Hi all,

        March 30 - Chris and I are on our way to Tokyo Narita Airport.  We have boarded American Airlines flight 153.  Take off was delayed from 12:30 to 1:30.  We will be flying almost directly north over Canada swinging west over Alaska and south again to Tokyo.  It is a trip of over 6267 miles.

        Our pilot says the winds are favorable and that the flight should be 12 hours and 10 minutes.  We are delayed in take off due to a tardy crew member.  Imagine holding up a full 777 for one stewardess.  The passengers are getting restless.  She’s here; we’re off.

        It is 5:42 Chicago time and Chris and I are flying over the Yukon approaching the Bering Glacier.  The cloud cover has broken and I have pictures of the mountains miles below us.  It is spectacular.  It comforts me to know there is still wilderness.

 We are in a foreign country!  Coming into Tokyo, the first thing we saw were chemical storage tanks.  Made me think of bombing raids.  Christopher and I talked of the Doolittle raid of 1942.  The last time a Lederman was in Japan, it was an occupied country.  It is cloudy, cool and we are glad to be here. A surprise was all the farm land near the airport.  We saw little kids out playing baseball.  Spring training.

        American Airlines kept us well fed, two hot meals (with sushi) and a sandwich box in between.  Other than being a bit cramped the flight was very good.

        In the Tokyo airport, Chris connected to the internet for 500 yen - or about $4.  It is pretty wild; here we are sitting in Tokyo watching CNN on a big screen T.V. - in English.  All the workers are very polite and uniformed.  I think they like white gloves here.

        Our EVA flight to Taipei was aboard a jet completely devoted to the Hello Kitty theme.  Hello Kitty faces are painted on the plane.  Hello Kitty cartoons are played on the passenger monitors.  Hello Kitty snack packets and even Hello Kitty figures are stamped on the sausages on the food tray.  My twenty-one year old American male son found this super annoying.  So, of course, he got teased about it the rest of the trip whenever Hello Kitty appeared.

       Despite Hello Kitty, we arrived safely and were soon meeting that sweet, new grandson.     

        More later.  love, Patsy (mom)

Hi everyone,

        Sunday morning Chris and I woke up in the Fu-Hau Hotel at no. 9 sec 2 Fushing S. Road in Taipei.  Our hotel room has two beds, a full bath, two upholstered chairs, a side table, a dresser, and a small closet.  The room is carpeted.  Emily bought the most beautiful white and magenta orchid for our room and it sits on the side table below the window.

        Emily says don't drink the water from the tap; don't even use it to brush your teeth unless you spit it all out.  I have opted to drink water from the water purifier/cooler/heater device sitting on the dresser.  I did brush my teeth in the Tokyo airport, using tap water, oh well.

        Emily is very relaxed here.  Last night we were trying to figure out what bus to take to the Da'an district, which is were Brooks and Emily's apartment is.  There was quite a bit of confusion.  Chris said to me, "I think we know just as much as they do about these buses."  One bus driver was trying to help us in very rapid Chinese.  Emily talked with him but concluded he wasn't going to the right stop.  She went to another parked bus whose driver was asleep, knocked on the door to wake him up, talked to him and decided his wasn't the right bus either.  The original guy came back talking and led us to an office where it was decided we needed bus 31.  Chris commented that he is grateful numbers are the same all over the world.

        The bus was a great saving over a taxi.  The international airport is really quite far from Taipei.  A taxi would cost about $40.  The bus fare for all five of us was $12.50.  (I should comment that the bus had light green cafe curtains hanging on the windows.)

        I think I will tell you about Elijah now.  He is tiny with big hands and fuzzy strawberry blond hair.  His eyes are blue and when he is awake they are wide open and he is very alert.  He does all the baby things, cry, eat, sleep, usually in that order.  He is very sweet and I am very much in love with him. Seeing him for the first time was a major reason for making this trip.  Ah, it’s nice to see Em and Brooks too.

        After 24 hours of travel it is very good (read exciting) to be here.  Waking in the morning refreshed and hungry, we were so glad the hotel offered a free breakfast.  We went down to the lobby, obtained a voucher from the front desk and found our way to the little restaurant down  a narrow, winding stairs.  We were greeted by a little old Chinese lady who took our yellow voucher slips and gave us a tray of food and went back to watching what sounded like Chinese soap operas on t.v.  Well, it was very different, is the kind, generous thing to say.  The rice I recognized but the desiccated brown stuff, dried chopped pickles, Half of an old boiled egg (I later learned it was duck) and sesame seeds on orange something was not what I had in mind for breakfast.  Chris tried everything. I would watch him before trying.  I decided the unidentified orange stuff with rice was okay, but had to leave the rest.

        This morning we went to church with Em and Brooks.  Church is tucked away in a rented room in the best university in Taipei. After a taxi ride we arrived and were greeted by Ken who was putting out the church signs. The service was in English translated to Chinese (just like Truth Lutheran in Naperville).  Emily played piano for the hymns and Brooks led singing.  Among the hymns we sang was, "Nothing but the Blood of Jesus".  This is our hymn of the month back home and I thought it God's special blessing to sing it with believers on the other side of the world.  I met the pastor, Joel Linton, his wife Judy.  I met Whitney and Moses and Chris and Linda and Lillian. I met another grandmother who had traveled from South Africa with her husband to see their grandson.  Their son and his wife (a Chinese girl raised in London) live in Taipei.  I joked it must be Grandmother Sunday.  After church, we shared tuna fish sandwiches (very gratefully) and conversation on benches out in the subtropical sun. 

        Another taxi ride back to Em's place, and it was time to open the big suitcase with all the gifts I had brought for so many people from the states.  Emily loved all the gifts, cards, and clothes for Elijah.  I gave the steak sauce, taco seasoning, kool aid packets and baby toys to Brooks to enjoy.  They are very grateful to all the family and friends for all the generous and thoughtful gifts.  Thank you, to you all.

        Chris and I are determined to not succumb to a Sunday afternoon nap but stay up as long as we could to fight jet lag (which hasn't been bad at all).  It was decided to stroll through the flower and craft fairs which are open on holidays and weekends.  Fantastic displays of orchids of all colors, palm trees and roses were for sale.  Crafts of carved wood or jade and all sorts of junk were offered.  Pictures will hardly do it all justice, but they were dutifully taken.

        For dinner Em and Brooks took us to a hot pot restaurant.  Coming in we were greeted by a gang of four girls and swept along to a table and quickly seated.  Four big bowls of food were hurriedly placed on the table.  Emily told them we only wanted food for two.  I was not hungry anyway, just thirsty.  The deal is flavored pots of water and spices (your choice) are fitted into holes in the table which are heated.  You boil food of your selection in the water and eat with rice.  The place is kind of like a buffet in that you go get noodles, drinks and desserts and bring them to your table.  The waitresses loved Elijah and all wanted to hold him which Brooks allowed them to do. I was not as comfortable with the whole idea but Brooks says that friends of his in Korea told of similar experiences where waitresses would sweep up the little foreign baby and even take him away to show their friends.  That would be more than I could handle.

        Today we are off on a new adventure.           love, Patsy (mom) 

Good morning from Taiwan,

        While Chris sleeps in a while I will tell you the adventure of the last few days.  I have been without a computer and so have not been able to keep you updated. 

        This story begins last Monday morning.  One of my hopes, actually the only one I had rather set my heart on was to travel on the new high speed train from Taipei (northern most city) to Kaohsiung the major city in the south of the island.  I thought this would be the most comfortable way to see the most of Taiwan.  Being with the young and adventurous it was decided to do it.  Grabbing Subway sandwiches for the trip, we raced through the MRT (mass transit system) and then through the brand spanking new bullet train terminal; we were on our way.  Passing through Taipei and Taoyuan at over 120 miles per hour we soon were in view of mountains and meticulously maintained fields of rice, corn, guavas and assorted green growing things.  Now I say perfectly maintained fields but the houses/apartments/commercial/industrial buildings were a real mixed bag of new and, to my midwestern American sensibilities, terrible disrepair.  Taiwanese cities are loud, noisy and layered with every color and design known to man.  If the Taiwanese can make it more colorful, loud, and crowded they will cheerfully do so. I didn't realize it but I was becoming a bit overwhelmed.

        Arriving in Kaohsiung it was decided to continue on by bus to the national park in Kenting.  Chris does not care for buses. So especially for him, this one turned out to be a swaying, bumping local milk run.  While Chris added this to his file of memorable bus trips, I contentedly watched the ever varied towns roll by.  Beside the local folk on and off the bus, our most interesting pickup was a load of junior high girls traveling home.  When they saw Emily with her baby, they crowded round wide eyed, pointing and laughing.  Em told them all about good, little Elijah, in Chinese, while they stared wide eyed.  Em said Elijah is probably the only foreign baby they have ever seen.  He is a very good ambassador.

        None of us realized this bus ride was going to be this long. Seeing that the day was waning, we started to discuss our options for the night.  Brooks had brought along a travel guide by Lonely Planet publishers.  It listed many hotels for the Kenting National Park area.  Wanting to economize he suggested the local youth hostel.  Inwardly I grimaced (probably outwardly too) and then asked for other options.  I just couldn't see taking Elijah to a bare bones youth hostel.  It was finally decided to call, by cell phone, for reservations to the Kenting Chateau.  It listed beach, clean sheets and a swimming pool.  Although the room cost was four times the Taipei hotel, we all would share one room and there was a free breakfast, which I had learned to have my doubts about.

        Continuing to bump along down the southern Taiwanese highway, Brooks looked out the window and said, "Hey, that's our hotel!" A quick group decision was made to jump off the bus the next time the driver slowed down.  We landed along the side of the highway right in front of ... McDonalds.  After a dinner of reliable hamburgers we walked back along the highway into... paradise.

        Opening the lobby door my nose was greeted by the comforting scent of cleaning chemicals.  The lobby fountain happily splashed, welcoming us unwitting travelers to one of the best resorts on the island.  After check in we were whisked to our wing via a golf cart and given the key cards to a spacious room with four double beds, a large panel t.v., a dark blue and white tiled, clean, spacious bath with a glassed in shower. A Peter Rabbit crib for Elijah was soon supplied.

        The guys immediately left to check out the beach.  Emily and I happily exalted in the beautifully appointed room marveling at the high white ceiling, understated elegance and the vast array of little colored bottles of shampoo, body wash, conditioner, sun block, lotion, etc. placed by the hotel staff for our comfort.

        Chris and Brooks were soon back, dripping with salt water and gritty with beach sand.  Brooks was also minus one tennis shoe.  Even though the guys had put their shoes high on a rock, it seems the South China Sea wanted Brooks’ shoe.  A big wave out of no where, hit the beach hard and the guys found themselves scrambling for shoes and socks. 

        They said, "Come on, you have got to see this beach and the pools!"  Pools?  Em got suited up and I wrapped Elijah in blankets to watch the discovery of the most beautiful pool complex I have ever seen.   First there was the bubbling pool, then there was the infinity horizon pool, then there was the basketball pool, then the volleyball pool and finally the shower pool.  I am not making this stuff up.

Brooks, Emily and Christopher wore out the pools and ran into the surf.  The sea was warm and the waves were beckoning.  It was fun to watch.  Elijah watched with grandma.

I have run out of time... more later.  love, Patsy (mom)

        After a good night's sleep, it was time to face breakfast. We had been given vouchers for the Aegean Restaurant.  Em and I went over first and were welcomed by smiling hostesses.  We were shown to a table overlooking beach and sea.  Along the interior walls were curving counters laden with food I could recognize!  Mom was a happy camper.

Brooks and Chris had gone off before breakfast to rent scooters.  With all the good breakfast I didn't want them to miss this feast.  They soon returned and we enjoyed the buffet of mangos and dragon fruit, scrabbled eggs and french toast, pineapple and pound cake, green beans and dried duck eggs, strong coffee and mango juice, pizza and potato salad, some strange, some blessedly familiar.         

Recharged the boys raced off to explore the town, mountains and highway on their scooters.  Em and I poked around the resort shops checking values and converting from Taiwan dollars to U.S. dollars.  Em later took off with the guys and shopped in town buying two cute crinkled cotton skirts.  Grandma babysat until Chris took her for a scooter ride up the mountain road.  On the descent, I videoed the ride down.  I told Chris that was all I wanted and was grateful to get off at the hotel in one piece.

        We made that buffet last for lunch too. Walking to town for dinner we ordered Indian curries and pizza and seafood spaghetti.  It was tough to tell the difference between the noodles and the sliced squid.  Nummy.  For Chris, at the restaurant, was a display of Hello Kitty souvenirs.  Hello Kitty toaster anyone?

        In the night, a strong wind kicked up, blowing dark heavy clouds at a good clip across the sky.  The palms trees tossed and the swell grew and I thought the seascape only grew lovelier.  The weather change made the surf more fun and running on the beach was a new activity.  That evening, after having complementary coffees in the cafe, Em and mom whomped the team of Chris and Brooks at a game of hand and foot.  Of course they ignored our superiority and found solace in ping pong and arcade games in the basement recreation room.  Em and I went back to the room and surfed Chinese t.v.

        After two days, it was time to head back to Taipei.  This time we took the shuttle offered by the resort back to the high speed train.  I had an interesting conversation with the lady I sat next to.  She and her husband had taught abroad for 25 years living in Saudi Arabia, Kenya, Pakistan and now Taiwan.  As only women can, we talked all the way back and I probably know more about her now than a man in similar circumstance could find out in five years.  Nice lady.

        Our room in the Fu-an Hotel had been changed and we found ourselves in a bigger room but seven stories lower.  The street noise of scooters, cabs and rapid transit was incredible well into the night.  Glad I brought ear plugs, Chris had lost his.

        Breakfast found us begging at Emily's for corn bread and granola.  I still can't handle the Chinese interpretation of breakfast - dried and chopped whatevers.  She was kind and fed us.  Then we were off to Taipei 101, the tallest building in the world. Inside the tower is a five story mall of the most expensive luxury goods in the world.  Em headed us to Page One, a simply fantastic bookstore.  The store featured a very complete selection of English books.  I later learned that it is the largest book store in Asia.

        Lunch was way cool.  After two taxi rides we wandered down a back alley to a middle eastern pita bread restaurant.  Really it was just a hole in the wall place but the humus and the Iranian chicken and the stuffed pita were so good.  I think I was hungry.  No empty seats in the little dining room found us enjoying lunch in a park under a pavilion.  I thought of God’s goodness and provision of this good food and quiet park with table, seats and a roof over our head.  God is kind.

        On the way back to the apartment, Em and I got bing sha - shaved ice fruit drinks, one pineapple and one kiwi.  The guys went to shoot hoops in a park.  Em took a nap and grandma did what she could for Elijah.  Tonight we are off to dinner with Ginger, her parents and the Chen family (representatives for IBLP in Taiwan).  I'll check in later.  love, Patsy (mom)            

        Last night I lost my ear plugs, but I was so tired it did not matter how many scooters were roaring past the hotel.  It was as full day… we took the MRT to dinner with Ginger Ku. Ten o'clock in the black, drizzly night, found us in the immense plaza between the National Concert Hall, the National Theater and the Chang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall.

        It was good to see Ginger again.  Ginger stayed with our family for Christmas a couple of years ago.  She also visited our home in Naperville for dinner in November of 2006.  She treated us to the best Chinese dinner I have had in Taipei.  Her parents and sister and some of the Chen family also joined us (Faith, Karen, Grace and Tim).  It was a special privilege to meet Ginger's parents.  I wanted to tell them we had so enjoyed Ginger's visits and that she had been a very gracious guest in our home.  Ginger and her sister translated for me so I could tell this to her mom.  She spoke no English.  I speak no Chinese.  Before I had left Naperville last week, Chris had recorded for me in the digital camera a short video of the Naperville Storms sending a greeting to Em and Brooks.  Ginger's mom and dad enjoyed watching it too. 

            In conversation with Karen Chen, she gave insights into the state of Christianity in Taiwan.  It is not an encouraging report.  Christianity is diminishing in this island state.  The people are finding identity in their traditional culture.  Answers to modern social ills are being sought in old ways.  Although there is religious freedom it is not easy for Taiwanese to convert to Christianity.  Pray for Taiwan and for workers for this vast harvest.

        The architecture of the Chang Kai-Shek Memorial Plaza buildings is fantastic.  The two cultural buildings, theater and concert halls, are sheltered by immense flying roofs supported by huge red pillars in the traditional Chinese style.  Red, green, white, black and gold color the multiple roof lines.  Far across the plaza is the memorial building.  Think Lincoln Monument in Chinese.  The white marble building rises high above the plaza on granite staircases.  The roof is azure blue.  Em said the gardens are beautiful in the daytime.  Chris and Brooks raced up the staircase.  Brooks won.

        Crowds were light for Taipei. Even some shops and restaurants were closed.  It was a national holiday, Tomb Sweeping Day.  The traditional Chinese religion of ancestor worship requires people to return to their family home towns to pray to the dead and maintain the grave site.  Many families had left Taipei to head to southern villages on the island.  In front of many businesses you will see fires burning in barrels.  Em explained shop keepers are burning slips of paper called ghost money to keep the ghosts appeased. Traditional Chinese customs in many ways satisfy for an orderly, earthly life but the hope beyond death is limited to ghost money and a neat grave.  Forgiveness of sins, a relationship with the God who created man, and life everlasting do not exist in this system.  Pray for Taiwan. Pray for Em and Brooks as they consider how God would want to use their lives for His Kingdom.      love, Patsy (mom)

        Thursday morning found us enjoying bacon, eggs and toast at Em's apartment. She had gone shopping that morning to surprise us with a standard American breakfast.  While Brooks graded papers for his English students, Em and I packed the big suitcase with things she wanted to send back to the states.  They will be coming home mid-August (Brooks will be going back to school for a degree in accounting based on advice of other missionaries) and won't be needing some of their books, cold weather clothes and extra baby things.

        Plans for the day were discussed and it was decided Chris, Em, Elijah and me would travel to the northern harbor in Taipei.  Em thought it would be neat to say that we had been to both the northern and southern boundaries of the island.  Brooks needed to spend time studying for his Chinese class.  This is a good spot to mention the truly impressive progress Brooks and Em are making in the Chinese language both in the spoken and written forms.  I have heard Em engage in conversation with taxi drivers, shop keepers and order at restaurants.  Brooks is a little behind her ability but considering he has only been here since last August his spoken and written Chinese skills are amazing.  (It is good to impress your mother-in-law.) 

        Soon we were on the MRT heading north.  The end of the line brought us to the harbor.  Pictures of boats and ferries and the bay waters were duly taken.  Em suggested we get lunch from the street vendors.  In no time we were sharing deep fried shrimp on bamboo sticks, boiled noodles with chopped beef and onions, hot pearl milk tea, shaved strawberry ice, curried chicken wrap and candied strawberries and tomatoes on a stick.  Chris topped this all this off with an enormous soft serve ice cream cone.

        Little shops of all sorts were set up along the bay.  Every trinket imaginable is sold and Taiwanese are serious shoppers.  I believe it is the national past time.  In the states I am accustomed to women enjoying shopping and the men avoiding it at all costs.   Here everybody shops and the markets are jammed.

        One incident is worth note.  A little old man was sitting along the bay sawing away on a two string instrument making music.  Now I have resisted giving to beggars and stray dogs but I thought he was adding to the day so I dug in my change purse for something to put in his box.  He motioned for me to come sit beside him.  Em told me to go ahead.  So, I did.  He carefully wiped off the seat beside him and next thing I know I am being instructed to saw away on the two string noise maker.  Pictures were taken.

        The weather had started off wet and misty and the damp was beginning to get to me.  I suggested the National Museum might be a good place to go next.  Ginger’s mom had suggested it.  We took the MRT to a bus transfer and found one going to the museum. After a gigantic series of stairs we arrived to find half of Taipei trying to get in to see the exhibits.  This museum is world class with a special collection of pottery.  Em needed to nurse Elijah and went off to find a quiet corner.  Chris had had enough crowds.  We regrouped and decided a Starbucks would save the day.  Starbucks is really big in Taiwan.  There are a ton of coffee shop knockoffs trying to be just like Starbucks.  Em says you just look for shop signs in the signature dark green Starbucks shade and you'll find coffee.  Scanning the street Em spotted one.  Soon it was mochas and lattes for all in the cushy comfort of Starbucks.

        That evening we joined up with Brooks to share a homemade pizza dinner at the Steiners.  Chris and Beth Steiner are working to set up a mission English school in Taiwan.  They have become good friends with Brooks and Em.  The couples often get together for dinner, conversation, games of Settlers of Catan and to encourage one another in learning Chinese.  Nice people.

        ttyl, love, Patsy (mom)

        Final report - Saturday was spent close to home, home being the one room efficiency apartment on the twelfth floor of a sixties era high rise in downtown Taipei (yes, Em's refrigerator is avocado green).  For breakfast we enjoyed a Walker family specialty named s.o.s., fried hamburger and gravy on toast.  After breakfast Brooks had some reports to file at work. Chris went along.   Em and I took Elijah to the Wellcome Grocery Store (two l's is how they spell it) to buy milk.  The tour of the little grocery store was fun for Em and me.  We did a lot of comparison shopping, American versus Taiwanese prices, Chinese specialty ingredients versus recognizable American ingredients.  An interesting side note - bread is sold in eight slice cellophane packages. Lunch, that day, had not been decided.  Em was planning to cook for all of us but was also thinking fondly of Chinese dumpling carry out. After a cell phone negotiation it was decided that Brooks, Em and Chris would go out to find Chinese pot sticker carry out (Brooks' choice), while grandma happily and most willingly babysat Elijah.  Chris said he enjoyed watching the cook make the pot stickers at the tiny street side restaurant. So we enjoyed three types, two meat somethings and one vegy something.

        After a game of Settlers of Catan (Chris won) and games of hand and foot (the partnership of Brooks and me won), Chris was sent out solo on Brooks' bike to rent a video.  It was kind of a Brooks - Chris dare.  Could he do it?  Get out on the street alone, find the shop, negotiate with the Chinese shop owner, pay the rental fee, and successfully find his way back.  Yes, he met the challenge. Grandma has only negotiated going to the hotel alone once.  Not needing a dare or any such emboldened silliness I was quite content to be led about the entire stay in Taiwan. 

        Getting late and hungry again, Brooks had a hankering for TGI Fridays.  Reservations were made for eight o'clock and that hour found us ordering very American burgers (for the guys) and fish dishes for Em and me.  I treated.  One curiosity - my white fish bruchetta was to have a side of rice.  They had run out and wanted to substitute french fries.  Imagine, running out of rice in Taiwan.

        On the way back to the apartment we toured a few floors of the Sogo department store.  This place is first class and sells designer label clothing, cosmetics, handbags and anything else that costs a lot of money.  White marble floors, brilliant lighting, a uniformed young and pretty sales staff are there to guide your money into their cash registers.  We also discovered a very nice tea room in Sogo that Em is thinking would be a good place to meet with her English students.

        Back at the apartment, good byes and final hugs were given to Em and Elijah.  Brooks would be meeting us at 5:30 in the morning to get us to the airport.  Looking back we could have, most likely, done this on our own but I really needed the assurance that I had checked out of the hotel correctly and gotten to the airport on time.  Brooks, the good son-in-law, dutifully made sure all went well.

        The flights home were cramped and tiring but the stewardesses feed the boredom away and there are movies to watch.  I watched Charlotte's Web and Miss Potter, a biography on the life of the author of Peter Rabbit.  These perks did not interest Chris so he slept across the Pacific.  Late afternoon of Easter Sunday Bill picked up Chris and me at the International Terminal at Chicago's O'Hare Airport and took us straight to Linda and Jim Skarins for the holiday dinner.  Blessings abound.

         A final note, waiting for the Taipei to Tokyo flight I sat next to a little Chinese lady.  She greeted me with a smiling, "Good Morning."  I noted she had a wedding band.  (Em had told me that only American Chinese wear wedding bands.)  The dead giveaway however was the Wal Mart bag stuffed in the top of her carryon.  Soon we were happily visiting.  She told me although she had been born and raised in Taiwan; she had not been back for over twenty years.  She lives in Houston now and has a son in the university there.  Thinking she would be receptive to such a question, I asked her if she were a Christian.  Yes, she was.  She told me the story of when she was a junior high student in Taiwan, she had attended a summer camp where she heard that old, old story of Jesus and His love and had accepted Him as her Savior, becoming a Christian.  Back home her mother required her to continue in ancestor worship as she had done before. She knew she should not, as a Christian participate.  This was a great difficulty in her life.  I didn't learn the intervening details but know she now worships the one true God at a Chinese church near her home in Texas, U.S.A.

        I thought what a blessing and reward it will be someday for that unknown camp worker of so many years ago, that at least in one of those young hearts, the seed of the gospel took root and flourished.  Emily and Brooks are seeking the goal of knowing God’s will in missions.  For this goal they live in a strange land, are learning a difficult language, live in a tiny 12th floor apartment, have their first born far from the comfort of family and friends, eat strange food (well, okay, they like that part) and pay their own way by teaching English.  Pray for them.  Pray they will follow His leading whether serving Him abroad or at home in the states. 

It is good to be back.  love, Patsy