Ginter Christmas 2023

 Ginter Christmas 2023

First, let me begin by stating, it's been way too long since my last post.  So much has transpired since 2016, it's hard to know where to begin.  The Ginter family has added two gandkids, Samuel and Thaddeus.  Our oldest grandkid , Lexi, is driving!  And I've changed churches, twice!

So let me resume my blogging journey with Christmas 2023.  The Ginter family congregated at grandma and grandpa's house this year.  All sixteen of us!  While it may have seemed like organized chaos, it had been a while since we were all together.  It was a time for delicious food, fun games, Christmas gifts, and tales of school activities and work challenges.

As you can see, we almost fill up a room.  Such contrast and diversity in this family!  Two pharmicists,  a school teacher, an aeronautical engineer, a steel construction worker, and a stay at home busy mom.  Add to that the grandchildren; Lexi (17), Katie (16), Jill (14), Kyle (12), Alli (12), Mackie (8), Samuel (3) and Thaddeus (1 1/2).  So much fun! 

Well, the Christmas decorations are put away for another year.  Our children are back to work, the grandchildren are back to school.  Grandma and grandpa are settling back into their normal routine.  As the January winds begin to blow and the temperatures rapidly fall, and with nowhere to go in this wintery weather, one has time to sit back and contemplate the life we now live.

Nola and I have lived here in Haviland for forty-five years.  We have made this house our home.  Our children were raised in this house, in this community, surrounded by loving parents and grandparents, and by friends and neighbors that we have come to love and depend upon.  I guess what I'm trying to say is that Nola and I have so much to be thankful for as we venture into 2024.

I begin by thanking God.  Every day I thank God for my wife, Nola.  She is my spouse, my traveling companion, my partner in crime!  In many ways, we complete one another.  Even in our church ministry, she has become an integral part of church life, church ministry, and church outreach.  So much of how I approach ministry is because of her inspiration, her input, and her Christian ethic.

I also thank God for my three children, Bethany, Ben, and Brittany... and for their spouses, Matt, Laura, and Matt.  As parents, Nola and I understood our responsibility in raising our children.  We strove to ensure their proper education, encouraging while not pushing. Making sure they had the opportunities to pursue their dreams.  An essential part of their young and formative years involved regular church attendance.  Today, Nola and I are overjoyed that our children and their families attend church, and are actively involved in the life of their churches.

Alli, Mackie, Jill, Lexi, Bethany & Matt

Katie, Matt, Brittany, & Kyle

Laura, Thaddeus, Ben, & Samuel

I thank God for my grandchildren.  While we do not live as close to them as I would like, Nola and I still strive to support them and follow their activities.  We enjoy attending the softball games and the band concerts; the science fairs and the senior friends breakfasts.  We participate in the school fundraisers and Girl Scout cookie sales.  We keep track with calls, texts, and FaceTime videos.  We love our grandchildren and enthusiastically follow their growth and progress.

Finally, as we venture into 2024, I thank God for my churches; Ohio City UMC and Willshire Union UMC.  It is an absolute joy to serve the people of these two churches, individuals and families that Nola and I have come to love and appreciate.  Each and every person is a blessing to us, and they lift us up and fill us with joy and expectations for the coming year.

Ohio City UMC

Willshire Union UMC

In closing, I just want to say that I will endeavor to do a better job of blogging in 2024.  All around me I see the Hand of God, touching my life, the lives of my family, and the lives of my congregations.  We have so much to be thankful for.  

Thank You, Jesus!

Gary "Gintzoo" Ginter

  

Vietnam 2016 - Day 6

Monday April 4 dawns bright and warm. We are up early and wolf down our breakfast. Today, our 6th day in country, we are back on our motorbikes by 7:30 am and scheduled to ride north into the mountains. We ride out of Dien Bien Phu following our guides and steadfast friends, the Vietnamese pastors. Our destination today is the very mountainous region better known as the Tonkinese Alps.

We head out of town riding mostly north along the main highway. We follow our Vietnamese guides for about an hour along this fairly decent highway until we suddenly turn off the main road and begin an ascent up the side of a mountain on a not-so-decent road. For the next couple hours we ride mostly up! We are in a very mountainous region with very narrow, dusty roads that are crumbly in some places, and always with some motorbike traffic or water buffalo obstacles.

After a couple hours of mountain hugging roads, we enter and stop in a small village, once again to make introductions at a regional police station. There we met the chief of police for this district, and we exchange gifts and pleasantries. Once again we happen to notice that they already have our names in front of them. After the speeches are made and gifts are exchanged, we take some time to shake hands and meet some of the local government staff. When we leave the police station, one of the local officials hops on our mini bus to ride with us for a while.

We ride out of this small town and continue down the mountain jungle road. A few kilometers down the highway, we turn off the main road to follow a dirt lane back deeper into the jungle. We follow this dirt lane (no way you could call it a road) as it winds deeper into the jungle. We follow a river for perhaps 7-10 kilometers (very hard to judge distances when your riding a dirt trail in a jungle).

Eventually we leave the dirt trail and ride down along the river and into a fair sized Hmong mountain village. We are told that we are the first Westerners to ever visit this particular village. The building are mostly crude wooden shacks with dirt floors and no running water. Yet here amongst the village houses we find a small United Methodist church. As before, we find ourselves surrounded by these extremely friendly and generous people. Greetings are exchanged, songs are sung, and we spend considerable time in prayer with the villagers.

*Side note: as I reported at the beginning of this blog, I had not been feeling well, and had not been eating because of kidney stones, although I didn't know what was ailing me until later. Here in this remote village, with temps in the high 90's, high humidity and no air moving down in this jungle valley, I pass out from the heat and dehydration. I was quite humiliated when they picked me up off the dirt floor. The Vietnamese pastors refuse to let me ride up and out of the village, so they put me on the back of a bike and I ride out as a passenger. From that point on, they refuse to let me ride on my own, and instead I will ride in the mini bus the rest of that day. And what a ride that was! I have come to the conclusion that our Vietnamese bus driver learned to drive by playing the video game "Grand Theft Auto"! All I can say is, "Wow! What a ride!!"

We finally (and safely!) arrive at our next destination, the town of Lai Chau around 7:00 pm that evening. We are exhausted, but exhilarated! What a day and how blessed each of us feel to have been able to see and experience some of God's Children in such a remote location. As before, we were surprised and humbled by the exuberance of these humble people. Their singing was loud and boisterous... their praise was joyful and exciting. Their worship was sincere and meaningful. As pastors and ministers of the Gospel, we couldn't help but admire their enthusiasm and join in with them. Once again, these American preachers got preached, and experienced God's blessings in a way that both humbled and excited us. What a joy to be able to experience God in such a new and unique way.

Tomorrow we continue north toward the Chinese border, but for us weary pastors, it's time for supper and bed. Good night from the Tonkinese Alps of northern Vietnam.