4 Thornes in Malaysia

A significant moment in the life of someone who chooses to follow Jesus is the time when they are baptized. We were excited to have 9 people from our new church here in Penang choose to be baptized last Sunday night. Many of us gathered at the beach to hear some great stories of how God has changed the lives of these people and to witness their water baptism in the warm ocean! Those being baptized gathered with Bob for some last minute instructions. My new friend, Young Sil, with her son. She decided to follow Jesus six months ago and her life has been greatly changed. I have never met anyone more persistent about studying and knowing God! Young Sil telling us the story of how God has changed her life. She gave a very powerful and animated testimony. Wish I could have recorded it! Andrew being baptized by his Dad. Andrew, though a shy 11 year old boy, was a humorous and engaging speaker about his relationship with Jesus - later on, Bob told him that we'd have to call him Preacher ...

(and just a little side note to say that Rachel loves to hijack other people's blogs!) On the morning of Good Friday we joined some new friends (Lisa and her children Julia and Daniel) for a hike to Turtle Beach. As is every day, it was hot, but we all enjoyed it a lot. Entering the park - the 'office' took our names and information like they do for all who take this hike. Good to know someone will come looking for you if you don't come back!! Not all of the hike was a nice paved path like this though! This picture is sideways - sorry! The incredibly tall and straight trees in the jungle were amazing. Isn't this tree so cool? It looks like the camouflage clothes you can buy - but it's courtesy of the Master Designer Himself!! We saw them all along the path. We stopped in one steep part to get a picture - we're pretty hot and sweaty by this time! Hanging bridge with the ocean on the right and a freshwater lake (though it was pretty dried up) on the left. Josh...

We get such beautiful skies here in Penang and I wanted to give you a glimpse of some of them.... Sunrises are so beautiful - our camera is full of them! Sunsets too - WOW! God's creative beauty is amazing! And we love watching the storms roll in. The texture of the water changes and from our 16th floor apartment we can almost see the wall of rain as it comes our way. We're into the rainy season now (some say, anyway) so we're having rain nearly every day. I am very much appreciating how it cools the air down, even a little bit. From beautiful Penang! Karin

Someday I'll take my camera along to the market to let you see it (though you'll be missing the smells, an integral part of the experience!), but today I'll just show you what I bought for around $23 CA. Pretty amazing - and it's all fresh and cheap. Knowing that helps me ignore all the not-so-pleasant things at the market and just get in and out quickly! Bob still shops for the meat there - not sure I'll ever be ready to do that, but at least I will go there and get fruits, vegetables, eggs and coconut milk! Delicious! I've been making fresh salsa every couple of weeks, family-friendly pina coladas with pineapple and coconut milk freshly squeezed each day and watermelon juice - one of Bob's favorite drinks here. Fresh summer eating - all year long!! One of the good things about life here! Until next time, Karin

Josh and Rachel both had concerts in the middle of March. Admittedly, this post is probably mostly 'Grandparent material' but if you would care to listen to some middle and high school music, take a listen. The first video is Josh's band - he isn't visible, but he is there! He has picked up the trumpet so well that he is aiming to be in Advanced Band next year. And his teacher gave him a brand new, shiny trumpet to use this week in the place of the old and rusted out one that he originally had. That was a great encouragement to him! Rachel is loving being part of a choir for the first time. They sang songs from 'Porgy and Bess' and 'South Pacific' and had fun doing it! After each term concert the choir director takes the whole choir out. She took them to SAB, a great Indian restaurant across from the school. This picture was taken when they were walking from the school to the restaurant. On the right hand side you can see the fence under the big tree - t...

It was a treat this week to connect with some friends from Canada, Bob and Ann Wiebe. When we are surrounded with new friends, the comfort of old friends is a good thing indeed! Bob and Ann joined us for dinner for my birthday - western food at Chili's - yay! We also had breakfast at Khaleel's and discovered a yummy treat - roti tisu, which is a very thin crispy roti rolled into a pyramid and drizzled with something sweet. Ann and I both enjoyed it! There were seven of us at breakfast that morning and their names were Bob, Bob, Bob, Ann, Ann-Marie (and Karin and Heather, but that's not so funny!) So after breakfast I had to take a picture of all the Bobs! And we all noticed something interesting about all these Bobs.... After breakfast we took the funicular train up to the top of Penang Hill. It was amazing how much cooler and fresher the air felt at the top! (Altitude 735 m) On clear days there is an amazing view of the city of Penang and the ocean surrounding it, but we...

The 4x100 relay team 'singing' into their baton before the race. A couple of weeks ago Rachel had a great time competing in the MSSPP Track and Field competitions. We have no idea what MSSPP stands for, but it was a competition between schools on the island. The competition was held at the track at the University - about 30 minutes from our house. Rachel entered four events - the 100m and 200m races, the long jump and the 4x100 relay. No one was more surprised than her when she received a gold medal for ALL 4 events! I was able to go along and see her run two different races, which was a treat for me! What a different environment from anything we had ever been to. Dalat (Rachel's school) was the only international school competing, so the coach and the athletes from Dalat (and the few parents who came to watch) were the ONLY non-Asian people in the whole place! Many girls ran races in clothing that covered them fully from the head to the feet - can't even IMAGINE runn...