I was so blessed this Christmas! It was my first one away from home and so I wasn't always as positive about it as I should have been in the lead up because I'd be away from my wonderful family and friends, and it wouldn't be the same. But God gave us an extra Christmas miracle (besides the pretty important one of sending His son): understanding. Of course none of our Christmas's would be as we are used to, but that's ok because Christmas is all about Jesus and He is everywhere. Germany and Sweden celebrate Christmas on the 24th, so we had two Christmas days (because we have a German and a Swede in our team, if you didn't know). The five of us went out for brunch on the 24th and had an unusual breakfast - I had carrot cake, passion fruit sorbet, red berry sorbet and a frozen mint chocolate drink. I figured as it was a hot Christmas, so for the summery foods.
So we started well, with a lot of delicious food and a relaxed time of fellowship with these four wonderful sisters of mine.
We'd prepared small care packages the da before, and so spent our afternoon walking the streets finding people the hand them out to as we felt led by God. It was a really humbling and encouraging time, and very hot! There's one lady I want to tell you about quickly, as she was the face of Christmas for me this year (for those of you who got an email from me, I apologise for the copy pasting). We had one package left and I felt that I should give it to an old lady selling street food. She looked very confused to start with and didn't take the gift, but when she began to understand it was free and an expression of God's love and our love for her, the biggest and brightest smile spread across her wrinkled face, bringing it to life. It's the same with God - He gave us Jesus as the greatest expression of His love for each one of us and when we accept Him, our life is brightened forever. This is why I love Christmas!
Before heading home to refresh before church, three of us were introduced to a wonderful delicacy of Thailand - the banana roti. Why to hasn't happened earlier in our trip I do not know, but that will not be the last before we leave. It was amazing! The mix egg and mushed up banana together, fry it in a thin dough circle and fold in into a square, then drizzle with condensed milk and chocolate sauce. Yum!
We went to the church we have been working with during our stay here in the evening and had pizza, popcorn, fruit and s'mores for dinner, again in very large portions. We sang carols, and it vaguely reminded me of the Christmas Eve service at my church (but it wasn't near as good, but I am quite biased).
Christmas morning number two started with a Skype call to the family at 7am my time which is 12am midnight, so just Christmas for them. It was a really special start to the day, and I even got to watch some of Love Actually with them! They started my christmas off in the best way possible, thank you so much for staying up guys.
When the others were up we began Christmas with our focus on the 'reason for the season' by reading the Bible story and praying together. It's so special to be with people who really share your faith and understand how important it is to you. The five of us have been through a lot together over the last three months, so it was lovely to spend such a significant day with them! We then did stocking and present opening. The giving of gifts brings such joy, doesn't it?!
We'd decorated the small communal area we have upstairs and this was our Christmas tree, Thai style.
Breakfast consisted of banana muffins (thank you macro), croissants (thank you tesco - felt so funny doing a last minute Christmas shop in tesco! Please don't judge me, they were things you couldn't buy in one of the hundreds of markets here, and I was searching for mice pies which sadly weren't to be found), fruit, chocolate and other sweets. We all mooched for a while before I carried on the tradition (now two years old) which I am determined to continue of playing jungle speed.
A group of us went out for a late Christmas lunch to a restaurant near by. Oh my word! This was my Christmas dinner.
Yes, it did indeed consist of fish and chips! Well, I wanted something British and this is the closest I could come, and it was so good. There was also an unlimited salad bar, so I had carrot sticks, celery sticks, lettuce, pepper, spinach, mange-tout and other veg for the first time in months. Now, I would have felt extremely blessed if we had had rice and dhal because that's yummy too and Christmas isn't about food, but boy God is so good and loves to give His children joy in many ways. I was very joyful! For the first time ever, I went to the cinema and saw a film (I keep saying movie, help, I'm being americanised) on Christmas Day. It was the new Disney one, Frozen, which was very funny and a great one to watch when you're used to Christmas in a cold country.
The evening was full of more joy brought through the wonders of technology. I spoke to some of my family, which was so wonderful as they're all at my home for Christmas so it's ever more bizarre not being there. The rest of my new family from India were also online so we could talk to them for the first time since we left - I miss them a lot, going from shari everything to not having much contact is challenging, so it was great to briefly hear their voices again. Then the icing on the Christmas cake (or fruit cake in my case, thanks to Becka!) was being able to wish one of my best friends, Ruth, a Merry Christmas too. All in all, it was a truly great Christmas, full of God, friends and fun.
This will be my last blog before we leave for Cambodia on Saturday. We are going there for a month to work with a couple of projects we have made contact with in the capital, which sound really exciting! I thought I'd briefly fill you in on a couple more things about my time in Thailand before I wrap it up. We will have been here for a little over two weeks when we leave, and it's been very different from how I imagined and what I expected. There has been less 'doing' and more being 'done' on in a way as God has really stretched me and challenged me in many ways since leaving the routine of life in India. The English school and church we have been working with has been great, and I love this ministry and am really grateful for having been able to catch a glimpse of what they're about. We got to observe an English class for two days last week, and I loved it! We also got to go into the local 'slum' area and spend an hour with some of the kids there, seeing another tiny area of work being done.
Of course, I couldn't finish before mentioning a food experience, this is Thailand after all. I have now eaten a whole fish! I had done it before, but with mum's help in Kenya, so I now feel very grown up because I conquered this all on my own. It was quite tasty - so good to have fish again - but sadly it wasn't very hot, and there were fish eggs and intestines which weren't very yummy.
Please pray for us on Saturday as we travel. We will leave very early, and will be on the road all day before reaching Phenom Penh pretty late that evening. If you could pray for extra grace for each other despite our tiredness, for an easy crossing into Cambodia and generally smooth travel, we would really appreciate it! Thank you. I'm really looking forward to Cambodia and all that God has in store for us there, and will endeavour to keep you updated whilst we're there, but who knows what the Internet access will be like, so please continue to be patient. Have a wonderful rest of Christmas, however long you extend it for, and a blessed last few days of 2013!
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