Christmas day 2008

It is a cold rainy christmas morning here in southern California. Dan lit the fire place in the front room and we enjoyed Christmas music, a crackling fire, candles and coffee as we read about Mary's part in the Birth story. Wonderful!

This year I made up the rein deer from fallen palm fronds that litter the streets with the fall storms and Hollie was checking them out. You can see Dan's 5 grandchildren pictured on our tree and we are so thankful for a growning happy healthy family. Then is a photo of Julia and Stephanie opening their gifts before a wonderful dinner at Rick and Suzanne's home.

Thanksgiving 2008

What a wonderful afternoon with Rick and his family, Ryan and his family, and Rob (who was flying for Southwest Air and had an overnight in Ontario, CA). It was Emma's first Thanksgiving and everyone so enjoyed her. Noah is almost 3 years old and was the life of the gathering. It was nice to have Dan's 3 sons together, again.
(just click on the collage and it will enlarge for easier viewing)

We all missed Susie and Lauren, so here is their recent family photo, too. Oh, and here are two shots that Ryan took of the group minus Noah and Emma (who were fast asleep), and 3 of Dan's 4 grand daughters. Also, of his oldest Stephanie and youngest Emma together.

Betty Ann Wagner and Wayfarers Ministries

Today we attended a luncheon celebrating the ministry of Rev. Betty Ann Wagner and the support she has been to many, many students at Fuller School of Intercultural Studies. In her years of ministry she has shipped approx. 62 tons of books around the world. Wonderful words of thanks and love were shared by various students and faculty and they all agreed she is an awesome combination of tenderness and toughness. Betty Ann shared that one of her students, Stanley Mutunga from Kenya, wanted to start a ministry for aids orphans and asked Betty where he would get the orphans, she said, "Be obedient to what the Lord is telling you and the orphans will come. Now, 5 years later he has 1,000 orphans."

Pictured here from top left to right are: Farida Saida from N. Africa, Evans Kamau from Kenya, Evelyne Reisacher from France/N. Africa and SIS professor, Erwin Mooradian a board member of Wayfarers Ministries, William Addai from Ghana, center photo is Betty Ann, Igors Rautmanis from Estonia, Wondu Adnew Ersulo from Ethiopia, Assefa Zalelew from Ethiopia, Dr. Paul Pierson former Dean of SIS, Dr. Dan Shaw, Dr. Doug McConnell is Dean of SIS and Magdy Behman from Egypt who brought his daughter Betsy, a freshman at Azusa University and his son Joshua who is still in high school in Tucson, AZ. Not pictured are Gideon Yohannes from Ethiopia, Dr. Betty Sue Brewster, and Dr. and Mrs. Dudley Woodberry.

Ray and Jill Davis share at our home Bible study

Yes, last night Ray and Jill Davis shared their work in Eldoret, Kenya with our home group from Lake Ave. Church. The Davis' are training African missionaries to do cross-cultural ministry in various African countries. They shared prayer requests for the nation of Kenya as it continues to struggle after the post-election violence and 200,000 people are still displaced. The lower photo is of Dan with, Jill and Ray, along with Nancy and Dave Rose.

Anjali Olson and Dr. students on the weekend

Anjali got a break from her studies at Azusa Pacific Univ. and spent the weekend with us and got to see some of my favorite places like the hall of stainglass windows at the Mountain View Mausoleum (she has a first year photography course so enjoyed taking pics, too). Then she cooked us a scrumptious north Indian meal with real chai, my first taste of chai and it was good! We also had the SIS doctoral students over for a potluck meal and it was encouraging to see how far they have progressed in their PhD program to this point. Pictured here are several shots of Anjali, then shots of some of the doctoral students including; Carol Christopher, David Bundy (Fuller Librarian), Blaze Babihb from Cameroon, Steve Hawthorn (editor of the Perspectives course text), Pasquel Bazzell, Bryant Myers (SIS prof), Birgit Herppich, Matthew John and group shot including Betsy Glanville (SIS Dr. director), Stan Kruze and Craig Hendrickson. It was a wonderful time with spouses included.

Better photo of Ron Pritz

Okay, so here is a much better photo of CEO Pritz. Sorry about that Ron.

MAFI and CanIL visit in British Columbia

Dan attended the Missionary Aviation Fellowship, International board meetings in downtown Vancouver and we all went on a dinner cruise of the harbor so you see the famous Lionsgate Bridge between Stanley Park and North Vancouver, and the lighted sphere of the Science center in Flase Creek Bay. The top row of photos are; the newly elected CEO of MAFUS, John Boyd, then Dan and I with long time friend Larri Gardner, then Larri with Janet Busk the CFO for MAFI and a side view of newly elected President and CEO of MAFI, Ron Pritz.

We spent time with retired Wycliffe translator Joy McCarthy in Abbotsford (pictured here with her brother Dave and his wife Flora). The center photo is me with Carrie Lundberg Gamble, whom I've known since before she was born! We also stopped in at Trinity Western to visit CanIL (Canadian Institute of Linquistics) and Dan's long time friend Mike Walrod (they ran around the Philippines as teenagers together). Here is a photo of me with Hyatt Moore's painting of the indigenous last supper. I noticed there weren't any women in the picture so I filled in for the woman who undoubtedly was taking the photo! Owell. The forest shot with rising mist is to give you an idea of winter in the 'great north wet'.

Tulalip Tribe and Sea Bird Island Band visit

Sept 16-21, 2008 we flew to Seattle, rented a car and drove to Dan's MAFI board meetings in Vancouver, BC. The collection of photos are some of the people we visited in Tulalip, Washington and then in BC at the Seabird Island band with Archie Charles and his family.

The summer of 2007 we were at Tulalip and Bernie Gobin took us to his son's shop to show us the totems Joe was working on for the new Tulalip Resort near Marysville, WA on I-5. Seeing the standing totems was awesome and the stories behind Joe's designs are wonderful. So much of the resort's 12 floors have art and designs on display from many of Bernie's family. You can see Patti Gobin and I standing on either side of the art designed from one of the elder's combs. Dan also got to pick some of the wild black berries I'd told him so much about.

Then we went to have Dan meet Archie Charles at Sea Bird Island. Archie was chief there for 28 years (all the time I lived in BC) and retired in 1999. Here he is in traditional dress with cedar bark hat and wool shawl with Mt. Cheam in the background. You can also see Sam George standing by his van showing me where a bear climbed up and over the van that was parked at his home. I hadn't been in Sea Bird for 20 years so the families have grown.

"Pioneers in Pith Helmets" by Martha E. Green

My good friend and mentor, Betty Sue Brewster, just showed me a copy of her mother's new book, Pioneers in Pith Helmets. Delicately laced through this story is Martha Greens' journey of joy from childhood to retirement. In the book you will read how Martha learned to trust her loving Lord to the point where she could say, "disappointments may be God's appointments for us," and "it was one of those unique happenstances that our Heavenly Father had planned for a purpose unknown to us."

In this delightful missionary journaling you will experience the high lights of Martha's 90 years including the reunion with her family, courtship with Steve, call to Venezuela, arrival of five chilren, and pioneer church planting. The journey is summed up by Martha's words, "love and joy, tears and praise mingled together in my heart."

This book is available through Lingua House for $11.50 plus $4 shipping and handling. e-mail: Telephone 626-500-6278

Baby Emma Karynn born this morning

Noah has his baby sister! Here is the announcement from Ryan after he called from Istanbul, Turkey. "Well our big day arrived today. Our beautiful daughter named Emma Karynn Shaw came into the world. She is a perfectly healthy little princess and our pride and joy. She is 7 pounds 5 ounces and 20.5 inches long and was born at 8:28 AM on September 5th." Kelly and Ryan are so happy.

Chi Chang Cheng Jarry Terracotta Warrior

Aug 19th was our second wedding anniversary and we decided to tie in a museum visit with all we have been watching on TV with the Beijing Olympics. The Bowers Museum in Santa Ana presented the largest exhibit of Emperor Qin's Terra Cotta Army ever seen outside of China. It was our once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see one of the 20th century's greatest archaeological finds, often referred to as the Eighth Wonder of the Ancient World.

China's First Emperor, the boy king who united the country in 221 BC and began construction of the first Great wall, was not only obsessed with building but also a fanatic about death. After experimenting with potions to prolong his life, the megalomaniac king resigned himself to death on his own terms. He would build a standing army of 7,000 soldiers to enforce his rule over the afterlife.

This terra cotta army of soldiers, servants, musicians, acrobats, and animals silently remained underground for two thousand years. Until, in 1974, Chinese farmers digging a well made the startling discovery of a terra cotta head.

It was a fantastic museum visit AND meeting Jarry doing "live statue performance art" was wonderful. He stood perfectly still near the entrance to the exhibit but then came walking up to us and extended his hand. We learned that he (ChiChang Cheng) has been doing this for over 10 years in his home of Taiwan.

Hokey Pokey in Greek

Do you remember singing/dancing the Hokey Pokey? "you do the hokey pokey and you turn yourself around, that's what it's all about". Well watch clown Gina do it in Greek, July 2008 in Tripoli, Greece.

Athens, Greece

My niece, Julie Poulos Williams (half Greek herself) called to tell me I hadn't posted any photos of our time in Athens from July 18-20 so here are a few. It was a fantastic time for both of us, Dan got to explore places he hadn't had time for before and our hotel, the Amalia, was directly across from the Palace Gardens and very close to the ruins of the Temple of Zeus, Syntegama Square, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in front of the Parliament House (the old Palace) where we watched the changing of the guards, Panathenaikon Stadium which was the site of the first modern Olympic games in 1896, and a few blocks from the renowned "Plaka" district located around the base of the Acropolis.

Here are photos of the Acropolis, Parthenon, Agora and such. Dan actually got to stand on Mars Hill and look across to the Acropolis as he prayed for Athens like the Apostle Paul did in the book of Acts.

New testament dedication in Cameroon June '08

I have video footage from the dedication of the Mofou-gudur New Testament celebration Dan and I attended in Yaounde, Cameroon. The video was taken by Tom Woodward on his cell phone so the sound is a bit distorted but I think it gives the sense of joy and pride the people have for the Bible in their own language. The flute players are especially interesting, yes some are made from PVC pipe.

It was after this celebration in conversation with Tom W. that I learned I could take videos with my Canon camerah, dah! If only I had known this sooner this blog would be filled with my videos! Owell, the time is right for it now.

Call to Prayer in Istanbul July 2008

Our summer trip took us to predominately muslim contexts and in Istanbul I recorded the call to prayer on the street near the Blue Mosque. Each time it is different but hearing it added so much to what I had read about the call.

London on our way home

As we flew into London I took these shots of famous places. It was my first time in London so I was thrilled to get the London Eye just across the Thames from Big Ben. Also got the Tower Bridge and Wembley Stadium before landing. And it only seemed fitting to END the trip with the TAILs of some of the planes we've seen in various airports.

Visit Georgia Kanakaris in Levidi, Greece

Our last day in Athens, we took a two hour bus ride to Tripoli and then another 1/2 hour bus ride to Levidi, to visit Georgia's brother-in-law's 81 year old sister Georgia. They hadn't seen each other in 40 years. Geo's son Christoki picked us up at the bus in the village of Levidi and we spent some time in the family home. Then we had a wonderful Greek meal at Chris' restaurant, Melathron in Tripoli. It was fantastic, the restaurant has a large swimming pool, too. That day they were serving a group of 150 for an infant baptism celebration. We met Chris' daughter, Gina (also Georgia) who does clowning to keep the little ones happy. The last photo was taken from the street at Georgia's home looking at the village of Levidi. It was a fantastic way to end our month-long adventure.

Santorini, Greece

Santorini is Dan's most favorite place in the Greek Islands. The community is built on the top of the cliff and looks like snow on the mountain. It was created with the volcano blew up and formed the islands. It is famous for the white buildings with blue roofs. We had a wonderful, tho' brief 3 hour time, as we took the gondola up the cliff and then walked down the 568 paved donkey path to the docks. It was crazy because donkeys were coming and going all the time we decended the path, and wow did they smell! You can see the switch-back trail down the cliff in the photos. It only took us 20 minuted to walk down.
The last photo was taken on the cruise ship at dinner meal.

Crete and Rhodes, Greece

We stopped at Crete, the Minoan period, from 4000 to 1200 BC it was the center of a flourishing civilization. The eruption of the volcano on Santorini and the tidal wave, which followed, destroyed Crete and gave rise to the legend of the lost city of Atlantis. Crete is the mythological home of Zeus. We didn't take a tour here but did go on the small train around the port city and got an idea of the community.

At the stop in Rhodes we walked around the old walled city constructed by the knights of St. John in the 13th century. And met some local people. The lady in black is blind, but was so pleased when I called her 'yaya' (grandmother). Even tho' they couldn't speak English they were fun to get acquainted with. The shop sells paintings and even put them on display in the ceiling. The symbol of Rhodes is the lone deer guarding the harbor.

Kusadasi (Ephesos), Turkey

At the ruins of Ephesus we saw the Roman bath and the 'toilets', it is amazing they are still in this shape. Center top is the sculpture of Niki the Greek goddess of victory (yes, this is where Niki got their emblem for their shoes). You can also see the buriel tombs stacked on top of one another. We returned to the city of Kusadasi for a little shopping and met this young man using 'worry beads' so Dan got an explanation of what they are used for, basically "just something to do with your hands" is what he said. The Turkish rugs are so beautiful and the mosaic tiles and plates are fantastic. We met this young man who is in business with his parents and sister to make these plates and mosaics tiles. He is showing us 'his' tree of life and is pointing at his future wife in the picture. We are standing in his shop and as you can see it is filled with beautiful things. The plate in the center bottom is a painting of the famous "whirling durvish" and in the skirt is arabic writing.
In the bottom photo are shots Dan took when he walked up and around the huge amphi theatre and even went under it (Elton John held a concert here with 50,000 people). The main marbel paved road leads down to the Library and buriel monument of Celeus. The last photo is of Dan being a living statue inside the back wall of the Library! Owell, we do have our fun with history!

Patmos, Greece

When the ship docked at Patmus we got a bus up the hillside to the place where it is believed St. John received the Revelation from Christ. A church is built over the cave and there is a series of winding steps down to the entrance. The day we visited priests were preparing communion. as you look up from the site you can see the great fortified monastery from 1088 AD to honor St. John. When you look down from the cave site you can see the port city and the large hill to the left is believed to be where St. John lived. The painting shows Christ giving John the Revelation.

Mykonos, Greece on the Cruise

This is the Island of Mykonos famous for the windmills. We took a boat to a small island of Delos where it is believed Apolo was born along with this twin sister Artemis. They were the children of the greek god Zeus. We took lots of photos but many don't have meaning without a lot of explanation. Delos was a main grain port and slave market. At its height Delos sold 10,000 slaves a day. Delos has the most complete residential quarters surviving from ancient Greece all from BC because it was destroyed and burned by pirated in 69 BC. The bottom photo is the palace of Cleopatra (see the two statues on the left). Nearly all of the statues are headless because site robbers stole them (many are in museums in England).

Noah summer 2008

Here are a few of our favorite shots of Noah Samuel. Top middle one is Noah dancing with Dan, he really likes to praise the Lord. The last one is HIS favorite with his PaPa on the tractor in Missouri.

Grand Bazaar in Istanbul

I have never seen the likes of the Grand Bazaar, it seems to go on forever, really. The light shops were so fascinating to me, very detailes and beautiful. As we were leaving the Bazaar area I met this lady who was knitting scrap cloth into various items like vests and hand bags. One day on an outing I got this shot of Noah by the statue of Ataturk.

We actually traveled regularly on the Orient Express train, the same one that originally ran from Paris to Istanbul and is in so many movies (like James Bond ones). I just thot' that was so cool. The train depot is in the first photo and then Ryan, Kelly and Noah riding on the train.

Topkapi Palace

Ryan took Dan and I to the Topkapi Palace Museum and it was awesome. So much history in this city located on the line between Europe and Asia. It looks out toward the Black Sea and across the extended city of Istanbul. Topkapi was the Ottoman Sultan's second palace in Istanbul built in 1478, with a population of about 4,000 people, it covers 173 acres. It served 25 sultans for nearly 400 years. Here you see Dan and Ryan walking on the very pathway the Sultans walked, and Dan is sitting the the "stone throne" that the Sultan used when watching sports games.

Dan gets a VeggieTale lesson

Our last evening in Istanbul with Ryan and Kelly. Dan got to read some VeggieTales with Noah. And finally Noah let Dan give him a horsey-ride on his foot like he did when Ryan was little. So Dan learned all about Good Knight, Duke and being nice. It was fun to watch both young and old Shaw reading together.

Blue Mosque

yes, we did spend time at the Blue Mosque (named so because of all the blue mosaic tiles through out the buildings. We did go in the mosque as prayers were being lead, but had to enter thru the non-muslim door. Yes, Dan had to wear a cloth wrap because he had bermudas on. More to come about the Grand Bazaar and Topkepi Castle.

July 7 Last Day in Africa

We left SIL Cameroon about 11 AM by taxi with Juta (one of Dan's doctoral students who serves in Mali). The bus trip to the port city of Douala was fast and furious, as the photos show. It took about 4 hours and some places the driver was going 80-90 mph. This was the best photo I got of the trememdous traffic congestion in Yaounde. You can see cars turning around in the very middle of the pack-both directions! Amazing. Along the route were small communities that we had to slow down and sometimes pay toll so the locals surrounded vehicles and hawked their wares. Many logging trucks and motor cycles. It was an airconditioned bus and we sat in the front seats so got to enjoy everything, even the 3-part African soap opera in some other language! Juta accompanied us to Douala and we had dinner with her before we went on to the airport, all-in-all a fantastic experience.

Dan learns from grandson Noah

Yes, we arrived in Istanbul and have been having a wonderful time with Ryan, Kelly and 2.5 year old Noah. Here are a few shots showing Dan learning about Noah's world of Thomas the Train ( and friends Gordy, Ben, Bill and more), Veggie Tales, and life in Turkey. See Noah playing with his trains under the table as Ryan and Dan chat.

We are coming to the end of our stay in Cameroon. Yesterday Moussa was here to plan the potential cohort for French speakers and pray with the group of interested students. Here Dan is with a Bettina, Cheryl, Roger and Moussa in our front room praying. Then today we had a surprise visit from our friend Barbara's parents and they brought us gifts. This is such a change from American culture. Here is a shot of Dan and I withTheophilus and Adele Gautrei.

Trip to the Market in Yaounde

Yes, today I made a trip to the artisan market with Pam Robinson and her helper, Rebecca (first photo with two of the men selling items). Butterflies are very popular art here and you can see some of the pictures they make from butterfly wings. It was a wonderful few hours, altho most of it was spent in taxi stuck in traffic. Pam is here working with Wycliffe Associates helping with the volunteers, the clean water program and developing materials to assist in the aide crisis. I feel like the Lord has given Pam to me especially for this trip and I am committed to pray for her. Because she is an older woman of color the Africans respond very positively to Pam.

I took the photo of the butterfly eating a fallen mango just outside our housing.

July 4, 2008 Yaounde, Cameroon

We have met wonderful people here in Cameroon (said to be 'little Africa' because so many of the main tribal groups are in this small country). Today's post is about one of the Cameroonian couples who were Muslim before hearing the good news of Jesus Christ and then became believers.

Cultural Symposium in Cameroon

This is the group of brothers and sisters attending this symposium from all over Africa. Then you see Dan doing his run each morning around the oval here at the SIL property where we are housed. A friend in Pasadena has family here in Cameroon so they came to visit on Saturday, it was wonderful. Five of the 23 people in the symposium are serious 'birders' so I got a photo of them out birding early each morning. This compound is surrounded by a very tall wall and I can hear what is happening on the other side so today I went exploring on the other side. Kids playing kick ball were surprised when I could kick it back, and the road to the south gives you an idea of 'off-the-road' situations here.

New Testament dedication in Cameroon

Sunday June 29
We met Judy and Ken Hollingworth (Bible translators from the northern most part of Cameroon) when we first arrived at the SIL property, he welcomed us at 10 PM and got us set up in the guest house. Then the next morning I met Judy as we waited for 10 AM coffee break and she thought my clothes were too hot for Cameroon so lent me two of her cotton dresses to wear while we are here (now everyone thinks I’m Judy when they see me in her dresses!).

The dedication of their New Testament for the Mofou-gudur people was fantastic, several hundred people gathered in a large Presbyterian Church here in Yaound. Special yellow printed cloth material for their matching outfits, men, women and children. Four choirs sang, played local flutes and drums and held their new red translations high as they sang. We had to leave for another meeting after 3 hours and it was still going strong (that’s the African way I’m learning). Pictured here are Ken and Judy, Ken with the Sultan in their village area, the Chief’s guard, church where the dedication was held, drummers for the singers, flute players, far view of the church and balcony with Dan in foreground, and then Georgia with one of the Mofou ladies holding her new Bible.