June 24, 2008 -- Yesterday was our 36th Anniversary and we celebrated at a nearby Thai restaurant, with rice noodles, chicken and shrimp smothered in delicious peanut sauce! The sauce was very reminiscent of Cameroon, but is apparently common in Thailand, also. On our morning walk, Gary took a moment to smell a neighbor’s roses.
In a day or two, our sons Jody and Rob will leave their house remodel job in Los Gatos, CA and drive home. For two months they've worked hard and learned new skills.
We’ll spend the rest of the week together, then go to the airport, late Friday night. Email questions and encouragement to GPLent@gmail.com. I’m ready. And as you can see, Gary is finishing packing.
We are excited about this new short-term mission, among a team of 19 people from all across America. The new culture will be interesting, and our whole family loves the food! So it will be profitable to support a mission need, encourage those who are there, meet and engage Thai people and try NOT to say something incorrectly. We’ll smile and bow frequently.
“Sa Wat Dee” is similar to “Aloha,” in that it means Hello, Hi, Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Evening, and Goodbye. How can we go wrong!?
Anniversary and Roses
May
"What next?" This was a question in the mind of Penny and I, Gary, but the answer is now in process. For the month of July, we are moving this blog to Chiang Mai, Thailand!
Grace International School serves 500 children and during summer break must replace and repair 150 computers. That area of the world is home to a large number of ministries, missionaries and their children, and thus the volunteer nature of the project through Wycliffe Associates.
We have been with WA now since last fall, and while our first assignment was in Cameroon for ten weeks, we find ourselves now getting ready for four weeks in Southeast Asia. And by 'we' I mean the whole family.
Our two sons, 19 and 21, are both good with computers, so as part of a WA team we will help the school to meet the initial computer replacement objectives. But also, they hope to take many of the older PCs and reload them with a Linux OS and OpenOffice, and place them in mission ministries around town.
While the Thai language is complex with some five tonal pitches, we are told that we should be able to get around in English. And, did someone mention food? Ah yes, we are told that the cuisine is amazing, so we are preparing by going to Thai restaurants, making every effort to see how spicy we can tolerate the food without losing our tongues.
