Eat, sleep, dive!

Anna swam close inshore in choppy water. Scanning what was going on beneath the surface of the sea, she raised her head & called a word which I never expected to hear from her while in the sea - “shark!” I quickly swam towards her, & then watched in wonder as the sleek, powerful body of a black-tipped reef shark shot between us & headed into the open ocean. It was an amazing moment!

Rich, Zoe and toddler Jude are friends working in South-east Asia who joined us for two weeks holiday on Tioman Island off Malaysia. Rich is a marine biologist & Zoe is a full-time mum in a culture not her own – which is even more demanding than the regular mum job (if possible!) We enjoyed our stay in wooden huts perched above the sea in a bay – no air conditioning, no hot water, no television, no fridge, no Internet, no computer. We fell asleep to the sound of the sea each night & spent our days in & out of the water. To have Rich’s enthusiastic expertise meant that we saw & understood much more than we would have on our own. We saw the beauty of Vermiculated Butterflyfish & Copperbanded Angelfish, gawped with amazement at the vast bulk of a Napoleon Wrasse & enjoyed the courage of False Anemonefish as these tiny, fiercely territorial creatures swam threateningly at us as we approached their host anemones. Diving at night was an eerie experience with the long plunge off the jetty into dark water especially unnerving. We explored the seabed & coral reefs, finding octopus, scorpionfish, stingrays, coral cat sharks & even a green sea turtle asleep under a reef. Darting about near the surface we saw multicoloured, brightly reflective squid – with their strange body shape & rippling mantles they looked like tiny UFOs. It was refreshment & blessing to enjoy God’s sometimes strange, incredibly varied, occasionally frightening but good creation. We were reminded that God blessed animals & fish before blessing humanity & has his own relationship with them independent of man – we remain not owners but stewards of the world.

Thank you for your prayers for the Mekong Reunion. Well over a hundred workers serving in Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, north Thailand & China came together for a week. For many it was an opportunity to worship God freely & openly – something they cannot normally do in their work setting. It was challenging & encouraging to hear many share their stories of what God is doing among dozens of people groups in that part of the world. Despite Steve’s computer seizing up on the last day before he had extracted his last talk, the five Bible readings seemed to be appreciated. There were also 120+ children at the conference. Joshua helped out with the programme for 5-7 year olds, finding it both enjoyable & exhausting. Aimee was busy making new friends & was very reluctant to say goodbye. We hardly saw either of them all week!

With our love,
Steve Anna, Joshua and Aimee