Counting the Days and Our Blessings

As Christmas approaches we are busy with our last minute preparations for our Journey of the Heart. Bruce departs January 4th and Elaine departs January 12th.

Meanwhile, it is Christmas every day at our house as donations and gifts continue to arrive to support our work in Vietnam. Thank you to everyone who has sent money, goods, hand knit bandages and most of all your kind thoughts and prayers to deliver to the Vietnamese.

Today in both the hardware store and at the dentist's office I encountered people who were hoping that it was not too late to add to our now bulging suitcases!

And every day we are in touch with another agency in Vietnam who is hoping that they will be on our list.



So far our projects include:

• delivery of bandages in Ho Chi Minh City for distribution to people with leprosy
• visiting an Go Vap orphanage and Tu Do hospital in Ho Chi Minh City
• volunteering at Reaching Out in Hoi An
• presenting bursaries to disabled trainees, both crafts people and those doing computer training
• visiting the Hoi An home for the aged and the orphanage to present personal hygiene items and toys
• volunteering with the Global Village Foundation's Portable Libraries project, assisting with a workshop to introduce the portable libraries to teachers, librarians and children in villages in the Hoi An area
• visiting Hoa Van, an isolated leprosy village on the Central Coast to deliver food and consult with care givers about their needs for our hand knit bandages

All of these projects are possible because of the kindnesses of our donors. Thank you for your generosity. You all will be in our hearts as we travel through Vietnam.

Reaching Out From Kenora, Ontario

Our appeal for support touched the hearts of Heather Rothwell's Grade Eight class at St. Thomas Aquinas School in Kenora, Ontario.

For their Christmas project, they have worked hard to put together gift bags for the people of Vietnam who, because of their poverty often lack personal hygeine items that we here in Canada take for granted.

The students earned money or solicited donations for everything in their gift bags.

How wonderful it will be to present the gifts to the Vietnamese on behalf of these kids in Kenora. We will have fun trying to explain the snow outside the window! We will be asked questions about how old they are, what they are wearing and how long they have been in school. The Vietnamese kids will be amazed that the very tall people in this picture are only 13 or 14 years old!

We are so grateful for the efforts of these young Canadians, whose thoughtfulness, gifts and good wishes we are proud to deliver. Peace.