Gratitude

I believe that of all the virtues, gratitude is probably the most neglected and least expressed. Too many people are like the son of the immigrant shopkeeper who came to his father, complaining "Dad, I don't understand how you run this store. You keep accounts payable in a cigar box. You accounts receivable are on spindle. All your cash is in the register. You never know what your profits are."

"Son," answered the shopkeeper, " let me tell you something. When I arrived in this land, all I owned was the pants that I was wearing. Now your sister is an art teacher. Your brother is a doctor. You are a CPA. Your mother and I own a house and a car and this little store. Add all that up and subtract the pants and there is your profit."

Excerpt from John Maxwell's book "Everyone Communicates Few Connect".

House Churches

There is a very strong and influential Christian Community in Singapore. The key to the growth and success of the churches here has been through House Churches, also called Cell Groups. There is freedom of worship and religion in Singapore but there are strict restrictions on open evangelizing. As a result most evangelism happens through one on one relationships. Friends and colleagues are often invited to these house groups and touched by the love and care of Christians. Relationships are built and pastoral care begins through the house church leaders and pastors. On any given night you can walk through the high rise government housing and condos and you will hear Christian praises being sung and Bible teaching and preaching being taught. You can also usually find a one of these Christian home groups by all the shoes sitting outside the door. Religious activities are not the only part of the house church. Food and fellowship alway follow. There are numerous large church buildings and large congregations throughout Singapore but all of them will tell you that they grew bigger because they grew smaller.

Rainy Days and Mondays Never Get Me Down

The rain is always welcome! Singapore is in the tropics which means it is always hot and humid. In other words it is three showers a day, sticky! They say there is a rainy season here, but I cannot tell you when that is? It does rain frequently, but to me it seems like almost everyday. Lately Singapore has experienced the heaviest rains ever. The main shopping road, Orchard Road, has been flooded twice in the last month. This has never happened before according to memory of everyone we know. We do not mind the rain as it keeps the sun from adding to the heat and humidity.

Landed!

I looked up at the arrivals screen at Singapore's Changi Airport. Flight 252 Eva Airlines from Taipei has landed! My wife, Debra, has landed safely and now there is a wait as she checks through immigration. Belt 21 is behind the glass walls. People are trickling in and gathering around the luggage belt. Finally! There she is! What a welcome site as we both peer through the glass with big smiles. Five to ten minutes later she pushes her cart loaded with three bags past the security guards and through the sliding glass doors. Welcome home! A kiss and a hug and much conversation about our lives over the last three weeks. The taxi drive loads the three bags into the trunk of the car (or "boot" as they call it here) and off we go to our new home.

Every flight that comes in and out of Singapore is an international flight. It is very large and beautiful airport with three regular terminals and one budget terminal. The airport is always full of people from everywhere! Every race and language you could imagine is present. People in their traditional clothes fill the airport. I love coming so I can "people watch." It is so wonderful to see people unite in so many ways. Joy fills the air as the glass doors open and families re-unite.

A Friend from Home

Living in a new country is exciting as you build new international relationships, but a visit from a friend from home is so refreshing! James McGee, a long time friend, spent last evening with me as we went to a nice Indian restaurant for dinner and after had coffee together. I performed the marriage vows for James and his wife, Grace, some years ago. James is a pilot for UPS will be coming through Singapore occasionally. I look forward to our time together. Debra and I have always enjoyed and looked forward to friends and visitors from the USA. If any of you are coming "to" or "through" Singapore, please contact us. We would enjoy hosting you. You would bring refreshment to us.

Sometimes You Eat The Fish & Sometimes The Fish Eat You!

Yes! It is what you are seeing! I came off the escalator and asked myself, "Why do those people have their feet in the aquariums at the pet store?" Then I thought those must be fake feet for some kind of attraction or promotion. Neither! This was a massage and relaxation store. I guess this is some kind of treatment that either tickles you when the minnows nibble or some weird cleansing technique. This is a first for me. I must share this with all my fishing buddies back in the States. After a long hard day of bass fishing make sure that you do not use up all the bait. Stick your feet in the bait bucket and relax!

Perfect Oatmeal. NOT!

I said that I would share the joys, adventures and challenges of living in a country that is not your own. Well, here goes a minor challenge. I rushed off to Starbucks to get on the internet to handle some business on Skype back in the USA. I do not have a internet connection at our apartment yet (I have been using a weak signal from someone else). I noticed that the Starbucks had oatmeal like in the states. I ordered Oatmeal with all the fixins'. Normally that means in the States, hot oatmeal with raisins, nuts and brown sugar. Normally the Starbucks people are super nice but I got a look that is normally foreign from Starbucks' workers. Obviously oatmeal is not a normal breakfast here. He then asked if I wanted hot milk or cold milk on my oatmeal. I said cold, thinking that the cold milk would cool down the hot oatmeal. He served it to me and immediately I knew something was wrong! I cautiously picked up the normally too hot oatmeal and it was cold! I proceeded to open it to find cold milk poured onto dry, uncooked oatmeal. YUK!