#18

From Vietnam

"Hello! I hope that you are doing well and enjoying your week so far! We’ve been doing well, but busy. In about two weeks, Andrea, my boss from California, will come to sign contracts with the schools. We haven’t given up on the universities yet, but things aren’t looking too bright concerning working with them for this coming year. Things with the English centers are also quite difficult. It seems that there are a lot of doors closing, and not many opening. Please lift us up, especially the next 3 weeks, as we finalize things with the schools for next year. We need some open doors! Or at least open windows!!

Things in OUR CITY are going well. We started several new classes next week, which went well. "Boo-Boo" and I share one class that has a policeman and a policewoman in it. I was pretty nervous about this until we got to know them. They are really kind, and so far are our favorite students in that class. Their friendship may come to help us someday if we have any problems. Friends in high places come in handy in a society based almost entirely on who you know. It also doesn’t hurt that Hannah’s husband is now working in immigration for our province. I feel like the L0rd has placed them in our lives for a reason. We hope to be able to share more and more of the Good News with them.

We’ve had some funny conversations with David and his girlfriend this past week. At the beginning of the week, we were talking about Africa, and how Obama is an African American. The concept of African Americans is really difficult for Vietnamese people to understand. While trying to explain the concept to them, David asked, “How many different kinds of humans live in America?” I had to stifle a laugh, and told him that all “kinds of humans” live in America. People from every continent in the world. I mentioned that I don’t often see any people from Africa in Vietnam. He said, “Well, why would they want to leave one undeveloped country and come to another undeveloped country?” He does have a good point there.

He was also shocked to find out that not only do Americans not eat rice at every single meal, but they don’t even eat it every day. I’m not sure how we could be friends for two years and he never picked up on this. On Sunday, we went out to eat che, the sweet bean soup. I included a picture of the che. While we were sitting there, David said that he had just gotten his hair cut and ears cleaned. In Vietnam, the barber or hair dresser always cleans your ears when you get a haircut. They use a pointed metal object, which looks a bit dangerous to me. However, David was surprised, once again, to discover that in America, we do not get our ears cleaned when getting a haircut. He commented, laughingly, that I must have very dirty ears. I told him that I clean my ears often myself, using a Q-tip. I explained that it is like a little stick with cotton on each end. “You mean a tampon?” his girlfriend asked. Hmmm, well, not quite.

On Sunday, I baked Easter cupcakes for the kids in Hannah's class. They loved the wrappers, which were sent to us by a teacher who is coming next year, Sherman Graham. I included a photo of Hannah's son and some other students with their cupcakes.

The girl at ch*rch who often translates for us offered to have an ao dai made for me. She bought the material, and a lady at the ch*rch made it. I was a little embarrassed by the material, as you will see in the picture, which looks like Halloween, but it fit better than I expected, so I was happy. I wore it to ch*rch on Sunday, feeling positive about it. I got a lot of smiles and compliments….that is until I was leaving. The tailor who made it came up to me and said that I had it on backwards. How embarrassing! I was almost over the embarrassment by the afternoon, when our translator sent me a text message telling me that I had worn it backwards and telling me how to correctly wear it. I just had to laugh and chalk it up to another crazy foreigner mistake.

Please keep us lifted up in pr*yer as we work on contracts for next year. Please also pr*y for open doors of opportunity for m*nistry, and for our friends. Thank you very much! We couldn’t be here without your pr*yers and support!

Love,

"Yogi"

#17

More from Vietnam:

"Hello! I hope you had a happy St. Patrick’s Day!

The past week has been a busy one for us. Firstly, we have 3 brand new classes this week. I started out with my first new class on Monday night. I was given curriculum, and told to prepare lesson 1. That is logical, right? I prepared a Power Point for that lesson, as usual, and felt prepared, though still a bit nervous. Well, my class began at 5:30. At exactly 5:38, the administrative assistant sends me a message saying that I am to start with unit 6. Unit 6??!! I had never even looked at unit 6. I guess that’s when my four previous years of experience comes in handy. It definitely wasn’t the best lesson I’ve ever presented, but I pulled last minute activity ideas out of my brain, and it turned out okay. There are two p0lice officers in the class. At first I was pretty nervous, but they turned out, surprisingly, to by my favorite students in the class. They are very chipper and cheerful. Next thing on my list is to get both of their phone numbers. If I ever have an accident on my motorbike, or any kind of trouble, knowing them will be extremely helpful!

Hannah’s mother is visiting from Hue, which is a city a few hours north of us. She is only a few years older than "Boo-Boo", but looks old enough to be her mother. It is interesting to see how people age differently here. They are small people, so they look younger than their age for a long time. Then, it’s as if they instantly go from childhood to old age. There just isn’t much in between. When people hear that "boo-Boo" is 47, they can hardly believe it. No one here who is 47 looks nearly as young as her. They also are surprised how big American children look on TV.

Anyway, Hannah’s mom cooked several delicious dinners and invited us to come. The first meal was delicious. It was spicy minced clams over noodles. It tasted better than it sounds. The second day she cooked shrimp inside kind of a gummy, chewy dumpling. She put at least 20 of them on my plate. I pr*yed, and got through about half of them. My mouth was on fire, and my nose was dripping. It was kind of embarrassing because everyone else ate them like they were candy. I finally had to tell Hannah and her mother that I enjoyed trying them, but I just couldn’t eat the rest because they were so spicy. They nodded in agreement as they looked at my runny nose and watery eyes. After dinner, Hannah showed pictures of her graduation from when she became a C0mmunist official. It was really interesting. In the picture of her accepting her certificate, there were statues and photos of Stalin, Marx, and of course, Ho Chi Minh. I really had never realized that she actually had to go to study and take classes to become an official. Sometimes I’m really glad that I don’t find these things out until I know people better. I might be tempted to avoid them all together. It was neat, though, that the same day, on the same table where she was showing me the photos, lay the book Fire Proof that was sent over to Vietnam by one of you. The Sp*rit is working!

I also had my first coffee outing with two people who know absolutely no English. I thought this would be an absolute disaster. I was pleased that we made it through an hour together. That is good motivation for me to continue studying! Please continue lifting up my language learning. I really am yearning to be fluent in the language. Thanks!

A popular dessert here is called 'che,' or sweet soup. It has beans, corn, and various other things, in a sweet syrup. It’s served hot when it’s cold out and with ice when it’s hot outside. David, his girlfriend, and I went out to eat 'che' over the weekend. It’s served in a small cup, so after our first round, we all ordered another. Well, anything sweet is almost too much for Vietnamese people, so of course, David and his girlfriend couldn’t finish their second cup. That meant I had….well, a lot of che!

We also ate hot pot with them this past week. They brought over squid, shrimp, and vegetables, and we boiled it all together, pouring it over noodles. Our dinner conversation was interesting. They were shocked to find out that Americans do not eat rice every day. I’m not sure how they could have spent so much time with us over the past two years and not known this. They also asked if Americans often get intestinal worms. When I told them no, they wondered why. I told them that in America, we refrigerate our meat, among other things.

They were really surprised that Americans don’t worry about getting worms. David says that most people take anti-worm medicine at least once a year just to make sure they don’t get them. Later, they said that they are worried about our health since part of our kitchen is in the bathroom. Well, that is the best option we have, and I still think it’s better than what people in the countryside have. Plus, it makes me thankful for a real kitchen when I visit Berne in the summer!

Thanks to our friends for the cards and packages!! I am thankful for each of you who read our newsletter and support us financially and with pr*yer. We appreciate it so much! Blessings to you as you serve Him!

Love,

"Yogi"

#16

"Another week has flown by! This one was a lot crazier than usual! I started out the week by going to Hoi An to celebrate our friend’s birthday. He was our p*stor in Dà Nẵng, and he is now working at a ch*rch in Hội An. Our “gang” from Da Nang, including Anna, our Buddh*st friend, met us in Hoi An to celebrate Paul’s 37^th birthday. We were so happy that he wanted us, of all people, to come and celebrate with him!

We had a great time! It was as if we had never been apart. We ate Lemongrass Clams for dinner, and then headed to the river to take a boat ride. As you can imagine, the boats were tiny, Asian sized, and so hard to get into. No nice ladders or steps. Just step off of the wall into the boat. "Boo-Boo" and I were incredibly nervous, especially when our friends were continually standing up in these tiny canoes. All I could think of the whole time were my friends Edith and Homer Arnold, who tipped over in their canoe years ago. I kept picturing the same thing happening to us. When we went under a bridge, everyone else could sit normally except for me. I was too tall to fit, so I had to duck my head. It was a fun experience, and we made it without ever getting wet! There were a lot of pr*yers being said on that boat. Especially after seeing how dirty the water was. Yuck!

The next day, I met Hannah for coffee. She told me that the p0lice have been watching me carefully, and are suspicious of my work with Hannah’s kids class on Sundays. They are afraid that I am telling the kids about rel*gion or something. To me, that seems ridiculous. The kids barely know their colors, numbers, etc., let alone be able to talk about G0d. Anyway, now I am only allowed to attend the class for 30 minutes per week, and we have to all be in the front room with the door open.

I met Holly in Danang this week, which went really well. I wasn’t able to stay long, because I had to teach, but we had a nice time together. We also met her for lunch on Saturday. It was nice being able to spend time with her and also with JoSan.

On Sunday night, Hannah and her family came over to the guest house for dinner. It’s the first time I’ve ever fixed a full meal in our room. We had spaghetti with homemade sauce, broccoli salad, jello and cottage cheese salad, and chocolate chip cookies. I felt so bad for Hannah. She didn’t like anything. I’m sure she went away hungry! Her husband and son loved the spaghetti, and both had three helpings. When she thought that we weren’t watching, she put her spaghetti into her husband’s bowl. I included a photo of Hannah's son eating spaghetti with chopsticks. Then, the thing they hated the most was the jello. I was so surprised! I thought that surely, since they love seaweed jello, they would love strawberry jello. I was so wrong! The looks on their faces when they tried it was priceless! We got such a laugh!

Last year, I took some of Naomi Wiederkehr’s children’s books to my translator at ch*rch who works for World Vision. She told me that she was translating them, and finally, this week, she had them printed in Vietnamese. It is so exciting to see these books! I have copies of the books, and will bring them to Naomi when I visit the States this summer. I am so excited that her books are now being read by kids in Vietnam! Thanks, Naomi!! Thanks, also to my grandma, and so many others for the cards!

I hope that you have a great week! Thanks for your pr*yers and support!!

Love,

"Yogi"