Update from the Collins Family - February 2007
Greetings to you!
It has been nearly two months since our Christmas Eve email, and a little more since our last newsletter, so we wanted to touch base again and give you some updates!
At long last, we are in a HOUSE! Thanks to all who have been praying for suitable housing for us. On January 15 we left our two rented rooms at the CCT’s education ministry building and settled into a 3-bedroom house that a missionary couple had previously been renting. The house is owned by the First Thai Church which we have been attending. We like the idea that our funds for rent (provided by many of you through your support) are benefiting the church here, rather than going into the pockets of some wealthy landlord. God had a definite hand in how our housing has worked out!
So what is it like? Well, it is at least 30 years old, made of concrete block with a tile roof. Yes, we have electricity, running water and a phone! After quite a bit of maintenance work and furniture purchases (the house was basically empty), our new home is looking cozy and bright. We have a tiny yard, but there is plenty of space in the neighborhood for the boys to ride bikes, kick a ball, etc. We are enjoying the lack of traffic in MuBaan Sri Suk (“neighborhood of splendor and happiness”), and don’t mind the extra time getting to and from places as much as we had anticipated. Although the location is not as ideal as our previous one (which was a stone’s throw from Andy’s office and both boy’s schools, as well as being across the road from Andy’s dad’s place), we have worked out our transportation with the purchase of a bike for me (Ellen) that has a seat on the back for Jonathan. We bike to Kiddy Bear at 8:30, while Andy and Christopher leave for Chiang Mai International School and CCI at 7:20 on the motorcycle.
We’d like to mention a few sounds that have welcomed us to our new location…
Andy: There are lots of dogs in the neighborhood, and they tend to bark at night. But thankfully we are used to much worse in Kathmandu, so this hasn’t been much of an adjustment. The more pleasant sound that we had not enjoyed in our previous place is that of the birds chirping. I get up early to go biking up the mountain outside the city, and it’s still dark when I leave, but the birds are singing away.
Jonathan: A kind-of different sound we hear is the “call to prayer.” That’s the man at the mosque singing in the loud speaker. First I thought it sounded kind of weird, but now I think it’s neat. We hear it when we’re eating dinner, and my mama says it wakes her up in the morning right in time for her to do her devotions. I don’t hear it that early, but the other night I said I wanted to pray to our God when I heard the call to prayer, and I did.
Ellen: Although we are not on the main thoroughfare, we still have various vendors passing down our street. Reminiscent of the ice cream truck in our hometown, Hillsborough, here we have an ice cream man who comes by motorcycle with side-car. He plays a little tune to let you know he’s coming, while the “roti” man (who pushes a cart) sounds a horn. Mid-morning I also hear “Old wood, old metal, I’ll buy your old junk!” In the evening a woman advertises corn-on-the-cob, just in time for dinner.
Christopher: When I get home from school it’s usually pretty late (around 5), and I hear voices of the guys down the street from us playing soccer. They live in a Christian home near our house, and they always play soccer in the evenings. I like to go watch them. They play a funny game where they have to knock a bottle over with the ball (instead of kicking it in a goal), so it’s pretty challenging. Maybe one of these days I’ll play with them, but they’re a lot older than me.
That’s all about our house in Chiang Mai for now—a real answer to prayer—but you may recall us having asked for prayers for our home in Hillsborough, which had not rented since we left the US in May. Just about the time we found out we would be moving here, we got news that new tenants were moving into our home there! Thanks to all of you who kept this concern in your prayers, and for those who helped us advertise locally and get the word out. What a double blessing we have already received this new year!
In case you are thinking that all we do is related to dwellings…. Since we wrote to you last we have also celebrated Christmas and New Year’s with the extended Collins/Wakeman family, marked Jonathan’s 5th birthday (Jan. 3rd) with a trip to the zoo, and completed Christopher’s successful soccer season, only to begin basketball. I have helped out at both boys’ schools and have begun visiting an orphanage. I am serving on two committees to plan upcoming Interserve and CCT conferences. Andy has put two of CCI’s recent dramas onto DVD, a job that involved editing the footage he had taken in November/December. The drama he just completed is timely for this letter, as it is based on the story of St. Valentine, highlighting his Christian faith. The story raises the question of the meaning of love, and weaves in the message of Christ’s sacrificial love for all. You may think this is a strange choice of themes to communicate the Gospel, but Valentine’s Day is a favorite holiday imported from the West and therefore the drama appeals to Thai youth in particular. CCI performs plays with modern themes as well as traditional Thai-style dramas, and by producing these for video Andy and his colleagues hope they will make them available to many more audiences throughout the country.
In closing, let us thank you once again for your love and concern, your support and your prayers. Every email, every birthday card, every “care package”—they mean so much when we’re half way around the world from most of you. And to those of you who support us financially—thank you. May God bless you all.
We send our love your way this Valentine’s Day!
The Collins Family