My birthday and Christmas were great. For my birthday, we went down to the beach an hour away and then came back and had dinner at a good Italian restaurant called Bella Ciao. Christmas began with having the 30 and under crowd over to our apartment for brunch. We all cooked and brought things and it was really good. Later in the afternoon, we went over to one of our boss’ house where about 25 ex pats were gathered for dinner and to do a gift exchange. It was nowhere near what my birthday and Christmas are like at home, but it was probably as good as they can get for being so far away!
I do have one a story about my favorite birthday present that I wanted to share. As I mentioned earlier, we went to the beach about an hour south of here. Now, as you drive to the beach, you drive along the coast, where the Tsunami came up and destroyed everything. The aftermath is still visible in the shacks that are loosely constructed lining the coast line, the absence of trees, and the presence of lakes that did not previously exist in areas away from the shore.
When we arrived at the resort, after lounging by the pool for a while, we made our way out to the beach. We were quickly seen by the locals and soon three children appeared by our sides. Once the children realized that we weren’t going to buy anything, the two boys started talking to my roommate, and the girl began to talk to me. We discussed the usual topics, where I am from, what grade she is in school, if she was around when Tsunami hit, etc. Her name was Olivia, and she was 11 years old, in Standard 6 in school. She proceeded to ask me if we were staying at the resort for the weekend. I told her that we were just down for the day. She continued to ask why we were down for the day, and I told her that it was my birthday.
We continued to talk for a few more minutes before she made her way back to the area where her family and friends were selling items. I continued to walk along the beach, and after a few minutes she came back down to me again. When she returned she had a small heart shaped necklace charm, and said, “Here, this is for your birthday, Happy Birthday!”. I was blown away. I could not comprehend how this 11 year old girl…who had been in Tsunami…who has nothing…lives in shack on the beach selling cheap jewelry to tourists…could be moved to give me a gift for my birthday. It still floors me. I think that it is one of the most concrete ways in which I have ever seen the love of Christ manifested in human form and interaction. That was my first thought in response to the situation, and it has stuck with me. I think it may be the best birthday present that I have ever received, and it provided me exceeding joy and peace about the fact that I was and continue to be miles and miles away from home this holiday season. So simple, yet so cool and meaningful. God works in amazing ways to move us and provide for us.
Tonight we are off to Thailand for six days, and I will post more pictures and stories when I return. Happy New Year!

As promised (to some of you) here are the pictures of the creepy Santas that were caravaning around town last weekend. There were 6-8 busses of them.

Unsettling, no?

Also, this is how we roll in S. Asia:

finally, just because i like it, a picture at one of our favorite restaurants, Bella Ciao:

tonight: Christmas Play at church and hanging out with the group

tomorrow: tomorrow beach and dinner at bella ciao for my birthday

Sorry that it has been a while since I’ve written. Life has been very busy here, and continues to be, so this will be a quick update. I am doing well, lots of things have been happening…one big and sadly unsuccessful raid, weddings, christmas parties, friends departing back to the states for the holidays. We have been moving and shaking here. So much so that the other night when we got home I fell asleep on my bed before I even ate dinner or did anything, because I was so exhausted. But it’s a good exhausted.
I’d like to tell you guys about one huge thing that has been taking up my time. Our office is in the process of doing a program evaluation for the aftercare (social work) department to measure how effective our services are that we provide for our rescued victims. Now, this is a task that I would much prefer to pass up. Statistics was my least favourite class in undergrad, and I more or less cursed it as I endured three of its miserable courses. However, here it comes to haunt me despite my best attempts to evade it.
But, as I have been going through the laborious process of doing data entry and getting ready to run tests on these surveys, I have been confronted with some very cool things. The surveys contain lots of questions about what was helpful to the victims, etc. and on quite a few surveys, one of the most meaningful things for the victims has been their release from bonded labour. It is amazing to see that in their words and know that it has remained as a life changing event for them. This may seem as though it would be obvious to some of you reading this for them to say that, but it is just a powerful thing to be able to read it and know that you are a part of that life change for people. And all of you, as my supporters are part of it as well.
I just wanted to share that with you all, and bring some joy and encouragement to your Christmas season. I will try and update again soon and throw in some pictures.