The Rugby Ball

It's been awhile since I have written anything. Most of the last bunch of posts have been written by Sabrina.

We visited a local church and as we were leaving we noticed a rugby ball down in a one of the gutters. Gutters in America tend to be small, but this gutter was more like an exposed sewer line. I've never been good at judging distances or heights, and I knew this was deep but it was a lot deeper than I realized. I also knew Luke wouldn't be able to get out but I figured I could get Drew back out. I actually didn't need to urge Drew to go but Sabrina was very adamant we shouldn't go down.

Drew climbed over the edge, let himself down and let go. For just an instant it looked like he was going to stick the landing but he fell in the bottom and there is a small channel running down the middle with water and he managed to sit in it. Drew didn't seem too upset but his mom was. He threw the ball out to me and then we set out to pull him up.

This is where I realized how deep the gutter was. Drew is 4'10''. With his hands outstretched above him he was just able to grasp the top of the drainage ditch. The walls were covered with moss and slippery so I had to pull him out on my own. Unfortunately the first 6 or 7 tries I was not able to get him out. Sabrina has stopped watching and is standing off a little ways away. I am starting to panic and I think so is Drew. But we decide to try again and this time a stranger on his way past helps us out.

As soon as we get to the bus stop, I tell Drew to change his clothes and take a shower when we get home. Being the boy he is he never does but thankfully he didn't get sick.

Sentosa Island

We walked up Mt. Faber.


At the top of Mt. Faber is one of the several Merlions in Singapore.



We rode the cable cars from Mt. Faber to Sentosa Island





We walked around one of the beaches and the kids played in the sand and water for hours.







Work begins on Monday!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Arab Street

This evening we took a bus down to Arab Street to see a Mosque. We got offered some really good deals on silk dresses, carpets, and lots of scarfs.



After we walked around that area, we went over to a mall in which a lot of Thai people visit. Many signs were not in English. We loved the grocery store with the live fish. Although I may have seen live cockroaches in stores before, this was the first time I saw large dead ones for sale (to eat)!!! (Sorry, no pictures!)

When you need to use the rest room, do not say, "Excuse me sir, can you tell me where the bathroom is located?" Just say, "Toilet?" Most restrooms in outdoor markets require you to pay 10 cents to enter. In almost every restroom, you have a choice between typical American toilets or squat toilets.

Church

Today we visited the Bible Church in Singapore. It was wonderful to worship with other believers!! The passage today was 1 Cor 10:23-11:1. The pastor discussed food offered to idols and food at meat markets. Those verses never seemed to have much meaning in America but here in Singapore those verses carry much more meaning. We see idols in the markets as we travel around the city. Over 85% of the city does not worship Jesus. Although we are free in Christ, we must also consider others as we think of choices we make.

Nature Park (behind our house)

First, you need to use the correct words in Singapore!

Not a gas station -petrol station
Not air conditioning - aircon
Not a parking lot - car park
Not a basket (in the store) - trolley
An outdoor market (with really fresh fish!) - wet market
Outdoor food stalls - hawkers or hawker center
Not a cross walk - zebra crossing

And some of the signs at the nature park were really cute!


Durians are anywhere from the size of a football to something bigger than a bowling ball. They are covered by very sharp spikes. I imagine it could do some serious damage.

Look how sad/mad the monkey is.





That's a steep slope indeed.

Cute Kids!!

Transportation (No car for us!!)

We take the MRT (subway).





We take the bus. (You can see us waiting for it.)





And we walk and walk and walk!!

Singapore River

China Town

A quick story about Chinatown. I went into a small shop that had a real nice Nikon DSLR camera. I wanted to look at it and maybe see how much it was in comparison to the states. I asked how much and he replied $750 Singapore. I handed it back and said thanks and then as I walked out the door he hollered "how about $500." Makes me wonder what the real price is.

Little India

Arriving in Singapore

S6300954
Originally uploaded by Erwijc

We took a flight from DFW to Tokoyo to Singapore. There were TVs in front of each seat and the kids (and us) watched a lot of movies. There was also a channel that had the flight path that was fun to watch. In the second plane, you could see the actual runway during take-off and landing that was really cool. The kids slept some on the second flight. ALL of our luggage made it safe!!!! We had two people from the school waiting for us when we arrived. They took us to our new home and we slept for 7 hours before we were ready for our first day!

Here is the view outside of our window on the first morning.

We've made it

We finally made it here to Singapore. I have plans to write up some more about our first few days here in Singapore. I haven't had access to the internet for some time and I am up at school now. I may have to post them later.

Today is Sabrina's birthday and we are going down to Chinatown to celebrate/explore. We are supposed to be getting our green cards so we can order our new cell phone and get internet setup for our house.

Will post more later.

Jeremy

And away we go....

It's now 4:25 am. Sabrina and I are both up and getting ready to go to the airport. Thank you to our friends and family here in America and we look forward to seeing our new friends in Singapore.

And now to our great adventure.

- Jeremy

A Great Adventure

Tomorrow morning we will be leaving for the airport. We are still a little nervous but mainly just excited about our mission in Singapore. We feel certain that God has shown us a job that needs to be done (educating/discipling missionary kids and other expat kids) and has given us the resources to complete this task. Our children have been so willing to give up toys/friends/our house and they seem as excited as we do.

Praises:
- Good family and friends who love us and are willing to let us go
- Pre-field oriention that allowed us to think about the process of moving
- Our new apartment that will be ready when we arrive (even with new paint)
- New friends who will be teaching in Singapore who we met at our conference

Prayer Requests:
- Traveling (especially for the kids and luggage)
- Our financial need will continue to be met
- Meeting new friends in Singapore
- Adjusting to teaching soon after we arrive (We will have two weeks before we begin new teacher orientation)
- Flexibility (especially for me-Sabrina)

We will update you when we are able to use the internet again.

Ephesians 3:17-19 That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with the fullness of God

- Sabrina

New friends

This is a picture of all the staff from Singapore who are attending the Pre-field Orientation training. We have had a wonderful time in fellowship with the other new teachers as well as six who have already been living there.