Hey guys!
I’m in Phi Phi island and it’s absolutely fantastic! The scenery here is amazing, the weather is good and the company is great; making for a great vacation. I don’t even know if I can describe what we see here every day. The sea is a turquoise blue with sand as white as it is soft. There are islands all around us, reminding me a bit of the Cyclades, with such thick foliages that it makes one think of patches of jungle. The food here is so amazing that you just don’t want to stop eating – I’ve experienced that a couple of times, you just don’t want to leave that last piece of meat on your plate for fear that you will regret it later on in life. On every street corner there are places to get the most amazing Thai massages you could think of while looking out at the sunset. Have I described paradise yet? Because if I haven’t this is what it truly feels like – paradise on earth. As we are swimming we just keep thanking the Lord for this most amazing treat. It feels like the Lord is looking down on us smiling and saying “Enjoy my children” It just feels so good to have nothing to do and not to feel guilty about lying around doing absolutely nothing but sleeping, eating, reading and swimming. We’re on our second day and I can’t wait for the next 5!
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Phuket
Well guys, here I am in Phuket on holiday. These past few days, weeks actually, have been absolutely amazing. I've been to the middle of the Himalayas, where I stayed in a small, and I mean small, village called Haba; I've stayed in a place at an altitude of 3700m - higher than the highest mountain in Greece (Mount Olympus); I've been to Beijing; I've spent countless hours traveling (hours to be disclosed at a later time when I've figured that out); and through all of that the Lord has blessed me and my team incredibly. Throughout the next few days, as I'm slowly processing things, I plan on writing a little bit every day telling you guys about my amazing adventure in Asia, one that is not over as I am still in Thailand. For right now I just wanted to let you know that, yes I am still alive, yes I am well, and yes I'm back in civilization - not that Beijing isn't civilized but you know what I mean. Like I said at the beginning, I'm in Phuket on my way to Phi Phi island, yes it is pronounced Pi Pi, for an incredible vacation on the beach. It truly feels like a reward from the Lord and I can't wait to just sleep and see amazing sights in a gorgeous place.
Thank you for all your prayers.
Blessings
Thank you for all your prayers.
Blessings
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Thailand
My journey to Asia started uneventfully by me loosing my passport. I got home after my last yet long night from the office to not knowing where my passport was. Umm, considering the fact that I was leaving within 24 hours the panic was minimal. I searched my house in every crook and cranny, wherever I thought it could be, praying fervently but not finding it. Out of sheer fatigue, since it was 4 in the morning, I resolved to go to bed, having a sneaking suspicion that the darn thing might be at the office. The next morning at 9, as I woke up 2 hours later than I had planned, I called the office and sure enough, Jenny our secretary, found it in one of my folders. Praise the Lord! Now all I needed to do within the next 3 ½ hours was pack for a month, shower, exchange Euros into Baht and RMB, buy small gifts for the Chinese, buy some personal necessities AND get my passport from the office (a journey that usually takes an hour each way) – no sweat! Let’s just say that it was a lot of running around but by God’s grace, and lack of traffic on the roads, I managed!
The rest of the trip was really relaxing. Sarah, Debbie, Noel and I, got to the airport in good time, we had a good and healthy lunch at McDonalds and were on our way. The airplane was really nice. It was a 9 hour flight that went by really fast as we each had our own personal screen. I watched like 3 movies and had a grand time :o) We arrived in Bangkok and boarded our next airplane within the hour. I love Bangkok International Airport. It’s huge, and I mean HUGE, we walked a good 20 min to our connecting flight. The second ride was shorter but equally as sweet as I slept through the entire thing! I fell asleep before takeoff and slept all the way through till about 15 min before landing. Then all of a sudden we were in Chiang Mai. It’s so weird, you board a big, white contraption, you sit still for 9 hours, watch a few movies and all of a sudden you’re in a new country with new sights & sounds and definitely new smells. I love Thailand with its lush vegetation and exotic foods.
I’ve just come back from a wonderful day that has just felt like a reward for all the work this summer. I have just spent a day riding elephants and a bamboo raft down a river. I absolutely loved it. As we were riding the elephants I was just gazing at the jungle, listening to its sounds mingled with the clinging of the equipment on the elephants and people’s laughter in the background. What made it even more interesting was that it rained the entire time, resulting in us fighting gravity, trying to stay on the elephant and not land under it, as our seats were so slippery! LOL It must have been a funny sight seeing so many white people on elephants, pulling strange faces trying to keep from falling. It was amazing, though, sitting on the back of such a big animal walking in between the trees surrounded by God’s serene creation. What an experience.
The second thing we did today was bamboo rafting down a river. That was probably my highlight. We spent 45 min on a raft constituting of, probably around 10 big thick bamboo shoots, floating down a river. It was awesome. As we slid down the river my thoughts went to ‘The Jungle book’ when Mogli was floating down the river on Baloo’s stomach right before the monkeys came and took him, lol! We were 4 people on my raft, the driver, a couple from South Africans and myself. We stood the entire way, ducking for branches dangling over the water, trying to stay balanced on the raft as our driver tried to make us fall overboard, while having a water fight with him. Like I said we had a blast! We ended the night by going to Chiang Mai’s night market where we had another amazing meal constituting of curry rice with cashew and pineapple, pork with greens and rice and then sticky rice and mango for a desert. My stomach is very satisfied and happy right now.
Oh, I’ve got to share one major praise before I end this. I was leaving on Thursday mid-afternoon for Asia, on Wednesday morning I still had no idea how I was going to finance my time there. I had bought my tickets, with some money on my credit card but had still to pay my participation fee and have some kind of spending money. Well, I’m not going to go into all the details but by the end of the day I had paid my fee, given money I had promised to other people and had loads more money to spend and use during my time in Thailand and China! Praise the Lord Jehovah Jirah, our Provider, He did it again. Why do we ever worry about finances? The Lord promises that as we seek Him first, as we put Him in the driver’s seat, He will provide for all that we need. It is a promise I have clung to during my last 4 years in Greece yet it never ceases to amaze and stress me out at the same time. One night, as I was sitting out on the barge at Proto Astro worrying about how I was going to pay for all of this, the Lord rebuked me and basically told me that I didn’t trust Him. That was painful to realize. I’ve been living by faith for the past 4 years, I’ve seen Him provide for me time and time again yet I still worry about this. Why are we so fickle? Am I just like the Israelites who, after witnessing and living through all of the miracles the Lord did, turned right back to their old ways again? I’ve seen Him provide for me, I’ve never gone hungry, I have everything I need and then some how I still worry about what I’m going to eat, what I’m going to ware and where I’m going to sleep. Why can’t we just let go of our fleshly nature of doubt and desire of relying on oneself instead of the Lord?
I just want to leave you with this quote that’s helped me more than any other quote I’ve ever heard:
If you’re worrying you’re not trusting and if you’re trusting, you’re not worrying
I don’t know when I’ll be able to write again but until next time,
Blessings
The rest of the trip was really relaxing. Sarah, Debbie, Noel and I, got to the airport in good time, we had a good and healthy lunch at McDonalds and were on our way. The airplane was really nice. It was a 9 hour flight that went by really fast as we each had our own personal screen. I watched like 3 movies and had a grand time :o) We arrived in Bangkok and boarded our next airplane within the hour. I love Bangkok International Airport. It’s huge, and I mean HUGE, we walked a good 20 min to our connecting flight. The second ride was shorter but equally as sweet as I slept through the entire thing! I fell asleep before takeoff and slept all the way through till about 15 min before landing. Then all of a sudden we were in Chiang Mai. It’s so weird, you board a big, white contraption, you sit still for 9 hours, watch a few movies and all of a sudden you’re in a new country with new sights & sounds and definitely new smells. I love Thailand with its lush vegetation and exotic foods.
I’ve just come back from a wonderful day that has just felt like a reward for all the work this summer. I have just spent a day riding elephants and a bamboo raft down a river. I absolutely loved it. As we were riding the elephants I was just gazing at the jungle, listening to its sounds mingled with the clinging of the equipment on the elephants and people’s laughter in the background. What made it even more interesting was that it rained the entire time, resulting in us fighting gravity, trying to stay on the elephant and not land under it, as our seats were so slippery! LOL It must have been a funny sight seeing so many white people on elephants, pulling strange faces trying to keep from falling. It was amazing, though, sitting on the back of such a big animal walking in between the trees surrounded by God’s serene creation. What an experience.
The second thing we did today was bamboo rafting down a river. That was probably my highlight. We spent 45 min on a raft constituting of, probably around 10 big thick bamboo shoots, floating down a river. It was awesome. As we slid down the river my thoughts went to ‘The Jungle book’ when Mogli was floating down the river on Baloo’s stomach right before the monkeys came and took him, lol! We were 4 people on my raft, the driver, a couple from South Africans and myself. We stood the entire way, ducking for branches dangling over the water, trying to stay balanced on the raft as our driver tried to make us fall overboard, while having a water fight with him. Like I said we had a blast! We ended the night by going to Chiang Mai’s night market where we had another amazing meal constituting of curry rice with cashew and pineapple, pork with greens and rice and then sticky rice and mango for a desert. My stomach is very satisfied and happy right now.
Oh, I’ve got to share one major praise before I end this. I was leaving on Thursday mid-afternoon for Asia, on Wednesday morning I still had no idea how I was going to finance my time there. I had bought my tickets, with some money on my credit card but had still to pay my participation fee and have some kind of spending money. Well, I’m not going to go into all the details but by the end of the day I had paid my fee, given money I had promised to other people and had loads more money to spend and use during my time in Thailand and China! Praise the Lord Jehovah Jirah, our Provider, He did it again. Why do we ever worry about finances? The Lord promises that as we seek Him first, as we put Him in the driver’s seat, He will provide for all that we need. It is a promise I have clung to during my last 4 years in Greece yet it never ceases to amaze and stress me out at the same time. One night, as I was sitting out on the barge at Proto Astro worrying about how I was going to pay for all of this, the Lord rebuked me and basically told me that I didn’t trust Him. That was painful to realize. I’ve been living by faith for the past 4 years, I’ve seen Him provide for me time and time again yet I still worry about this. Why are we so fickle? Am I just like the Israelites who, after witnessing and living through all of the miracles the Lord did, turned right back to their old ways again? I’ve seen Him provide for me, I’ve never gone hungry, I have everything I need and then some how I still worry about what I’m going to eat, what I’m going to ware and where I’m going to sleep. Why can’t we just let go of our fleshly nature of doubt and desire of relying on oneself instead of the Lord?
I just want to leave you with this quote that’s helped me more than any other quote I’ve ever heard:
If you’re worrying you’re not trusting and if you’re trusting, you’re not worrying
I don’t know when I’ll be able to write again but until next time,
Blessings
Saturday, August 2, 2008
The Beginning and the End
We plan things, they happen and then they end, that is the natural process of life, but it’s always sad when it’s over. One of the last short term teams, the guys from Quebec, have just left Porto Astro and as a result my heart is heavy. The Lord blessed me so much through them. I have been given such a hard time for being French throughout my entire life and often these jokes hit harder than people think, so being at ‘home’, surrounded by French believers was such a tremendous thing for me. Since my first TEMA Missions Conference in Holland 2001-2, I’ve had a desire to be part of French worship and for the first time the Lord has granted me that desire. I didn’t have to go anywhere, He brought them to me! :o) I’ve rarely been moved to tears during worship but singing to the Lord in French made me cry. I know that a lot of people wont understand this but singing to the Lord in your language of love, your mother-tongue, is moving. Something happens in your heart, somehow it clicks. Your heart understands it, your soul feels it. It’s like when we say “I love you” in a language not our own, we’re saying the words but the true meaning of it is lost in translation. On the other hand when we say it in our own language, the language closest to our heart, we’re saying the same thing, the person is receiving it the same way but it feels different to you, it feels right. That is exactly what happened to me during French worship, my heart connected to the Lord in a way it hasn’t before, it was beautiful beyond description. I don’t think the team realized how much the Lord worked through them to encourage me and how He ministered to my heart. It was a beautiful time for me and I am really sad it is over - until the next time - and there will be a next time!!! Thank You Lord for everything you have done for me this summer, it’s only August and I am so blessed!!!!
I praise You Lord!
I praise You Lord!
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