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Notes from Proverbs 2

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 14:00:14 GMT

Proverbs 2

The structure:

IF (1-4) you diligently seek wisdom

Then (5-8) you find the fear of the Lord

(concerning the son’s relationship to God)

Then (9-11) you find every good path

(concerning the son’s relationship to all others)

The protection of wisdom (12-19) from

Wicked men (12-15)

The Adulteress (16-19)

A final promise and warning (20-22)

The righteous are firmly planted in the land

The wicked will be cut off

The pursuit of wisdom: the attitude for entering into the God’s classroom

· Vs 1 Learn from the wisdom of godly parents

o Step one is to look to me as your parent. This teaches children that there is direction for life to be found outside of themselves.

o Step two is to show them that we look outside of ourselves ultimately to God for our wisdom. In other words, learn from me how to learn from God.

· Vs 2 Be ready to listen and obey

· Vs 3 Eagerly ask questions

· Vs 4 Work hard

· “If you want wisdom, you must listen to God attentively (Matt. 13:9), obey Him humbly (John 7:17), ask Him sincerely (James 1:5), and seek Him diligently (Isa. 55:6-7), the way a miner searches for silver and gold.” Warren Wiersbe

Bottom line:

“Obtaining spiritual wisdom isn’t a once-a-week hobby, it is the daily discipline of a lifetime.” Warren Wiersbe

We need this in our own lives, and we need to model it to our children.

Obtaining wisdom in this fashion transforms the desires of the heart (2.10) resulting in a life governed by the ability to show discretion and choose the right path.

· Discretion: The capacity for private, hidden thoughts or thinking for yourself.

Discussion Questions:

What are some ways that parents can pass on their wisdom to their children?

How would you describe the joy of discovering God’s wisdom to someone else?

How are you doing at modeling seeking God for wisdom?

Do you agree or disagree that the heart can be transformed to want to do good?

Can our capacity to want to do good be used as a barometer of our relationship with God?

Class Notes from Proverbs Introduction

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 13:58:01 GMT

Introduction to the Book of Proverbs: Proverbs 1:1-7

I. The purpose of Proverbs

hokmah – wisdom: skill or expertise in living
musar – discipline: moral discipline, instruction, or correction
binah – understanding: discernment

In other words: Proverbs is written so that the reader might gain skill for living life, the discipline to carry through with it, and the discernment to know whether one is “on course”.

II. The target audience

the simple and the young

Use Proverbs as a parenting tool

the wise and the discerning

You can never be too wise.

III. The wisdom of Solomon (Read 1 Kings 3, 4:29-34)

IV. Solomon contrasted with Christ

The sin of Solomon (1 Kings 11:1-13)
Christ

In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge Col 2:3
The wisdom of God 1 Cor 1:24
Greater than Solomon Matthew 12:42

Application:

Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.”

Wisdom is like a muscle. It must be worked out in order stay strong. Use it or lose it.

Discussion:

Why does knowledge start with the fear of the Lord?
What are the characteristics of a fool?
How would you describe the downfall of Solomon? How could such a wise man make such foolish mistakes?
Does Solomon’s failure give you hope or frustrate you? Why?

Does God have a foundational attribute

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 13:43:51 GMT

I know many people whom I love dearly who would say that God’s foundational attribute is his holiness. For example:

“God does not present His holiness as a horizontal prescription for human activity. God displays holiness as the central and defining essence of his character…Fact is, God’s holiness demanded that sin be paid for, and then His love compelled Him to pay the price Himself.” ~ James MacDonald

I think I understand where this sentiment that without God’s holiness he would not be so different from you and I.

I also know many people whom I also love dearly who would say that God’s foundational attribute is his love. After all the greatest commandments are not to be Holy for I am Holy but rather:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”

I also think I understand this sentiment that without God’s love is so central to who he is that the scriptures say that he IS love. We all cherish both his love and his holiness.

I must confess that I’ve never really understood the need to determine God’s foundational attribute. He is both of these things to the highest degree possible. I want to suggest that there is no need to determine God’s foundational attribute simply because scripture does not speak of God having a foundational attribute. Scripture does tell us to “Be Holy, because I am holy” (1 Peter 1.16), and as has already been mentioned “God is love” (1 John 4:8). I think that these two attributes of holiness and love meet so wonderfully in our Lord, especially in the mystery of the incarnation. How a holy God was able to

1. Humbly take on human flesh (Phil 2)

2. Live a holy life: “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth” 1 Peter 2:22

3. Demonstrated his love for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8) He did not come to condemn the world, but to save the world through him (John 3:17)

Jesus is the only one who has been able to be both holy and loving to perfection or completion. Please understand me when I say that: these two qualities kiss in the person of Jesus Christ. This is our challenge as Christians to be like him in the world while not of the world. I think we must keep these two qualities in tension in our own lives. The danger I think is to focus on one to the exclusion of the other. We don’t want to focus on holiness to the exclusion of love so that pull out of the world all together and forget that we are also commanded to love. And we don’t want to focus on love to the exclusion of holiness and fall into being conformed to the world. What a challenge!

In Sunday school the next two weeks, we will be talking about God’s holiness. I can’t wait. I love meditating upon his holiness. James MacDonald encourages us to ask God to open up our hearts to reveal his holiness to us so that we can truly worship him. I think this is a good challenge for us.

Spend some these next two weeks reading through Isaiah’s call in Isaiah 6:1-7. See if you can spot how God’s holiness and his love are both visible in this passage!

Friday, July 06, 2007

Fri, 06 Jul 2007 23:40:41 GMT

We've been keeping busy here in Miyakonojo since the last time I wrote!

Furlough DVD Complete:
I helped Chris Sadowitz prepare for his furlough by making his furlough video. We compiled four years worth of videos and pictures together with narration and music. It took us five days of hard work and I think I have carpel tunnels syndrome but we got it done. The video is about 30 minutes long. My favorite part is the end where we included a lot of bloopers and outtakes. This is not your conventional furlough video!! I was glad to be able to help in this way. I never thought my computer skills would come in handy here but they have. I also was able to fix a missionary's computer just by plugging it in an touching it. I felt like Joe Stolz because that kind of thing happens to him all the time.

Evan, Elsbeth and Mariah
It sure was good to see some familiar faces from home! I only wish they could have stayed longer. Evan and I helped packed up some household goods for some missionaries who have left the field, while he was here. I'm glad Elsbeth was able to see everything here first hand since she might be coming back in the near future. Everyone here had been practicing saying her name and had finally gotten it down by the time she showed up. I think I experienced what Elsbeth must go through every time she introduces herself to someone. "Elisabeth?" "No, LLLLLzzzzBeth!!!" People need to here this several times I've found before they get it.

Mini-Volleyball
My Japanese friend Mitsuyoshi was in a mini volleyball tournament with his work. So I decided to go watch. I pictured maybe a few courts of people playing. Boy was I wrong! There were close to a thousand people there. I thought I would never find my friend, and even if I did, I thought there is no way I'm going to catch his game. As it turns out, we showed up just in time for his game and we happened to sit right next to the court he was playing on. Furthermore, Mitsuyoshi's boss is Chris Sadowitz neighbor and friend of many years! Mitsuyoshi and Ikuko are having us over for dinner on Sunday night. We are really looking forward to this.
Mini Volleyball as a sport is something that I wish I could bring back to Hamilton Hills. I think JOLT would love it. The net is a little bit shorter and the ball is the perfect mix between being extremely soft and yet playable. Have you ever played with a ball that is so soft that it almost floats? This is just a little bit heavier than that so that it plays well. Yet, it is impossible to hurt your hand with it. The net is lower than in regular volleyball which makes it fun to spike. After watching Mitsuyoshi play, I had the opportunity to play with a friend of the Sadowtiz's who is a barber. Every monday a group of 50+ barbers and hair stylists get together to play. Some of these Gramas were pretty athletic. It keeps them young.

Hiroshima Golf Tournament
Two days ago, Chris and I went to watch Christian Pena play in a golf tournament up in Hiroshima. We got to live the life of priveldge of a pro golfer for a few hours as we followed Christian around. Christian had made Chris a badge that said Manager and I had a badge that said family. So, if anyone tired to tell us we couldn't do something we would just flash our badges! It was pretty funny.
We followed Christian around the course while he played his round. Whenever, he made a great putt we would hoop and holler like the colts had just won the Super Bowl. Very counter cultural...but hey...we had badges. Christian ended up shooting two over par for the day. He was even until the second to the last hole where he shot a double bogie. Not a bad first day I think!
Chrisitain really has a heart for sharing the gospel with his fellow golfers. I think the Lord has gifted him for this and I was challenged by his heart to share with those around him.
Christian took us to this great resturaunt in Hiroshima where we ate Whale. Let me say that again in case you missed it. We ate Whale! Can you believe it. Never in my life would it have occured to me to eat a whale. And it was actually quite tastey. Especially when it was deep fried with a batter and a special sauce for dipping.

Future Plans
Today we are going to Miyazaki to activate our rail passes for the journey home.
Tuesday we are going to take a train to Hiroshima. There we will see the Peace Park and maybe some other sites if we have time.
Wednesday we will finish our journey up to Tokyo by train.
Thursday we fly home!
Our time here is growing very short. Please pray for us as we travel and reflect upon what we have learned here.

A few more things that make you say hmmm....
1. If you get in trouble here you don't dial 911 you dial 119. (No, I don't know this by experience....thank the Lord)
2. Tags are on the front of your slacks instead of on the back. I think this is actually quite handy. No more trying to twist around in the store to remember what your pants size is!
3. Japanese people are very "by the book". I watch people here do menial jobs with such ritual and precision and pride. The up side to this is that they do their job well. The down side to this is that....they do their job very well. Situations needing grace or special circumstances that aren't in the book can cause the borg to shut down.

See you soon! Hopefully we can update again from Tokyo.

Monday, June 25, 2007

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 00:05:00 GMT

It has been a long time since I have blogged. So, I hope you can make it to the bottom of this entry.

We have settled into a routine here of working in the coffee shop. We spend most of our time there because the shop is open from 11am to 7pm Monday through Saturday. The coffee shop has a pretty good flow of people who come in for english conversation, and we have started developing relationships with those who come often. Last night we had a Japanese couple over for dinner that we met through the coffee shop. We also invited Jessica and Dan Sadowitz over to help us translate, which was very helpful. Michelle made chicken, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and rice. Ikuko brought over a really good stew with meat, potatoes, and carrots. She also brought a tuna fish salad with spinich in it that was very tasty. And for dessert we had a Miykonojo specialty dessert that they brought with some hot tea. We enjoyed showing each other pictures and showing them where we lived in America on a map. They were kind enough to bring Toby a modern kimono styled outfit for a toddler. We will have Toby wear it when we get back in the states. It will knock you out!

Saturday was Toby's birthday. He is now officially 2 years old. However, if you ask Toby, "How old are you?" He will still loudly proclaim that he is "ONE!" But we are working on that. All of the missionaries' children that have befriended Toby here went out of their way to make Toby feel special on his birthday. They all brought him little presents and made him cards. I know that this made a big impression on Toby. Yesterday I realized that Toby was being really quite, which usually means that he is getting into trouble. So, I went to investigate, and he was just sitting in his room studing the birthday cards that his friends gave him. I wish you could have seen the look of concentration on his face!
The Sadowitz's were kind enough to take us to Miyazaki to help us celebrate Toby's birthday. We went to a large mall there. We all got some coffee drinks from Gloria Jeans. Then, we took Toby to a huge play land in the Jusco.
I bought several T-shirts at the mall that have english on them that doesn't make any sense. English on your clothing is way "cool" over here. It doesn't matter what the words actually mean. Sometimes this can be quite funny. For example, I bought a shirt that says "CUT DIRT not budge an inch abbreviate". My other shirt says "usual, genuine, agency, whip along, odds, headway, candor, bask, PROPICIOUS MOMENT, piece of luck!"
I was talking with our friend Nahoko in the coffee shop about this, and she said that when she travels she sees the same thing with Japanese Kanji. The funniest instance of this that she saw was a on a big, muscular, tough english man that she met in England. He had a Kanji tatooed on his neck because it looked cool, and he didn't know what it meant. She died laughing when she saw it becuase the Kanji meant "little sister".

We have been able to call our families with Skype. I found out that I can call my Mother-in-laws cell phone from Japan with my computer for a little over 2 cents a minute. Isn't that amazing! I couldn't believe it. I think she was a little surprised too because when we told her who it was that was calling her, she responded with, "Who is this!" Like we were someone just pretending to be her daughter and son-in-law.

Tom Carr was kind enough to share the pulpit with me. So, yesterday I preached from John 12 at their church here. I had two main points: 1) Mary didn't hold onto what she had until it was too late. What a better way to use her expensive perfume than on the Lord. 2) I talked about how Jesus is worthy of this kind of worship. I used this to talk about a lot of the things that Pastor Randy has taught me about Jesus' exaltation. I obviously preached in Enlgish, and a young Japanese woman named Izumi translated for me. From what I could tell she did a great job. I think I probably sounded better in Japanese than I did in English. I told the Church that this was my first time preaching in my socks and that I liked it very much.

This week Evan, Elsbeth and Mariah are coming to visit us for a few days. We are looking forward to seeing them and showing them around Miyakonojo a little.

In closing I have been compiling a list a of things that make me go Hmmmmm about Japan because they are the exact opposite of how we do them in America. I will share a few of them with you now. Pastor Doug trained us to say that things are different and not weird. Once the culture shock wears off a little, these things are interesting and fun to observe.
1. Japanese drive on the different side of the road (we drive on the "right" side). I have gotten used to this, but I still try to get in the wrong door as a passenger. Tom Carr has taught me to pretend that I am doing a safety inspection of the tires when this happens.
2. I have heard that screws work differently here. Think "Righty loosey, Lefty tighty." However, I have yet to experience this phenomenon.
3. Books start at a different end. Sometimes you might wonder why everyone else is in Revelation when you're supposed to be studying Genesis!
4. When talking about themselves Japanese people don't point to their chest but to their nose. Don't worry they are not trying to tell you that you have a booger hanging out of your nose.
5. Typhoons are really the same thing as Hurricanes the name is just different. So, don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I know this because learned about it from a reliable source: Wikipedia!

That's all for now! Congradulations on making it to the bottom.

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Sat, 16 Jun 2007 08:35:15 GMT

Hello! I'm so excited to finally have the opportunity to sit down and communicate with you all! We have had some fun experiences and good laughs that I've been wanting to share with you. Since many of you know how "blonde" I can sometimes be, I have to tell you what happened to me the other day. One of the missionary families invited us over for a BBQ. Stan asked if we could bring anything and Chris instructed him to ask me to bring hotdog buns. When I first heard this, I thought hotdog buns? You mean they have those here? But I figured there must be hotdog buns (since they asked for them), they must be pretty easy to pick out (since he asked ME for them), and therfore I didn't need any help finding them. The next day at the grocery store, just like I had envisioned, there were the hotdog buns in bags of 6. They didn't appear to be already cut, but that's what knives are for! So I proudly presented my hotdog buns at the BBQ! Mission accomplished! I grabbed a knife and cut open the buns only to find they were each filled with a whipped coffee flavored filling! Who ever heard of hotdog buns with whipped coffee flavored filling! Everyone got a good laugh out of my mistake. Apparently it's common to find unexpected surprises stuffed inside bread products. Well, now I know. There have been many other funny situations that I'll save for another day. I do want to tell you about my trip with Toby to a nearby park. There was a climbing wall with a soft and bouncy floor at the bottom, as well as a very large jungle of thick bungee chord to climb on. Stan took a quick break from his soccer game to climb all the way to the top. He had been eyeing it for some time and said he couldn't help himself any longer. Toby's favorite thing at the park was the slide. Instead of a flat surface , it was made of many rows of independent tubes. So, as you slid down they rolled under you making Toby slide faster than usual. Needless to say, we stayed at the slide for some time. We met Ana there that day. She is philipino but married to a Japanese man named Yuichi and has a 4 month old son named Noel. She came to the MAPS (Mothers and Preschoolers) meeting and made some good connections with the ladies. Please pray that she will join us for church on Sunday and that we can find out where she and Yuichi are spiritually. Please pray also for us. I've missed you all and I have longed to share with you what is going on here and elicit your prayers. I am constantly in need of the Holy Spirit's power, help, and encouragement. Also pray for Ako (ah-ko). Many of you will be able to empathize with her pain. A couple of weeks before we came she experienced a still born birth. She has two JOLT aged boys but this was to be her first little girl. She and her husband Takeishi are hurting but cling to the Lord for hope, encouragement, and courage. Please pray for them. Thank you so much for allowing Stan and I to come here and do what we can and for supporting us with prayer and encouragment. I hope to blog more soon. Love and Blessings, Michelle

Sushi, Coffee, and Golf

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 23:38:21 GMT

June 14, 2007

Two days ago we went to a Sushi Restaurant with the Sadowitz’s and the Pena’s. The Sushi Chiefs were in the middle of the restaurant surrounded by a conveyor belt. The chiefs would prepare sushi on different colored plates, which would determine the price of the Sushi. We were seated around the conveyor belt and could choose whatever we wanted to eat as it scampered on by. Sometimes the conveyor belt would cause you to make an unwise decision under pressure. For example, one time I snatched up a tasty looking Okra dish before gaining all the information that it was coated in a slimy fermented soy bean juice. However, other times I had enough information to let things pass…such as the fresh, raw horse meat. Chris tried to pressure me into it but I just couldn’t bring myself to eat Mr. Ed. (Especially a raw Mr. Ed).

The other day I met a Japanese woman named Tomo in the Coffee Shop. She is an interesting person for two reasons: 1) She is well traveled 2) She is a Japanese woman who has read the WHOLE Bible.

She told me that she enjoyed reading the Bible but could not believe/trust (same word in Japanese) that Jesus is the Son of God. I asked her why not! She sited the example of Jesus healing the guards ear after Peter had cut it off and the example of Jesus calming the typhoon as stories that made her laugh because they were so unbelievable to her. She told me that the ideology put forth in John Lennon’s song “Imagine” summed up her beliefs. How sad! I believe she is still searching though. At this point in the conversation we were interrupted by more people coming into the shop before I had a chance to challenge her view of Jesus and His ability to demonstrate power over creation. But the Lord knows what He is doing. She has plans to come back to the Coffee Shop and I’m praying that we will be able to continue our conversation.

You may have noticed that so far it has been only women who have been coming into the coffee shop. This is probably because the men work so hard at their jobs and hobbies. Chris was telling me that the Japanese will often pick one sport/hobby and dedicate their lives to the perfection of this one thing. What a contrast to Americans who are often jacks of all trades and a master of none. A common sport in Japan that the Japanese men will dedicate their lives to is Golf. So, the missionaries here have found that one place they can connect with Japanese men is on the Golf Course. So, yesterday I went Golfing with Chris Sadowitz and Christian Pena. You might remember me writing earlier that Christian Pena is an American who is playing on the Japanese version of the PGA. The Japanese tour is probably the third best pro golf tour in the world behind the PGA and the European tour. We also met up with a Japanese man who was about my age who is on the Australian Pro golf tour. So, needles to say, I was out of my league. But so was Chris Sadowitz so I wasn’t too lonely. We played a game called “High Low”. We split up into two teams (me and Pena vs. Chris and the Japanese guy). On each hole there was a possibility of scoring two points. One point went to the team with a player with the lowest score (always one of the two pros). The other point went to the lowest team score for that hole. So, what happened a lot is that both of the pros would tie for the lowest individual score which meant that no point was awarded. Then it would be a shootout between Chris and I to see which team could get the lowest score. We ended up in a tie at the end of 18. I got a few tips from Pena on how to improve my game, which was much appreciated.

The golf course was amazingly beautiful even though the mountains were cloudy and foggy. It did pour down rain on us for 3 or 4 holes which is not too bad during rainy season I am told. The service and amenities were also amazing. If you are interested in golf, you might want to ask me about this when I get back.

Most importantly Chris and Christian were able to continue to witness to the Japanese man (I have already forgotten his name…Japanese names are hard to remember because they are so different). I heard him asking some really good questions about life which gave open doors to talk about Jesus.

Today, Michelle will be speaking at MAPS (Mothers And Pre Schoolers). She has much to share but little time to do so with taking care of Toby. Hopefully, she will be able to do so soon.

Open for Business

Wed, 13 Jun 2007 06:45:32 GMT

I had my first customer right when I opened the door on my first official day of business at the coffee shop. Her name was Ikuko and she came for the english conversation. As it turns out Ikuko and her husband live very close to Michelle and I. We are practically neighbors. Please pray for her and her family. Everyday we have at least a few people come into the shop for English conversation. Praise the Lord.

We ran into a rather large snake yesterday at the park. (By the way the park is AMAZING.) The kids we were playing soccer with pestered the poor thing until it was worn out and then one of them picked it up by the tail and started swinging it around. The snake was probably 4ft long.

There is a group of 5 college guys here now through ABWE. Several of them can speak Japanese quite well and have been a big help to Michelle and I in the cofffee shop.

Tomorrow I am going to play a round of golf with Chris Sadowitz, Christian Pena (the golf pro), and some other Japanese Golf pros. Golf is one way that the missionaries have found to connect with Japanese men. I'm looking forward to the match.

June 10th

Wed, 13 Jun 2007 06:30:40 GMT

Yesterday Michelle and I worked together to continue cleaning the coffee shop. The shop will open on Monday officially for business.

In the evening, we took an extended bike ride. We picked the closest looking mountains and decided to bike until we reached them. Surprisingly it didn’t take that long and it was a lot of fun.

Then we went over the Sadowitz’s for some Japanese Pizza Hut. Very good but very expensive. One of the pizza’s was delicious even though I had no idea what the toppings were. Sometimes it’s better not knowing. A young Japanese guy came over to eat pizza and get to know us. His name is Norihito, which I’m told means seaweed man. Chris told me that he has studied the Bible with him and that one day Norihito ran out to him and said that he believes half-way. I hope that he will have the courage to believe all the way and accept the implications of following Christ:

1) Turning his back on his family’s traditions

2) Significantly narrowing the options for someone to marry

3) Giving up his favorite pastime of Japanese archery because the competitions are on Sunday.

These are some common stumbling blocks in the Japanese culture. I really think that the up and coming generation in Japan may be poised to throw off some of these stumbling blocks (this from my limited expereince over the past couple of weeks).

Today, is Sunday and the service here went really well. Tom Carr preached a great sermon from Ephesians 1. During a testimony time a woman stood up and said that this morning she became a Christian. I asked Chris Sadowitz about it later. He said that she had been wanting to study the Bible with someone. She recently had hit rock bottom and was just ready to receive Christ. So, Chris shared the gospel with her and she prayed to receive Christ. I was impressed with her boldness in wanting everyone to know of her recent profession.

In the evening, we went to a concert put on by a gospel choir led by Tom Carr. One of Tom’s passions is music and he does a great job leading this choir. Surprisingly, gospel music is just now becoming popular in Japan, even though they do not believe/understand the messages of the songs. It saddens my heart to hear 20+ Japanese people sing gospel songs like “Jesus is the answer for the world today”, “Amazing Grace”, “Holy, Holy, Holy” and know that they’re hearts are still in darkness. Tom uses this as an outreach by building relationships, explaining the songs they are singing, and inviting the members to church events.

I was given the opportunity to play the guitar in two of the songs, which was a neat experience.

Saturday, June 09, 2007

Sat, 09 Jun 2007 06:19:18 GMT

June 9th
I had a true missionary moment yesterday. I was at Home Wide (the Japanese version of Lowes) and I was trying to communicate to a clerk that I needed more of something than was available on the shelf. He was not able to figure out what I was saying. So, he got 2 others....who flagged down some teenagers....who knew a guy...who could probably speak a few words of english. Finally, through a series of exaggerated hand motions and speaking our own languages loudly and slowly we understood each other. I counted 6 six Japanese people around me. We all had a good laugh about it.

We bought Toby a helmet for when we give him rides on our bike. He looks really cool. I thought it was going to be a struggle to get him to wear it but apparently he thinks it's pretty cool too. Pictures of this coming soon.

I served my first cup of coffee to a Japanese customer yesterday. He didn't spit it out or die on the spot so that was encouraging (for those of you who don't know I have little experience in making coffee). All the hard work to get the place cleaned up paid off. My customer's name was Mr. Tsuno (I believe) and he is in Tom Carr's choir. We sat and talked for quite a while. Tom Carr did a lot of translating for me.

So far, rainy season has been hot and sunny season. I love it!