We may not be able to get turkey without spending (literally) $80 for a small one (so we have chicken), but we can get fresh fruit!
What would you do if you found yourself in Asia, having never been in your life, two days before a major holiday that revolved around food and you didn’t yet even know where to buy groceries? I think I would cry if it I hadn’t thought about it ahead of time, wanting to be able to bless my family, but knowing I couldn’t accomplish it. That’s pretty much the response our new friend, Ann, had when she realized that, now that they were out of quarantine, it was only two days before Thanksgiving, she was just landing in a new city with her family and had yet to even see where they were staying, let alone know where to buy food if she even knew how to navigate around! Thankfully for them, God had arranged for us to find out about their arrival the day they flew in. I “happened” to run into a friend of ours as he was on his way to the airport to take them to their temporary housing until they find a permanent place to stay. I asked him what the family was doing for Thanksgiving and he gave some sort of half response about when he asked that of their supervisors, they thought the family would probably be too tired to celebrate anyway, something, something… What?!? One of the big things you hear about longevity on the field is to try and keep your traditions and culture within your family for positive mental health. You came from a background unique and special to you, remembering and celebrating that is an encouragement when everything around you is so foreign. I realize sometimes I get more excited about holidays than some, but for a family to be stuck in (not even) their house for the day knowing that everyone is celebrating at home and probably around the city but not knowing anyone to celebrate with or have the ability to do so on their own sounded like a terrible idea to me! So, of course, I told our friend to let them know they were more than welcome to join us for Thanksgiving, but to let me know as soon as possible and we’d just “add more water to the soup” as my grandpa always said. …then I went home to tell Lance I’d invited another family bringing our total up to 18…
10 kids + 2 tables in a small room = a lot of noise!
They did come and we had a great time getting to know them and celebrating all together. Most of our single friends were busy or out of the country but that ended up working out well so that we had room for the extra family. Besides two singles, we also had another family who I’ve mentioned before who are still stuck in this country still unable to return to their country of ministry, their life still in limbo. It was a great night of fellowship, sharing outrageous or typical (and still outrageous) or unexpected, or what-to-expect stories of Asia with the new family. Amanda (our homeschool helper) had great experiences to share being the newest to Asian culture and I loved hearing things from her perspective and being reminded of Asian uniqueness that I now see as regular life. She has been to places in Chiang Mai we have yet to visit and four of us ladies were able to plan a trip to one of the night markets here for Korean barbecue and shopping with her.
The evening ended with lots of leftovers sent home and the blessing you get from a great time of fellowship. The new family was so thankful to be invited and we were so blessed to already have the plans in place so we could include them in our celebration. We offered to help them get settled as they start to learn how to navigate life here, and we have already been able to help them since then with a few things. Despite it being a completely different day from last year, we once again had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Thank you for your continued prayers and financial support.
– Ruth, for the Baker family