Krispy Kreme

Yes, all my overseas friends....scratch and sniff the screen...no licking! As mentioned in the previous post, Matt & the kids trekked 2+ hours across the water with me to investigate the rumors of a Krispy Kreme. They had a great time playing and eating! It was WAY over priced, but it was a fun outing. Maybe once a quarter we can splurge. AT

Day Trip Across the Water

We took out first day trip across the water yesterday. I wanted to attend a seminar on "hosting" in my new culture, and Matt & the kids thought it would be a good time to check out the ferries and the Krispy Kreme that everyone keeps raving about! We all had a great time. The seminar was interesting. There were several foreigners there from all over the world. It was interesting to hear what brought them to this new country: marriage, business, adventure. Our host was also very interesting. Her story of staring a business was inspiring. The kids had a blast on the "boat". We rode the "fast ferry". It felt a little like being on an airplane. You can see the seats look similar. I think this is the one our parents will like when they come to visit. Next time, we want to try the "slow ferry". We'll get to be on the deck, feed the birds, etc.
inşallah, AT

Seker Bayrami

Sunday through Tuesday/Wednesday of this week was the three day holiday of Seker Bayrami. It comes at the end of Ramazan. It is not the celebration after Ramazan, but rather Ramazan is the preparation for this special holiday in the muslim world. It would be like doing all the work of shopping and hanging the lights & decorations in the month of December, but forgetting to celebrate on the 25th. (well, not exactly like that, but you get the picture) The children walk the streets and knock on doors to receive money, candy and other treats. As a general rule, the first day is reserved for family celebrations, but the 2nd/3rd days (and this year the fourth because the first day was Sunday - their only weekend day) friends visit each others houses. We had the privilege of being invited to a new friend's house. Breakfast is the big meal of the day. That makes sense if you remember that all during Ramazan they have not had breakfast or lunch. We met at 10:30 am and ate a wonderful traditional breakfast. This was not a come and go deal. We feasted for 4 hours. After we left the "official" table, we had candies, fruit, tea, coffee, etc. etc. in the salon. It is tradition for the children to kiss the hand of an adult and then put the adults hand to their head. The adult then gives the child a cloth tissue with money inside. As you can imagine our kids really liked this. The money is now burning a hole in their pockets! It is also tradition to take boxes of chocolates to neighbors. This was a great opportunity for us to meet a few new neighbors; show our love for the people in our building; and honor the shop owners with which we have been building relationships. The next holiday is always 50 days from this one. (The start of Ramazan changes every year with the cycle of the moon.) We are not sure what it is all about, but we will be researching. Please pray with us that we are able to show respect for the people of this country by learning their traditions and customs so that we may have a voice and reveal light. AT

The Kitty Story

Well, some of you that keep up with our family on Facebook will already know most of the story, but here is what has occupied our last week: On Monday the 15th from our back balcony, we began hearing the cries of a newborn kitten, but we could not see from where the cries were coming. We often watch all ages of cats from 3months up, playing on the entanglement of patios and balconies that our building and several others come together to make. We are not sure how to get back there ourselves, but the animals find it safe and the babies use it as a jungle gym of entertainment. We delight in calling them and throwing down bits of food. This cry; however, was different. This was a cry for help. After almost 24 hours, we were finally able to see the kitten. It had worked its way onto a tiled patio adjacent to the courtyard of the building next to us. Matt went down to see what he could do to help it. He was able to stick a broom through the fence and sweep the kitten to us. We brought it upstairs to warm it and pray about what to do. In that time, the neighborhood children called us and told us that they had found two other babies. They were safely under a bush on the other side of a fence. Because of the kitten's age, we felt the best thing to do was to try to give it back to its mother. We put it in a bucket and lowered it down with a rope; dumping it out safely with its siblings. The next day we discovered that the mother had returned and moved the litter to a wood pile in the courtyard next to us. Two of the kittens were out playing. I allowed Grace to go down and love on them. You can see the picture below. The kitten we had saved was not with the bunch. We figured that it had gotten too cold from its ordeal and had not made it. Then on Friday, while Grace was playing down stairs, the kids discovered that there was a muffled cry coming from the wood. I went down and sure enough I could see the kitten's eyes. I was able to move some things around and free the kitten. As far as I could tell nothing was broken. The weather had turned a bit chilly, especially for infants, so I tried to discourage the children (with my little language) to leave the kittens alone. We made a place where they could not roam and get too cold. I watched and prayed about what to do on Saturday as the neighborhood children continued to mess with and even try to feed the kittens. I encouraged them several times to leave them alone. I know the mother was doing her best. I finally saw the mother, but she was afraid to come out with the children around teasing her. After our Sunday meeting, we discovered that the mother had chosen to move on with the stronger 2 kittens. The other was left alone. We felt like we had the choice of letting it die out in the open or trying to care for it ourselves. Well, as you can guess, we brought it upstairs. There are no shelters to take animals, and we were not able to find formula replacement or a small bottle. I spoke with a friend of mine who is a vet in England. She gave us basic instructions, but told us the likelihood was that the kitten was too ill to make it - thus why the mother chose to leave it. Our friends connected us with a vet, but the vet would not take the kitten. He wanted our money to treat it and give it back to us. We might would have considered it, but he wanted a large sum (thought he would make a buck from some foreigners) and he could not say what the chances were of the kitten pulling though. She had bursts of energy over the 4 days we had her, but we knew the whole time she was quite sick. She did not breathe well and often stopped for long periods of time. We kept her in the decision room (click here if you don't know what that is) with a portable heater, mattress pad and many blankets and towels. We stayed in there most of the time giving her company and a warm body to curl up to. You can see the pictures of the kids doing their homeschool work with the kitten right along side them. On her last night, I put her in bed with me. I feed her small sips from a syringe and tried to care for her all night, but she slipped away about 6:15am. I wrapped her in one of William's shirts. The kids asked if they could hold her and kiss her goodbye. It was a heart breaking scene as Grace sobbed, "my baby, my baby". We have talked alot about caring for the creatures of the earth. We feel like we did our part in giving this kitty a warm and loving home for the short time she had. AT

The Coldest Pool Experience Ever!

Well, this was one of those experiences that we had ONLY because this was the one thing our children asked to do during our week away. We were told ahead of time that we would only be allowed in the hotel pool if we were wearing bathing caps. As you can imagine, Matt & I were not thrilled about that, but we were willing to lay our vanity aside for the kids. However, we were NOT expecting the fridged water! Let me just say, "WOW!" We were all bluish purple and our teeth were chattering, but the kids wanted to keep swimming! After about 45 min., we had to get out and warm up. The crazy thing is 2 days later the water was nice and toasty. This is what happens when you don't speak the language very well. We thought we were told that there was not a heater. Instead, we were told that the water would heat in a few days! AGHHHH! Lesson learned and children happy! Just glad we were not the only silly parents/American family that went swimming! AT

English Horseback Riding

One of the treats during our week in the mountains was visiting a stable. Being from Fort Worth, we, of course, have a respect for horses. The kids have had the opportunity to ride many times in the States, but this was their first experience in English saddles. William thought that it was a "girl one". (Sorry, to our European friends!) The kids also felt a cowboy hat would have protected their heads just the same. They also didn't want to wear the strap because it was like a baby bonnet. Well, what can I say, we're Texans. They did end up enjoying themselves despite the set-up. The horse was a little spirited, so they were not allowed to really ride. They were simply guided up and down a street. It was a good experience though. We keep reminding them that things are different all over the world and it is okay to have our preferences, but good to try new things, too.
Fish & Chips,
AT

Our Trip to the Mountains

I'm sorry it has been a couple of weeks. I'll write several blogs to make up for it. We attended the annual company meeting for the first time, September 8-14. We stayed in our country, but we were able to get out of the city and head about two and a half hours up into the mountains. The weather was beautiful and cool. It was a nice change. It was great to meet other company members that have a heart of the same people we do. It was wonderful to hear what the Lord is doing. We were also truly blessed by a group from the states that came as volunteers to minister to our children. They did a VBS type program with them from 8:45 - 5:00 everyday. They had a BLAST! They called it "Hotel School", and I am sure it will be a highlight every year. It is a treat to be able to worship in a "church" type setting and have a children's program. It was also reassuring to know that while we were in all day meetings, our children were being loved on and ministered to. All of the children involved attend house churches; some of them only in a native language. It is a treat to be around other children like themselves and speak/sing in English. If you are looking to do a short term volunteer trip anywhere in the world, I can testify that this was a true blessing to us and would be to any other group.

William & Grace are enjoying living on the 5th floor of an apartment building, but they were even more thrilled to be at such a high elevation in the mountains. They loved to open our window and let the clouds roll in the room. I have attached a video of it. The noise you hear is some construction below.
One of the adult highlights of the week was a "treasure trunk". They had drawings throughout the day, and if your name was called, you were able to pick a treat. (a treat being things that we are not able to find in our areas) i.e. Jiff peanut butter; cake mixes; Dr. Pepper, etc. It was really funny to see how excited grown adults could get over a bag of Twizzlers. I was the proud recipient of 4 Dr. Peppers. I tried to ration them out, but with 4 in our family they were gone in in a little over a week. Blessings, AT

In His Hands

The streets of a big city are just crazy at times. There are places that I have walked by every day for almost two months that I am just now noticing because the times before I was mostly watching my feet! I cannot count how many times one of us has turned our ankle. Someone will be on crutches before it is all said and done that is for sure. As most of you would guess, Grace has the hardest time not tripping or running into things. She almost knocked herself completely out by running into a tree the first week we were here. She has tripped over curbs, stairs and countless obstacals. There is just so much to see and distract a person. Trying to help her and keep her safe, I have been holding her hand very firmly. Of course, this has brought about many complaints from my flutterfly. I gently remind her over and over that if she would simply hold tightly to my hand she would be safe, and I would not have to be so firm. Today, as we were walking, it occurred to me that the Father says the same thing to me when I begin to loosen my grasp. How many times am I distracted by the things of this world? How many times do I take my eyes off of what is important? What do I set my eyes on that distracts me from His path? I am so grateful that He is holding tightly to my hand. I am thankful that He is willing to chastise and be firm when I begin to stray. I know I will never be out of the Father's hands. Because I have accepted His son as Savior, I will always be secure in Him. His hold on me is never ending. Now, if I will faithfully hold daily to Him, I will walk in peace and freedom. I will not grow weary for He will guide me and carry me forward. "For such is God, Our God forever and ever, He will guide us until death." PS48:14

AT
Psalm 48 - Our God great and greatly to be praised!

Meeting People Where They Are

Ramazan (or Ramadan in some countries) began August 21st. It will continue through the middle of September. During this month, many Muslims will not eat or drink (smoke and several other things) during daylight hours. This time is to be used in prayer. This is a very important time of year for them. There are many traditions, foods, and events that surround this time. One of them is "iftar". This is the evening meal where the fast is broken for the day. I had the opportunity to go with a new local friend to an Iftar celebration. It coincides with the setting of the sun and begins when the call-to-prayer happens each evening. These guys are hungry and thirsty at this point. You would be too if you ate your breakfast at 3:30 in the morning and had eaten nothing since then as well as having had nothing to drink. I was taken to a place where the “rich” people provide food for the “poor” people. My host had an invitation to the gathering and this was all of the explanation that I received. After dinner, we watched a talent show of sorts at an open-air theatre. It was good, but since I know very little of the local language, I missed a lot of the jokes. My host explained that if he did not pray his god would be angry and bad things might happen to him. So, we went to a large mosque so that my friend could pray. When I said large…I should have said huge. It is my understanding that this mosque used to be lit by thousands of candles. Through the ages they went to oil lamps and then gas lamps. Therefore, this huge dome has, hanging from the ceiling, racks of (now) electrical lights. It was an amazing architectural sight. They are probably 8’ from the ground. So you have this massive structure that has a faux ceiling at about eight foot. At first I thought that this was why despite the beauty, I felt repressed; then as the building filled with mostly men, they started chanting and bowing. I realized the real reason for the heavyness of my heart. I ached as I watched their religiosity take hold of them. I was overwhelmed by the lostness. However, I am truly thankful for the opportunity to have had this experience and relate on a personal level to my friend. It will prayerfully open doors to share the personal relationship that I have with God. I love this country and my new friends. I want them to know my Father who is only interested in relationships and who could probably care less about religiosity.

MT

Our New Additions!

We live in a very small building and since we moved here at the beginning of the Summer holiday season many of the tenants have been away. SO...we are moving pretty slowly in getting to know our neighbors. However, those that we have met are very welcoming, generous and kind. This week one of the families wanted us to come in their flat. They showed the kids a beautiful fish tank. There is a fish tank in the barber shop that the kids love to watch, so the man knew the children would love it. He gave them a wonderful little bowl and each a fish. Grace's is white. She has named it Victoria after a friend from VA school. William's is orange. He named it Nemo. "Well, what else do you name a fish?" (William's quote) I don't know my fish, but they look like "large fin gold fish". I'm guessing they can make it without a pump/filter? Not sure what we are going to do with them when we can OFT or need to change the water???? For now, we are truly grateful. Grace, especially, has needed something with which to care. I know she cannot cuddle it like a dog or cat, but perhaps it will help her express some emotions. Isn't it amazing how God knows exactly what we need!