Around the world photos

I regret that I couldn't post my photos while I was travelling, but it's been nice to go back and re-live the adventures while looking through photos for the blog now.  Here's an introduction to the places we visited.  Enjoy the rest of the photos in earlier posts.  Even earlier posts narrate the trip.

In the Dubai airport.

Dinner and tea with N in the old souq in Kuwait

In front of the sultan's yacht in Muscat, Oman.

With P at the teahouse restaurant in Dushanbe, Tajikistan

With J&J and family in Urumqi

Kongtong Shan, Pingliang, Gansu, China

With B at Jishou University, Zhangjiajie, Hunan, China

With M&M at the Museum of Ethnology, Hanoi, Vietnam

English learning around the world

This is my field, so I know in theory how eager people are to learn English.  However, my experiences on this trip made it even more vivid.  I saw eager students, from pre-school to middle-age.  I saw bad teachers (being a native-speaker of English may get you hired, but it does not automatically equip you to teach).  I saw great teachers.  I saw all kinds of classes in different locations.  Here are a few samples from the streets of Hanoi.

Church around the world

"Church" is a convenient word to label a group of people following Jesus.  What did we learn about church from our travels?
Friday, April 22 - Good Friday in Kuwait
The National Evangelical Church of Kuwait is celebrating 100 years.  It meets in what used to be a mission hospital compound.  With various congregations speaking various languages, it's a microcosm of the church around the world.

Entering the compound.

The English-speaking congregation is called "The Lighthouse."

A relatively small room means that English-speaking congregants choose from several services.

The Malayalam (a South Indian language) congregation is also overflowing.

Bibles and other Christian books are available in many languages.

Leaving the compound.

Sunday, April 24 - Easter in Oman
Work goes on as usual.  A small group gathers for a celebratory lunch. 

Sunday, May 1 - Dushanbe, Tajikistan
A small group gathers at a home in the afternoon.

Sunday, May 8 - Pingliang, China
A small group gathers at a home in the morning.

Sunday, May 15 - Zhangjiajie, China
We worship our awesome creator in the national park.

Sunday, May 22 -Hanoi, Vietnam
We join Hanoi International Fellowship on Sunday morning.
http://hifvn.org/

HIF is another wonderful international group.

Questions we're asking:
--The international churches in places like Kuwait and Hanoi are for people holding foreign passports.  What about local folk who want to follow Jesus?  Where will they be able to meet and feel at home?
--We're used to lots of church choices.  Don't like the pastor/music/people of one? Find another nearby.  In these places the choices are limited: English-speaking congregation or none at all, Catholic or Protestant.  What difference does that make in terms of our experience?
--Small groups, meeting in homes, have been the norm for centuries.  What about the future? Evidence shows that meeting in small groups is a great way to make disciples, whether a larger group is available or not.

TESOL presentation in Kuwait

I was asked to do a presentation for the Kuwait University Faculty of Science, English Language Unit  on "innovation."  What a wonderful, diverse, and capable group they are!

I try Kuwaiti-style coffee: it's light green and flavored with cardamom.

Thank you!

Kuwait - water

When I thought of Kuwait, I used to think of oil and sand, but now I may think of water.  One reason is that several of the landmark pieces of architecture are water towers.

Water towers, built in 1976, winner of Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 1980.

The Kuwait Towers are not just tourist attractions--they're water towers too.

Another is because water is still a big deal according to those who track potential reasons for regions to become unstable.  Kuwait relies heavily on desalination of water from the Gulf for fresh water.  It also has pretty high consumption of water.  These are all things of interest to me as a resident of Southern California, another water-challenged area. http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=MTM2MjY5OTY1OA== and  http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/22/us-kuwait-water-idUSTRE72L4VZ20110322 and http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/countries/kuwait/index.stm

Finally, because water is important in Islam, and the Koran calls believers to freely share water, many buildings and homes have special containers out front, where passersby can get a cup of water.