Mount Everest

On the way from Bagdogra, India to Paro, Bhutan we flew past Mount Everest. On the way back from Paro to Bagdogra the sky was perfectly clear and we had an excellent view of the mountain. It was amazing to see the beauty of this natural wonder. God is truly awesome, and He has shown us his power in His creation. What a privilege it was to see this part of His creation. Here are some views of the mountain.

Bhutan Trip

Last week I went with Raymond Burkholder and Collier Berkshire to the country of Bhutan. We spent the week touring the country and teaching in some house church fellowships. It was a great learning experience for me. All of the Christians in Bhutan are first generation Christians.

We were able to travel to a few different parts of the country and spend time with believers in these areas. I was teaching from the book of Ephesians. There was a real desire for teaching. The Christians in Bhutan are eager for more Bible teaching and opportunities to acquire Bible knowledge.

It was great to be able to interact with the believers there. They have a real desire to reach their country with the Gospel. People are coming to Christ and the churches are growing. They are wanting us to pray for unity among the believers and that the government would take a favourable view of Christianity and lessen the restrictions on the churches.

Here are Collier, myself and Raymond at the airport in Paro, Bhutan. The landing in Paro is amazing. The plane flies down the valley, turning with the valley, then it crosses a ridge and makes a sharp turn to the right and lands. I have done that kind of approach in a Cessna before, but never in a jet this size.

This is a Takin. It is the national animal of Bhutan. It looks like it has the head of a goat and the body of a cow.

Here are Raymond, myself, our co-ordinator and Collier.

This is one of the church services we attended.

This is a group picture of the people who attended one of our conferences.

Here I am teaching at one of the conferences.

Here is another picture of my teaching time. The scarf is a special gift of honour that is given to a guest. It was requested that I wear it while teaching.

We Have Arrived

We arrived in Chiang Mai yesterday just before noon. We had slept quite a bit on the flights, so our adjustments to the time change were not too serious. However, by 8 PM yesterday we were starting to fall asleep while talking. :)

Today the children went with the school children here on their school field trip to a paper factory and an umbrella factory. They enjoyed that very much.

Tomorrow I am leaving with Raymond Burkholder and Collier Berkshire for Bhutan.

Here are some pictures from the airports along the way:

This is in Minneapolis

This is Dallas in Dallas!

This is in Los Angeles.

Hey! Now we are in Taiwan.

And finally in Chiang Mai! Our our luggage arrived on the same flight we did.

Taiwan

We are still enroute to Thailand. We crossed the Pacific Ocean and are now in Taiwan. We get our flight from here to Chiang Mai, Thailand in about 45 minutes. 13 Hours and 10 minutes in the air from Los Angeles to Taipei. I slept about 6 hours, and am feeling pretty good.

Minneapolis

We made the first section of our trip yesterday. We arrived in Minneapolis last evening. We are getting ready to head over from the hotel to the airport. We have been weighing and adjusting the contents of our suitcases. They are all under the weight limit now.

Our flight leaves this afternoon. The route we will travel takes us from Minneapolis to Dallas. Then from Dallas to Los Angeles. From Los Angeles we fly to Taipei, Taiwan. Then finally from Taipei to Chiang Mai, Thailand.

We are scheduled to arrive in Chaing Mai at about 11:00 AM local time Thursday, which willbe 11:00 PM Wednesday in Sioux Lookout.

Travel

This morning we are packed and ready to leave for Thailand. We just need to finish up the last minute things and get everything in the car. We plan to drive to Minneapolis today and fly from there tomorrow.

Sometimes I think about all the time it takes to get our bodies from where we are to where we need to be. I think one of the beauties of our eternal existence may be the ability to move through space without it taking so much time.

On the other hand, enjoying the journey is part of life. In fact, our lifetimes resemble a journey. Each day can be like turning another bend in the road. It brings new experiences, sights and sounds.

So, this week as we move our bodies from Sioux Lookout to Chiang Mai, Thailand we will enjoy the journey and experience what each moment brings.

A Pleasant Surprise

I traveled to Pennsylvania this week for the Anabaptist Foundation board meeting, and the meeting of the Anabaptist Foundation Open Hands Fund Committee. My flights took me from Sioux Lookout to Thunder Bay, Thunder Bay to Toronto, and finally from Toronto to Philadelphia. On this route, on the way down, I went through security in Thunder Bay and Toronto. If you remember my comments about TSA from my trip to Haiti last month, you know I don't really enjoy going through security.

On my way South this week the security staff in Thunder Bay were polite and smiled, even though I set off the beeper on the scanner. They didn't yell at me, and were actually friendly. The same was true in Toronto.

As I was driving to the airport in Philadelphia Thursday morning, I was thinking about the security people and especially TSA. I had pretty much convinced myself that Canadians are polite and gracious, and it must be something in the culture of the country that makes the TSA people seem so rough in comparison.

Then I arrived at the airport and checked in. I proceeded to security. What a pleasant surprise! the TSA lady looked at my passport and boarding pass. She smiled and said, "Ezra. What a lovely name!" "Well, thank you", I replied. She smiled some more and wished me a safe and pleasant trip. The TSA people at the scanner were polite and the one agent asked me almost apologetically if he could pass his swab over my laptop.

I was pleased and impressed. It just proves that people can do a difficult job and make it pleasant. Now I'm curious about the differences between Philadelphia and Miami, as well as some of the other airports I have been through.

Then there is the thing about my name. I have a first name I never use unless required to by law. Since September 11, 2001, I need to use my first name when I travel by air. So, all my airline tickets are issued to Ezra Merle Burkholder. Sometimes people have never heard the name Ezra. One agent asked me if I know it is a Bible name. When I said I did know that, she asked me what Ezra in the Bible had done. So, we had a little Bible quiz right there at the airline counter. Once I was asked if I am Jewish, because it is a Jewish name.

Sometimes my first name catches even me off guard. Last week the medical clinic here in Sioux Lookout phoned our house and asked to speak with Ezra. I don't think she pronounced it quite properly, but anyway, I told her she must have the wrong number. She said she was sure she had the right number. I asked her again who she is looking for, she told me again she was looking for Ezra. I told her there is no one in this household with that name. Then she said, "let me spell it for you, E - Z - R - A". "Oh", I said, "that would be me". Then she didn't quite believe me. So, from there our conversation went to me trying to convince her that she was speaking to Ezra, but I just never use that name. She made me give her my middle name and my birthdate and a few others things to prove that I really was Ezra.

Now, that was a little embarrassing! Maybe when I go in for the appointment they will run a few checks for memory loss!

Anabaptist Foundation

I am in Pennsylvania for the Anabaptist Foundation board meeting. After the full board meeting we are having a meeting of the Anabaptist Foundation micro-finance committee. The committee now has a new name. We are known as the Open Hands Fund Committee.

Our new name is taken from our theme verse. Deuteronomy 15:7 - 8. If there be among you a poor man . . . thous halt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need.

Our vision statement is: Christ-centered economic development opportunities for the poor.

Our mission statement: As Anabaptist followers of Christ, we desire to keep the commands of Scripture to "bear ye one another's burdens" and to "consider the cause of the poor" through the development of self-supporting, micro-lending and micro-enterprise programs that teach Biblical financial concepts and present the Gospel of Jesus Christ for a "witness to the nations".

So far, our programs have been in Haiti. We hope to take on some projects in other countries in the next few years. We have worked in partnership with HOPE International to provide 225 loans in North-Eastern Haiti. The loans are now in their second six-month loan cycle. the repayment rate on the first six month loan cycle was 96.7%.

We are in the start-up stages of a savings program in the South of Haiti. by next year this time we hope to have several hundred participants in group savings programs.

Anabaptist Foundation and Anabaptist Financial provide financial services to Mennonite people in North America. We also are concerned about the Mennonite people, and others, in the third world who do not have access to the financial services that we have here in North America.

Through micro-lending, and savings groups, it is possible to double a family's income from $2.00 a day to $4.00 a day. This makes a real difference in their nutrition and the ability to send their children to school.

The savings groups do a lot to help people create financial margin in their lives. It also helps to change the perception that they are helpless, and need someone from outside the community to provide the resources to begin to make changes in their poverty.

I am excited about what the Open Hands Fund Committee is doing. We have been born into the top 33% of the world's most wealthy people. We can reach out voluntarily to those in the bottom 33%.

You can get more information about Anabaptist Foundation here.

Evan and Heidi Hochstedler Wedding

This past Saturday was the wedding of Evan Hochstedler and Heidi Hochstetler. Evan is the son of Bill and Susan Hochstedler and Heidi is the daughter of Nate and Jan Hochstetler. They had an outdoor wedding in the field by Nate and Jan's house. We have had a very cool and wet Summer. At the beginning of the week, the forcast for the entire week was for rain. By Thursday they changed the forcast to cloudy with a 20% chance of showers for Saturday. Then on Friday it cleared off and it was a lovely day on Saturday.

The wedding was really nice. The weather was great and the setting was beautiful. The reception was held at Calvary Baptist Church here in Sioux Lookout. Here are a few pictures of the wedding.

This is the ceremony. As you can see the sun was shining. It was not too hot and there was a breeze blowing, which kept the bugs away.

Here are Evan and Heidi ready to leave the wedding and go to the reception. They had a ride in a 1951 chevy that belongs to a neighbour of Bill and Susan.