Holiday Happenings

With the arrival of December many holiday parties have begun here. On Monday, my Daniel Bible study group had a holiday luncheon and we will break until the middle of January because more than half of the ladies are heading out of the country for the holidays, Lord willing.

Several of you have asked about the political situation here, the airports in Bangkok have been closed for over a week because political protesters had taken residence in the airports. Yesterday, the Thai legal system ruled that the current government is invalid, thus making the protesters happy and the airports will reopen on Friday, we've been told. So many of my friends have had their travel plans thwarted, and it will take many days for the backlog of travelers to get out of Thailand. Many have planned other routes, taking boats out of Thailand to Malaysia, or driving to Northern Thailand....Last week Mark had to charter aircraft to evacuate any Exxon visitors in the country. I assume if we would have had an emergency they would have done the same for us? Just thankfully Mark was in the country and we had no travel plans.

The political unrest has been very damaging to the Thai people, so much of their industry is tourism and that has taken a huge hit. It is peak tourist season here. Thailand has always had the reputation of being a peaceful nation and that has now been tainted with foreign governments advising their citizens not to travel to Thailand. I've heard that the economic damage now surpasses the tsunami effects. Throughout the whole civil unrest we have felt safe and are thankful that the airports are due to reopen on Friday.

Anyway, I'm posting a picture of "My girls!" here. What a great group of ladies from all over the world, what a privilege it has been to study God's Word with them and pray with them every Monday. Ms. Trula, the older woman in the center was a missionary to India for 26 years. (She is my Maralyn Barnes here for all of you Grace ladies.) Her husband died 10 years ago and she lives here with her son. The small Asian woman is Lena from Singapore and she is our Thai teacher, she is quite gifted with languages. Molly is next to her and then Cyd from West Virginia, who is our facilitator. Carol, the tall lady in the very back is from Austria and is one of the most joyful people I have ever met. She is in a group of 5 families with us that are like minded with about the same age of children who meet once a month for fellowship. Next to me is Gina (short dark hair), an avid OU girl that I had to buy lunch for after OU trounced Texas Tech a couple of weeks ago. Susan next to her with the short red hair is my prayer partner and she has desperately been trying to get out of the country, her first grandbaby is due any day in Austin, we've been praying she makes it! Julianna, from Brazil is in the front and her husband works for Bosch here that makes a lot of parts for GM. The automotive crisis is so far reaching and they are unsure they will be able to stay here. Right in the middle by Ms. Trula is Pam from New Orleans, I get my Louisiana fix from her every week, I love to listen to her talk it makes me miss all my Baton Rouge friends!! Pam, Susan, and Gina have all been juggling their plans trying to find a way home for the holidays. Cyd's children who all attend college in the states are trying to find a way into the country. It's been a little crazy for folks here but we're all safe. I'll post other holiday happening pictures soon.