Tree Down 老樹倒了

Ten days ago, our neibhor's tree fell down across their cottage driveway onto our walkway. Last week , they cleaned up their driveway, cut the trunk upto our border line. We don't want to say anything. Today, we trimmed the branches on our walkway. Here are the scenes before and after.

十天前鄰居休憩小屋的老樹倒了, 擋住他們的車道倒到我們的步道。上週他們整理了車行道鋸到我們的邊界, 收工了。上一次他們過來整理我們這邊的樹幹枝葉, 這一次他們不管了。 我們不願說什麼, 等了幾天後還是自己動手清除倒在我們部份的枝幹, 方便晨運步道的通行。這是前後的景象。

Previous related post 上次相關貼文 Wind Damages 風災

The World's Coldest Village 世界最冷的地方

The coldest inhabited village on earth. The record low dates back to 1926 with a reported temperature of minus 71.2 degrees Celsius.

The Snackadium 可吃的足球場

12 awesome edible football stadiums filled to the brim with chips, dips and even dessert.
親朋好友聚集到家裡看足球大賽時精心設計的小點心足球場更增加觀球的樂趣。

Click here 點此view individual picture 看個別大圖

New Year's Concert 新年音樂會

2013 Viennese New Year's Concert (Part 1)
維也納新年音樂會 (上)


2013 Vienna New Year's Concert (Part 2)
維也納新年音樂會 (下)

Love Ladder 愛情天梯

上世紀50年代，20歲的重慶農家青年劉國江愛上了大他10歲的"俏寡婦"徐朝清。為了躲避世人的流言，他們攜手私奔至深山老林。為讓徐朝清出行安全，劉國江一輩子都忙著­­在懸崖峭壁上鑿石梯通向外界，如今已有6000多級，被稱為"愛情天梯"。

Firework Show 跨年煙​火

Dubai Firework Show
嘆為觀止2013杜拜跨年煙​火

Volcano & Boiling Sea 火山與海

Capture Hawaii volcano lava and boiling sea
捕捉夏威夷火山溶岩與沸騰海水奇觀

Chiang Kai-shek/Sun Yat-sen 蔣介石孫中山

Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou is trying to serve a third term KMT party Chairman illegally.
台灣總統兼中國國民黨主席馬英九，今年黨主席一職任期將至，正在探討馬「吾三連」的合法性。台灣人有肚量讓這民意只有13%的人繼續橫行霸道橫衝直撞!?

Conversation between Chiang Kai-shek and Sun Yat-sen
蔣介石遇到孫中山二者對話秘聞

蔣介石去世後，不可避免的在天堂遇見了國父孫中山先生，壯志未酬身先死的孫中山先生非常關心中華民國的狀況，於是問老蔣：「我死後中華民國有沒有行憲啊？」
蔣介石馬上回答：「有啊！有行憲，有行憲啦！」

孫中山又問：「那第一任總統是誰？」
蔣介石回答：「是我。」
孫中山心想還好，反正才做一任，又問：「那第二任呢？」
這時老蔣不太好意思說還是自己，可是又不太想說謊對不起國父，於是回答道：「于右任（余又任）。」
孫中山高興的說：「不錯，不錯，書法家當總統，文學治國，那第三任又是誰呢？」
蔣中正腦筋一轉，機智地答：「吳三連（吾三連）。」
孫：「嗯，輿論界有人出任總統，也好，那下一任又是誰？」
蔣：「趙元任（照原任）。」

孫想了一想說道：「很好，語言學家當總統，那第五任呢？」
蔣：「是…是趙麗蓮（照例連）。」
孫中山開心的說：「太好了，連教育家也做總統了，那國家可真是越來越進步了，那第六任呢？」
蔣：「伍子胥（吾子續）。」
這時，孫中山有點不解了，問道：「怎麼春秋時代的古人也能跑來當總統了呢？」
老蔣只好不慌不忙的回答：「同名同姓。」

聽了國父若有所悟，慍中含笑的說：「該不會是林憶蓮（您亦連）吧？」
老蔣尷尬假裝耳背的說：「…是啊，俺也喜歡吳復連（吾復連）…」
國父聽了，火了，怒道：「你乾脆改名叫『連……佔』！」
老蔣也發火了，大聲說：「 隨便（水扁）啦…！」

Gary's Report 加里之行心得

Hello everyone,
I got back from the Dominican Republic on Saturday morning and I wanted to let you know that I was back safe and sound. I can honestly say that I could feel your prayers while I was down there. Conditions were not ideal, but they were not nearly

as bad as the people we were serving. Village 50 is the place where we were to build homes and minister to the people. It sits right in the middle of acres and acres of sugar cane. The men go out each day and cut sugar cane with a machete and load it into carts to be hauled away. It is very labor intensive and they are only paid the equivalent of $1.25 per day - that's per day, not per hour. Meager money for much work. The remainder of the family just stays in the village and does whatever needs done - usually not much. A stream runs near the village, so they do have water, albeit they have to haul most of it up a little hill to their tin huts. No electricity although there are lines that run along the RR tracks near the village. This is mostly for the cane loading stations.

Each day teams of people would head out to minister to the local people. There was a dental team, an optical team, and teams that did bible walks or other bible related things. And of course the biggest team was the construction team. That is the one that I chose to work with. We had block layers and carpenters who were responsible for erecting the homes for the people of Village 50. And there were a host of unskilled people (like me) who were basically gophers, doing whatever was needed be it carrying cinder blocks, mixing mortar and carrying it to the block layers, or moving sheets of tin and lumber. By Tuesday afternoon I had started working with the carpenters to help put the roofs on the structures. Up till then, I was mostly doing the things I listed above. Couldn't do the roof till the block was laid. We worked all day till around 4 - 4:30 and then headed back to the MGM (Meeting God in Missions) compound where we stayed.

Each day started no later that 6:15 when they sounded a horn to wake you up. That wasn't necessary for me as the beds were so hard that I was awake long before 6AM. We took time for morning prayer and song (usually 45 mins to 1 hour). Then we would have 45 minutes of teaching/discussion, led by the compound director. This turned out to be a blessed time as I was really able to get in touch with the Lord. After that we had a big breakfast. The food was surprisingly good. It was cooked by the locals and it was obvious they had some instruction on what we Americano's eat. Around 8:30 we would load the trucks with supplies needed for the day's work and then jump on a truck for the 45-50 minute drive to Village 50. We stood in the back with the wind blowing in our faces, enjoying the wonderful views of the D.R. landscape. That is till it rained on the way and you got soaked through. That only happened once, but we were dry shortly after arrival at Village 50 as the sun came out quickly. Daytime temps in the mid 80's made us especially cautious of getting dehydrated. Fortunately, no one did and the week went well.

Each night we would have dinner at 5:30 followed by a short rest period. At 6:30 - 7:00, we would all get into the trucks and go to a church service at a local church. I think my favorite was the cowboy church. 45 minute truck ride from the MGM compound, way back in the hills, small church that our 60 people overwhelmed. It was fun. The people are very friendly and they loved to share their love of God with us. It's called the cowboy church because rumor has it that a man came riding up the the church on a horse, so they called it the cowboy church. No western theme though!!. The big surprise for me was the congo line. Half way into the service, the pastor called one of the yound girls up to the front. Music started and the congo line was formed. There were so many people that we had to go outside to get everyone involved. What a hoot!! After we got back home, there was time to socialize, have fellowship, and relax. Most people were thinking about calling it a night because the next day would be soon upon us.

This was the basic pattern each day, while the nights had some variations. We did church on Sunday and 3 other nights. And 2 nights we had some other type of fellowship service. It definitely was a great time to meet other Christians and spend some time in prayer. I highly recommend it.

While Village 50 is in the D.R., it is a Haitian village. Dominicans don't work in the cane fields, Haitians do. They are very poor. Many of them only get one meal every 2 days. The adults are always coming up to you asking for "dinero." I even had one beautiful girl (about 18) holding a baby ask for money for her baby. It's gut wrenching. The sad part is you have to be careful how/what you do. Give them money on Monday and they will hound you all week. Hard to do the work we need to do when that happens. It's a balance and I still don't know how to manage it. I took candy down and gave it to the kids after work. That always brought a crowd. By Friday, everyone was giving away everything, shirts, water bottles, hats. It just felt like the right thing to do.

I don't know anyone who didn't get moved by what we saw and did. The smiles of the children in all of that poverty was very uplifting. The Lord is definitely at work. Deo es glorioso - God is great!! The language is a barrier, but not a deterrent. Love was able to break any communication problems. Would I do it again? Absolutely! I'm planning on next January. Anyone who wants to join me, I'd be thrilled to go with you. I guarantee it will change you. All of the comforts of home and only lost for a short time. We all came back to warm showers, comfortable beds, and home cooked meals. They stayed in their tin huts, sparse meals, and dirt floors. Is it fair? No! But, the mission of MGM and all missionaries throughout the world is to do something, no matter how small, to let these people know that they are loved by Jesus ...and me.

Once again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your prayers - and monetary support. God knows you did your part to make my mission trip a huge success. May God bless you this day and always. I will be eternally grateful for all that you do.

Your friend in Christ,
Gary
Previous post Gary's Mission Trip 加里使命之行

Deep Sea Pictures 海底游景

Enjoy 100 deep sea pictures.
欣賞百張海底游景