Tuesday in USACH

I cannot sleep for hours on Mon night. After putting on socks I manage to get some sleep. Groggy and cold in the morning, I have breakfast with David. Later I clear e-mails and communicate on Skype. Then Ee Lee does a quick lunch.

We spend most of the day in the University of Santiago Chile (USACH). There are 10 key universities in Santiago. This is the biggest with 18,000 students here. Cindy meets us there. We spend time with Paula & Walter who are both studying here. They show us around. They also ask many questions about God and the Bible. We notice there are a lot of stray dogs.

In the night Ee Lee take me out for dinner. Later I chat more with David. I really need to get used to the cold in Chile.

Hangover in Santiago

I am so exhausted that I sleep till noon. Ee Lee is at home and she cooks instant noodles for lunch.
Later I chat with Pui See and then with David. David briefs me that the nation of Chile has 16.2 million people in 14 regions, 51 provinces & 346 municipalities.
Later five potential members & leaders join us on Monday night.
I get to meet Gonzalo, Estela, Monica, Belen and Walter. Paula can't make it tonight. The team asks that I pray for each of our local friends.
Later we debrief and celebrate Ee Lee’s birthday again with the cake Estela brought. I sleep at 2 am.

Mendoza not Santiago

Our flight is meant to arrive 5 am Sunday. Then we are supposed to join a local church service. Ee Lee & Cindy were at airport at 5 am. But Santiago airport was closed to aircraft due to heavy fog. Our plane was diverted to the closest airport. This is my first time in Argentina. I don't even have a visa! After touching down for 15 min, the captain announced we have to wait 1 more hour because Mendoza airport services are not open yet. I spend 4 hours on transit. It's a small airport and we could have walked out and no one would have known. It's also cold.

We arrive in Santiago 7 hours later. David is present and he tells me the girls waited from 5 right up to 9 am. Now it is 7 degrees C. He says this is the coldest winter in 70 years. He's also coughing. The airport taxi brings us to their apartment in the city. Pui See comes out after having quiet time in the waiting room. Later Ee Lee and Cindy join us. We catch up and then go for a late lunch at the Central Market. It's very cold and my tired body is adjusting. We walk into the Cathedral of Santiago briefly. I am very tired walking in the cold. We join the evening service of Tempo de Dios church (Church of God’s Time).
Finally we get home to rest and I shower. I hear stray cats meowing in the cold. We catch up further and spring a surprise birthday for Ee Lee. I bring out her birthday gifts from Singapore.

Last Day in Quito

The worship service starts with ice breakers. Lennin co-leads the service with Sharon. Sharon leads worship with Ricky and Alehandro on the guitars. Then I preach with Wee Leng translating. Today there are over 20 local adults with one first timer. This first-time law student commits his life to Christ. It is a good time.

Luis and Lennin organise the barbeque. This barbeque has a unique local touch. Overall its a really fun day out in the garden .

The members hang out long after the barbeque. Some ask me to pray for them. Then I spend some time with Sharon. Its good to have extended time with old friends.

Four members wait till evening to say very touching good byes. Lennin and family stays to drive us to the airport. I feel sad on the way to the airport. We say long goodbyes. The airport is also strange - once you go to check in, you cannot come out.

Then I am so tired I actually fall asleep at the boarding gate. The plane flies to Guayaquil then to Santiago.

Friday in Quito

We gear up for today's full day seminar. People come still excited though a little tired from a long night. Some come about half hour later.

In total 13 locals came for the four sessions of church Vision and Philosophy. 2 university students came later. Later I realise 1 of them actually has exams tonight. There is a lot of good discussion going.

Wee Leng and I challenge the people to have a vision for Ecuador. Ecuador has a population of 13 million people is in 22 provinces, 219 cantons and 1472 parishes. There are 4 million Ecuadorians overseas. We also challenge the 4 students from Central University to have a vision for their campus. They are excited.

We have take away dinner together. After dinner , Wan Phing leads us in corporate worship. Then I do the fourth and final session. It has been one and half days of teaching, worship and bonding. It has been a good time.

Thursday in Quito

I have breakfast with Wan Phing before she goes to work. Then the Lima team arrives. Today we have lunch with Lennin and his son. He is part of the local leadership. We discover over lunch that Wee Leng’s version of ‘light’ lunch is dubious.

Next Serene conducts a music workshop for Alehandro, Ricky and Sharon in the afternoon. The rest of us prepare for the night session.

In total 15 local adults join in the night session. Wan Phing takes care of 3 kids, Serene lead worship, Delia shares her testimony, I teach with Delia translating. I ask for response.

Julian and Sharon lay hands on one group whilst Wee Leng and Ai Lay lay hands on another group. I take the third group.

Two locals present have already been baptised in the Spirit previously. Tonight five persons are baptised in the Spirit and manifest in tongues almost instantaneously.

We end at 10 pm. People are excited. Some people only leave at 11:45 pm. The Lima team leaves at 12 am. We say long goodbyes to each other. It is sad.

Then Wee Leng, Sharon and I have dinner and debrief at the same time. I go to bed at 1 am.

More Indian food & birthday celebrations

Wednesday starts with breakfast with Sharon before she goes to work. The Lima team arrives soon after. I manage to catch up with Delia and with Ailay. Later we discuss Thursday ministry events.

Wee Leng brings us for Indian food again as per Lima team's request. Then Sharon brings the girls shopping as Julian, Wee Leng and I have a drink. The girls come back and persuade me to get a new leather jacket. They including Wee Leng argue that the one I am wearing is 18 years old. I talk about something called sentimental value! The girls volunteer to help choose one then Wee Leng bargains shamelessly. We get it for USD75 with their guarantee that it would cost USD130 in Singapore.

After parting with my money, we go for dinner. We meet with the Hope Quito local leaders. Here is a picture of Alejandro snapping a picture. Yes, we celebrate Julian's birthday again. They call him "hulian" in Spanish. Hulian is the one smiling broadly...

Return to Quito

The visa application process to Ecuador was like a bad dream. That's an entire story in itself...

Dinah and the twins sent me off to the airport on Sunday afternoon. I fly to LA, Miami and finally arrive in Quito on a Monday night. It was the 23rd of July. I am very happy to reunite with Wee Leng, Wan Phing and Sharon. We have a very long dinner on Monday. This is my second visit to Quito. Its colder this time. They have a much bigger place now.

Team Lima arrived on a Tuesday noon. Wee Leng brings Julian,

Serene, Ailay and Delia to the house. We greet then go out and spend the whole day together. Its great to be able to catch up with our people individually. For lunch, Team Lima asked for Indian food. Wee Leng bring us to a nice Indian place downtown. Later I suggest they try the local handmade fruity gelato-equivalent at the Andean artisan market. The Lima team took an instant liking to thist just like my wife when we were first here in Dec 2005.

It is such a joy to reunite for the eight of us, half way around the world. At dinner time Sharon arranges an early surprise for Julian. His actual birthday is this coming Saturday. He will be 36 soon.

Why I'm travelling

Our twins have been asking why we travel. We have been explaining. Recently our church had thanksgiving services on 6th May. A member said to me backstage that I travel quite a bit. I recall a similar comment by Keng Suan on this blog back in April.

Well its not because I'm a global city guy. Here's why...

Because our church is global. Initially our church plants were in South East Asia, then in Asia and Oceania. Then in 1997 our team landed in South Africa. In 2002, our team landed in Peru. Since then our teams have landed in Kenya, Chile, Italy, Ecuador and two other countries that are best unnamed. Today our tentmaking teams are spread across several continents.

We manage across distance, cultures, continents and time zones. This makes the ministry even more complex and difficult because the boundaries of distance, country borders and cultures are in constant motion. We do our best to provide prayer support, logistics support, financial support, communication support, ministry support and re-entry care. We use e-mail and Skype a lot. We also need to visit our teams, so I travel.

Because we are part of a global movement. In Jan 99, Dinah and I were asked to oversee churches in Europe. This role lasted till Aug 04. For almost 6 years Dinah and I traveled to support churches there. We made many good friends here. Then we were asked to help North America churches in Oct or Nov 04. We politely declined because of our involvement in Africa and South America on top of local church ministry. We were asked again in early 05. We politely declined again. Our leaders finally persuaded us in Jul 05. In a family of churches, we help one another.

Because like you our overseas churches consider Dinah and I as their Senior Pastor. All our overseas churches have a coordinator or pastor. We have a special bond. In Johannesburg, we were introduced as "Our Senior Pastor based in Singapore". In Chicago we we were introduced as "Senior Pastor of North America". In Quito, it was a similar introduction in Spanish.

We now have members across the world. Each person has a special place in our heart. We love them and consider them part of family. Together with our missions staff and leaders, we keep in touch with as much as we possibly can.

Those are pretty much the reasons.

As a boy I used to think that traveling was glamorous. That's probably because mom always did the packing and unpacking. Also I never traveled far enough to be stuck in transit or experience that terrible thing 'jet lag'. Amazingly the reheated airline food didn't seem to bother me.

Now I'm quite sure that I can't sleep on planes even when I get a row of four seats all to myself. Some time ago I got a book titled, "Why I Hate Flying". I haven't read it yet but I think maybe I should have written it. If not for the Great Commission...

Easter in 2007

Dinah and I flew to Vancouver on Thursday via Seoul. Discovered I don't enjoy bilingual flight announcements. We are glad to see our friend, Steph Zee at the Vancouver airport. Its a cool 10 degrees here. Its our first time at the Hope Vancouver church conference. Its also our first time at their church service.

Their conference starts on Good Friday at Port Coquitlam. This is also the venue of their Sunday worship. My eyes are heavy despite having sufficient sleep. Its jet lag attack. Pastor William suggest we go to the hot tub in the afternoon. It is a feat to preach at night with jet lag in full swing.

After the Sat morning session, William says, "Your jet lag is over". So I guess yesterday's session must have been lethargic. Then we get news that both our kids are sick so we pray. Later in the afternoon, William's son Andrew take me to the back yard where I try out his paint ball gun. It is so fun. We go back for preaching. The night session ends late

Easter morning is rainy. Over ten homeless people come for the special lunch. The conference resumes after lunch. Then we pack up and do a visitation followed by a dinner with church leaders. Catch the camp stories and photos at http://www.hopeofvancouver.org/

We spend Monday with William and Lan discussing church. We spend some time with Victoria too. Dinah seem to have caught a cold.

Tuesday is spent with Lan, Marilyn and Chris. Marilyn and Chris are leaders and both came to Christ through our church in Singapore. Dinah gets quite sick but maintains a positive countenance. We join their regular Tuesday leaders night meeting.

William and Lan bring us to their saloon on Wednesday. They insist of doing our hair before driving us to the airport. Its our first time on Air Canada. In LAX, our friends Judy and Cyn are on hand to take us to the hotel. We settle down then have dinner with them. We're excited to hear how the LA church is doing since Dec 06.

On Thur Cyn take us for a meeting. Today LA experiences a wind storm. After lunch with Cyn she takes us to another meeting. Later Jason and Emmy take us to church. We have dinner with church leaders. Afterwards we get good news that the twins are getting better.

On Friday our old friend Beh from San Diego come around with Pao and Cyn. We drop stuff off at church and drove to the camp site. We take the anti motion sickness tablets Crystal gave us. It knocked us out for the one hour drive up the mountain. Its cold up here. I try to shake the effects of the tablets to teach at the night session.

Dinah is much better on Saturday. Thank God because she starts teaching today. It is so cold up here that it actually snows for an hour. The winds up here are 32km/hr. We had to find the heater switch in our room to sleep that night.

We are getting used to the mountain but its time to go. We are glad because overall the church seems to be in better shape. Going downhill without anti-motion sickness pills, we get a headache. At least the conversation with Beh is stimulating. We check in to the same hotel before Chai and Crystal take us for an extended dinner.

We are glad to have Monday off. Everywhere we walk today, TV screens report the Virginia Tech killings. It's tragic news unfolding... Its overwhelming. Later Sam, Sung and baby Grace arrive at 4 pm to take us out. We get gifts then have dinner together. At night David calls from Chicago.

Tues morning has a twist. Lee take us for breakfast and we actually meet Sam and Grace in the same place having just bought breakfast for us. What a blesssing! Then Lee take us to the airport. There's heavy security presence in LAX today. El Al, the Israeli airline has flight today. SIA is doing a manual check in to simulate when computers are down so the line moves slowly. We finally get on the half-empty plane but get stuck on the run way for 2 hours because a part on the wing is loose. We finally take off. I try to lie down on 4 seats but I just can't sleep. That's the story of my life. Thankfully I get some sleep flying from Seoul to Singapore.

Here is a group photo of the LA camp.

Portland, Oregon

We leave Singapore on a wet Thur morn. Could not call a taxi as we normally do. Jeff comes to the rescue. We make our 9 am flight to LA. Once in LAX Cyn helps us check into a hotel near LAX. She leaves then comes back with drinking water and Starbucks coffee. She's so kind. We make calls then have dinner with Andrew, Cyn and Lee. They even bring a cake.

On Fri we take a 8:30 am domestic flight to Seattle. Dee take us from the airport to downtown Seattle for a pre-arranged meeting. We get Seattle coffee before the meeting. Afterwards we go to JR's place just north of the city. From there JR drives us to Portland. JR's baby daughter Jada cries, not accustomed to the long ride. The rain makes our journey 4 hours instead of the normal 3. It's works out well as Dinah catch up with Warinda and I with Vern and JR. I also call Rach, my friend from Urbana.

We arrive in Portland at 7 pm. Most of the NA pastors and wives are here. We greet each other. The hotel suite is US$74 per night and it's luxurious. The cost of living is low. We go out for dinner. Chai & Crystal bring 3 kids along. These are the kind of people who lead our churches.

The complimentary breakfast is American. This retreat theme is church growth. Lunch is out where the wives do a baby shower for Ann who's expecting her first child this June. At dinner, they celebrate my birthday with 4 big candles. I get a text message from LA saying, "Happy 21st birthday." My real age is somewhere in-between those two figures.

Sunday is check out. At Hope Portland, David from Chicago lead prayer, David and Ann from Portland lead worship, Dinah shares testimony and I preach. Later we lunch with church folks then resume discussions at David and Ann's place. At 5 pm, pastors and wives start to leave. We spend time with David and Malay before meeting Chris and Susan Ward. They have come from Seattle to meet. We get back to David and Ann's at 11 pm, totally exhausted.
Mon is time with David and Ann. They take us to a Christian book store before a dim sum lunch. Next they bring us to shopping outlets before an American dinner. We get home and pack. After I help David set up Skype, Dinah and I pray for the couple.

David starts work at 4:45 am. Ann send us to the Portland airport on Tue. On board Dinah sleeps but the grandma next to me tells me her life story. It turns out she is a pastor's wife. We arrive 1:30 pm at LAX. Lee take us to north of LA then to east of LA for pre-arranged meetings. Then she takes us back to LAX. She' a blessing. Our flight to Singapore is 11:30 pm. The flight transits in Taipei and arrive in Singapore on Thu. Simon is there to take us home where we unpack, do laundry and then swim in the evening. We catch up with the twins over dinner. Jet lag creeps up. Or maybe its age.

No matter how old I am, I never fail to be amazed with people graced by God. Leaders who serve with 4 kids at home, or with 3 kids in tow, or with a young infant or while heavily pregnant. Leaders who drive 7 hours to serve, or serve when their job is uncertain or serve even with multiple sclerosis. Seeing all this first hand is what makes this birthday special.

Life after Urbana '06

New Year in 2007 started on a Monday. It was an early rise at 5:30 am to catch the flight at St Louis airport. In my haste not only did I miss breakfast but I also left my phone case in the hotel room. Next up was a very cold transit at the snow-covered Denver airport, my first time here. I arrived in LAX after Cynthia and Judy. Derek (from Hope LA) and Chris (who just moved here from Dallas) was on hand to welcome us. We had Cambodian food before I checked into a neat hotel that Cynthia had booked. Sleepily I started on Urbana follow up work. Before long Chai came over and we went out for dinner. The rest of the night was just packing and updating my blog. I started missing the Urbana team.

In the morning Derek & Cynthia arrived to take me to LAX. Cynthia was there when my family first arrived, there when my wife & kids left and was here now. She's so sweet. Saying goodbye, I thought, "I'm really going to miss the Hope LA people".

My Wed was spent crossing time zones. On the Tokyo to Singapore leg, I was seated in front of a family of four. The younger child cried and kicked my seat intermittently. It was sure hard to sleep but it must have even harder for the parents.

After the transit and flying for what seemed like ages, I arrived in Singapore at 1:30 am Thursday. My dear wife was on hand to welcome me. (To think that she had to get up again later to send the twins to morning school.) Without complaint she drove us straight to Punggol. It sure felt strange to step into our flat after 6 weeks away.

Eventually I got up and did my laundry. I tried to clear e-mails but I couldn't send because I've exceeded my server space. Then I drove, on the right side, to fetch the kids for lunch. After a haircut, we were meant to swim and I haven't swam for 6 weeks. But the evening rain got very heavy. At least it wasn't like the biting St Louis winter. Dinner was that long awaited taste of curry. Then was that familiar humidity followed by that familiar jetlag. Think I managed 5 hours of sleep.

On Fri morn I mistakenly turned into oncoming traffic before quickly reversing. We dropped the twins off at school. On the way the car felt like it lacked power. Then I realised that I'd been driving a 2.2 litre car for 5 weeks and here was a 1.6 litre car. Also the California freeway speed limit was 105 km/h but here the limit at home is 90 km/h. Today was also my first day in office after 6 weeks. It was so good to see the staff team. But there were tonnes of follow up matters even as I tried to finalise this weekend's sermon. Later we did manage to swim but in cold water. That night I managed 6 hours of sleep before my system 'awakened'.

Day 4 Exhibition

Sunday is the last day of convention. We have breakfast together. We take photos at the arc by the waterfront. 93 students leave their contacts with us. Its 6:30 pm and we tear down the booth and pack supplies into cars. We celebrate with dinner at TGIF. We bring stuff to our room for final debrief. We debrief to 2 am but watch the Times Square countdown on TV. I haven't seen TV and read newspapers for weeks.
We distribute what is left of 12 luggages of stuff, talk about Urbana 09 then check out. We sleep at 3:30 am

Day 3 Exhibition

Sat is the third day. We have brunch planning session. JR needs to go back to Seattle first as we go to the booth. More walk up to our booth today. The additional signs about "churchplanting thru tentmaking" and listing of NA churches is working. Being the only organisation registered from Singapore helps too. We have dinner at the America Center and join the night session. Rick Warren spoke.

Day 2 Exhibition

Fri is the second day. We approach more students. Some ladies come to our booth to get the grey bag. I lead a seminar with Dave Tucker on next steps after short-term missions. I have corn soy porridge dinner with 3 students from Seattle Pacific University. Later I join our team at the night session. Ray Bakke is impacting. Bono gives a video greeting. Cross movement does a concert. At 11 pm, we have dinner and debrief at Denny's. 54 students leave their contacts.

Day 1 Exhibition

Thursday is the first day of the exhibition. We are a little excited yet nervous as first time exhibitors. The booth doors open at 1 pm. We approach scores of students browsing. Its energising. At 6:30 pm there is an announcement that the exhibition time extend by 30 minutes. So we miss dinner at convention. At the end almost 50 students give us their particulars. We go eat out and its cold and places here close early. We take the metro back.

405 at Urbana 06

It's Wed at St Louis. At 9 am we load our exhibition gear in the cold mid-west weather onto our passenger van at the Marriott Airport. We stop to grab a quick breakfast at a fastfood place (Jack in the box). Then we're off to downtown and see the landmark 'Gate to the West'. Its just next to where we going - America's Center convention hall. We eventually locate the exhibitors' unloading bay. This place is totally huge. We wander across 18 monstrously huge aisles. We find booth 405.

Our Last Week

The days are short and they are cold. When we got here it was quite hot but not anymore. We are adjusting to the climate. Then Deb said on Wednesday, "I'm beginning to get used to people here." I felt the same way too but this is our last week here. Here's the story of the final week.

Dinah and I wanted to go for a jog on Sat but it rained. This is the second time we have seen rain. It hardly rains here. Jason and Emmy came to take the twins to a birthday party for one of the church kids. Dinah and I speak with Dee from Seattle. Once Jason and Emmy brought the kids back, we had dinner out. It rained again.

Dinah preached at the pre-Christmas service. After service, I met with the church admin team leaders as Dinah conducted a training for service leaders. Then we met Chai and Crystal as usual. We led the DMM and at 8:45 pm we left for a quiet family dinner.

Mon started with a conference call with Dave Tucker from Michigan. We're doing a seminar together in Urbana '06. Then there was a call with David from Chicago. Next was time with Angela (Hope Irvine), Betty, Lee and Cynthia (all from LA) at Camarillo city out in Ventura county. This is north of LA county. We had a great time despite the 10 degree temperature. Later I had a conference call with Elaine from Singapore. But I had to pump the washroom later. Well this is something I won't miss.

Tue was another fun day. We drove 2 hours to San Diego. All of us enjoyed SeaWorld though San Diego seemed colder than LA. We hope to come again in future.

I had to rework my Urbana '06 seminar on Wed. Though it's been 5 weeks but four people in a studio is not conducive. Dan was playing his cello, Deb was reading whilst Dinah and I are working on our notebooks. Also this getting dark early, the dryness and the cold does require getting used to. Night time was our farewell dinner at Lee's place. The steam boat was nice. The church leaders gave very moving testimonies even about the twins. We've made some good friends out here.

Thur was the day Dinah and the twins hoped to fly back to join Christmas services in Singapore. Their wait listed seats just did not materialise into firm seats. We are thankful for confirmed seats on Christmas day itself. Today the twins were in a local school at Fullerton city. Lin got her principal and administrator to okay this. She said this has never been done before. Dinah and I could wrap up some work. There was corporate prayer then I had a conference call with our Urbana '06 team.

The twins were in school on Fri too. They were nervous yesterday but they were just fine today. For us there was follow up from last night's conference call. Then we spent time with the student leaders - Derek (from Singapore), Pao and Cynthia. Later we started preparing for Christmas eve service this Sunday.

Hang of Things

It's been 4 weeks. We're beginning to get the hang of things. We're beginning to understand the road systems better. I'm getting lost less. I'm beginning to like not perspiring much. Here's an account of week four.

Sat was LA church leaders retreat. It was a day of dicussions on 2007 ministry. It was quite fun. Before we left, Jason and Emmy gave us home cooked food. Back at the studio we enjoyed their delicious cooking. Later William called from Vancouver. The rest of the evening was spent preparing for tomorrow.

Dinah led the Sunday service well before I preached. Next Dinah conducted a workshop for couples as I met with the kids ministry leaders. Suddenly Dan came running with a bleeding nose and we had forgotten to bring his nasal medication from Singapore. Thankfully the bleeding stopped after a while. Following was a session with Chai and Crystal before the church leadership meeting. We came out at 8:30 pm and Crystal has a warm dinner dinner prepared. So we ate together before leaving.

Mon started with Dan unwell. We prayed for him and decided to spend time at the nearby Knotts Berry Farm rather than going to San Diego.

Dan's temperature got higher on Tue. We had to cancel our appointment with a senior pastor of a local church here. We drove out to get porridge. Later Chris Ward called from Seattle. At night the kids joined Dinah as she taught the women's group while I taught the men's group.

Dan was better on Wed but I got a sore throat. The day started with a conference call with Peter and Linda from Leithbridge, Canada. Then JR called from Seattle as the twins enjoyed a DVD movie. At night we spent time with Hadi and Maria at their place till late.

We were meant to leave LA on Thur. Our leaders have asked us to extend. First Lee accompanied us to extend the car rental. The journey took 1 hour. The new company offered the exact same car - Chevy Malibu. We had lunch afterwards. After lunch the short journey back took a whole hour. We were exhausted but needed to go to care group in North Hills. On the way the GPS insisted we take a ramp onto a highway that was closed. It kept making us turn back to the same ramp. This 90 min journey made us very late. Eleven persons waited for us (if you don't count a bunch of toddlers and infants).

We had Friday to ourselves because Nancy couldn't make it. We drove out and had Carl's Junior burgers for the first time. Later we spent time with Jason and Emmy. We're beginning to feel that we're more oriented after 4 weeks here.

Rush Hour

We've been here 3 weeks. More meet-ups and conference calls are still being added. The tough part isn't the discussions, planning, ministering or counselling. It's the commuting. LA traffic drains you. It ravenously consumes time each day. Here is the story of week 3.

We spent Sat with Annie before meeting Chai and Crystal. Then we go to their place to meet with the Unit Leaders. Then driving back I turn into the oncoming traffic (the first time). Praise God there were no cars coming behind me when I backed out.

The next day Dinah and I met Ronald, a member from Singapore church. After service Dinah and I did workshops for the parents and the worship team respectively. This was followed by the Care Leaders meeting. Later Dinah and I helped the leadership team. All this time Deb practices at the church piano. Finally we enjoy dinner with Cynthia. As we return we try out the replacement GPS. This one uses "yards" just when we were getting used to the previous one which spoke in terms of "feet".

On Mon we go off to Legoland. This resort is more for younger kids. At least the drive there was scenic.

Tue starts with a conference call with JR from Seattle. Next we meet with the Vineyard International missions director. In the evening Dan and I go to the men's group as (Deb and) Dinah teaches at the women's group.

On Wed, Vern calls from Seattle. We try to cook but our stove doesn't heat properly. Next we drive to Irvine to meet with an executive from Assembly of God South Cal. We drive again to meet Jason and Emmy Betts and then we join their care group.

We get stuck 1 hour in rush hour on Thur. Never go on freeways from 7-9 am! We are late for Sam and Sung. Later it was good to speak with Dee from Seattle. Next we drove almost 1 hour to the west side of LA to meet James and Christine. Then we drive to Irvine and got stuck in trafic for 2 hours. Never travel on the freeways between 5-7 pm! We spent some time with Al and Doreen.

Fri sees us have a quiet breakfast. Next we get the maintenance guy to replace the stove. Later Lee brought us shopping for gifts. Tonight is the first night that we are in. We recover from weeks of driving up and down this huge metropolis. Tomorrow marks 3 weeks of serving here.

Still Adjusting

We've been here for two weeks. We're still adjusting to the size of this place. Metropolitan LA has 10 million people and California state has 36 million. There's just so much commuting here. We're adjusting to the meal portions and the cost of living here. Our skin is adjusting to the dryness. Ministry is picking up though. We're adjusting to the church. It's different in a smaller church. I'm also adjusting to pumping washrooms.

Here's an account of our week two. Dinah awoke on Sat dreaming about Singapore. Probably homesick? Bible Conference resumed in the morning of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. In between sessions I caught up with James Loke, Nancy from Thai care group and the youth members. The guys won the team building games. After the conference the GPS malfunctioned on the way back. We figured out the freeways but got lost on the roads nearer Arcadia. We finally get home and we pray for Dinah who is feeling sick from our late nights.

Sunday was cold. Dinah travelled with the twins to preach in Hope Irvine church. It was great to see a Latino convert in LA church. It was great to lunch with Hadi, Maria and their son Joshua. They are old friends from Solo, Indonesia. The rest of today was spent with university leaders, followed by the church leaders preparing for 2007 ministry.

This week, the church here blessed us with a two-day Disney passes. Needless to say, the twins enjoyed themselves at "The Happiest Place On Earth" - the tagline of Disneyland.

We met with more Hope LA church leaders one-on-one. We also spoke with external leaders. We spoke with the Cal state churchplanting leader for the Southern Baptists and met with an associate professor from Fuller Seminary.

Dinah and I joined the Thai care group on Thu morn. We also visited a church in LA city with Chai.

Friday evening, I preached at the students service as Dinah joined the young adult care group. When we got back, the toilet bowl is stuck again. It's back to more pumping.

Thanks for Praying

We've just spent a week in LA. We arrived last Saturday, 18th Nov. The night before the flight Dinah slept only 1 hour due to packing. I slept a lot thanks to medication. Altogether we had 6 check-in luggages. Dinah and I slept quite a bit on the plane.

Chai and Cynthia picked us up at LAX. We rented a car and went off together with Chai's car. I drove on the left side for the first time with Cynthia beside. We made it to Acardia (city). This is in greater LA (metropolitan LA). On the way we saw that LA smog. We checked in to the studio apartment and slept at 10 pm after unpacking and takeaway dinner.

Thanks for praying. The throat infection and blocked nose that started on Wed night was virtually gone when I got up. There was more Sun drama. We awoke to a choked toilet bowl and there was no maintenance guy on duty. We asked front office for another studio but they asked us to move then but we had to go. In the morn I preached my first ever Thanksgiving Sunday sermon. There was ham and turkey Thanksgiving lunch followed by the Care Leaders meeting. Next Dinah and I met the pastor and wife followed by church leaders meeting. The twins enjoyed their books during these times. At 7:30 pm we left for dinner with Sam and Sung before coming back to pack and move to another studio. Lee and Cynthia was so kind to come help. At 12am as we were about to sleep, the toilet bowl here also flooded. I used the pump and finally went to bed at 3 am.

The four of us woke up late on Mon. It was a combination of jetlag, the full Sunday and just general exhaustion. The first thing was to get the maintenance guy to fix the toilet. Cynthia offered to come help with grocery shopping and to rent a cello for Dan. At night we answered e-mails and had Skype conversations to tie up this weekend's LA Bible Conference.

Tuesday was our off day spent at Universal Studios. Just before we left, I realised the digicam was in Singapore. We got a use-and-throw camera. After all this was the twin's first time here. They wanted to go for themed rides (roller coaster) but Dinah and I said "Woah". We settled for shows and tours instead. We had a good time. Today we also experienced the infamous LA traffic.

On Wednesday we used the coin-operated washing machine and dryer. Our first appointment was with Betty. She showed us nearby shopping and dining places. We went to her place as she insisted to loan us her printer. After saying thanks we took the long drive to Irvine (city) to meet Albert, Doreen and family. Pre-holiday traffic isn't fun. People here sure spend a lot of time commuting. But we did get to taste a 25 pound turkey. The twins enjoyed playing with Al's younger kids. This was our first Thanksgiving experience.

Thursday was Thanksgiving. Chai and the boys visited in the morning with pastry. They are thoughtful. Then David called from Chicago and we had a good chat. Dinah and I spent this holiday afternoon preparing for the weekend Bible conference and preaching. Most places were closed. We found a place for a quiet dinner before meeting James and Christine. Cynthia offered to take the twins to check out Christmas lights. Like the last few nights, it took some time in bed before we actually slept. Our bodies are still adjusting.

I drove in circles on Friday before meeting Andrew. Then our next appointment with the college leaders was postponed. It worked out well as I revamp tonight's lesson. The twins were out with Cynthia for a movie. In the evening we joined all these folks who signed up for Bible Conference on Thanksgiving weekend. It was good to see Terry who's on transit to Singapore. Later on our way home, Daniel asked me why this church has so many meetings. Perhaps this has something to do with having Singapore guest speakers here?