Last Sabbath... Dash Point park!

My last Sabbath!! My brother and Nathan and Nichole went out to the park to enjoy the sunshine. Then we just hung out and had dinner together... the Hwang family has truly been a support and blessing to me and my family. I will miss you much.. May God bless you in all you do.






I couldn't believe there was a tree blooming on the beach! Really beautiful...

Small hike...



Somehow I knew she'd make sure to get the sneakers in... still in my church clothes...





Snow out on the mountains.




As soon as these kids saw Nichole climbing the tree 'down', they rushed to try and get ahead of her!


Biggest horse book ever!

Pastor Teves back from the Great Controversy / Reformation tour in Europe. He crawled into the cave where the Waldenses and other Christians were hiding from the persecution of the Catholic church. They were all smoked to death for their belief in freedom of religion and the right to own bibles.

Also makes a good pillow?

tigers and waterfalls

The Erawan National park is easily the most beautiful place I have ever been. We visited the 7 tiered Erawan waterfall there (although it seemed like more?) and went swimming in the most beautiful clear blue water. After a long hike, it was really refreshing to jump into the cold water. There are even some small caves you can swim into and look at the mineral formations. The wildlife was interesting. As we went into the pools, there are a lot of fresh water fish (most of them small). They would come up and try and nibble on our legs. I don't think they could do any real dammage, but it was more just um, weird. There were several little monkies we say picking fruit up in the trees. Most of them were really shy, but there was one male that attacked the hikers in front of us and tried to grab a bag. I think he was just scared or had his family close by. The hike was awesome and it definitely made me miss the mountains back home...

Later we went to visit the Tiger temple, where Ben originally wanted to volunteer at. It was an experience, but kind of a sham. I'm sure all of the tigers are drugged and they couldn't possibly be all rescues. While it was an experience touching the tigers, I was still sad at how they live there. The admittance was 400 baht per person (almost $10), and you could have special time/photos taken for 1000 baht, or you could have time to play with the tigers in the morning for 4000. It is the most crazy expensive thing I've heard of to do while I've been in SE Asia. And, on top of that, there was a girl who was attacked the month prior and had to get the tiger ripped off of her plus a ton of stitches later. It was hard to get all the details, because the volunteer had a slight speech impediment and was Austrialian (at fist I thought maybe she was just from New Zeland...) Anyway, I think the attacks are the main reason the Lonely Planet has taken the Tiger temple out of the guide book. Anyway, I wish they just portrayed the place for what it is rather than hiding behind Buddhism and a false 'tiger rescue'. I honestly have no idea what Thailand's regulations are for keeping/caring for wild animals, but I'm praying that these places (like w/ the elephants) would become more humane.

In spite of my disappointing animal encounters, I feel really blessed that I could have this time traveling and having these experiences. I'm glad God shows us an uncensored world, and I'm glad He's helped put things in perspective... but I'm most glad that someday He will make all the wrongs right, and recreate a world without suffering and injustice.

traveling, Val, the bamboo school

It's a little weird traveling in Thailand, because most people think I'm Thai. I think if I knew just a few more words, I could probably get away with it, but that really doesn't matter because I have no idea what people are saying to me. Ben, Seyha and myself went out to Kanchanaburi to visit the national park and the tiger temple. People gave us interesting looks and even more so when they learned we're from 3 different countries. That little town is so beautiful! Oh, and it has been a relief to me to see mountains again! We stayed with one of Seyha's friends, the mom of one of his classmates. Valerie was really hospitable and full of life for someone her age. I am glad to have met older missionaries who are willing to live outside of their comfort zone for the sake of helping others. Her kids have since grown and she teaches at the bamboo school (www.banbooschool.org), which is an incredible challenge and ministry. There are about 70 students/residents, mostly Burmese. The cute little girl that Val is holding is only about 5 months old, and was left in the hospital. Her mom gave birth to her, then snuck out in the middle of the night. If she only knew who she was abandoning. The kids there all have similar stories, misplaced or abandoned, but they have learned the love of God and help each other with everything. There's a pic of Val's amazing view from her back patio of the river and thick trees (including a banana tree we helped her harvest).