Ken's visit

Another Mekong trip

This week our pastor Ken Hart came to visit us. We spent the week at a convention and then on Saturday we took him on a trip down the Mekong River. It was a five hour drive down there and then a 40 minute boat ride one way. We landed at the home of a family we had visited before and were able to show him the bridge project we are working on. They are also in need of a new water purification system. It is always an experience taking a long boat down the river. You see people washing, peeing and fishing in the river. We then traveled back the same day. It was a long day but we all enjoyed the great weather and sights. We ended our day at a pizza place in the city. Our young friends here love pizza.

It was a week of going back in time to the dark ages, literally. Our electricity went off for a day on Sunday, our internet went out at the same time and did not come back on so we had to contact the company and have them come out to check it out. We are reconnected again but face book is not to be had here. Our TV cable went out on Friday and the man cannot come to repair it until Wednesday. Then we were going to have our English students over for dinner on Friday night, it was teacher appreciation day here. I was preparing to make a batch of brownies but I noticed that my toaster oven, which is the only oven I have, was not heating up. I guess appliances around here don't last long either. I did make a batch of Chili, in my crock pot, something they have never had before. They seemed to like it. Our friend Sam and his girlfriend Mary brought Mark a new chair for his desk, he loves it. It is so much more comfortable than the hard wood chair he was using.

It was great to be able to hear about all that is going on back home and to be able to share our adventures here with our friend from Calif. We have an extra room for anyone that wants to visit but I must warn you the lights can go out at any time !!!

Thanksgiving Sunday Celebration

Thanksgiving Celebration

Yesterday, Sunday, we were invited to a Thanksgiving celebration by our friends. It was at their home. We did not even think they knew about the holiday. I guess they have enough family in the US and so they knew it was a time for thankfulness. Mark shared a message about the first Thanksgiving in the US and how it all came about. They were interested and then I shared about developing an attitude of Thanksgiving in our daily lives. We were then treated to a special meal. It began with spring rolls, our favorite and some fried pork rolls and something that looked vaguely like potato chips but thicker. The second round was beef that they cooked at each table in a pan filled with hot oil, greasy but good served with rice paper and veggies that you wrap up like tiny burritos and dip in sauce. Then came the huge chicken, their replacement for a turkey, neck, head and all. Then they served up a seafood soup with noodles and by the time dessert came, jellied candy looking items, we were stuffed and they just kept eating. We get full just looking at it all but they don't stop until it is all gone. They were even collecting the bones to take home to the pets. I was going to bring a sweet potato casserole dish but I could not find any sweet potatoes at the store. That happens frequently, I have learned that if I see it and want it even if it is not now I had better buy it. I am again looking for paper towels. See my previous article about my hunt for them. After this great meal we were in for a treat, they had some visitors there from different hill tribes and they sang some beautiful songs from their villages. Then some of the young kids did some singing and dancing to some of the more popular worship music. There were also many testimonies of what God has been doing in their lives. One 30 something year old man shared about how he was a gangster. He stole and used drugs and even physically hurt many people. He has now turned his life around and is studying to be a minister. He has a beautiful story and voice and was leading much of the singing. We had arrived around 7:30 AM and we arrived back home around 2:00 PM. A long day but so grateful for all that we are being allowed to experience in this wonderful country. God is moving everywhere and we are seeing the results. Happy Thanksgiving and Jen save me some turkey !!!

Cooking Lesson #2 Spring rolls

Yesterday I got my second lesson in Vietnamese cooking. Mark and I love their spring rolls, and as we have found out they are made in many different ways with many different items. Whenever we are invited to our friends for a meal they try to have them for us. I did not realize until yesterday how time consuming making these things are. It took us over two hours and then we had to finish preparing the rest of the meal. You can make the spring rolls with whatever meats you like and even combine them. Our friend Hannah brought over the ingredients and we had pork, shrimp, and some other red meat that looked like liver, felt like liver but was not and these little guppie like fish. I am glad they puree these so it all just looks like, well I won't go there. You chop up all the meats and add some taro and other veggie the name she did not know in English and season to taste then you wrap them up in rice paper and deep fry. They do not believe in using canola or olive oil so after dinner we paid the price with some heartburn but oh they tasted so good going down. You can also make many different types of dipping sauce, ours was fish sauce, sugar, lime and garlic. As we were coking the rolls the doorbell rang and in comes our guests from Australia and our other friends who were driving them around. I thought I was just being taught how to make them but I guess I missed the part about serving dinner for 8 people. Fortunately Hannah knew they were coming so she had brought the makings for a carrot salad and the famous french bread and the usual dessert, fruit. It was a great evening of fellowship and I am glad that I now know how to make these babies but buying the ingredients in the store will be a challenge as a lot of the veggies especially the root ones look alike until you peel them. Oh well that's part of the fun of living here !!

Dinner with Friends