Giving Thanks!

Happy Thanksgiving!
We hope that you have enjoyed your time with family and friends, hanging out, eating a lot, watching football or movies, and just getting a day off. We are thankful for each of you and your support of us and the ministry here in Indonesia.
Our Thanksgiving day was a little different. Of course, Indonesian's don't celebrate and most don't know what Thanksgiving Day is. So, we actually had language school classes on Thanksgiving Day and on Friday because they don't celebrate other countries' holidays. And why should they?
After class on Thursday, we had a big celebration with the eight other MAF families here in Bandung. There are 6 American families, 1 Canadian family, and 1Dutch family. We had all the trimmings, but no turkey. They were way too expensive. So, we just went with a few chickens that turned out quite yummy. The pumpkin pie and stuffing were excellent!
We are truly thankful for what we have over here. Even though we could not be with our own extended family this year, we have friends here that are becoming like family. It's fun to learn about other family traditions and foods. Plus, we have all of you who are our brothers and sisters in Christ. That's one of many things that I'm thankful for...family all over the world because of His saving grace.

Multi-cultural?! Um, Ya!

So, I just finished a study of the Word with an Indonesian and a Korean. I'm not sure how this has even happened because it was all in Indonesian. I don't know half of the words and phrases that I would like to know to feel comfortable leading a study like this. However, it has been going on like this for three months and my Indonesian is getting better!
My Korean friend and I speak to each other in Indonesian most of the time. This is difficult because it is a new language for both of us. She has been a great help with this study because she knows the langauge a little better than I do and she encourages me to keep going.
So, here we are, three ladies from totally different backgrounds, countries, and languages studying about the Lord and praising His name. It's a glimpse of what heaven will be like. I hope we can understand eachother better and express our thoughts and feelings more adequately when up there. I know we will. It's a great experience and a priviledge to get to know these two ladies.