Tibetan New Year

Tibetan New Year was celebrated on February 25th this year. Here are some pictures of some dancers

celebrating.

Heading to the Mountains.

Well, being back has been fun and it’s always a joy being home. But we didn’t want to waste any time. So, to help Kirk get to know the people, we planned a little trip. It was a short one – 8 hours by bus to a city and then up into the mountains. It was his first bus ride, so we went easy on him. We got in, found a hostel, dumped our stuff and ate. The ride itself was uneventful, an American movie in Chinese and then a Bond flick in English, but with Chinese subtitles. Throw in a few music videos, a nap or two as well as a stop for noodles and we had it made. We enjoyed our dinner, spicy though it was, and walked through town. We paused for a while to take in some Tibetan dancing. And then it was back to the room. A time of devotional, then we were done! Those bus rides can really take it out of you.
We jumped out of bed the next morning, okay we rolled out with great moaning. Did some study and then caught a ride to our next place about 30 minutes away. We really like this place as it has a university. Unfortunately, there were no students there due to the holiday. We ate lunch, not quite as spicy, and then looked for a ride to our village. Its about a two hour ride and paved road is not part of the equation. Because of construction (over 4 years and counting) we couldn’t leave for about 4 hours. We found a tea shop and practiced our language. We were finally able to head into the valley and loaded up. Shock absorbers are not required equipment on these vehicles, so we became very familiar with our spines. We arrived and found our usual resting place. There’s an elementary school here, and we have a good relationship there – but most of the kids were back in their remote homes because of – the holiday. That doesn’t mean the village was empty. We walked around and found a place to eat. We like to eat. Kirk ordered our meal and he did very well. By the time we were finished, it was definitely night time. We did meet some of the kids and they remembered me. We enjoyed a time of badminton, songs and games. One of my favorite kids took us by the hands for a night time stroll. The stars were quite beautiful. In our city, pollution is so bad we never see the stars, sometimes not even that big one called the sun. We got back, did our routine and slept.
The next day, while we did spend some morning time in town, I wanted Kirk to see some of the more remote sections of the valley. So off we went. One of our stops was the village with the local temple. It was a hike of a little more than an hour. We met some folks on the outskirts of town who were planting. We talked and laughed and they asked for American money - Kirk had some coins which they quickly snatched up. They asked me to do some hoeing. They had a great laugh when I asked them where I was supposed to plug it in. We visited some townsfolk and then the temple. After praying over it, we headed back up the valley. It took us a little longer returning, okay it took ME a little longer. As we got back, it occurred to me I might have a problem. At 11,000 feet, the sun is brighter and the atmosphere is thinner. I also have a medical condition known in most circles as a bald spot. Yes, my head was sunburned. But getting back opened some new doors. A young man that ran a hardware store was from our city and spoke English so we visited with him. And then, we tried a new restaurant for dinner. The owner had two teenage daughters who spoke some English. After a bout of shyness, they began to talk. What we didn’t know was that the entire village had no power. So Kirk and I had a nice candlelight dinner. As we prepared to leave, we discovered that the 16 year old would be attending our school! He does open doors.
We headed home the morning and, after some interesting rides, arrived back around 8 pm. Needless to say, we were both wiped out. But Kirk had met the people and fallen in love. He also had his first taste of mountain travel – and survived! The day we returned, we found out that those areas were being closed due to the events of last spring. Some foreigners were even asked to leave areas. But HE gave us not only the opportunity to be there, but relationships from there that would soon be in our city.

My next update will talk of our time getting a health check for our visas. Until then, some prayer requests:

We start back with language
Our visas
Kenan and his school
Lydia, our national partner, will be getting married
Teams preparing to come serve
Intensive relationships at the school
Ruth, a T believer whose family has been persecuting her for her faith
Circumstances surrounding the upcoming anniversary of the rioting

For Him and Them
The Masters

We're baaack!

Actually, we've been back since January 1st, literally. We walked in the front door at 5 minutes past the ball dropping. While we were glad to be home, we were quite exhausted. Our stateside kept us very busy. We were blessed at so many spots, I'm still amazed. Being reunited with Anna was awesome. Being able to see family was great, reconnecting with friends and making new ones was also great fun. Even at the airport, friends and family were there to see us off.

Eager to get home, we hopped on a plane to Chicago - which of course left late. We arrived and huuried to the International terminal only to be told our flight was leaving from the domestic terminal we had just left. We arrived in time to see them close the doors. After stressing and making arrangements for the next flight (24 hours away) we got a hotel and decompressed. We were able to eat dinner at the spaghetti warehouse - good stuff. We got to the airport andarrived at our gate - the right one - and left on time. After a 14 hour (or so) flight, we hit Beijing, went through customs and arrived at our gate. Our flight was late (have you ever noticed it's never the middle flight that's late? It's always the one to get you there or to finish it off. It was not a surprise for us as the weather in our city is always bad (as I write this, blue, sunny skies out my window). We landed, got our bags -all of them - and headed home. The sound of that makes me smile.

We spent the next few days trying to figure out what time it was, get our new teammate settled, unpack, get Kenan ready for school (he had 2 days), you know, basic stuff. Our first two weeks were a lot like that - working on visas, which we hope will be through teaching at the school, trying to remember language and where everything was - you know, basic stuff.

We were able to reconnect with family members and had great times doing P&W and sharing. Then, it was get packed again. This was only going to be a two week trip. we headed to Thailand to get Kenan's wisdom teeth out- he did great, do some medical, relax and have a week of meetings. That is always a great time of celebration as we only see these folks once a year. We had a great host club from Powell, TN. We were able to spend time at their place during the fall and fell in love with them. Then, we headed back in. The only late flight was our last one which, again, got us in very late. We reacclimated much quicker this time - it's only an hours difference and, once again, Kenan had two days before school kicked back in. So, that's our first few weeks in a nutshell - a late nutshell, but a nutshell.

I know keeping up with this is not my strong suit, but I WILL do better. At least two a month. My next update will give you the highs of my trip with Kirk.

Doug, Jim, Yvette and Jeremy hang at the airport with us.

Kenan and two beatiful GCA girls, Chessa and Jennifer

Is it strange that I'm the only one without Georgia stuff?

Some fun times in Thailand. Kirk - our new teammate bringing down the house (ok, beach) with "American Woman"; All of us - even Trish, doing go-karts; And the crew having fun at the 70's party.