Wow! After a long absence I hope I am back for the "long run"! Computer/server problems have prevented me from accessing the blog...very frustrating. But, thanks to Enoch, all is well once again!
Now for catching up...
February was eventful. The lunar new year holiday, Tet, was February 14. That meant that the city effectively began shutting down on February 7, and by the 12th, schools and businesses were on holiday. Tet is beautiful...flowers everywhere, colorful lights up and down all the streets at night, lots of cleaning and sprucing up with painting, etc. Looking at a very full schedule over the next weeks, we took a few days off for vacation at Tet, spending a few days in Hoi An, a quaint tourist
hot spot about 45 minutes from hom
e.
hot spot about 45 minutes from hom
e. The weather was spectacular. The girls went swimming three times a day, and enjoyed riding bikes and a trip on jet skis. They loved it! Jillian rode with her Dad, Anna Mei and Elizabeth each rode with an employee from the rental place. Anna Mei's "guide" let her drive. He was Vietnamese, but got plenty of practice on one English word during his outing with Anna Mei: "Slow! Slow! Slow!"
For the Vietnamese, Tet is also a time of focus on family. It is the time of year when everyone travels home and there are frequent visitors. Children receive small red envelopes with gifts of money. Everyone is expected to have two new outfits. "New" is the operative word for everything, which makes the time leading up to Tet a time to be especially watchful against theft. One teenager we know had his own new jeans stolen from his clothes line at home while they were hanging out to dry!
Incense is everywhere, altars for ancestors are heavily decorated and supplied with food, money, and other valuables. It is not uncommon for people to build small fires on the side walks or roadside to burn items that are then "transported" to those already in the afterlife. Bicycles, clothing, furniture, even money--anything may be burned that a person thinks his departed loved ones may need.
For us, though, February's greatest event was not Tet. It was the opening of Promise House! Seven children arrived on February 23. Since then, the number has doubled, with more children expected over the next few months. Eventually, Promise House will be home to thirty children. The children come from tragic backgrounds of poverty, hardship, neglect, grief, and hunger. What a wonderful blessing to know they are now eating well, attending school and experiencing the nurturing love of dedicated caregivers.
You will be seeing more of these precious children on the blog!
Of course, when good things are happening, the enemy of our souls seems to get into gear as well. There have been so many challenges, mostly cultural and political. Daily life here sometimes seems to be similar to waltzing on a tightrope, without a net. Many have felt changes here. Some are having to leave, others are dealing with close scrutiny, many questions, investigations.
In the end, we entrust our lives and activities to hands stronger than our own, a mind abler than we can perceive, a heart of limitless compassion. And we find joy.
Grace and peace,
Cindy
