Merry Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Ok, now that I've gotten that out of my system, I thought I'd take a moment out of our busy lives to write you.

It has been a crazy few months here in Vinh City. At the beginning of November, we were surprised by our administrators with free train tickets to anywhere in Viet Nam. We decided to go to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and make our way back to Vinh over the next two weeks. We traveled to Dalat, Nha Trang, and Da Nang. The trip was quite the adventure. At one point, we were stuck on a coach bus for more than 40 hours waiting for flooding to subside between Nha Trang and Da Nang. This point of the trip stretched our patience and our faith a lot, as no one would take the time to explain to us exactly what was going on. We had to deal with a bit of culture shock as well, as the Vietnamese people were happy to just wait for the buses to move while we wanted to try to find a solution to problem. In the end, we had to just wait patiently for the bus to move, but it was a learning experience nonetheless.


With the holidays fast approaching, our hotel floor has been transformed, as best we can, into a festive place. We have a Christmas tree that we brought from Ha Noi, and it's been decorated with some amazing homemade decorations. Dawn and Amy have really outdone themselves with this. On the 15th, we had a Christmas party for the teachers and staff at the language center where we work. It was a hit! Amy and Dawn made a lot of “party food,” things you would find at a traditional Christmas party, and Joel and I helped with set-up/clean-up. We sang and danced and ate our fill; it was a great time! We showed a video of the story behind Christmas and why it is so important to us, and I think it was received very well. I'm sure it gave some of our Vietnamese friends a new view on why we're here to share Christ's love with them.

Teaching has been a growing process for me in many areas of my life: faith, patience, endurance. I feel that I've learned as much from the people around me as I have shared with them. The Vietnamese people's capacity for love and friendship floors me some days, but at the same time, saddens me knowing how much deeper that love could be if it came from the Father.

That love, the Father's love, is why I'm here. It's the real meaning behind all the decorations and lights of Christmas, and the only solution to the problems we have as fallible people. I truly enjoy being able to share that love with the people around me.

While being here, I've learned that life is not too much different wherever you go. People still go about their day-to-day, trying to make a buck or a dong or whatever to support themselves and their family. One of the most important things I've come to realize is that no matter where you are, the people around you need to see Christ in your life. You don't have to go halfway around the world to share that.
But, being as it took such a trip to help me realize that, I need your help. I am still just shy of $5000 still owed to cover my training and administration costs while serving here. With Christmas and the time for giving upon us, I'd like to ask you to talk with the Father, search your heart, and see if He is calling you to partner with me in sharing His love. As the year draws to a close, this also provides an opportunity for you to make an end-of-year donation that can still be deducted from your 2007 taxes.

If the Father is leading you, all the information about giving is on the right hand side of the blog. Thank you in advance for partnering with me. I look forward to telling everyone how the Father has provided for what I need!