Laos

Okay - round 2 of catchup.

We went further north in Laos to Luang Prabang and did some trekking to a few hill tribe villages and kayaking down some of their amazing rivers. The villages were a very cool experience, particularly the one on the top of a mountain. Not only were the huts very beautiful, but the people were so friendly and all seemed so happy despite their poverty. The little girls all came to hang out with me and I attempted to teach them patty-cake and ring-around-the-rosy. A few of them were in special traditional costumes for their holidays which was cool to see. And Mom - don't worry about me - Craig's always on the lookout - such a goof!

2010!

Hey friends!

Hope all is well with you wherever you are. We're in Singapore right now and its raining - a rare sight for Craig & I to see.

So much has happened since the last time I posted and I'm not quite sure where to start but I will begin by saying a huge thank you to all of you who have been praying for us and helped financially support us allowing us to partner with not only Christian Vet Missions in Mongolia but also with Athletes in Action in Thailand.

Our time working alongside of the local AIA staff Sao (pronounced Sow) was very interesting and encouraging. She has quite the ministry in Chang Mai and countless opportunities to impact her community and local athletes. Craig & I worked together to conduct several basketball clinics at schools where she is busy building relationships and sharing Christ using sports as her in. There were some long days but the schools were so appreciative and it was a fun opportunity for Craig & I to coach basketball together and share a bit of our life stories and how faith has changed our lives with the athletes in attendance.



We spent about 10 days in Chang Mai and then travelled further north to Nong Chai to a Sports Conference where men & women from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Mynmmar, Singapore, Vietnam & the USA came to learn more about how to use sports as a vehicle to create positive change in their communities and challenge athletes and fans to consider the impact Jesus Christ might have in their every day lives. I was asked to be one of the speakers and lead a session on Discipleship Through Coaching. It was very amazing to see so many gathered from many different countries - passionate about their faith and desiring to spread Jesus' love - even when many of their countries vehemently oppose Christianity or religion of any kind. The gentleman from Mynmmar spent 25 hrs+ travelling to be at this conference - including walking for many kilometers just to get to the closest bus station. It was also very exciting to hear many of the things these people have been doing with limited funds, facilities and staff. Many are running huge soccer leagues and tournaments that include athletes sharing testimonies and weekly Bible studies, others are helping to facilitate KidsGames (an internationalling recognized children's program teaching children spiritual values and friends through sports and games. To-date, over 4 million children in more than 150 countries have participated in KidsGames). Craig & I had the chance to encourage and be inspired these young men and women and had very interesting converstaions throughout the week learning about the politics in their countries and the challenges of being a Christian. I also really enjoyed my time teaching and sharing about the many opportunities a coach has to influence athletes in a positive way and how to integrate sport and faith.


From the conference, we headed even further north to communist Laos to do some outreach work at the Southeast Asia Games. We had a team of 12, Sao, Craig & myself as well as a number of staff from Bangkok's Campus Crusade for Christ came along. We spent 6 days talking with athletes from all over SE Asia and giving them a DVD with famous Christian Olympic Athletes sharing their life story and the role faith has played in their growth as both an athlete and as a person. The whole experience was a lot of fun including watching asians play table tennis! Craig & I also got a chance to take in a sold out soccer game of Laos vs. Malysia (I thought the SK RoughRider fans were crazy but this was maddening - they love their soccer!)

If you could continue to pray for all the athletes we were able to talk with over the course of the month we spent with AIA - that would be awesome - that their hearts would be open and questioning of the bigger questions in life and that there would be local Christians to follow-up.


Its late here now, so I'll sign off for now and catch you up to speed on the rest of our travels through Laos, Southern Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore!

Christmas in Thailand

Happy Boxing Day! It's been a while since our last post, so I think it's obvious that the novelty of 'blogging' has worn off and we would much rather spend time exploring this part of the world than writing about it. I'll still try my best to keep up with what we've been doing.
Yesterday , we woke up to Christmas morning in our tent on the beach in Phuket. Most of Phuket is over-developed and crowded with foreigners, but we camped at a little beach near the north of the island where it was still very quiet. For Christmas morning, we skipped the gift exchange (neither of us had remembered to buy gifts) and instead went for a walk on the beach. We walked about 1km down the perfect-sandy beach, and saw only 3 other white couples. We also saw a huge jellyfish while we were swimming, a stingray hanging out right near the shore, a baby turtle and tons of those little crabs that scurry along the beach. There were also a few Thai people fishing and collecting crabs. I think it has been my most memorable Christmas morning so far. I think the whole month of December I was so glad not to have cheesy Christmas carols playing, and Santas and Christmas trees at every corner. But on Christmas Eve, I was starting to miss the 'real' part of Christmas- being home with all the family and friends, and hanging out with the people that are most important to me. But I think it was very cool to have such a different Christmas, and to realize that December 25th is a day just like the other 364 days of the year. We shouldn't save our love for family for one day of the year, and you don't need a Christmas tree to celebreate the birth of our saviour. I think its nice to have a time of year where everyone is able to (usually) go home and spend time with family, but if that doesn't happen, it makes no sense to cry about it, but instead make the time that you do spend together in March or August count.

Mongolia from Suz's Perspective

Hey Friends!

We are in Thailand now and our bodies are lovin the heat! What a change from Mongolia! We're in Chiang Mai working with Athletes In Action for the month but I wanted to share some of my thoughts about Mongolia too - so here's my two bits...

When we arrived back to VET Net headquarters after our trip to the countryside of course the ultimate question was, "So, how was the trip?" Craig & I had to take some time to think about how to answer that question cause honestly the trip definitely had some real highlights but also some very frustrating moments. We've come up with the very safe adjective... "interesting"

But now that we've had a chance to share more about the trip to different people I think the frustrating moments will become less frustrating and the amazing things we experienced will become more amazing! And already the lessons we've been learning about God are beginning to crystalize.

Lesson #1. Mongolians do not keep time like Canadians! And when you have only limited information - like breakfast at 8 and vet training at 10 but you show up & everyone's still sleeping@ 9 and then we're still eating breakfast at 10 - okay if it happens once, but by the 3rd time - frustrating... always waiting around not knowing the schedule and being cold! But definitely God taught us a lot about patience and utilizing our time in different ways - we got a ton of time to read the Bible and do lots of thinking. And it was good to just observe the culture and appreciate that although they recognize they are a little poor they have very little stress & live a pretty peaceful existence. We also realized that without some of those delayed schedules we would've missed out on opportunities to: pull a stranded family in their jeep out of the river, push a car with a couple of guys out of a trench & share the gospel with a couple of military soldiers while our van's transmission was being fixed.

Lesson #2. Language was a much bigger issue than we expected! We had a translator but really, its hard to translate everything and she couldn't be around 24/7. And trying to carry conversations over supper - that was a lot harder than we anticipated... after we asked about family, work & weather conversation would usually peeter out - not sure if culturally they just don't ask foreigners questions or what but it often left us feeling more like bystanders than contributing "missionaries" And that was its own lesson too. I think we both had to swallow our pride & learn that we don't need to be center stage. That sometimes God just asks us to observe and pray for those around us. We also learned we were the first shuttle to make the trip all the way to the most western part of Mongolia and many of these people had not met many foreigners - so part of it is just breaking ground for the future.

Lesson #3. We didn't feel like we really contributed a ton to the trip - 17 days of driving, Craig did 5 presentations & powerpoints on a vet topic that lasted about an hour each & I spoke only twice sharing my journey of faith and the Gospel message that took about 15-20 min each. In the back of our minds we were like, "They probably could have done this trip without us. However, we were reminded upon our return by some veteran long term missionaries that you never know just who we impacted and how. And not only that, as educated foreigners we're able to bring interest in VET Net and help them grain credibility as a reputable organization. They also stressed that likely, the very act of making a trip like that to the very furthest outreaches of Mongolia in late fall just to encourage & train the remote vets spoke greater volumes than anything we might have had to actually say.

And Lesson #4. Spending as much time as we did in the van with the 4 other Mongolians also gave us a chance to observe and interact with the Mongolian culture in ways that we would never have been able to as a tourist. In the 22 days we were on the road in all kinds of weather conditions and with all kinds of situations arising (driving out of a city in the middle of a snow storm so as not to be quarantined by HINI, crossing rivers not quite frozen, attempting to find the little towns along the way first try with no real road or signs, cooking meals in the cold while stopped for lunch on the side of the road, dealing with van repairs & so much more) we didn't hear any of our Mongolian friends complain. That was both incredible to us and a challenge to us. Seeing how Mongolians live and yet how happy and hospitable they are really made an impact on us. And that too is a lesson in itself.

Lesson #5. We have likely received more than we have given... For example: We attempted to have a devotion (thought for the day/reflection on a Bible passage) each day with our group - either over breakfast or on the road. We all took turns sharing and if Craig & I's devotions had as much impact on them as theirs did on us - then maybe that was what the trip was all about. One of the most stand out devotions was from our driver Toodoo. Toodoo's testimony is pretty amazing - his bride of only a few years got very ill and passed away leaving him with a little girl to raise, angry at his situation he drank away the pain and spent the next several years as an alcholic and left his daughter with a brother to raise.One day he was invited to a Christian conference that came to town and that was the beginning of hope he said - hope for a different life. Over the next couple years he searched more into what a relationship with Jesus is all about and later asked Jesus to be the Lord of his life. He's a changed man - no longer an alcoholic and remarried with 5 children you would never have guessed his life had hit the kind of lows it had - so happy, peaceful and full of laughter. Anyways, Craig & I had spent much of our full day driving talking about our future once we get back to Canada. We planned out what kind of house we'd love to build someday and thought about family vacation spots etc. etc. In Toodoo's devotion that day he shared about the importance of acknowledging that no matter what plans we make we must always remember it will only happen if it is God's will. Such a simple reminder but perfect timing for Craig & I who'd gotten very caught up in all kinds of future planning without once thinking that its only if the Lord wills. And it was a lesson we'd have to keep at the front of our minds. We were anxious to get back to the city from our countryside and we'd make plans about how the travel would look for the day and then it would rarely pan out as expected and we had to just relax and remind ourselves we would get back to the city when God intended us to and not a moment sooner.

I'm sure with more time and reflection there will be more that Craig & I learn from our adventures but I wanted to at least share some. I know many of you who have been praying for us must be curious to hear about how God has been working. I hope that gives you some insight. Thank you again for all your prayers. If you can continue to pray for the Mongolian people and now also for the Thai children and athletes we are working with - that hearts would be open to hear about Jesus and his desire to be a very real part of our daily lives and that it has nothing to do with prooving to God that we are good enough - that would be awesome!

Lots of love

suz

Mongolia-more pics

Here are some more pics from our trip to the countryside

Slaughter House ................... Yak-Cattle Cross

........................................................ Mongolian block heater

Not our van

...................................................... Yak milking

Yak-mosque ..................................... town

................................................ They love to wrestle

Our roadmap ..................................My Birthday