The Kitchen

Hi, friends--I have such joy today. Yesterday I was able to talk to my brother in Indiana on the phone and it was a GOOD connection! Yea! Also, while online, a friend and I talked through instant messenger. It was so nice. It made me feel good all day and through the night. Which was a good thing since the electricity was off from 5am until noon today. The city periodically turns off all the electricity in a section to do work or to save energy or to do whatever. They announce on TV when it will be off and where and how long--but since we don't watch Vietnamese TV, it's always a surprise. One day it was off for only about 15 minutes. Today, 7 hours. No fans, no lights, no AC--and I have to remind myself--NO complaining! Ha! It's back on now and I am a happy camper. I am in our office, sitting under the cool breeze of the air conditioner. I admit it--I'm a wuss, a wimp, a whiner; a baby, a boo-hooer, a babbling...hey, don't you dare finish my sentence!I wanted to tell you a little about the kitchen. It has green polished tiles on the floor. The space is quite large,I would guess it to be about 12x16 feet. Mr. Bo put a large dining table with 8 chairs. The dining set is black wood with a glass to fit the top. With Enoch and Marissa here, we just add one of the desk chairs to seat all 9 of us. There are lower cabinets on one wall and down part of another in an L shape. There are no shelves in the cabinets--just empty space. There are no upper cabinets on the wall. There is a double stainless stell sink, but no hot water. We heat the water for dishes in the tea kettle on the stove--but most local people just use cool water--it never really gets cold. We have a 3-burner hotplate for cooking (gas), and no oven. The refrigerator is shorter than me (probably just under 5 feet) and only about 20 inches wide. The freezer portion takes up the top 10 inches or so--enough for 4 plastic ice trays and not much else. The freezer is separated from the refrigertor by a plastic door, so it takes the ice a long time to freeze. Tony surprised and blessed me three days ago with what I consider and early anniversary present: a small chest freezer. Yea! We have ice! Plus, we are now able to store some frozen foods--although not too much because of our precarious elecricity situation. I don't even mind that the freezer has to be right beside the dining room table. After all, we have ICE!!!! Making coffee is easy, but is a little time consuming. The automatic drip coffeemaker here costs about $50, so I don't think I want one any time soon. To make coffee in the local style, you need a 3-piece set and your coffee cup. The apparatus is made of aluminum. The first piece looks like a saucer and it sits on the cup. The bottom part has holes like a strainer. The second piece is a cup whose bottom fits into the saucer, and it also has holes in it. You put as much coffee as you desire for one cup in this second piece. Then, you take the third piece, which is round and flat (with holes), and put it on top of the coffee and press down hard. When the water boild, you pour only about a tablespoon of water into the metal cup and wait two minutes. Then you fill the rest of the cup with the hot water and wait for it to strain through the coffee into the cup. Voila! Hot coffee. I have learned to get to the kitchen early and have the coffee in the cups ready for Bee, because the Vietnamese make VERY strong coffee--no amount of sugar or milk can get the best of it. There is no "coffee cream" per se. We do have powdered Coffeemate, but our favorite flavoring is whipping cream, which we have found at only one market. MMmmmm--good!I most often drink instant coffee. Tony is a purist, so we have to use our special apparatus to make his.That about covers the kitchen. Oh..for storage, I was able to buy plastic shelving--heavy duty shelves for dishes are only about $10.I wish you the joy of the Lord today. I will cover some of the cooking stuff another time. I have to run now. Duty calls.

Introducing....Our Home

(Left: The front of our house. Jillian, Faith and Joy are on the 2nd floor balcony, Anna Mei, Elizabeth and I are on the 3rd floor, outside the room we use for the Orphan Voice office.) Hello friends!First of all, let me say thank you to all of you who have written encouraging notes! Our email is up and down here, as is the phone,so I don't always have time to respond--I usually just want to write something and get it sent! I thought I would go through the house room by room and give you some more details of our life here. For those of you with "big picture" mentality, feel free to skip the rest of this message.Our house is a 3-story duplex. There is a courtyard in the front, with large gates that remained lock 24 hours a day, opened only to let us or those we choose in and out. The gates are locked with LARGE, heavy padlocks and the keys are hung on a hook inside the door of the house. The courtyard is divided in half by many beautiful potted plants and trees, courtesy of our landlord, Mr. Bo, who lives on the other side of the duplex. Each side is about 10 feet by 15 feet. Two polished stone steps bring you from the courtyard into our living room. The whole house has tile, as do all the houses and buildings here--much easier to keep clean. Our living room is quite large, I'm guessing 12-15 feet wide and about 30 feet long. Before you think of it as palatial, keep in mind that our motorcycle must be parked in the living room every night! All the walls are white, flat paint, unfortunately. The doors are varnished wood with glass panes. To lock/unlock them requires four different keys. The doors remain open all day to help the air circulate. We also use two oscillating fans. Our living room has two chairs and a couch, a coffee table, a small table for a TV/DVD player (we play our DVDs since we get no channels in English). I found some pictures for the wall and our friend Duc had one large, two medium and four small ones framed for a total of $9 (I love it!). We also hung some baskets on the wall hat we found at a local market for $1 each. One exciting incident happened the other evening when we were watching "National Treasure"--there was some commotion in the courtyard, but thankfully, I didn't really payattention because of the action in the movie. I noticed that Enoch jumped up and shut the doors. Later I found out that Mr. Bo's dogs had been chasing a rat that had come into our house from the street. The chased it back outside and then executed their vengeance on it. They are not large dogs, so we have been praising their bravery. Much to my great relief, I have not seen any more rodents nearby. There is quite a lot of building going on in our area, so I'm sure it attracts all kinds of vermin.That tells you about the living room. I will tell you about the kitchen here next time I can write. Know that we are well and at peace and experiencing joy and grace in the Lord. I wish the same for you all.We hope to begin language study this week. We have found a teacher (from Australia) who gives lessons. Her husband is Vietnamese and they have lived here off and on for a few years. She is fluent and has many students.I must go. I hear little voices (yes, I admit it) calling me to the lunch table. I think the natives are more than restless, they are HUNGRY!

Settling...in More Ways Than One

Hello, all!It is Tuesday morning here,Monday night US time. We have had our usual schedule this morning--rise about 6, breakfast at 8, team worship, prayer and sharing, then on to the business of the day. For me, that has been laundry and checking out emails. I have not been able to get online as much as I had hoped. Our friend Enoch was finally able to get Tony's computer online. Before then,we had to borrow Enoch and Marissa's computer. After corresponding by email, I will be working on our newsletter.As our dear friends, I know you have been concerned about my Father's business. It goes well. Yesterday he met with two different groups and there was much rejoicing. Soon he will gather about 200 for a day of fun and learning. Please remember his work.Life here is at once challenging, exciting, exhasperating, joyful, adventurous. We have experienced grace that helps us deal with new limitations--we cannot call a taxi without help! I can hardly believe it, but I have turned off my bedroom air conditioner for all the daytime hours, using it only to sleep. It was just too hard going into a cool room back out into the hot hallways, kitchen, living room, bathroom, etc. With fans, I am adjusting. Also, I have accepted the fact that I will always be sweating. Once I came to terms with that, my attitude was happier.All that said, I had the feeling yesterday that "this is what I was born to do." I am still contemplating it all. I appreciate your prayers. The Lord continues to lead me down a path of surrender, offerning me humility, if I will receive it. It is not a bitter lesson, more like His invitation for me to experience more of His life if I am willing to die to my own. I know this, however He chooses to use or not use me in the lives of others, He is doing something wonderful in me. For that alone, I am falling in love with Vietnam.The girls are doing well. They are having a regular Bible reading and prayer time with our friend, Marissa. It has been very fruitful. Last night, our neighbors took the three older girls for rides on the motorbikes. They loved it! Then, their 18-year-old daughter came over . Jillian especially enjoyed spending time with her. She speaks a little English. Today they are painting some ceramic figures we found at a market.

In Danang at Last!

Greetings to all!
Here we are in Danang where it is indeed "danang hot"! Ha! Just had to say that. This is the hottest season. We have AC in the bedrooms, so sleeping is good. There is so much to say, but not a lot of time. Our trip here was good, although we were delayed overnight in Hanoi and had to leave the hotel there at 4:30 am. There was no time for food, so by the time we arrived in Danang (about 8:30 am) we were all ready to eat! Our helper Duc was prepared--he had asked the lady that will be helping us every day to have breakfast ready. Her name is Bee and she had soup, bread and fruit waiting for us. Heaven!

We are getting settled into the house. It was furnished with necessities--a couch, 2 chairs and coffee table in the living room; table and chairs in the kitchen; bed, armoir, desk and chair in each bedroom. We've been working on making it a little more like home. The kitchen has a small refrigerator, and a hot plate for cooking--no oven, though.
We have been eating all traditional Vietnamese food--lots of rice, vegetables, fruit, seafood and some other meats. Last night we had squid--Faith loved it! There is a lady from Duck's church (her name is Bee) who is cooking for us and marketing everyday, since there is no space in the refrigerator to keep food fresh.
Our work begins in earnest in the next few days. We will write more in our newsletter since the internet is so "public" here.
Tomorrow we will attend an international church here in Danang. Bee has the day off, so we are "on our own" with the hot plate and straining coffee.

We are finding many blessings here. Our landlord lives in the other side of our duplex. He and his wife are very kind and welcoming. The are happy to have the children here, since their children are grown. The have two dogs. In fact, the dogs' birthdays was yesterday and the landlord (Mr. Bo) and his wife (Fooung) invited us to their house for a birthday party for them. (The picture above is their birthday cake. The dogs' names are Caphe and Bacxua.) The dinner was also attended by two of Mr. Bo's children, his sister-in-law and his father-in-law. The girls loved it. Faith and Joy are especially enamored with Mr. Bo's fish aquarium, and his bird.
All is well, though there are moments where we are stretched to our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual limits. It is at those times that I am reminded that this is what we prayed for--the situations of challenge. Because we have prayed--and so many of you are praying for us regularly, we are experiencing God's grace.
I will close with a prayer that I read the other day that resonated with my own heart. It was written by Charles Spurgeon.
"Give me real faith; give me warmer zeal; inflame me with more fervent love; grant me the grace of meekness."

In Beijing

(Left: The girls enjoy some time at a play area in the Toronto airport waiting for our flight to Beijing. They even made a couple of friends!) We have arrived safely in Beijing. Our luggage did not make it here with us, but was delivered last night (all but one bag, that is), so we were only without it for 24 hours. We had a great trip--the girls did very well. I feel that it is a direct answer to the prayers of many--traveling with 5 young girls through five airports, to the other side of the world! They especially loved going through the security checkpoints. We will be here until tomorrow and will arrive in Danang Tuesday night. Don't know how soon we will be online, but will post again when we can. We are thankful for the blessings we have experienced at every turn. May the grace of God be yours this day!