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To: Don Woodard Sent: Mon, 6 Nov 2006 Subject: Ouellette Update (c/w photos) |
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(Becky is currently in Penang, Malaysia with two of our team members who are doing a "visa run". She is back this Wednesday. Until then... we miss her!! Note: Would you pray with us specifically that Amber Griffioen would return from this visa run with a renewable 3 month or 1 year multiple entry visa in her hand?).
"I am 17 years old"
Well, Becky and I have both finished our first "check" (the first of many over the next number of years). A check comes after about 20 days of language content and is conducted by 2 staff at the school. One is a Thai teacher (not the one who is currently teaching you) and the other is one of the school admin staff. It's entirely in Thai and is designed to check your level of comprehension (and articulation). After which both people give you feedback. Both Becky and I felt encouraged by our checks (except for my response above, when asked how old I was!) But even as I (Greg) write this, I have to say that at times (like today) I have felt like learning Thai is a HUGE challenge. Thanks for praying for us and emailing encouraging words regarding this. Last week something clicked or got "unplugged" in my brain (not sure what analogy works best there) ...finally I was able to make some sense of the things I was studying.
"What?! Why do they pray to a river god?"
That's basically the response the kids gave me last night as I explained part of Loy Krathong to them... well... ok... not all of the kids...Silas was waaay too busy sipping his second glass of Pepsi. We had just eaten supper at a neighbourhood restaurant (that could be a story in itself), and the owner came up to us and gave me a Krathong (a lotus-shaped floating boat made out of banana leaves and flowers). I wondered what we should do with it... People here will light the candle on it, as well as the joss sticks (incense), put some coins in it and let it float down the river. Many will pray to the river goddess as they do so - for pardon for the ways they have misused the water in the past year. Some also see it as a way of ridding themselves of bad things they have done.... symbolically putting these things into the Krathong and sending it down the river. We walked to the nearby Klong (canal) and stood on the bridge in the dark and watched as people slipped their Krathongs into the river. Later that evening we watched as fireworks and hot air lanterns filled the sky. Pretty to watch... but at the same time there was a heaviness about it all.
"When You Call My Name"
This is the title of a song that Brian Doerksen & Steve Mitchinson wrote that speaks to the clarity that comes to our lives when God speaks to us... This past Friday, our team met for 2 hours to plan out our year-at-a-glance calendar. A big part of that was scouting trips to southern Thailand to discern where we we will be living when we move next September (the who, when and where details). But as we began working through these things, we were reminded that it was through listening to God and obeying what we sensed him saying to us that we got to where we are in the first place! We felt a desire to gather together to pray and ask God about the year ahead. We have been doing this individually already, but felt led to set aside a more focused TEAM time of LISTENING PRAYER regarding the coming year. We are excited for this! ...Becky and I have found that whenever we set aside time to listen to God, He always has something to say. Its not always what we expected, but it is always what we most needed to hear. This THURSDAY, we invite you to JOIN US in listening/praying anytime between Thurs 3am - Fri 3am PST (ie: your time!). If there is anything that God says to you that you feel is for our team, please let us know!
We appreciate you,
Greg & Becky
Caleb, Emma, Luke & Silas
LopBuri, Thailand
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Loy Krathong festival Parade: Becky and her language teacher "Khruu Ann" |
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Loy Krathong festival Parade: The Mayor's "Car" |
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All the kids and their teacher, Karen Unger! |
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Loy Krathong festival Parade: Boys in traditional clothing |