Every taxi driver has a monk bless their vehicle by drawing a sacred design onto the car ceiling. The purpose is to protect the car and driver and bring more customers and money. 
Buddha statues are seen along the country side, while driving between villages and cities. 
These monks walk past my kitchen window religiously every morning to receive their daily alms (food) from my neighbors.
Most vehicles have a menagerie of Gods, monk statuettes and a variety of trinkets in them chosen for their ability to protect the driver and car. This was in a van we rode in last year and was a bit overdone as it clinked and clanked at every bump and turn.
The van was actually one that we rode in with Lori last year when she made her whirlwind trip into Burma to help after Cyclone Nargis. She knew I was trying to get a photo of the idols, so jumped in the picture. I love and miss that girl so much!
Please pray for Lori as I try to give you a brief update on her. She has now been in South America a for 5 1/2 months and learning Spanish at rocket speed. She now reads her Bible in Spanish, and is memorizing Bible Stories in Spanish for when they leave their training camp to go into the communities. Certain aspects of her training have been very difficult for her to the extent that she was having such bad sleeping problems that she needed to leave the base camp last week. She went into the city for rest, counsel and a time of recuperation. She is back in the jungle again, but we are concerned for her. Without being there, we are not sure of what is going on in her life-- but know that our prayers are the best we can give her. We won't be able to communicate with her for another month now, so pray that God will do a refining in her life and that she will learn to fall on Him for the strength she needs in a way she has never experienced before.
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