The Concert

Christmas Concert

Last night Mark and I attended a Christmas concert in town.  Our friends, the Jackson's, were back in town to help Vietnam celebrate Christmas and remember what it is all about.  We met this amazing family last year when they were invited here for the first time to sing at the large Christmas event here.  We immediately felt a kinship with them.  This year they have traveled to South American, Mexico, all over the US and just recently, Hong Kong and Indonesia.  The last leg of their journey for this year is Vietnam.  They have seen many miracles on this trip and Brenda the mom even shared with me a vision she given to her about a tsunami of revival coming out of Asia and we are in the heart of it.  They will travel to Hanoi from here and then return to HCMC for a final performance in a couple of weeks.  They are an encouragement to us not just because of their singing but because we share a common passion for Asia.  They sang many more songs this year in Vietnamese and even recorded one that they will offer free of charge at their concerts, another miracle.  I invited our neighbor to attend with us and it was great to hear some of her stories.  She loves to sing and write and she works for a clothing company that sells to Gap, Express and others in the US.  She heard my English class practicing our Chistmas carols and wants to join us.  We will have a Christmas party in another week and will sing for her and maybe some others in our building.  The Vietnamese love to sing and dance. 

 We hope you are all enjoying the season.  It has been a year of trials but there is now victory and a special blessing from God as a sign of new beginnings, Jen is expecting our 5th grandchild.  It makes being away for the holidays hard but summer is coming and we are very excited.  We all would love a girl but a blessing is a blessing so we wait in amticipation. 

The Filming

Music Video Filming

Last week my neighbor came over to ask if they could do some movie filming in our apt. There were a group of young people making a music video and they needed to film a couple of scenes using a living room and kitchen. She had just had a big delievery of supplies for her business so hers was not usable.  We agreed, interested to see how this was done.  Our neighbor was playing the role of the mother of a young girl in the video.  They were here for about an hour and a half and they filmed the scenes many times until they felt like they had achieved what they needed.  We also got to meet a young man who stars in some tv shows.  An interesting break in our day, now our place is famous !!   I think it was the pink walls in the living room that made it so appealing. 

Botanical Gardens

Singapore Again

We headed back to Singapore the day before Thanksgiving.  I have to go to get my medications refilled.  It was a wonderful trip.  We stayed with our friends George and Joyce in their 17th story apt and on Thanksgiving she made a turkey with all of the trimings.  She has a small oven but it did the job.  She also is a wonderful baker. She had pumpkin pie and cherry pie both made with homemade crust and also the best rolls I have ever had.  This was the first turkey dinner in three years.  We were blessed and stuffed. 
On Friday we were invited to a Prophetic conference and had some great prayer over us.  Before we headed to the conference Mark joined George in a men's prayer group which met at the Botanical gardens, a beautiful sight, I had to go since we were headed directly to the conference afterwards.  After having a coffee and roll I strolled around the gardens for a bit and enjoyed all the greenery.  It was so relaxing and so many were there doing their Tai Chi thing.  Saturday Mark and I headed over to the beach which happens to be across the street from their apt.  We walked for a while and then had breakfast at a Burger King.  We were not in Kansas any longer!! They had walking paths and also paths for joggers and bikers.  We almost rented a bike but it was getting a little warm so we headed back.  I also got to get in some Mall time.  Did not buy anything but just enjoyed looking.  I now have the bus system down but they will be moved by the time we return in three months so I will have to find a new mall closer to their new home.  We love getting out of the country for a short time and we so appreciate our friends who let us crash with them.