My Saviour Lives!!!

After a year of living in a country that does not celebrate Christmas or Easter, this Easter holds a stronger meaning to me as a Christian. We didn't do the traditional things for the day or see the familiar bunny, lamb, and chick decorations. But the greatest part of this day, as all others, is that I know without the shadow of a doubt that MY SAVIOUR LIVES! He proves it to me every day in many ways. The children and I talked about it this week during school. They helped decorate the classroom and we talked about why had we decorated eggs and used bunnies, lambs, and little chicks in other decorations throughout our house in the past. All the "symbols" that we have for Easter, that are so common for this time of the year, were not seen in our home this year. For us, this was a blessing because we all really got back to the true meaning of Easter. We still managed to hang a few paper eggs with lambs on our wall to remind us of "new birth." Another blessing I have had is seeing the children gain a greater understanding of why God has brought us to the place we are. They understand even more that these people need to know of Jesus and His love. As I woke up this morning, my mind wandered back to many years of attending Sunrise Services. How I miss that! But another truth entered my mind, the sunrise every morning is our reminder that the Son rose! What a tremendous thought we should have everyday, knowing that the God of Creation reminds us everyday of the love He had for us - that He sent His ONLY Son to die for us. And not just die, but HE AROSE!!! It is Easter and since God has placed us where He has, to do His will, we are constantly reminded that so many people around us don't have an understanding of what this day means to us. I am going to leave the words of a song that I heard. The words have echoed through my head all week. I don't particularly like the music that was with it but I am always looking for songs that have a message and then I make them more to our liking!

"For God loved the world so much He gave His only Son
That we might have life through Jesus Christ, the only One.
To the ends of the earth this good news must go,
'Til ev'ryone knows.

Are we there yet? Have we walked ev'ry road,
Climbed ev'ry hill, and told ev'ry soul?
Are we there yet? Do the lost know His name,
Has the world been set free from darkness and pain?
Are we there yet?

The gift of our King, how great the price; we could never repay.
In one act of love He conquered all sin and still lives today!
To the ends of the earth this good news must go,
'Til ev'ryone knows.

When will the day come when ev'ryone will know
The name above all names.
Until that day comes I'll be the one to confess His name!

Are we there yet? Have we walked ev'ry road,
Climbed ev'ry hill, and told ev'ry soul?
Are we there yet? Do the lost know His name,
Has the world been set free from darkness and pain?
Are we there yet?

As we help spread the Good News, please keep us in your prayers. We are honored to serve the Christ of the Cross, the Son of the Morning, and the God of Glory! Happy Easter to all!!!

One Year!!!

One year ago, this week, on a very cool morning in Dallas, TX, our family boarded a plane leaving behind family, friends, and a few earthly possessions. 28 hours later, we stepped off a plane in Bangkok, Thailand, and were welcomed by hot, humid weather and friends. Two tired parents and five exhausted children waited for all of our suitcases/trunks to finally show up at baggage claim. We reached the meeting point in the airport and were greeted by the smiling faces of the Salmon family. They have been a blessing in our lives. They opened their home up to us the first few days and nights we were here. They fed us, took us shopping, and even found a house for us before we arrived. I don't ever remember being as tired as I was that night - or the next, or the next! Tired was an understatement!

As I read back through some of the first blog entries I wrote after we arrived, I couldn't help but cry and thank God for all He has done. He has been with us every step of the way, leading and guiding us, and NOTHING has been a coincidence! He has known since the dawning of time who we were, what we would do, and how He would help us arrive at the place we are today. Mexico was most definitely a training ground, for me, at least. Adjusting to life here would have been much harder had it not been for some of the experiences I had in Mexico. It has actually been a step up in some ways. I can flip a light switch and always the light comes on! I don't have to start a generator to use the appliances. Many more American grocery items are available here than in Mexico, which has been a huge surprise. Of course, some of them you pay dearly for. However, some things like peanut butter are a staple food in our house. :)

Things are much quieter here than they were in Mexico. People don't drive their cars down the street with the music blaring. In public transportation vehicles, people don't usually talk to each other. It's very rare to hear music coming out of a person's home. Needless to say, in our neighborhood, about the only noise you can hear are the birds and our children! Every once in a while, you can hear other children but it is very rare. We don't hear the sounds of gunfire at night like we could in Mexico. The drug war is far from us now, but it still has it's affect on us through the people we dearly love.

God has sheltered us, fed us, provided for us, loved us, and given us so much more than we could have ever imagined. We have a peace knowing that we are exactly where He wants us. Psalm 91:2 says, "I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust." Moving to Thailand was definitely one of those times in my life that was a huge step of faith. I had to trust in God more than ever before. It hasn't been an easy year, but it has been a year of growth in many ways. We came to a place we knew very little about. It was a strange place to us. Now, a year later, it has become home. We are beginning to forget some of those things we missed before because God has filled those voids with other things. We have made many new friends, even this week!

We look forward to our second year in Thailand. There will still be some learning and adjusting and we know there will be more changes but we can look back over the last year and KNOW that God will continue to be with us. Tonight as we had our family devotions, we sang an old song, "I Have Decided To Follow Jesus." This song that I have sung since I was a child means more to me with each passing year. I am so glad that I decided to follow Jesus! Anywhere He leads us, we will follow. We may not understand His reasoning at first, but all we have to do is "trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus." No turning back for us, we're looking ahead and watching for the direction that He points us in as He reveals to us what His will is for our lives. Please continue to pray for us as we continue our journey of following Jesus.

Singapore

Well, we have visited yet another "foreign" place! Because of paperwork for visas, it was necessary for our whole family to go to Singapore. Our flight left Bangkok a little after 9 p.m. last Tuesday night. We arrived in Singapore after midnight. We were so glad that we could book a motel room before arriving because it was around 2 a.m. before we were able to get in bed. Then, we had to get up at 6 a.m. so that we could be at the Thai Embassy in time to stand in line so that we would be assured of getting in on Wednesday. After waiting, with 5 kids, for what seemed like an eternity since we were exhausted, they first told us we had gone to Singapore for no reason. Since we still had a few weeks left on our visa, they said we would have to go back to Thailand and wait for our visas to expire and then exit the country again. Needless to say, we were NOT happy to hear that! We decided to go back to our motel to sleep and think! Randy tried making phone calls back to Thailand but was unable to make a connection. Then we walked down the street to a mall to eat lunch and found a Long John Silver's! It was funny how excited we were to see it but we haven't seen a Long John Silver's since we left the States. Later that afternoon, he said he was going to go back to the Thai Embassy to talk to them again because they had kept our passports to do an "investigation." Fortunately, he was able to talk with someone a little more helpful and re-explained the situation to her. She said we had done the right thing and did the paperwork and told him when to come back and pick up our passports. What a blessing! So, then we were able to enjoy Singapore. On Thursday, we took the children to a water park where we all had a lot of fun. They had a long canal that you could float down in tubes. By the time we did that, the little ones were exhausted and William fell asleep while he was floating! We also got to ride an indoor ferris wheel. On Friday, we did some sightseeing. We went to see the famous Merlion staute. The Merlion has the head of a lion and the body of a fish. It is the symbol of Singapore. The fish body represents the origin of Singapore as a fishing village and the lion head represents the originial name of Singapore which meant "lion city." It measures 28 feet tall and weighs 7o tons! Normally, the Merlion overlooks the Marina Bay and has water shooting out of its mouth. Currently, they have built a motel room around part of the body and the head. During the day, tourists can go in for a quick look and at night 2 people can check-in. This amazing room will only be there through May and every night was booked within an hour of them opening the reservation desk. What an awesome thing to be so up close to this symbolic statue!

After our sightseeing and a quick trip to a history museum, we ate lunch and took a much needed nap! We surprised the kids by taking them to the Night Safari. It is the ONLY night zoo in the world! It was incredible to see animals that we had never seen before. Most of the animals at this zoo (which OPENS at 7:30 p.m.!) are nocturnal animals. Instead of walking the trails, we rode the 45 minute tram with a guide.

This is the fun part of missionary life - being able to visit places and see things that otherwise we would never know about or only see in pictures. What stories our children will have to tell when we go back to the States. God has given us so many opportunities and we thank Him for every one.