Picnic Season

Last Saturday certain parts of the M*sl*m world celebrated their New Year. The way that most families celebrate this holiday is to go on day long picnics. This goes on for about two weeks, ending usually, on the 13 day of the new year. My language teacher said that many people go on these picnics to get rid of the sadness and bad things from last year so that the new year would not be full of sad times. She said that some people even "gather" their sadness into a bag and take it with them to the picnic and "shake out" the sadness when they get to their picnic area. Being outside seems to make the sadness go away! Please ask for opportunities during this time that we can speak truth about the One who gives us eternal life and joy, especially as we draw nearer to our "Eid" or holiday- Easter!

Well, our office decided to take all the staff and families on a picnic to celebrate the new year, so we packed up 5 cars with people, food, blankets, etc. and made our way to a park about 5 miles outside of the city. It was beautiful! Here is a pre-picnic picture outside our office followed by a picture of our picnic area:


We rolled out some carpets, guys on one, girls on the other, and the guys served us lunch from the back of the food car. We had rice, fried chicken, the local "salad" (cabbage, tomatoes and cilantros) and of course n'an! No meal would be complete with out it! After eating lunch we passed around oranges and chatted.

Then we cleaned up the trash, rolled up the blankets and we grabbed a quick family picture before the ladies went for a walk and the guys played soccer, volleyball and tossed around a frisbee. Quite a crowd gathered around the frisbee throwers as not many people had seen this game before! Keith was able to play frisbee and soccer (all while wearing his crocs!) and had a lot of fun with the guys. Keith kept the camera with him, so I don't have any pictures of the walk with the ladies but here is our family picture and some pictures of the guys playing:


Benjamin and I went for a nice long walk with the ladies, which was wonderful! We walked around the park and up a large, very steep, gravel hill. The view from the top was fantastic, but getting up there was a challenge. First of all, I was carrying Benjamin and I wasn't exactly wearing hiking shoes. However, one of the ladies that works at our office (who was wearing high heels by the way) took Benjamin and carried him and was holding me to make sure that I didn't fall. These women are amazing! Benjamin also enjoyed seeing a lot of animals: a rooster, a donkey and a dog!

When got back to our area we had some tea. Poor Benjamin got a hold of a cup and spilled hot tea all over the front of his shirt which resulted in a very minor burn that was gone in a few hours (which explains why he is shirtless in the following picture). He was so tired after the outing that he passed out on the way home.

These coworkers are very dear to our hearts; please ask Dad that He would move in their lives in miraculous ways and that they would come to know Him. We are so thankful for our coworkers and friends! Happy Picnicking!

P.S. For security reasons, please do not forward these pictures for any reason. Thanks!