi for the week-end to attend the conference, I just felt that we had to be there too. I was excited to see what the Lord was doing there. And, He didn’t disappoint.

When we got there, a Filipino evangelist named Jerry Ocampo delivered a powerful message that was translated in Karen and Thai. We sat on the ground with thousands of mostly Karen people. The meeting wasn’t in a church building; there wasn’t a place big enough in the small town to house 15,000 people. The conference’s meetings were held in an empty level field. The only shelter against the elements was bamboo erected poles that had green tarp attached on the top to keep the sunshine out. The speakers were on a platform with nothing but their microphones. However, for such a huge crowd, everyone (kids and adults) were attentive. Even though worship started at 6 a.m. and it was already past noon, the people still remained. We found out later that at 4 a.m., even the Karen children as young as 4 years old were already there interceding. When the time came for corporate prayers, a number of the Karen women were openly weeping. It was remarkable and worth the long hard effort it took to get us there.

Please join us as we pray this week for the Karen people of Omkoi. May the Lord continue the work that He’s started there and may it begin to spill over to the neighboring towns until the whole of Thailand is transformed. Let’s all praise the Lord. Amen!

Out of Gas

Last Friday morning, just a little bit over a week after Eng left for Canada, as I was driving us to school (with 3 kids of our own and 3 from the neighbourhood), the car suddenly coughed, sputtered, and died. We were out of gas. As this unbelievable thought gloomily sank in, I realised that I've relied way too much on Eng putting gas in our car. How stupid. But, BIG BUT, even before the car slowly halted to a stop, our neighbour's van pulled up alongside ours and they asked if they could drive the kids to school. I of course very happily agreed and our car quickly cleared of its passengers. Then, as I pondered my predicament (about 1 second), another friend drove past and asked what the trouble was. I asked if she could purchase gas for me and she did come back with it in the next half hour.

Later, as I drove to school, I couldn't get over how in the midst of my messing up, the Lord showed His kindness to me. The night before, I was careening up and down the main roads at top speed and I drove past deserted lanes and seedy places. We could have stalled then and easily gotten into a fatal accident as the brake locks (meaning 'no brakes') when the engine is off, or endangered ourselves by stopping at unsafe spots where hardly anyone passed, BUT, we didn't. Instead, we stopped just 5 blocks from our house, at an intersection where we were too hard to miss by people passing by.

How the Lord orchestrates these situations is too much to comprehend. Life will always be unpredictable, gas will sometimes run out, but His grace? Never, ever, will it say, 'out of grace'. The Lord is too full of grace and so fresh and new every morning. Thank you, Lord!

Rakhines

The Rakhines are from the Lolo-Burmese affinity and number 1.9 million people. They can be found in Myanmar and Thailand. There are no known Christians in this unreached people group and no one is sharing about the Lord with them. Please join us this week as we pray for this group to know about our Lord Jesus through whatever means He sees fit (visions, dreams, revelations, etc.). Let's also pray for people to be burdened to pray for them and for workers to go. Thank you!

Burmese Bible Dedicated

Just last Sunday, the Adoniram Burmese Bible was dedicated to the Glory of our Lord. 60,000 of these Bibles were printed and ready to be taken in to Myanmar. As our Pastor talked about the dedication, he urged us to pray that another 100,000 copies would be printed and brought in the country. With the country's population numbering over 47 million, 100,000 isn't really a whole lot!

We rejoice and praise the Lord that although we had nothing to do with the production of this project (other than praying for Burma), it has been completed. Please join us as we pray for more Bibles to be printed and distributed, 100,000, and more. Thank you.

The Lord's Faithfulness...

In answer to our prayers, my parents came all the way from Canada to visit with us. My father (Justo Angeles) is 85 years old while my mom (Lily Angeles) just turned 83 years old. They were here when we celebrated our 20th Wedding Anniversary (when the picture above was taken). My sister Lib, a homeschooling mom who has 5 kids of her own, (from Salmon Arm, British Columbia) accompanied them from Canada and took care of them here while we were working. Later, my brother Joel from Manila, Philippines, also came and did the same. All in all, my parents were able to be here for a total of 26 days! It truly wouldn't have been possible without my siblings' help. It was a blessing to be able to spend time with them and literally care for their needs. My father had his infected gall bladder removed and recuperated here. He even had to be spoon fed.

Eli turned 11 years old while they were here while Ethan turned 6 years old. We also received our spiritual blessing when my father prayed for all six of us, very much like when Jacob blessed his sons in Genesis 49. The sweetness of our having been able to be together and pray for one another is priceless. Praises be to our Lord and King, for His faithfulness.

The Karens in Burma

Just a month ago, we started off the year by requesting prayer for Burma. Thank you for praying. The need has become even more obvious as a few days ago, we received an email from a local pastor about houses numbering 200, belonging to the Burmese Karen tribe, being burned.

The displaced Karens are now at the Burmese border. The Thai army allowed some of them to cross over to Thailand but around 3,000 Karens are still in Burma and without homes or food. The ones who crossed the Thai border are getting food provided by the UN.

Please pray for the Karens in Burma at this time; for them to have hope and see the Lord’s love at this time, for the provision of their basic needs (food, clothing, shelter), for the oppression to stop, for a place to call ‘home’. Thank you, bless you.

Happy Valentine's

Well, Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! To all of you fortunate enough to have a dearly beloved, my wishes that you have purchases for them a gift of great meaning and forethought.
For all of you people who have been reading this blog since its untimely conception back early last year, you may recall a posting about Valentine’s. Dated in March. This was due to the fact that not a lot of plan or purpose was put into it, though we are glad to say that has changed.
Carrying on, it just so happens that this year our school has finally decided to bend and break and give us, the students, what we want. Dances. Just last weekend, we were blessed with our third dance ever. This exciting event took place just last Saturday, and I must say, it was pretty fun.

Yes, I went with someone. It being Sadie Hawkins and all (meaning, ‘girls ask the guys’), I was asked by a good friend of mine, Jessica Johnson. And before all of you swift-minded ones start jumping to hasty conclusions, allow me to explain a few things. Jessica is a senior, she has a boyfriend who has graduated and is in the States right now, we are just friends.
To the main point of this article, do any of you remember what last year’s Valentine’s post was so specifically about? It was about my shirt! Not about who I was going with or what I was going to, it was about what I was wearing. I just decided to add the above to make it more interesting and semi-personal.

It seems I have formed a little tradition conjoining this year and last year, for, as I was scrambling to find something to wear that would fit this year’s dance attire format “Fire and Ice”, I decided upon making another shirt. It was created by both yours truly and my awesome friend and amazing artist, Megan. Between the two of us we managed to create with our own four hands and permanent black markers, a shirt that represented in all of its former-plain-collared-blue-ness, Ice.

The picture is up! From left to right we are Jessica, yours truly, Kayla, and Jason. Jess and myself went with Kayla and Jason and ate at her house pre-dance-wise. If you look closely you can see the rose inked on the left pocket. And if you look really closely then you can see a snowflake-snowman pattern that goes around the bottom of the shirt. And i know what you're thinking, all of you people who have never been to Canada. Snowflakes and snowmen? It's not Christmas! Well, I've got news for you, it snows on Valentine's Day.