I am unashamedly in "vacation mode". I do not apologize. I will indulge in things that are just plain fun. Yes, I will spoil my grandson Hudson with those new books and that airplane that I just bought in Singapore and, unfortunately, paid extra Euros in overweight airline charges to bring to him. (that sentence ends not only with a "period" but also a deep sigh).

I will snuggle my nose often into the wrinkly face of newly arrived granddaughter Miriam Joy. (that "nose-contact-with-cheek" thing is VERY Indonesian, by the way... to feebly justify my actions on the basis of cross-cultural sensitivity. Hey, the best I can give these grandchildren is the GIFT of time, a commodity I usually cannot give them, seeing that I live 12,160 kilometers (7,550 miles) away from them when I am in my normal missionary status. So here I am in uncharacteristically warm Nottingham, England with daughter Staci, husband Christoph and the aforementioned grandchildren... and my son Shawn who has been keeping computer game manufacturers quite financially secure during his vacation time (Alright, well...yes, he takes the nephew on walks and helps his sister with post-birth dishwashing chores, too). My dear wife Kyla is in St. Paul MN visiting our son Chad, and as a bonus....attended a sort of mini-Theobald family bash. Etymologically speaking, I'm sure that the family restrained from the historical meaning of the word "bash". Oh dear...I believe that word has quite a negative connotation in Her Majesty's finest English, I hear!

Ok, I need to back up...I'm blogging! (duh, OBVIOUSLY) I have decided to enhance my communications by this mode, (but I am not convinced on Twitter yet). The blogspot is more necessity that anything else. I will never finish translating the Bible into the Taliabo language if I depend on internet speeds in Indonesia to regularly update my website: Taliabo Tapestry at : http://darrylspalmer.tripod.com/ . The last time I updated that website Elvis WAS alive, well...it seems that way. So, I am a blogger now.

Just an update on ministry: This summer found me busy with two major speaking engagements in Singapore. Both were summer youth camps and had the theme of missions for their main focus. The first, the Fisherman of Christ Fellowship Teen/Youth Camp was on the campus of the National University of Singapore and we had 130+ campers. The theme was "Always Ready" and we concentrated on missions and personal evangelism by looking in depth at the implications of Matthew 28:16-20 and 1 Peter 3:15. Masters Seminary graduate SoonYong Tan ministered in the morning workshops on the same theme. Despite the outbreak of the H1N1 virus in our midst, we had a great time with the campers and friends at the sponsoring church. BTW, all at that camp recovered well from the flu.

The second camp was The Big Picture Getaway youth camp at Singapore Vision Farms in Choa Chu Kang, Singapore. This was the first-ever NTM-Singapore youth camp and Brad Buser and I shared the main speaking opportunities. The unique format of having mission field simulations was particularly educative for the campers. I know many from both of these camps are now thinking a bit more seriously about their role in world evangelization. Praise the Lord and hopefully we will all work a bit harder so that..."His ways are known on all the earth, his salvation (known) among all the nations (Psalm 67:2)

That's it for now...I'm all blogged out.