November and December flew by! I can't believe it's already January 4th(in Thailand--my post says the 3rd because it's on American time)! I started studying Thai twice a week in Novemeber because I want to take it more seriously and be able to go beyond basic conversation. My housemate and I are studying together and I really like our teacher.

We had Thanksgiving services in both of the churches I attend, which surprised me since Thanksgiving is an American holiday (the US had a major impact on the Philippines and the leaders in both churches are from the Philippines). I got to sing a special song in one church and had the privilege of leading worship as well. I was inspired and made Stove Top stuffing and a modified Thanksgiving meal for my church. Everyone loved it and asked how I made it ( I told them to buy the box of stuffing mix:) I was very happy to have a Thanksgiving meal with some American friends too--we even had pumpkin pie. It's the little things that make a difference.

For the last three years, Thai churches have made a big effort to help Thai people understand that Christmas is more than Christmas trees and Santa Claus. All the malls here are decorated and play Christmas music (which I love because it reminds me of home). However, many people don't know about Jesus' birth. There is a concentrated effort to sing Christmas carols and share the story of Jesus' birth, death, and resurrection in public places, such as malls and parks. My church worked with the other Church of God churches here to prepare a Christmas presentation as well. We practiced for two months and got to sing in a mall and a large presentation in a park on Christmas day. They showed part of the Jesus film and some pastors shared the gospel between different music and dance presentations.

For Christmas, I got to teach my students about Jesus's birth. They know the story in Thai, so I was mostly teaching them the English names of Mary, Joseph, Jesus, and all of the other people in the Christmas story. Additionally, we had a large faculty Christmas party on the 23rd of December. All of the English departments are asked to perform, along with some of the other departments. My department head asked me and two other teachers to dress up and lip sync a song by a popular Thai band. It was fun, and many people recognized the band we were impersonating just from our costumes.

After the party, I got to join about 100 high school students and several Christian teachers in Christmas caroling and giving gifts to homeless people(we went in small groups to approach people). We had to wake some of them up, but they were usually very happy when we gave them gifts.

I flew to the Philippines on December 26th to spend New Year's with one of my good friends from church. I attended two weddings of church friends and spent a few days in the province of Bulacan (an hour and a half outside Manila). The people there don't see foreigners very often, so people were usually surprised to see me... and it showed. Everyone in the province was very kind and the children were sweet. We played games with them and taught them several action songs. I also got to experience new forms of transportation...a jeepney (picture #3) and a tricycle (a motorcycle with a sidecar -picture #2). We ate lots of Filipino food, but the most interesting food was ube or purple yam (picture #1). It was boiled, mashed, and mixed with coconut and sugar. It was delicious.
I am glad I've finally experienced many of the things I've heard about for so long from my Filipino friends.

I'm looking forward to the new year. I believe God has new things in store for me. I thank Him for His provision, protection and guidance last year. God is so compassionate and merciful. I praise Him for who He is and for all He has done.