Christmas around the world 🎄🎄

Gambles Newsletter                                    12/10/22                               Volume 8, Issue 3 serving Asia and the Middle East through engineering design and discipleship Pix 1.  Visiting a beautiful historic building in India!  The artwork and architecture are amazing! 2.  The sun coming up over India.  Mornings are Chad's favorite time of the day, it is quiet, cool and a great time for a morning run.   3. While in the Middle East, we got to accompany the team to a project site.  Shanthi was the assistant measuring tape holder!   4.  In the India office, we have built up quite the reputation as lovers of Indian chai.  When we saw this sign, we knew it was meant for us!   5.  One of our cycling guests that we got to host.  He had just arrived in India and was spending the next month touring India.  Chad was so jealous! 6. At the recent staff retreat for the India office we went to Johdpur and visited an old fort which was build in the 1400's.  The city wall was still standing in many places!  Starbucks gift card to the one who names the fort, double stars for the story behind the name.   Christmas Traditions... "Wait, Christmas isn't a holiday??" How did the birth of the Son of God turn into Santa, trees, gifts and a week off of work?  What began as the Savior coming to Earth has changed so much through the centuries and around the world.  Living overseas we get the opportunity to see so many of these different traditions and expressions of Christmas!   Did you know that in Cambodia, Christmas is not an official holiday?  Banks, schools, restaurants are all open and running as normal.  In India, while it is a holiday, it doesn't even compare to the more important gift giving and light stringing holiday of Diwali.   Recently, Chad was talking with a co-worker who described his families Christmas tradition: Attend a Christmas Eve church service until 8 or 9 pm Rush home for a quick dinner with family Return to church for the important midnight service Walk the neighborhood singing Christmas carols and distributing gifts to neighbors until 4 or 5 am Catch a quick nap at home At 9 or 10 am start making huge amounts of food Attend the Christmas morning church service Spend most of the afternoon and evening visiting other families from church and handing out the food that was prepared earlier in the day Go to bed exhausted, but with full hearts! Chad asked if their family exchanged presents to each other and he said no, they were too busy giving gifts to others in the neighborhood and at church!  Since gift giving is one of Chad's favorite things about Christmas, he was shocked and slightly humbled by the generosity of this family towards others outside of their family.    End of Year Giving... At this time of year, many people ask about our financial support and our ongoing needs.  If year end giving is on your mind and you are curious about our needs, please read on.  If you are already inundated with giving requests, please skip to the end and know that we are well provided for!  With Shanthi traveling with Chad to visit offices and attend EMI regional events to connect with and encourage other spouses, our one time expenses have increased.  If you are able to make a one time donation or increase your regular gift to help with these special expenses, we would be very appreciative.  See the link below for an opportunity to give.    Give to the Gambles In one week we will be returning to the USA to spend the holidays with family!  Please pray that we would be able to spend restful, quality time with our kids and extended family.   Please pray for those we are mentoring through EMI's Fellowship Program.  They are facing challenging situations on many fronts.   Answers to Prayer We travel to the Middle East in 2 weeks to support the EMI office there.  Please pray that we would be an encouragement to the team. We received great feedback from the team, but were sick the entire time!   Pray for our children: Nathan and Chesna are moving to a new state and Moses might be moving out of state soon as well.  Miriam is staying put for now, but looking for an internship this summer.      Nathan and Chesna are getting settled, but Nathan may be moving again, please pray that he would not have to.  Miriam is still looking for an internship. And Moses is exploring the possibility of going to Cairn University in Pennsylvania. Shanthi's Language Lesson   English has borrowed a lot of words from Hindi.  I'm sure you are familiar with some.  Chai, for example, means tea, although it's more of a milk based tea than a English water based tea. Bungalow is a cottage from Bengal. Pajama comes from the word for leg (pay) and clothing (jama).  Other words include bangle, chutney, jungle, cashmere, thug and shampoo.   From Chad's Bookshelf   The key to managing this challenge, of course, is to identify a reasonable number of issues that will have the greatest possible impact on the success of your organization, and then spend most of your time thinking about, talking about, and working on those issues. The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive by Patrick Lencioni.  Pg. x, 2000 Zafar [the last king in Delhi] did not control even as far as Palam [just outside of Delhi]; instead his real authority existed only within the walls of the Red Fort, as if he were an Indian pope within his own Vatican City. The Last Mughal by William Dalrymple, Pg. 37, 2008   Facebook Email Give Copyright © 2022 All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Team Gamble 7258 Bohn Blvd Anderson, CA 96007 Add us to your address book unsubscribe    update subscription preferences

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