Our Week in Review

Well, this past week has been an interesting one. Our landlord's father passed away and he was Buddhist...so we attended his Buddhist funeral. It was very interesting to say the least. We went to his cremation yesterday at the temple and Thursday evening we went to another part of the funeral service. Most of the service was in Pali (an ancient language that the monks use when chanting) so even if we wanted to understand, we couldn't. Mainly, we were there for our landlord and his wife (Phii Lina is a Christian). Everyone here dresses in black and/or white when attending a funeral and it's custom to give the family money as well. That is where the similarities stop between a Buddhist, Thai funeral and a Christian, American one! Please keep this family in your prayers. Phii Lina is the only Christian in the family but we are praying more will come to faith in Christ. Our landlord has had to enter the monkhood for three days to gain merit on behalf of his father. I have been praying that he will see some stark differences while he is living at the temple.
Other news is that we will be going on a "thiaw*" with our church here in Lopburi from Christmas Eve until Christmas day. I am really looking forward to this time for God to knit our hearts together and to build some stronger relationships within the church. We continue to enjoy attending this church though it is hard most Sundays when we understand so little of what is being said for two hours! Anyway, we will be going on a houseboat in Kanchanaburi province (I think that is about three hours from Lopburi). It's near (if I understand correctly) where the famous Bridge over the River Khwai is (this is the WWII landmark known mostly from the movie, The Bridge Over the River Khwai but more importantly thousands of troops died building this piece of track from Thailand to the Burma border for the Japanese. It is really part of a sad WWII story. If you would like to read more about it there is an excellent book out entitled "To End All Wars" by Ernest Gordon. It's a true account from Ernest Gordon about his specific experience in WWII building part of the train track). Now, before you get all excited about the prospects of our outing on a houseboat, let me just make a disclaimer that we have no idea what that means. It may be totally different than what you and I may think of as a houseboat. I am sure we will have pictures to post when we return! At any rate, we are looking forward to this time and would appreciate your prayers for us as well. Most likely, we will celebrate Christmas as a family when we return home from our thiaw on Christmas day.
*"thiaw" is the thai word for a fun outing that is usually only one to two days long. Since most Thai people cannot afford to go on a full vacation they take these short "vacations." A thiaw could be just a day out admiring the nearby sunflower fields or it could be a trip to the Gulf of Thailand to enjoy some fun in the sun. No matter where they go, the Thais always manage to have fun and to eat often!
Another interesting tidbit of our week in review is that I began reading and writing in Thai! And what a challenge. I totally feel like I am in kindergarden all over again. It is hard work and there is so much to think about all at once but it's also exciting to know that eventually (maybe in 50 years!) I will be able to read roadsigns, books, the Bible (!) in Thai! Being illiterate here in Thailand is not very fun and I am sure once I learn ALL the rules (and I am hearing from other studentst that there are a ton of them) a whole new world of learning will open up to me. For now, I continue to take one day at a time and review, review, review!
So, that is about all the news on this end of the world. I am traveling once again to Bangkok tomorrow to see my doctor, have lunch with our teammate and pick up some of our Christmas stuff and so I would appreciate your prayers for safety as I travel. Oh, speaking of, there is a student here for just a few months who goes to Bangkok every weekend and I will be riding back with her tomorrow! I feel like that is a huge answer to prayer, thank you GOD!
This coming week will be our last week of study for 2005. We will have two weeks off from school before starting back up on January 3rd. Please pray for us during this holiday time!