Yankee Miniature Horse Club Meeting
New Members Welcome
Date: January 8, 2012
Place: Tiz A Miniature Horse Farm, 158 Garland Road, Barnstead, NH 03218
Families and/or individuals welcome
YMHC has been a club with many years of good standing. With so many
owners of Miniature Horses that have not joined a club or organization
we, the members of YMHC, would like to invite you to join us and share
the excitement of owning Miniatures. You do not have to own a Mini. If
you would like to learn about Miniatures, share your information, learn
about showing, or join members on walks, drives, and fun days, come to
our meeting and join us.
Contact President Larry Smith at 603-435-7351 or Vice President John
Cotton at 603-435-2982 if you have any questions.
Iran: Christian Couple Flees; Vietnam: Gang Attacks Church
Heads; Kenya: Christians Attacked
Do the true headlines above take you by surprise? Are you aware that
Christians around the world are being persecuted daily for their faith
in Jesus Christ? Do you know that when asked about their greatest need
they say it’s prayer for them to be strong in their faith and to be good
witnesses for Jesus Christ no matter the circumstances?
Center Barnstead Christian Church has set aside this Sunday, January 8,
2012, to pray for Christians around the world living daily under the
threat of persecution. These believers risk discrimination, imprisonment
and even death because of their active witness for Jesus Christ.
Scripture instructs us to remember those in bonds as though we were
bound with them. (Hebrews 13:3) This special day of prayer and
remembrance is one of the ways we do that. We also encourage prayer for
the souls of the oppressors, the nations that promote persecution, and
those who ignore it.
Our hope is that this day of prayer will encourage people to be active
all year long in prayer and support for our persecuted brothers and
sisters. You are invited to join us as we pray for continued boldness
and courage for believers as they share the gospel and for hearts to be
softened to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
There will be Sunday School at 9:00 am, and the persecuted church
worship service will begin at 10:00 am this Sunday. Center Barnstead
Christian Church is located next to Barnstead’s Town Hall on Route 126.
For more information please call the church at 269-8831.
Greetings from Vietnam!
Submitted By Jess Emory
My Dad came to visit at the end of November and it was amazing to see
him. We spent nearly a week exploring Ho Chi Minh City. We found little
markets and lots of tourist attractions, watched young people playing
the Vietnamese version of hacky sack and old men talking while smoking
cigarettes.
One day a motorbike came up behind me and took a hold of my bag,
dragging me out into the street until the bag snapped. Fortunately,
nothing too valuable was taken, but it was pretty scary and I was glad
my Dad was there to help me get over it. Mugging can happen anywhere to
anyone, you just never really think it is going to happen to you.
We went to Laos and spent a week exploring from Pakse in the south to
Luang Prabang in the north. Our first full day, we drove down the Mekong
until we reached a little bamboo bridge over the water, and we crossed
it and found ourselves in this little village with silk weaving
families. An 80 year old woman came out and explained to us, via an
interpreter, about her silk process. She rallied a bunch of women
together and we sat under one of their lofted houses as they brought out
silk cocoons the color of gold and all the implements they use to take
the silk from cocoon to cloth.
Another village we visited was a Hmong village in the north. The
government had given some funding and no supervision of its spending and
the whole village turned into a horrible tourist trap. Stepping from the
bus, children start begging immediately, all the items for sale aren’t
representative of the traditional Hmong crafts. It was heartbreaking to
see.
In Vientiane, I met and chatted with a woman who runs a studio that
produces high fashion Lao textiles including continuous and
discontinuous weft brocade, Ikat and tapestry weaving (these are the
four traditional weaving techniques in Laos). She was working on an
order for Chanel in Paris. A bit of the other end of the spectrum.
After Dad left (what a wonderful visit we had!) I headed up the coast of
Vietnam overland. I took five days to cover nearly 1,200 km. I stopped
in Nha Trang and swam in the sea, up to Hoi An to see the streets upon
streets of custom tailors, and then back to Hanoi to visit the Fine Arts
Museum, do some final interviews. I flew back to Saigon in time for
Christmas with friends.
Some bits and bobs from Vietnam and Laos: When traffic gets bad,
motorbikes ride up on the sidewalks. The hand motion that is like
opening a door with a door nob but done perpendicular to the ground
means ‘no’ or just a general disagreement. Kids sleep over the
handlebars of Mom’s motorbike as she weaves through traffic. Red lights
are completely optional for bikes and usually optional for cars, trucks
and buses. ‘Christmas’ equates to whole buildings covered in bright
white lights, American Christmas music playing everywhere, and really
over the top window paintings on shops. Imagine a woven fruit basket,
but 5 feet in diameter and covered in tar: you now have a Vietnamese row
boat. Christmas is huge, Santa is king, Jesus is nowhere in sight. You
only eat dog in the second half of the lunar calendar, otherwise it is
bad luck. There is alcohol for sale with dead birds, snakes, or
scorpions inside to make men more virulent. Monks get to pre-board
planes along with pregnant women, the elderly, and families with young
children. Lao people are very friendly and say hi to each other all the
time and tourists too. Hello sounds like ‘som-BAH-dee’ and is often
accompanied by the hands in the prayer position in front of the face.
Whenever you ask someone something and they don’t understand (and
sometimes even if they do) you will get a big smile and lots of nodding,
and then either no answer to your question or just a ‘yes’ even if your
question was something like "what is your favorite food?"
I hope this finds you well and in mid holiday swing. I can’t wait to be
back in Barnstead for a white Christmas next year.
Mary and Fred McKinnon of Center Barnstead recently lost their home to a
devastating fire in December. The family would like to thank all of
those who have helped during this very difficult time. Monetary
donations to help the family may be sent to the Pittsfield Branch of
Citizens Bank in their names. A benefit supper is being planned for a
later date in January. If you are able to help, anything you could do
would be welcomed.