A Happy/Sad Day at SSD

All of us who work in the Student Services Department have been wanting to visit Subic, a resort about an hour from Manila.  We decided to combine this fun activity with a sad activity that we were NOT looking forward to--saying goodbye to one of our colleagues. (We were thinking that combining the happy and sad parts would make it more bearable, because we were really sad to say goodbye!)
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So, off we went to Subic, and we did enjoy it a lot.  We took lots of photos, looked at exotic birds, watched tribal dancers, ate delicious food, and even took turns feeding an ostrich.
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Then we said goodbye to our dear Belle.  And yes, there were tears.  But she is leaving us because she believes God is calling her to serve Him in an unreached country, and we are SUPER proud of her.  It's just that we get the sniffles whenever we imagine her not being there in our office!  A happy/sad day indeed.
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The day Belle gave me her resignation letter, she said, "It's because of you, you know!"  She didn't mean that I'm such a difficult boss to work for.  She meant that in our office, we try to create an environment of excitement about missions, and bringing the Gospel to the ends of the earth.  How could I complain if she decided to do exactly that?  Well played, Belle, well played!

Happy News

One thing that has brought great joy to our hearts recently is the decision of Jim and Michelle, (our daughter and son-in-law) to join the ministry of Wycliffe Bible Translators. We are passionate about Bible translation! It’s our dream to see our world filled with disciples of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and that can’t happen until people have God’s Word in a language they can understand. So we are thrilled that they are on their way! They are in the process of developing a team of ministry partners now, and they hope to move to their assignment in Papua New Guinea by August. Yeah! We are passionate about Bible translation, but we are also very passionate about Jim and Michelle and Baby Danny! We can really connect with the apostle John, who said "I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children are following the truth!" (III John 4)

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Meanwhile, Matthew is in his first year of law school at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. So far he really loves it. He does community service in a legal aid clinic in his spare time, helping people with immigration problems who cannot afford a lawyer. From the time he was a little boy we always said he would be a great lawyer because he loves to talk, and he loves to convince you to do things you thought you did not want to do! It seems he is on the way to finding his niche.

Trip to Thailand

Last month I went to Bangkok to visit some dear friends who were former students of ours.  I only stayed for two days, but as always, it was refreshing and encouraging. We had many things to talk about, and we could have just sat in their home and talked.  I would have been satisfied with that.  But they brought me to the King's Park, where I got to soak up some of the beauty and uniqueness of Thailand.

The people of Thailand dearly love their king.  And they love the beauty of nature.  The king is an avid photographer.  So in this park, you can see all these loves combined -- the people enjoying the beauty of nature in their king's park, and also enjoying the king's hobby. 

There is a museum in the middle of the park that is a tribute to the king, but unfortunately my battery died shortly after we arrived there. I learned a lot and even had the novelty of being interviewed by a group of Thai school children in the museum.

I think everyone in Thailand is a photographer!  So I had a lot of fun taking pictures of people taking pictures. But I also got a few shots of the beautiful flowers too.

My short time in Thailand was fun, educational, and inspiring. Proverbs 25:25 says "Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land."  Amen to that!  Especially when you have the fun of going to the distant land yourself to get the cold water!