South Asia – March || Tim

One of the best parts about our first week in SE Asia was staying with a very hospitable, missionary couple. Jim and Brianna are newly weds and expecting their first child. They just moved to their rental house from the US a couple months ago. Jim has been serving the Lord among a particular people group here in the country for the past eight years. We also enjoyed the company of a small family from this particular people group whom Jim and his friend led to faith in Christ. Their young daughter, So-prey-pew, is full of energy and life. They took us into town by way if the local train, and for a small fee of about $0.20 each, we enjoyed an hour-plus ride of seeing the beautiful and bustling city-scape. We also learned about many local foods which added to our repertoire of SE Asian experiences.So-prey-pew's parents have been displaced from their home by fighting in their region and persecuted by their community because of being Christian. I really enjoyed our translated conversations about our common faith in Christ. We would call each other "brother." When we told him that we were going to be working at a refugee camp he made he comment that we "need to be careful." So I asked him what he meant by being "careful" and he paused then smiled and said, "just pray everyday." I laughed and agreed. His family had been living in a refugee camp.One of the nights, two other families came over to the house and we did a Passover Sader dinner. It was such a great reminder of God's salvation for us in Christ, and it was neat to meet other missionary families who have been serving the Lord in SE Asia. That is defiantly something that has really enlightened and encouraged us: to meet brothers and sisters who are serving our Lord in the various ways that He has directed them. We all agreed that staying with Jim and Brianna was WAY better than staying at a hotel! Just to meet them has been a huge blessing to us on this first leg of the trip. May the Lord bless them and their ministry.By the way, about the third or fourth night there, while I was taking a bucket shower, I broke out into laughter as I realized that I was taking a bath with a dog bowl. The cool water is so refreshing after a hot day, and dumping a dog-bowl-size bucket of water over your head is quite satisfying--much more satisfying than a regular shower head, we all agreed!Tim