I often think of giving in terms of losing.  If I give you money, I have less money.  Or if you give me your coat, I have gained a coat but you have lost one.  But when we give ourselves we lose nothing, and contrary to our expectations, we often end up feeling like we got the better end of the deal.  We have been busy the last several weeks with family and friends coming to stay, to work, to laugh and play.  They gave us the very best gift they could: themselves.  Especially when you have said goodbye to so many you love and moved to a place that is very unlike your home, the face of a friend is precious.  (climbing cliffs 50ft above the ocean and plummeting down into the waves together is also precious—though in a different sort of way).  Friendship is, I believe, one of the rare tastes of heaven we can experience on earth.  The best joys are shared, and few are better than those shared with ones we love.  The past few weeks we have built a roof for a family, painted a dorm for hill tribe students, hosted an Art Day and Game Day for all our orphan children, and taken a delightful vacation to the ocean. 

It is an enjoyable experience to do all those things with the people we love.  It is amazing to see how different our friends are from us and from each other.  These different people bring a unique perspective and humor and service (not to mention some very shapely calf muscles---see Chris’ legs on the ladder above).  Many people, many gifts, many ways to serve and give in God’s world.  Let me introduce some of our visitors:

These two lovely ladies are Audrey’s older sisters (Amy above on the left, and Alicia—the pregnant lady on the ladder on the right).

These handsome people are from left to right: (Matt, Gawley, Skyler, and Chris and Mckenzie).  Through the generosity of these people and several others, we were able to purchase 22 new mattresses, pillows, and sheets for the children at the dorm where we painted.  Thank you to all of you who helped!  The house mother at this dorm is an amazing woman named Nid.  She and her husband Brateeb (see below far left) have been living and running this dorm for over 9 years.  She insisted, against all our protests, that we all accept a hand woven shirt that she and the dorm students make there at the dorm as a gift.  We could not have done this project without the additional help of our new friends, Emily and Jolie (see below center), and our college students, Tiida, Joshua, and Gawley (center left).  This was Tiida’s home before she graduated High School and came to live with us.  A good looking, hard working group!

Thank you for all your love, support, and prayers!  Thank you for giving yourselves!
In hope,
Matt & Audrey