One of those days...

Sometimes there are days when I need more divine intervention than others… I look to the Lord to help me make it through the day… I am weary and tired and need to be uplifted…

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song
- Psalm 28:7

The Prayer of Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me and instrument of thy peace
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.  Amen...

Catching Up… Trying new food

November 5, 2011

Korean Food - Ben3jia1

Having an international circle of friends has given me an opportunity to try lots of different cuisines.  I still refuse to eat internal organs or any unidentifiable parts or anything too out there.  And I am particular about the cleanliness of the places we go.  I am still avoiding the little hole in the wall eateries along the streets, but I did buy corn on the cob from a street vendor.  Aside from these particular personal hang-ups… I really have eaten quite a few new foods.  My newest are Korean and Thai. 

First the Korean… I have pictures!!  I had lunch with some of the ladies from the summer bible study at a Korean Restaurant called Ben3jia1, which is pronounced Bon-ga 本家 in Korean.

Kye (pronounced Kay) is my Korean friend and she actually lives in a compound right across the street from ours. Her compound is all Japanese… her husband is from Taiwan, but has become a Japanese citizen.  She speaks very good English and amazing Chinese.  She picked our restaurant for the get together.

Here are a few snapshots of our lunch…

The group from left front to right… Jacqueline from Singapore, Natashia from Taiwan, Tracey from Hong Kong, and Kye from Korean.  Our food preparer was a bit camera shy and we had to coax her to stay in the picture.

I have to admit… no Kimchee for this girl.  I cannot get past the smell.  But the rest of the meal was really good.

Thai Food - Simply Thai

Now yesterday I had my first exposure to Thai food.  Oh my… I really liked that!!!  We had a Gaeng Khiaw Waan, a green curry dish with pork… wonderful!!!  It is marinated slices of pork simmered over a slow fire in a special concoction of Thai herbs, spices and curry paste.  Fresh coconut milk is added to bring out the full flavor with pumpkin and eggplant pieces bringing national sweetness to the dish.  It was perfect with the fragrant Thai rice.

And these little appetizers called Thai Samosas… simply delicious! They were like a cross between a spring roll and a wonton… but way better.  I loved the sauce which was kinda like sweet and sour but again… sooooo much better.

And we had a second entrée which was chicken with cashews and basil.  The chicken was bit of crispy fried chicken with red and green peppers, onions, cashews, basil and a sauce that was really unexpected, but wonderful. 

Sorry… forgot to take pictures… too busy enjoying the food….Yummmmm!!!

 

Catching up… The Giving Tree

November 5, 2011

I am just trying to hit the highlights of what is going on here… every week I am in 2 bible studies and the Healing Home.  I have now volunteered to head up the AGIF Giving Tree event.  We are getting a bit of a late start, so I am doing double time to catch up.  I need to assemble a team of folks to help pull this effort together.  Here are a few of the highlights from our flyers…

This year, AGIF is helping children at Pudong’s Zi Lou Lan Migrant School. Most children live in one-room (single room home) with no heating and community showers.  Families are from inland provinces and work as farmers, construction crew, garbage collectors in our city, and live on a very small income. The average monthly incomes is only 2000RMB which in USD is about $300.

Please consider helping these underprivileged children, who are in need, and fill your bags with new items: a coat, shoes, socks, hat, gloves, a personal item, and a note of love and hope.

It will be a lot of work, but so worth the effort.  These children have such a spirit.  For us, there is a ceremony on December 15 where we will deliver the bags to the children in person.  From those that have participated in the ceremony in past years, I am told it is amazing and so wonderful to see the delight and appreciation in the eyes of these children.

This ceremony also gives us an opportunity to introduce these children to God and what he means to us and can mean to them.  We can illustrate God’s love and how he provides for his children.  We can show them a little bit of God’s hope and grace.

Catching Up - Part 1

November 4, 2011

It seems like things here are moving very fast now… to the point that I sometimes wish I could spend a whole day at home being a veg… but I asked God to give me purpose and direction to do his will and he has answered me.  So much so that I am already lamenting about what will happen when we are home for good. 

I think back and now it’s hard to believe that I spent my first three months here mostly in tears and frustration.  I was thinking we had made the worst decision ever by coming here.  The only time it seemed ok was on the weekend when Michael and I would explore new parts of Shanghai.

I told Michael the other night that I would be sad when we leave… I have made such wonderful friends here.  I feel that I have such purpose now.  There are so many rewarding opportunities to help the children here.  One can only scratch the surface in 18 months. 

Michael has renewed his contract to be here until September 30, 2012.  He has hired his replacement and the new person is on board and in training now.  It looks like it was a good hire which means that it is doubtful there will be any extension beyond the end of September commitment. 

There have been some rumors of a month in Malaka, Malaysia in the spring… I would most likely go with.  Malaka is south of KL about an hour or so.  It would be a new adventure… and I am always up to a new adventure.

Since our friends, Connie and Dean, had to cancel their plans to come here, we have postponed our travel for down under.  It will be early next year before we will go there… and maybe things will settle down for them… and we will all be able to reschedule and go together as originally planned.

Soooo… we are not going home for Thanksgiving or Christmas… sadness here!

And even worse… a turkey here… if you have an oven big enough to cook one, would run you about $100 USD.  Needless to say…We will not be having any turkey for dinner. 

And Christmas… no decorations… or tree…

or family here…(last Christmas at our house)

But we will be home in January for Jason and Dennell’s wedding so we will delay our celebration of Christmas as a family… but will be different as we will be at one of the kid’s houses and no mass quantities of cooking… or baking… or decorations.  But we will have the important stuff… the celebration of the birth of the Christ and family. 

So instead … I will be booking us travel to go somewhere… some of the recommended possibilities are Phuket, Thailand, Krabi, Thailand, Da Nang, Vietnam,  Boracay, Philippines, or maybe Sanya, China.  I am doing a bit of research to determine which place will be our Thanksgiving destination.  I will keep you posted.

More news and events in the next installment of Catching Up!!!