35 hours: home again, safe again...

As we were passing through Udon Thani on our way home, Dad had another wild idea of his to explore some ancient structures! He's always random, yet awesome. Geography lesson on glacial erosion! It was so cool to see red paintings on the stones by people of the prehistorical age who were illiterate. Can you spot the elephant?

Poor lulu was stung by a wasp but she was calm about it, first aid taught her well. So after this educational stop, we are back on the road again! I'm not going into detail about this journey but I shall just say that my heart was in my mouth half the time. No, really. It was scary. Those oncoming monster trucks need to learn to keep to their lane. Dad said he'll never do this again! He better promise.

2am, home sweet home. "Now, that was crazy" exclaimed Dad. Roadtrip =Drove 35 hours, covered about 2000km. Incredible memories! Wait... I didn't tell you about the policeman who wanted coffee money from us! ahh, you can just fit that into the story yourself!

Indulgence (Day 3)

Food, food and more food! They were yummy. What a treat. Vientiane offers travellers a mix of Lao customs and lots of evidence of French colonisation. We spent a lovely afternoon chilling out. I love places where I can just sit and relax. It's such a great feeling. That aside, we went back to the embassy and got a 2 month visa! Praise the Lord!

Amazing Race (Day 2)

So here we go again...in order to be at the Thai embassy by noon before the gate closes on us, we're on the road at 6am! We had another 2 hrs drive, before we parked our truck for the night, took a tuk-tuk to the border, got on a bus to cross the Thai-Laos friendship bridge and lastly booked a taxi straight to the embassy! Woah, try saying that in one breath. Throughout that ordeal, it was 40 degrees with very nasty people trying to cut in line and we were made to pack like sardines. I am sure you can guess how exhausted we were by now...but thats not it!

We were greeted by a sea of 'farangs' (foreigners) at the embassy. We got our ticket number and we had 700 people before us! Groans. Their queue system, or more like no system at all, was just terrible. Obviously there were grumpy people all around! Chaotic zoo! Best place to catch swine flu. Thankfully no fights broke out. (Though I secretly thought it would be exciting to see one hehe.)

Finally after 4 hours of waiting and pushing and sitting and standing we got to hand in our application. We survived. Out of those gates into freedom! Too much fun in a day.

A crazy roadtrip (Day 1)

All afternoon- I drift in and out of sleep as my playlist is on repeat. We've been on the road for over 10 hours by now, with only 2 toilet breaks. I have been forced to have a bladder of steel.

8.30pm- My "pi gu hen tong ahh!" We need to fill up the tank, it reads empty but there was no gas station in sight! I start thinking about how we are going to push the truck. "Okay, we ought to pray!"

9pm- Suddenly out of nowhere we see a big multicoloured arrow blinking ahead of us, "GAS STATION!" You won't know how thrilling it was to see those neon lights. Thank you, God! Redbull+ cupnoodles= a totally acceptable dinner combination.

10pm- Windy mountain road conditions was getting worse. I regret sleeping so much through the day! I realise now that I haven't mentioned we're driving to Vientiane, the capital of Laos, to do another visa application.

1030pm- A truck on the opposite direction flashes his headlights at us, we wonder why... another truck comes along and honks at us! Now Dad decides to take that as some sort of warning and slows down. What was up ahead totally blew us away! If those 2 "angels" did not forewarn us, you guys would have gotten news that we've been flattened by elephants. It is moments like these that each day of my life feels like a miracle!

Midnight- Cannot 'tahan' already! Numbness through my body. Dad jokes about how we've to spend the night in toyota hotel. I do appreciate trying new things, but any longer in that box would leave my body's functions a little haywired.

1am-We finally found a guesthouse! Crash into bed.

Ah, another stamp

Today we made a day trip into Laos for our visa run. We took a boat ride in and had the best yogurt milkshake ever! Sure has been quite a week. Okay, I'm going to turn in now. I must sleep early tonight, for we have Easter sunrise service at Baan-nana, 5am!

On the island

Carrying 10kg of books was backbreaking. Guys out there doing road march, you're amazing! We left Mae Sai at 6:30am and only arrived at about 10:30pm due to flight delays. That very night, we indulged in all the sinful yummy Singaporean food at Bedok Hawker. It feels funny to be back here again!

a very merry Christmas!

For the first time on Christmas day I woke up at 6am! I was super groggy tired because of the night before. Nonetheless, can I say I had an amazing time going on this outreach to all the police stations with the Lisu kids! Gave out bibles, build relationships with the authorities. There was no greater joy than seeing the love the kids had for the Lord.

"But how are they to call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone telling them?" Romans 10:14

to the mountains and back

As promised, a little more on our recent trip. It consisted of beautiful events leaving me with many happy memories.

01. I can't think of any other colour that makes me as calm as a warm natural green. My eyes were able to soak up these lovely surroundings.

02. There seems to be surprising beauties that reward the early riser, only to hide again when the rest of the world wakes up.

03. Enjoyed long walks reflecting as the year wraps up and change begins once more.

04. We travelled at the back of a pickup truck to the different villages. The wind chill was unbearable. My nose and ears felt like dropping off. Did you know when you're cold, goose pimples are an obvious sign and you want to pee!

05. I survived the cold! Felt like a sandwich. I had my thermal wear on, my vest, sweatshirt, outer coat, headwear, gloves and woolen socks.

06. In my 20 years, I've never wrapped so many presents before! The entire room was filled with colourful packages. One reason I adore Christmas. By the way, we have exactly 7 days before Christmas!

07. Night program for the villages.

08. We gave out hundreds of tracts. This boy was reading it out loud to his illiterate mother and the lady next to them was listening in too! Believe it or not, God can even use an unbeliever to share the faith.

" Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. " Psalm 96:2-4

she makes me feel old

Throughout one's life there is usually some people who leaves a lasting impact on us. This lady will be one of them in mine. The best thing about my trip was getting to know Elder Yeh who is 90 years old. Yes, can you imagine being 90 on a mission trip into villages! Hats off to her- it takes a lot to travel such mountainous dirt roads and brave the cold at that age.

I knew her as the VIP always at my primary school's events and when she prayed, she had such a dynamic voice which filled every corner of the school hall. Till this day, that has not changed one bit. At 4:30am before any single soul is awake, you can hear her praying.

The joy of the Lord is so evident in her life! She's just overflowing with God's love. No matter how tired you are, I promise you, you would never be able to sleep in a message she gives. She brings God's word with power through her expressions, humor, life stories. Most importantly, she speaks from her heart right into mine.

"Don't you dare think that God loves me more than you in any way!" God shows no favouritism. We all have equal worth. Whether you are a pastor, a sunday school teacher, someone who buys flowers for the church santuary each sunday, God has no ranking system! What a comforting reminder it was for me.

What legacy would you leave?

i heart B/W

Though it was just about a 4 hr journey to the mountains, I feel like I've returned from China! Thank you so much for your prayers. Back soon with details.

find me beyond the blue

Chains be broken

Lives be healed

Eyes be opened

Christ revealed

Off to the mountains, to 3 different villages for the next 6 days! The pastor there informed us that it's about 5 degrees. Now at home, I'm already in 2 thick woolen pullovers, high socks and sleeping in a sleeping bag + comforter. How am I going to survive up there? Don't ask me.

If you won't mind praying for us, I would really appreciate it! For: Journey mercy; Lois's violin won't go out of tune because of the cold weather and our hearts would sing unto the Lord as we do some musical items, helping out in a Nantah graduate Christmas celebration.

Hope you all are having a great day and week ahead! Until monday.

synergy

Hello there, I just got back from the mountains of Hua Mae Kham. The 3hr journey was one of the most torturous I've experienced. It was really no joke. There were no proper roads, the van we hired could not go to some parts so my dad had to drive back and forth. We crossed a little stream and our truck is not even a four wheeler! But it was such a fruitful ministry. Thanks to the Tan and Moi families! For the next 3 days we'd be having a VBS here, please pray along with us!

I am exhuasted - my weary eyes are closing- but when tomorrow comes He'll put a new song in my heart!

full of sunshine

A day out on the mekong river with a sweet dog named scruff. Too bad we couldn't take Aragon along. I get to say I stepped into another country -Laos! I thoroughly enjoyed wandering through this village. Wishing weekends like that could last a little while longer.

I'm going to eat homemade shepherd's pie!