This Sojourner's Sounding

Depth Perception

2012-02-14T19:19:00.000+07:00

Ahh... a day in the life of...

There's a certain amount of truth found in this diagram. Sorry supporters... I still wear the same size clothes as I did in Kansas. Local people have actually told a friend of mine that they prayed for him to be blessed... with more money to spend on them. Most of the time, I'm just trying to find opportunities to help anybody and make myself understood.

This is Kingdom work: day in, day out, loving people quietly and faithfully.

Waste Not, Want Not

2012-02-07T18:08:00.000+07:00

We are immersed in Animal Health training this week out in Boon's village. His church has given us space for meeting and the participants are staying with Boon's neighbors. It has been a full two days of learning and there are three more to come. Yesterday we killed a goat for necropsy, looking at all the different parts and learning how to castrate. Not an inch of the poor little guy was wasted - the skin is drying to make machete covers and the blood was used in a curry last night for dinner. We will have a graduation celebration on Thursday night complete with a barbecue. You can guess who will be the main dish.

Finding the Forgotten

2012-02-03T15:41:00.001+07:00

Last week as part of my job, I and a few others had the opportunity to visit Sangkhlaburi, a region a few hours west of Bangkok and up in the mountains just a few kilometers away from Myanmar. We went down to evaluate a small project for Burmese refugees that began almost 30 years ago when one Burmese couple, Paw Lu Lu and Nandoe, along with their 4 small children fled to Thailand and began taking the sick and injured into their home.

With Nandoe and Paw Lu Lu in their living room

They have been taking long-forgotten people in ever since.

Spinning thread onto spools for loom weaving

Now, their ministry includes a Safe House for mentally and physically injured or traumatized people who are unable to care for themselves and have no family to care for them. Nearby, the Elderly House was born out of a love for those who are alone and vulnerable in their later years, needing special support and care. There is a Children's House, where orphans, castoffs, and the children of Safe House residents live and have an opportunity to receive education. And there's a small preschool for Burmese children inside the borders of the Burmese refugee camp just down the road. These are the forgotten people. Quite literally the orphans and the widows that Jesus spoke about.

Paw Lu Lu helping with back strap weaving. The Kingdom of God at work.

The residents have an opportunity to learn skills that will bring peace to their troubled hearts and minds and help them make an income, such as loom weaving, sewing, a special type of ethnic weaving called back strap, and broom making. And thanks to 30 years of love and care from Nandoe and Paw Lu Lu and their staff who view themselves as family and rightful partakers at Paw Lu Lu's ever-available kitchen table, there is a long list of residents who have healed and received enough skills training to go on and make a new life for themselves.

Burmese preschool kids

Talking in the preschool with the teachers about why they love their jobs.

Weaving the beautiful fabric the Karen people are known for.

It was a sweet week to watch what God is doing with the lives of a faithful couple that desire to live for Him.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-12T14:14:00.000+07:00

Well, the beginning of this year has been off to a crazy start! I've had this post written for a while and am just finding a minute to finish it up and get it posted.

Between planning for our next Animal Health training, evaluating a project for refugees in the south of Thailand, getting my Thai Driver's Licenses (yes that's plural... as if one bad DMV picture is not enough, they have to duplicate it for separate automobile and motorcycle licenses), continuing to work on the translation of our book, receiving multiple recommendations from multiple people regarding how to apply for my next visa which will expire in two weeks (including differing opinions in the Immigration office!), and having my good friend Lindsay in for a visit, I've managed to keep myself busy.

Had a fun day in Bangkok touring the Grand Palace

Played with some elephants in the Karen village just up the road from my office

Took a spin through Chinatown in Bangkok

Went up to "Mountain Pointing to the Sky" where you can look out over the country of Laos

Decided not to ride one of these to work everyday

Shot an old-fashioned musket and put a hurtin' on a tree-trunk

Must have done okay with the musket because I was matriculated to wielding this weapon (It's a pellet gun, people, don't worry.)

Spent a rainy afternoon at the point of convergence of Myanmar, Thailand and Laos

In all seriousness, I'm thankful for the wonderful friends and family I have here. I'm thankful for the silly times we have together, but I'm also thankful for my work and for what God is doing in Northern Thailand. What a blessing to be able to share a few of the highlights with you!

Emmanuel

2011-12-17T10:33:00.001+07:00

Merry Christmas!

In The Secret

2011-12-07T18:56:00.001+07:00

In 1853 a high-caste girl named Ellen Lakshmi Goreh was born in India. Her father was an Indian preacher, and her mother died when she was just 2 months old. She was eventually adopted by the family of clergyman W.T. Stores and lived with them in England for some time. She later wrote a hymn called "In The Secret of His Presence" which Hudson Taylor reported was the favorite song of his missionaries in the East.

I had downloaded this song onto my mp3 player, never having listened to the words until I was two weeks into my stay in Tamil Nadu, southern India. The lyrics came alive for me in that place, as they still do here in Thailand.

It's my belief that this is a hymn that captures the prayer of the Orient.

In the secret of his presence how my soul delights to hide!

Oh, how precious are the lessons which I learn at Jesus' side!

Earthly trials never vex me, nor my trials lay me low;

For when Satan comes to tempt me, to the secret place I go,

To the secret place I go.

When my soul is faint and thirsty 'neath the shadow of His wing;

There is cool and pleasant shelter, and a fresh and crystal spring;

And my Savior rests beside me, as we hold communion sweet:

If I tried, I could not utter what He says when thus we meet,

What He says when thus we meet.

Only this I know: I tell Him all my doubts, my griefs and fears;

Oh, how patiently He listens! and my drooping soul He cheers:

Do you think He ne’er reproves me? What a false Friend He would be,

If He never, never told me of the sins which He must see,

Of the sins which He must see.

Would you like to know the sweetness of the secret of the Lord?

Go and hide beneath His shadow: this shall then be your reward;

And whene’er you leave the silence of that happy meeting place,

You must mind and bear the image of the Master in your face,

Of the Master in your face.

I'll Trade Pilgrims for Pine Trees

2011-11-26T21:12:00.001+07:00

Though there was no Macy's parade, no pilgrim salt and pepper shakers in little black hats on the table, and everyone still went about their normal business of going to work and school, nevertheless, the holiday spirit was in the air. Who would have thought that my first Thanksgiving in this tropical country would include pine trees and goosebumps?

Today I visited Doi Inthanon, the highest peak in Thailand, or in what I think is a funnier direct translation of the Thai in the sign, the "tallest realm in Siam". Height: 2565.3341 meters, or around 8416.4505 feet above sea level. I guess if you built up a few clumps of gravel at the top they'd have to change decimals to accurately reflect the new height.

More than this prominent claim to fame, Doi Inthanon (pronounced Doy IN-ta-noan) boasts two even more interesting features. First, it is the only home in the world for the Green Tailed Sunbird. We saw one of these fiery little males flitting about at the summit this morning in the chilly air (Temp: 6 C, or 42 F), but too elusive for my photographic skills so you'll have to do with this image I took from Google. They are even more brilliant in real life.

Second, Doi Inthanon also happens to share membership with only 0.3% of the world's other land surfaces that are known as cloud forests. The frequent, heavy clouds that roll onto the mountain cover everything in mist, and subsequently cover everything in moss, including the ancient trees with even a few pine trees mixed in for a good wintry feel. You can read more about cloud forests here.

This year I'm quite thankful for the opportunity to be in Thailand, and for the unique and exquisitely-crafted place God has created here.

On Joy

2011-11-20T20:54:00.001+07:00

No one had more of a reason to give up than missionary to the Native Americans, David Brainerd (1718-1747). In the 29 short years of his life, he suffered from constant physical illness and crippling pain from tuberculosis, was dogged by severe depression, and faced extreme trials and hardships in the wilderness. And yet his life and testimony have been inspiration to hundreds of Christians daring to be obedient to God's calling. He touched the lives of Jonathan Edwards, Jim Elliot, William Carey, Robert Morrison, David Livingston, Gideon Hawley, Andrew Murray and so many others. Why?

He had found his source of joy.

"Such fatigues and hardships as these serve to wean me more from the earth; and, I trust, will make heaven the sweeter. Formerly, when I was thus exposed to cold, rain, etc., I was ready to please myself with the thoughts of enjoying a comfortable house, a warm fire, and other outward comforts; but now these have less place in my heart (through the grace of God) and my eye is more to God for comfort. In this world I expect tribulation; and it does not now, as formerly, appear strange to me; I don't in such seasons of difficulty flatter myself that it will be better hereafter; but rather think how much worse it might be; how much greater trials others of God's children have endured; and how much greater are yet perhaps reserved for me. Blessed be God that he makes (=is) the comfort to me, under my sharpest trials; and scarce ever lets these thoughts be attended with terror or melancholy; but they are attended frequently with great joy (p. 274)" [Quoted from www.desiringgod.org]

Flooding

2011-10-28T23:42:00.000+07:00

More than 1/3 of Thailand is underwater now. The monsoon season that is now tapering has dumped more rain over the central plains than has been seen in the past 35 years. Central Thailand has been affected with severe flooding for several weeks, devastating millions of acres of rice and forcing evacuation of several areas. One person with whom I work said his wife's family was just about to harvest their rice fields when the waters rose, destroying their entire crop. The livelihoods of many people are in jeopardy.

The waters are draining slowly to the sea by route of three large rivers that all make their way to the heart of the country, Bangkok, before exiting into the Gulf of Thailand. You may have heard the news that Bangkok is now experiencing flooding, and it is expected to worsen tonight and tomorrow as parts of the city are being evacuated, though even some emergency shelters have been forced to close because they too are underwater. The shelves of every market are bare as people stock up on food and water to outlast the flood conditions that, if the levees do not hold the waters back, are expected to take up residence in the city for up to one month or more.

Though I am thankful to be dry here in elevated Chiang Rai, please pray for Thailand and for the Thai people who are acutely suffering and will continue to suffer after the floods reside.

This Isn't The Movies

2011-10-04T23:28:00.000+07:00

Today I had an appointment at the U.S. Consulate to begin theprocess to renew my passport. As they only take appointments two days aweek to serve every American in the northern half of Thailand, I set my dateseveral weeks ago since I knew I was making the three-hour trip this weekanyway.

In truth, I've been looking forward to this day. To be on"U.S. soil" even here in Thailand; to step into a zone where I am nolonger the foreigner, but the citizen. Just for a bit.

I guess I imagined it like the movies - where a crisp Americanflag billows out front and that navy blue passport emblazoned with the goldbald eagle is the key to open up a secret members-only world. Where notonly would those who are on the inside with me understand English, but theywould understand my ups and downs as an American living in Thailand as we shared a cup of tea. Where I could be reminded of apple pie and Thanksgivingand pumpkin spice.

Well, today was nothing short of an American experience. Although there was no American flag outfront, the dark little entrance was flanked by two Thai guards and quite a lotof bullet-proof glass. Upon admittanceto the first room, I passed through a metal detector, and my purse andpaperwork were not only x-rayed, but sifted through as well. Among the confiscated contraban was myKindle, a mini-flashlight keychain that incarcerated all my keys by association,my cell phone, gum, chapstick, and my nametag from the conference I amattending.

Once relieved of these dangerous items in exchange for a laminatedcard which assured me I would have them returned to me upon my exit, I was curtlywaved through a heavy door into a breezeway where a sign instructed me toproceed through another heavy door and directly to Window 1. More bullet-proof glass and the little dip inthe counter like at the bank to slide things through to the other side of thewindow. If I had been a green man-eatingshark, they wouldn’t have cared less on the other side of the glass so long asI slid them the confirmation number for my appointment and my application forpassport renewal.

After a minute or two, a red stamp was applied to my applicationand I was told to proceed to Window 2. One small step to the right, more glass, another counter dip. The lady at Window 2 collected $110 from meand told me to go back out and wait at the white chairs in the breezeway untilthey called my name.

A Thai TV station was airing an English travel show aboutMauritania and also the Dow Jones numbers which were down. Three Thai people were sitting a few seatsaway, talking in a dialect I couldn’t understand. Over the loudspeaker, a name was called, andtwo of the three rose and rushed inside. They were back out in just a few seconds with new paperwork to fill outto obtain a U.S. visa; apparently they hadn’t done it right the first time.

Finally my name was called and I proceeded to Window 3. I was returned my old passport along with aslip of paper which I was instructed to bring back in order to retrieve my newpassport in 1 to 2 weeks. I found my wayto the exit and once I was back out on the street, I found another window witha dip in the counter through which I exchanged my laminated card for mypersonal belongings, slid through the dip, one at a time.

Though it wasn’t the American experience I was expecting, it wasAmerican all the same: needing safety, trusting no one, and valuing efficiencyover relationship. It was a good wake-upcall for me to remember that each culture comes with the good and the bad, andthat if even my expectations of my own culture can be skewed, how muchmore I need to check my expectations of Thai culture.

For now, I’m happy to be back out in Thailand, wreaking havoc inthe streets with my chapstick and my nametag.

Migrant Workers

2011-09-29T21:24:00.001+07:00

Check out this video from Mekong Minority Foundation about their program to encourage and assist Burmese migrant workers that come to Chiang Rai. I love it!

Home Sweet Home

2011-09-11T17:27:00.001+07:00

Just a few days short of 7 months in Thailand, I have my own sweet little space.

My first home in Thailand was with the gracious Coats family where I stayed and on whom I was completely dependent for three weeks, even while they were grieving the loss of their Dad/Grandpa. They have been just as gracious every day since. Then it was to a one-room dormitory where I passed my neighbor laundry man everyday on my walk to Thai class. He was the first person to wave and try to talk with me in Thai everyday. "Hello! Where are you off to?" "I'm going to study..." Well, that was usually as far as our conversation got. I'd like to go back and talk to him now that I can use more than a sprinkle of words. Every Saturday morning I ate breakfast with Nit's precious family even if they had other company, and spent some quality time playing with her boys or throwing berries at each other from the tree out front.

After three months, I was blessed with the opportunity to house-sit for the wonderful Golin family who went home for the summer. They let me take up their space and use their things, and even decrease their office by half to store my fridge and washing machine after they came back.

And then the terrific opportunity to serve Pete and Mary as they went home to settle their last son into his first year at college. Watching their home and dog was a close as I've been to really "home" here yet. They have taken me into their family and lives and I am blessed by them everyday, even in their absence.

And everyday so thankful for the opportunity to be here. I am so thankful for each of you who support me regularly or irregularly, and all of you who pray and follow my journey here. And now I'm looking forward to this new chapter and everything it will bring...

Turn Left At The Pineapple

2011-09-05T22:12:00.000+07:00

The building address system here remains a profound mystery to me. A sprinkle of numbers and slashes, a few unpronounceable words, some commas and dots and abbreviations, and you've got an address. Trouble is, it does little to help you actually figure out where your house is located on the planet.

Business cards here don't have the address of their establishment, they have a map drawn on one side. See, because in order to get anywhere, you have to know how to get there from somewhere else. Your friend doesn't tell you how to find their house with an address. (You can't Google Map it anyway.) They'll casually explain, in their normal everyday voice, "You know that coffee shop where we stopped last week after going to the bed sheet store? Well if you go from there down the street opposite from the clock tower, keep going straight until you see a large pineapple and turn left. You'll pass a shop selling tires [they failed to mention that there are two shops selling tires caddy-corner to each other] where you turn right about half way before you get to a video rental place. My house is about 400 meters down and has a purple gate [matching the gates of several neighbors]."

Right. All I have to do is figure out where the bed sheet store was, retrace my steps back to the coffee shop, and start looking for pineapples and tires. Oh yeah. The bed sheet store is around the corner from the noodle shop where we went that one time...

So, I am filled with wonder when that little red metal box attached to the outer surface of the gate in front of the house is not empty. Mail. How on earth did it know to turn left at the pineapple?

Today, as I pulled up to the house I am watching for another week, I noticed with astonishment a manilla envelope peeking out of their red mailbox. I unpacked my car from the day, carrying two large bags, a laptop, a coffee cup and two umbrellas and keys, and leaned over just right so my thumb and forefinger could slide the envelope out of the slot. Slid open the gate, jumped over the mud. Said hello to the dogs, unlocked the door. Plopped everything down.

And that's when I noticed: the envelope was addressed to me! Not only did it find it's way from Seattle to Thailand, but it made it's way through the cryptic corridors of the Thailand Post to Chiang Rai, and...to my friend's house! My mail (only the second piece I've gotten since coming) came to their house. I'm calling it a bona fide miracle.

What's more, the envelope was full of notes from all of you who have been thinking of me and praying for me over the last several months. What a precious gift that the Lord knew I needed. Thanks so much for your encouragement, prayers, and blessings. Sometimes I feel pretty far left of the pineapple, and pretty out of touch from so many of you that I love and miss. What a wonderful gift for the Lord to bring you all the way to me today.

What Can I Do?

2011-08-26T23:08:00.001+07:00

Check out Christian Veterinary Mission's video for 2012! It's going to be a good year.

Clay

2011-08-14T16:10:00.002+07:00

I've been stuck on 2 Corinthians 4:7 a lot lately:

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

What's so jarring about this particular verse, of course, is that it does not say that our treasure is the surpassing power of God. But, on the contrary, our treasure is in the jar of clay, a humble, fragile structure, easily broken and cast aside. My treasure is my weakness. I should delight in my weaknesses (as Paul says later in 2 Cor. 12:9-10) because it is through my weaknesses that God chooses to show his surpassing power in and through my life.

For me, it's easier to visualize how this works through physical weakness or circumstances in life that I can not change. These are things which I (wrongly) think of as being outside of myself and how I relate to God. I understand that I should delight in difficult circumstances because they are opportunities for God come into the situation (as if he wasn't already there) to show his power by doing something that I am unable to do. But what about spiritual weakness? Should I really delight in my inability relate to God in the way I know he wants me to? To be unfocused in prayer? To utterly fail to thank Jesus sufficiently for all that he's done on my behalf, let alone failing to thank him even for providing for my basic needs day in and day out? For my lack of discipline? For my doubts and apathy? Are these treasures??

Yes, I think they are. Because, at the end of my life, I want to see clearly that it has been Jesus all along who is the only one sufficient to bring me through. I can not do it. I don't have the strength myself. A resonating theme with the prayerful words of a song my church at home in Manhattan, Kansas will be singing in just a few hours:

The sun comes up, its a new day dawning,

it's time to sing Your song again.

Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me

let me be singing when the evening comes.

(Listen here)

Dear Jesus, let me be singing when the evening comes.

Meet Kina

2011-08-04T11:20:00.001+07:00

Meet my newest appendage, Kina.

I have had her for almost two weeks now, and so far I have ascertained that her passions are:

Chewing on whatever may be closest to her mouth
Licking it if she gets in trouble for chewing
Killing anything made out of fabric
Chasing motorcycles
Food of any shape, size, or taste other than her own
Always having me in her field of vision, or better yet laying directly on top of me
Drinking only dirty water
Destroying cockroaches

The last one is much to my joy, although "destroying" may be too thorough of a word, as all of the unfortunate roaches that have met with Kina so far have only been severely maimed so that I've had to finish them off with the plunger. Even so, more have met their demise in the last two weeks than in the previous month.

A friend of mine bought her in the Night Bazzaar last year, and now I get to keep her as my friend will be returning to Australia. She knows a few words and her name, although it's amazing how much her comprehension improves when there's food nearby.

The only things that have been destroyed so far are a stuffed toy that I gave her and the flip cap of my toothpaste. Eh. At least she had minty breath for a while.

A Mien Wedding

2011-07-31T21:16:00.004+07:00

The Milagros Sponsorship Program run by Mekong Minority Foundation works by providing scholarships to minority hill tribe students to go to school from eighth grade through graduation from University. It is a great program which enables young people to get a good education when they otherwise wouldn't have the opportunity.

This past Saturday morning, Bluak, a young man in the program from the Mien tribe, was married. The wedding was held in the open-air dining room of a resort with a central pond surrounded by grass and small bungalows.

The bride and groom in traditional Mien clothing.

Now, to be fair, I've been to plenty of church services and other events here to know how things generally operate. Kids run down the halls. Cellphones ring, and are answered and talked on in the midst of the service. (Generally with a hand covering the talker's mouth to be "polite".) People moving around, getting a drink of water, going to the bathroom. But I have to say, even this was a little bewildering for me.

When we arrived just a couple of minutes before the ceremony was set to start, the dining room was still relatively empty and we chose a table near the front. Not to worry, we had plenty of time to enjoy the ice water and pork rinds waiting for us there before the ceremony actually did begin. A lady was playing hymns on the keyboard and the MC was talking non-stop into the microphone the whole time.

Once the ceremony did start, the only change was that the bride and groom were up on stage. People still talking and walking around. Waitresses in t-shirts and cut-off jeans refilling ice buckets. Liters of pop were brought out to all the tables mid-way through and the sharp hiss of a newly opened bottle could be heard periodically throughout the room.

The dining room during the ceremony. Notice the wrapped headpieces the Mien women are wearing in the back row.

My table during the ceremony.

Not even their parents (who were the only ones facing forward for this event) stayed put. During one part of the ceremony, the bride and groom came and knelt in front of each of the parents, touching their feet as a sign of respect and presenting them with a garland. The bride's father was just returning to his seat as the new couple arrived at his chair.

Granny even got in on the action. At one point during the pastor's message, the groom's granny came up to the base of the stage, beckoned him to come over and kneel down so she could whisper something to him before she turned and walked out of the room. I think she must have asked him to do something for her by the conflicted expression on his face, but the MC waved his friend back into position as he went off to do the errand himself.

I just giggled to myself and had another sip of icy orange soda.

All in all, it was a wonderful event, and our group was even honored with a picture on stage with the newly wedded couple (but not until Granny had all the family pictures she wanted).

Granny in the front wearing the white skirt. All the Aunties off to the side.

At the end, we stayed at our tables and had a delicious six-course feast while the bride and groom visited each table and hand-delivered a commemorative key chain to every guest.

The Thing About Culture Shock

2011-07-30T22:33:00.002+07:00

is that it is so shocking. It always takes me by surprise. Just going about the day, minding my own business, and wham, it hits. Like a train.

The experts say that people living overseas go through stages of adjustment to their new culture. In the first stage, everything is an adventure: buying soup in a bag on the street, navigating the city, intelligibly asking the price of some unknown fruit and getting an intelligible response, and being able to pull out the right amount of colorful bills and coins to pay for it.

About 6 months in, some of the newness burns off and culture shock sets in. I guess I'm right on schedule.

The train hit me the other day as I pulled up to a red light. According to the traffic timer, it took 126 seconds of waiting for green for me to transition from placidly taking in the views on my way to Thai class to simmering irritation that the basis of the Thai road system is built on U-turns, which is why only one lane of traffic is able to go at a time. The turning lane is so full of cars needing to U-turn that oncoming traffic must wait at a red light. Hence, at a 4 way intersection, each light is red 3 times longer than it is green. Seriously? Is this really the best method?

When the light turned green, three dozen vehicles in a spectrum of shapes, sizes and degrees of wear sputtered back to life as their owners ground into first gear. Then the inevitable long pause just a couple of seconds later as those gearshifts were jammed down into second. Black exhaust plumed out of a large truck loaded down with old plastic for recycling as it inched forward in front of me. A string of vehicles that had begun using the shoulder as a third lane of traffic (to circumvent the long lines already waiting at the light) aggressively cut into my lane between the motorcycles whizzing around us.

In the end, I made it to the intersection just as the light clicked back to red and I felt the timer smirk down at me as it restarted its countdown at 126 seconds. The irritation was still there, but laced with a distinct feeling of tiredness over the surprise I still feel when a scenario like this takes place, even though it happens several times every day. Longing for the familiar - where reality meets my expectations.

In the end, culture shock is just a phase, too. So for now, I'll use each of those 126 seconds to remind myself of all the things I love about Thailand, and just plan to leave home a little earlier in the morning.

Deep Waters

2011-07-07T09:34:00.002+07:00

See the streams of living waters,
springing from eternal love,
well supply thy sons and daughters,
and all fear of want remove.
Who can faint while such a river
ever while their thirst t'assuage?
Grace which like the Lord, the Giver,
never fails from age to age.
~John Newton

"...but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.  He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.  In all that he does, he prospers."

Psalm 1:2-3

Just Another Day

2011-06-15T20:30:00.001+07:00

Spent yesterday in meetings with 15 other people representing 4 nationalities, 8 ethnic groups, I'm not even sure how many organizations, and one very big God. With an average of 3 languages spoken by each person, but no one with the same combination, communication flitted back and forth seamlessly as we work together to advance our work into areas not yet reached. There are some amazing perks to this job.

If You Can't Stand the Heat...

2011-06-09T21:04:00.002+07:00

I have moved from Temporary Residence #1 to Temporary Residence #2 this week. Quite an upgrade - complete with a kitchen! I didn't realize just how excited I was about it until I found myself with a cart full of ingredients for cookies of the chocolate chip variety. You don't know what you're missing until you go without. Hello cookies, I've been dreaming of your chewy chocolatey goodness.

Ten life lessons learned from baking chocolate chip cookies:

1. Appreciate life's simple pleasures. When God gives you chocolate chips, make cookies. (But only with half of the bag because they are too expensive to admit how much you might have paid for them.)

2. Be prepared. Otherwise, you'll end up with something other than cookies.

3. Let others help you. Even an oven needs assistance from a tank of propane now and then. And, think outside the box.

4. Sometimes, even simple things may throw you for a loop. It's okay if you can't mentally convert 350*F into Celsius. That's what Google is for.

5. Balance is important. And everybody has something unique to contribute.

6. It's good to mix things up. Just make sure your 110V mixer is connected to a converter before you plug it into a 220V socket.

7. Even your best intentions may start to melt and slide all over the place. No worries. Just smoosh them back up.

8. Appreciate God's perfect timing, even when cookies in the oven take longer than planned.

9. If you can't stand the heat, sometimes you have to take a break and get out of the kitchen and close the door behind you. And trust that what's going on in there is what's supposed to be going on.

10. But sometimes, if you can't stand the heat, just eat your cookies in front of the fan.

A big, huge thank you to Tim and Jeana for going to America and graciously lending me their home. Tim, Jeana, I know you're not even off the plane yet, but I'm thoroughly enjoying your house already! You guys are the best!

Jungle Pigs and Chicken Beaks

2011-06-05T22:45:00.004+07:00

This past week I went with Boon, Pong, Nan and Reed up to an Akha village in Mae Yao district reporting that they had some pigs with pneumonia. MMF works with several villages in Mae Yao. This was the first time I had been up to Mae Yao since I've been here, and also my farthest trip into Mae Yao, and it was fun along the way to catch glimpses of villages I visited last year.

As we passed through the village of Moh Pii (Spirit Doctor village), the last landmark on the path that I recognized, heavy rain began to fall. It wasn't long before we were spinning wheels in the deep mud ruts that were cut into the steep mountain path. We were stuck.

We attempted the steep pass several times with all kinds of ingenuity, including the two other guys and me bouncing up and down in the bed of the truck (Nan was sensible and stayed inside) as Boon revved the engine and sent mud flying everywhere. In the end we parked the truck at the bottom of the hill and walked the rest of the way to the village.

When we arrived in the village, we were told that indeed, there were sick pigs, but that they were all (with the exception of 11 small-bodied pigs) out in the jungle. Fences and pens to contain the village's cattle, buffalo, chickens and pigs are a rarity out here, as most animals are allowed to run wild and forage for their own food. I have no idea how the villagers know how to find them or even which animal belongs to them. Many times, when they slaughter one of the animals for food, they go out in the jungle and hunt it like a wild animal.

We treated the 11 metropolitan pigs living in the village and after a hearty lunch of rice, barbecued wild pig, vegetable soup and scrambled eggs we sat down with he villagers and discussed how they could treat the sick pigs as they found them in the jungle. (How the people of the village know they have pigs coughing in the jungle I haven't figured out.)

Finally, we reached the truck after climbing what seemed like uphill both ways and headed back down the mountain. We stopped in one final village where chicks were suffering from an outbreak of mucocutaneous lesions around the face and beak. They are eating fine and the mortality rate is low. So, not Newcastle. Any ideas? It looks like some kind of herpes or papilloma virus to me.

Two days later and my legs are still sore.

6/7/2011 Update: After doing a bit of research about what might be ailing these avian babies, it seems as though the chickens are suffering from... chicken pox. I wonder if they're as itchy as I was when I had it.

Lost in Translation

2011-05-21T00:36:00.000+07:00

I saw this at a friend's place tonight and just couldn't help but empathize with this guy.

Language is so funny!

Three Months

2011-05-17T16:25:00.001+07:00

Three months in Thailand has flown by. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to be here and to get to know some wonderful people. Here I am with my Thai language teacher, Ploy. She has been such a blessing to me, and I am so thankful for her. We study at a coffee shop inside the rear gate at the hospital near my house. All the ladies know us there. Coincidentally, just outside the gate is a row of coffin shops... Not sure what that says about the hospital...

Ri-en pasa Thai gup Cru Ploy (Studying Thai with Teacher Ploy)

Rainy season has begun here, with consistent heavy rains that soak the ground and then steam the air when the hot sun reappears. This morning the rain is deafening on the tin rooftops in my mubaan.

Rain clouds over my neighbor's house

He keeps his bike dry under the awning

Sunday I renewed my visa by crossing the border into Tachilek, Myanmar. This town is just a few kilometers away from the epicenter of the March 26 earthquake. Victims of the earthquake continue to suffer, many without homes which is becoming a larger problem with rainy season setting in. The wet streets of the market were lined with everything imaginable for sale: shoes, bags, electronics, motor-scooters, ice cream, dishes, sunglasses, pirated DVDs, bedding, cell phones (the "Nikia" seemed to be a pretty popular brand) tourist trinkets and animist ritualistic artifacts like monkey skulls and amulets.

Tachilek market

Bags and bags of mushroom: big ones, short ones, fat ones, lacy ones...

A Matter of Perspective

2011-05-09T11:21:00.000+07:00

If you have never experienced exhilarating cliff-hanging moments, an impetus for rock-solid determination, agony, confusion, and frustration and near-despair all wrapped neatly into one event, I highly recommend taking a turn at attempting to navigate the governmental system of a foreign country in a foreign language.

Just shy of 3 months in-country, after 2 applications, 3 visits to the appropriate office, hearing different things from 6 people, 4 pictures taken, countless copies made, paperwork redone, and white-out liberally applied, I have successfully obtained a much-needed work permit.

It's a good day in Thailand.

Come Awake

2011-04-24T06:10:00.001+07:00

It's still dark here this morning as I prepare to go to the combined-church sunrise Easter service in Chiang Rai.

He is Risen!

Good Friday

2011-04-23T00:16:00.000+07:00

I once heard a sermon on why we call this day "Good Friday". What's so good about it? After all, it's the day our Jesus, loving and lovely, was mocked, beaten beyond recognition, suffering physically and spiritually until his final breath.

It makes me think of Peter, who protested his unworthy feet being washed by Jesus just hours before events were set in motion for Jesus to be crucified. He said Jesus would never wash his feet, to which Jesus replied, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me."

"Then Lord, not just my feet but my hands and head as well!"

It's the ultimate gift: to have seen Jesus humble himself for our sake, take our punishment, die in our place that we may have abundant life. It truly is the best day all humanity has ever witnessed.

As Bright As The Promises Of God

2011-04-14T00:39:00.001+07:00

Three weeks has passed since the earthquake in Myanmar (Burma). There are still several thousand people homeless in the aftermath, and without clean drinking water. It seems as though the earthquake has disrupted something relating to the natural water sources in the area. Since the quake, the clear streams have now become murky and foul-smelling.

With everything going on, I've been thinking a lot about Myanmar lately - its history and current situation and the battles being fought inside those borders- both physical and spiritual battles. And the history of the Karen people. I work with Karen people on this side of the border, but the Thai Karen have only been in the country for less than 100 years. They originated from the Tibetan plains centuries ago and settled in Burma, but they came to Thailand as they fled from the Burmese mountains.

Recently a documentary was released, capturing the plight of the Karen in Burma. It is a gut-wrenching and heart-breaking story. You can find the 45 minute video free here: The Road. Please, please watch.

And the spiritual battles have raged there as well. Adoniram Judson, missionary to Burma from 1815 to 1850, spent his life in pursuit of Burmese and Karen souls knowing Jesus. He faced severe hardships, harsh imprisonment, loss of loved ones (including his first wife and second wife and several children), and countless discouraging reasons to quit. And yet, his course was sure.

"If I had not felt certain that every additional trial was ordered by infinite love and mercy, I could not have survived my accumulated sufferings."

"In spite of sorrow, loss, and pain, Our course be onward still; We sow on Burmah's barren plain, We reap on Zion's hill."

"The prospects are bright as the promises of God."

I'm not sure how these thoughts fit together. The earthquake seems to have shaken up more than just the geography - it has shaken up my heart and mind to ponder the history of a nation so acquainted with suffering, and yet marked by God's grace. Oh Lord, I pray for Burma.

Practice Makes Perfect

2011-04-07T20:14:00.003+07:00

Last week was my big debut into animal health training in Thailand. I took 3 days off of language study and went with Peter and Boon up to Doi Wawee again to hold a training for the villagers selected by their communities. We had approximately 10 people on the first day, the second and third days we lost a couple, but gained a couple of people brought along by other participants.

Practicing observing a group of buffalo in a rice paddy.

Peter helping to read the thermometer after a successful data collection on a pig.

They were most interested in learning about diarrhea and pneumonia in cattle and pigs, so that's what we taught about. Everything from dissecting a pig (which we later ate in a curry over rice) to see the lungs and intestines, to learning how to take a temperature, to doing a physical exam by observing the animal far away, to using flow charts to determine the best antibiotic to give, to outdoor hands-on practice of giving injections. It was a great time, and I learned as much as everyone else. I even learned some new words and got to practice my Thai!

With some Karen ladies who kindly let us give their pigs injections for practice.

Myanmar Earthquake Upadate

2011-03-26T17:06:00.001+07:00

More light is being shed on the earthquake that happened here Thursday night. It seems as though parts of Eastern Shan State suffered the worst. It's a difficult situation because although we are only ~50 miles away from the main area of need, it is a border that is very difficult to cross. And even the bridge that physically connects Myanmar and Thailand was damaged: vehicles can not get across, only foot traffic can pass on it now. I'm copying a summary written by a team member here at MMF of what we know so far as we look for ways to serve those in need.

Some of you have been wondering about the earthquake that took place in Eastern Shan State of Myanmar Thursday evening local time. It was apparently two earthquakes about 30 minutes apart, but the second was more like an aftershock. There were a lot of aftershocks which were quite light. Today we have felt a couple too. The authorities have said that we will have more yet.

The quake was about 7 on the Richter scale and the epicenter was located 10 kms down from the surface about 35 - 40 kms North and a bit east of Tachilek, a large township center across the border from the Thai town of Mae Sai. We are located in Chiang Rai which is about 90 kms south of the epicenter. Though we were shaken up, there is no damage to speak of where we live.

Today, it appears that initial assessments show that the greatest damage and loss of life is in and around the Shan town of Ta Lar, where several dozen structures collapsed and at about 50 are dead and more hurt. A nearby town of Mine Lin which is much older also saw much damage but the death toll is only about 15 person. The smaller villages and communities are not likely to have resulted in too many casualties because the houses are wooden or bamboo.

However, we have heard of one exception so far, A Lahu church collapsed during the earthquake while a service was going on and 25 persons are reported to have been killed with many more hurt.

Thank you for your prayers for the people who are suffering in Eastern Shan State in Myanmar.

Repeat After Me

2011-03-07T17:50:00.000+07:00

It is a humbling experience to learn a new language. Especially when you don't even know the alphabet. Especially when the alphabet has 42 consonants which are divided into 3 classes. Especially when the vowels are just little squiggles above and below any of the 42 consonants, or when they come before the consonant but you pronounce them after it. And especially when the letters make sounds you've never made before. Language study: Day 1. My teacher has me repeating after her and practicing my letters and words over and over in pencil, just like a small child. I've learned, among a few other things, to say and write, "The man is in the car."

The coconut smoothie helped.

Your beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will your future be. - Job 8:7

Wawee

2011-02-26T17:31:00.001+07:00

We went up to Wawee yesterday to see some of the work going on there. It is about an hour's drive from Chiang Rai and up a mountain called Doi Chaang (Elephant Mountain) where the area is extremely famous for their coffee. First we went to see the chief of the village there, and ended up talking with him for quite a while about animal health problems in their area. Last year they had Foot and Mouth Disease in their cattle and a serious pneumonia in their pigs. They treated the sick pigs with antibiotic, but several still died. It is relatively uncommon for cattle to die of FMD here, since it is endemic and most of the animals have some immunity, but Wawee has not had much of the disease in the past, so they did experience some losses since their cattle were naive. This year they are battling cattle with swollen throats, which could be a myriad of things (liver fluke, hemorrhagic septicemia, etc.) but it is difficult to get the people to think systematically. They only see a swollen throat, and stop looking for other signs. They don't know if there are any other symptoms. We were always taught in school that you'll miss a clinical sign only because you didn't look for it.

Here I am with the chief of the village in his home and our visitor from Toronto.

We stopped in town to have lunch at a little open-air restaurant where the proprietor of the establishment had decorated one side of the dining area with dead examples of the local fauna. Don't worry... they weren't all on the menu.

The corn cobs on in the top left give you an idea of the size of some of these crunchy critters. The bug on the top right is a beautiful rhinoceros beetle!

The bottom right corner shows some light switches and outlets for perspective.

On the way back down the mountain we took (in 4-wheel drive) the road that leads to the village Doi Chaang. We stopped at a little area and had a cup of their famous coffee and had a look around. Coffee beans are grown in the red fruit pods on bushy plants. The seeds are extracted, dried and then roasted.

Coffee beans drying in the sun.

Overall, another successful day in Thailand!

Sawadee-kah

2011-02-23T09:28:00.003+07:00

It is time to get blogging again! In my defense I was (and still am) bridging the gap from living in Kansas, America to living in Chiang Rai, Thailand. This is my first post from the Eastern Hemisphere!

I've been in Thailand for 5 days after an uneventful 46 hours of travel by car, plane, taxi, truck, and feet (traveling on foot with 135 lbs of luggage is a difficult feat, even if you never leave LAX... no pun intended). Here's the rundown so far:

Friday: I arrived in Chiang Rai with all of my luggage amongst hundreds of soldiers dressed in khaki uniforms milling around the airport and lounging at the arrival gates. After collecting my things from the baggage claim, Mary and Wynn greeted me and we headed for town in their truck. As we left the airport, several military men in green camo were stationed at regular intervals in the ditches along the road. Apparently, a member of the royal family was due to arrive the same evening. Later, a dear friend Nit and a new friend Jan took me to dinner at a Chinese restaurant which rarely has an open table. The food is cooked in a make-shift kitchen at the opening of the storefront where passers-by can take a look and come inside to dine around plastic stools, walls that were white long ago, and a cement floor. We had fried whole fish, rice, a type of Chinese sausage wrapped in pastry and then fried, and stir fried greens.

Saturday:  I awoke Saturday morning to a cacophony of barking dogs and loud music piped out from the Buddhist temple nearby. The Coats family with whom I am staying this week had arrived home from Chiang Mai during the night. Mary picked me up and we went into town where I learned a few of the landmarks and walked through the main market. Lunch with the Coats family was at another restaurant, also cooking their chicken coconut soup near the sidewalk so hungry walkers could order as they passed into the store to sit on plastic stools. In the evening we drove out to Chadri's sister's house for MMF fellowship which happens once a month.

Sunday:  I went with Taen to a Thai church where the sermon was on the good gifts God gives us. I understood a couple of words thanks to the Christmas carols I had learned in Thai last year. Mary and Wynn had picked up visitors from the airport the night before, so after church we met them at a very fancy tourist resort to have lunch at the buffet. All you can eat for 150 baht, which is around $5. In the evening many of the missionaries gather for a time of English fellowship at the same church I had been to in the morning. We had a meal together afterwards and I met several of the people with whom I will be in community.

Monday:  After morning devotions in the office with my new team there, I traveled with Peter and his visitors as well as Boon up to Mae Sai to see the agricultural work going on there. I met a Filipino missionary named Jethro who speaks at least 6 languages. We also visited another missionary family who just received a load of goats into their brand new barn the day before. The animals had spent 18 hours on a hot truck, but overall they looked pretty good. A couple of the kids - only 3 or 4 days old - had come down with Sore Mouth and were having trouble nursing. It was a sweet time to be there for the inception of a work God has called this family to for so long. They have no experience in goat raising, but they have a vision for helping national pastors to make a living using goats so they can continue to preach in the villages. The national pastors have a very hard life - moving from one village to another to preach, always sacrificing their own livelihood in order to do it. We met up with Mary and Wynn at the night market to have a dinner of kabobs, smoothies, onion rings, and some other things I couldn't name, but were quite tasty.

Tuesday: Nit, Don and I traveled to a conference hosted by MMF for national pastors all over northern Thailand. They had gathered to have an annual review of the projects they were running with the help of MMF in their communities and to share ideas with one another. Most of the pastors were Hmong, but there were also a couple of Karen and Akha pastors as well. Each of these men have a burden to reach other people in their tribes with the Good News, and do so without any pay, often sacrificing what little they have on earth to do so. Their rewards will be great in heaven.

Wednesday: Today I will meet with Peter and go to the language school to see about getting a tutor. There is one very good tutor named Ploy or Floy - I can't really tell what her name is - it's more like a soft P like Pfloy - that I would like to inquire about. It is easy to get caught up in the work that is being done and the work left to do yet. Please pray that I have a great aptitude for learning language so I can learn quickly and get to work here. I'm excited for the days ahead.

Here's a picture of me at a waterfall I visited with Nit during the pastor's conference on Tuesday. What a beautiful place God created here.

Counting Down!

2011-01-27T22:14:00.001+07:00

It is really happening! I leave for Thailand on

On Weakness (Part 2)

2011-01-19T22:51:00.002+07:00

This post is a continuation of On Weakness (Part 1) on the life of Gladys Aylward, written by Jack Voelkel. You'll definitely want to start at the beginning if you missed the first post!

The War

The Mandarin liked to talk with her. He spoke of his long years of education in the Confucian classics. As Gladys listened, she came to appreciate the Confucian ethical content but noted the lack of a provision of spiritual power such as she knew through the Holy Spirit, the missing hope of forgiveness through the sacrifice of Christ, and a total absence of expectation of life beyond the grave.

He also shared news with her: the periodic flooding of the Yellow River, the problems of poverty and ignorance of the populace, but most of all the invasion of the Japanese with planes and troops coming ever nearer. She felt more and more identified with the people and decided to become a Chinese citizen.

One day the Mandarin invited her to a special dinner. The prison warden was there, as were other officials, and several wealthy merchants. Then he stood and gave a speech:
From the other side of the world Ai-Weh-Deh journeyed to China, owing allegiance only to her living God. She brought her Christianity to Yang-cheng. She had not sat hidden inside a temple contemplating how virtuous she was. She had unbound the feet of infants. She had helped the poor. She had visited the jails. She had taken orphans under her roof. She had nursed the wounded.

Her faith was alive. More than anyone the Mandarin had ever met, Ai-Weh-Deh demonstrated the power of love. She loved China so much she became a citizen…The Mandarin admitted he had debated with her the merits of her faith against the merits of his old Confucius ways, a hundred times. But Confucianism lives in my head, not in my heart, as Christianity does in Ai-Weh-Deh and her converts. [As a result] I wish to become a Christian! (Wellman, p. 155).

She made friends with officers of the Chinese Nationalist army, led by Chiang Kai-shek. At one time she thought she was in love with Colonel Linnan who wanted to marry her. But she realized they had two very different goals in life, and above all, he was not a Christian. Through Linnan she came to see that China not only faced the danger of the Japanese invasion, but that another Chinese army, the Communists, while now collaborating with the Nationalists, would one day provoke a civil war.

Meanwhile the war uprooted people. Four times Yangcheng was bombed and overrun by the Japanese; each time the people returned when the invaders left. Then one day Gladys was informed that the Japanese had put a price on her head; her friends urged her to leave. As the invading army came closer, she gathered up her children and made preparations to seek sanctuary in the far West in Xian. Other joined them. A whole orphanage was entrusted to her care. Soon she was leading 100 children, some of them mere infants.

The prison warden wondered what to do with the prisoners. They couldn’t travel in chains. Custom dictated that he behead them all. Shocked, Gladys presented a scheme to the Mandarin to place them under the care of relatives who would be responsible for them. No one took Feng, the leader, so she did, and he was a great help to her on the long march to safety.

The Long March

“You can’t go by the roads,” her friends warned her, “or the Japanese will see you and strafe you with their planes.” Through little used trails and over high mountains she led her brood. Their cloth shoes wore out, the small children began to cry, and all were hungry. Arriving at the broad Yellow River, she asked herself, “Whatever can I do now?” Then, unexpectedly, the Nationalist army allowed her to use their boats to ferry everyone across.

Once, while alone, some Japanese soldiers saw her and tried to shoot her. Running into a field of grain, she escaped, though bullets tore through her clothes and one plowed a furrow in her back.

When they finally reached Xian, Gladys was exhausted and ill. She collapsed and was in a semi-coma for weeks. She had a fever of 105 degrees, typhus, pneumonia, and malnutrition. Finally she recovered, and was happy that all the children had been received by one family or institution or other.

She continued working with refugees, lepers, anyone who needed help. She brought to the hopeless the hope of Christ. An American doctor observing the lepers, noted: “Their bodies are so contorted with disease, they cannot kneel. Their hands are so crippled, they can barely receive the elements. Yet their eyes flame with joy and hope. All because Gladys Aylward brought them Christ” (Wellman p. 190).

Once on a long trip she found a Buddhist monastery hidden in a deep valley amid high mountains. She was surprised to discover that they were expecting her. “Here at long last is the messenger we have waited for,” they said, as they accepted her message of salvation through Christ (Wellman p. 191).

Back in England

Her friends insisted she take her first furlough after 17 years, to see her family and recover her strength. Through a popular biography (The Small Woman by Alan Burgess); a Hollywood movie of her life, The Inn of the Sixth Happiness, starring Ingrid Bergman, which received numerous awards;[i] and a BBC interview on “This is Your life,” she became an international figure. She was invited to many places to tell her story and dined with such dignitaries as the Archbishop of Canterbury and even Queen Elizabeth. For a time she was possibly the best known missionary in the world (Tucker).

Elizabeth Elliot recalls a conversation she had with Gladys after hearing her speak in Canada:
I sat on the sofa and talked of missions, missionaries and particularly of single missionaries. I had been widowed four years earlier, and she, of course, had never married. Not that she had never thought of marrying, however. She told me how she had worked happily for six or seven years in China alone, when a missionary couple came to work nearby. She then began to ponder the privilege that was theirs and to wonder if it might not be a lovely thing to be married.

She talked to the Lord about it. She was a no-nonsense woman and very direct and straightforward and she asked God to call a man from England, send him straight out to China, straight to where she was, and have him propose. I can't forget the next line. With a look of even deeper intensity, she shook her little bony finger in my face and said, "Elisabeth, I believe God answers prayer. He called him," and here there was a very brief pause and an intense whisper, which carried more power than her loudest voice. “He called him, but he never came” (Elliot).

The Last Days

But after ten years in England, China beckoned again. Gladys settled in Taiwan, and once again began working with orphans. She opened the Gladys Aylward Orphanage, and within days it was filled with children. She used her fame and prestige to raise money for them. When the burden became too great as her strength began to fail with increasing age, the Lord sent Kathleen Langton-Smith from England to help her with administration. Then one day a wealthy man came to her with a proposition. “I’m opening a very large orphanage and am looking for children to care for,” he informed her. “Oh, what a blessing,” she replied. “I’ll give you most of mine and Kathleen and I’ll only keep twenty babies for ourselves to care for.”

On New Year’s morning, 1970, just one month shy of her sixty-eighth birthday, after speaking to soldiers' wives at the American army base, Gladys went to bed without supper, and later that night slipped into the presence of the Lord she had served so faithfully. Her body now lies in a marble tomb on a hill in the garden of Christ’s College at Taipei, the capital of Taiwan (Swift).

In an interview during her later years, she had expressed her surprise at God’s call to serve Him in China with all her educational limitations. She confided:

I wasn’t God’s first choice for what I’ve done for China. There was somebody else…I don’t know who it was—God’s first choice. It must have been a man—a wonderful man. A well-educated man. I don’t know what happened. Perhaps he died. Perhaps he wasn’t willing…And God looked down…and saw Gladys Aylward (Thompson, p. 183).

Reposted for non-commercial use with permission from Urbana.org. Copyright InterVarsity Christian Fellowship / USA. All rights reserved.

On Weakness (Part 1)

2011-01-19T05:40:00.003+07:00

I was recently asked to name a few missionaries that have been my favorites to learn and read about. Instantly, Gladys Aylward came to mind. Her story is the unlikely hero; used despite her weaknesses. She was acquainted well with suffering, but her trials only served to refine her heart and character and deepen her faith.

Jack Voelkel wrote a wonderful piece about her life, so I'm reposting it here. You can also read about her life in her biography, The Small Woman.

The half-starved Chinese prisoners in Yangcheng were rioting. In the center was a man with a large bloody kitchen meat cleaver. All were shouting. Several men had already collapsed on the ground, mortally wounded. The warden called to A-Weh-Deh, “Go in and stop them!”

The woman known to foreigners by her English name, Gladys Aylward, stood trembling at the entrance. “Why me?” she gasped. The warden challenged, “You tell us your God is all powerful. Is He or is He not?”

“He is,” she declared, seeking to bolster her courage, as she stepped into the sandy courtyard. “But only through the help of Jesus will I prevail, for the Gospel of God in our Bible states, ‘I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.’”

One pair of eyes after another eyed the “Foreign Devil.” Hardly imposing, a whisper thin woman about thirty years of age, standing 4’10” tall, Gladys spoke to the man with the cleaver with unexpected authority, “Give me the cleaver,” she commanded. Astonishingly, he did. Then to the prisoners, “Now form yourselves into ranks and tell me what this is all about.”

The Call

Gladys May Aylward was born on a cold February day in 1902 in London. Her family were hardworking, honest people, and faithful in their attendance at the Anglican church. Gladys never forgot the day when in Sunday School the clergyman spoke of missionaries who worked far off in China. She left the church in a daze, her mind whirling. From then on she dreamed one day of serving the Lord there, even though she had to quit school to go to work at 14 and had no money.

Twelve years passed but the call remained steady in her heart. She applied to the China Inland Mission, but was turned down. “You really don’t have the capacity to learn a difficult language like Chinese,” the principal told her as kindly he could, “and we prefer candidates who are younger and more able to adapt.”

While working as a parlor maid for Sir Francis Younghusband, a famous military officer who had served in the Far East, she discovered that he had an impressive library, from which she borrowed liberally. Then one day she learned of Mrs. Jennie Lawson, an elderly widow working as a missionary in China, who had written, asking for someone to go and help her. Gladys saw this invitation as her opportunity. She wrote Mrs. Lawson, and started putting a down payment on a railway ticket to the coast of China which, though more dangerous, was half the price of the sea route. After working extra hours and week-ends, virtually spending nothing on herself, and then selling her hope chest, she had enough for the passage by year’s end. “Bundled up in an orange frock worn over a coat, Gladys was a curious looking traveler, resembling a gypsy more than a missionary” (Tucker p. 250).

On October the 15th, 1932, Gladys set off on the long train journey to the land of her calling. She knew that she had no money to buy food on the way, so packed her suitcase with corned beef, baked beans, fish, crackers, hard-boiled eggs and other items. She experienced mixed emotions on the journey. She felt very much alone, but had an abiding peace that she was doing the will of God. She arrived in China on the 8th of November, 1932 (Preacher’s Blog).

An overland trip of a month took her to Yancheng, where she met the widowed Scottish independent missionary then in her seventies.

The Inn

Mrs. Lawson’s missionary strategy was to establish The Inn of the Eight Happinesses. Yangcheng was an overnight stop for mule caravans that carried coal, raw cotton, pots and iron goods on six-week or three-month journeys. Lawson and Gladys provided forage for the mules, a nourishing supper, and then would entertain the men with Bible stories as a Christian witness.

As time when on, Gladys became fluent in Chinese and learned to work with Lawson who was in increasing stages of dementia. She died, a short time after Gladys’ arrival, thus leaving her to manage the inn only with the help of an older Chinese helper. One day she was visited by the local Mandarin (magistrate), a man held in the highest honor and even fear by the local citizens. He asked that she assist him by becoming his “foot inspector,” making sure that the new laws against the ancient custom of female foot binding were being complied with. As a result, A-Weh-Deh (“the virtuous one”) became increasingly known and respect by the citizenry not only of Yancheng, but also of the villages in the whole territory.

Wherever she went, she not only examined feet, but also spoke of the Lord Jesus and the salvation He offered to all who believed. “After 2,000 years, the Gospel had finally come to these mountain villages, and it was she, a tiny woman from a modest house on 67 Cheddington Road, delivering it in a sing-songy mountain dialect of Chinese” (Wellman p. 103). Only two years before she had been a parlor maid in an English manor. Over the years, little groups of believers in each of these villages began meeting together to worship the Lord—fruit of her ministry.

It was during this time that the Prison Riot occurred. Noting the miserable condition of the prisoners, the basic cause of the riot, she insisted that the warden allow the men to work to provide better clothing for themselves. She was able to secure two looms for them to make cloth for clothes and to sell, plus a mill for grinding grain. She encouraged hygiene and visited often to speak of Jesus and to encourage them. One man who responded was a leader named Feng.

One day she saw a poor woman sitting by a wall with a small, very dirty child. “Is that your child?” Gladys asked her. “It looks very sick.” “What is that to you?” the woman replied with hostility. “Do you want to buy her or not?” Shocked at the idea of selling a human being, Gladys asked the price. All she had was nine pence. The woman agreed, probably sure that the infant would die anyhow. Though Gladys gave her the official name of Mei-en (“Beautiful Grace”) she always called her Ninepence. This was the first child she adopted. Soon she had more, many more, especially as the country erupted into war.

To be continued...

Anticipation

2011-01-15T03:32:00.000+07:00

Anticipation (an-tis-uh-pey-shuhn) - noun: realization in advance; a foretaste.

Anticipating taking photos of my own soon. For now, thank you Mekong Minority Foundation for "letting" me use yours.

Grazioso so much, Trio Grazioso.

2011-01-14T03:06:00.002+07:00

Trio Grazioso is giving a benefit concert for my work in Thailand! They will be performing works including Astor Piazzola, Paul Schoenfiled, Shane Spangler and even a little fiddling. Consider yourself invited!

Sunday January 23, 2011

4:00 pm to 5:30pm

Grace Baptist Church

2901 Dickens Avenue

Manhattan, Kansas 66502

Dawn Returns

2011-01-04T09:57:00.001+07:00

In the spirit of renewal that January always brings, I'm posting my reading today from Valley of Vision. What a great reminder of my daily need for renewal and the only One who can bring it about.

Christlikeness

Father of Jesus,

Dawn returns, but without thy light within no outward light can profit;
Give me the saving lamp of thy Spirit that I may see thee, the God of my salvation, the delight of my soul, rejoicing over me in love.
I commend my heart to thy watchful care, for I know its treachery and power;
Guard its every portal from the wily enemy,
Give me quick discernment of his deadly arts,
Help me to recognize his bold disguise as an angel of light, and bid him begone.
May my words and works allure others to the highest walks of faith and love!
May loiterers be quickened to greater diligence by my example!
May worldlings be won to delight in acquaintance with thee!
May the timid and irresolute be warned of coming doom by my zeal for Jesus!
Cause me to be a mirror of thy grace, to show others the joy of thy service,
May my lips be well-tuned cymbals sounding thy praise,
Let a halo of heavenly-mindedness sparkle around me and a lamp of kindness sunbeam my path.
Teach me the happy art of attending to things temporal with a mind intent on things eternal.
Send me forth to have compassion on the ignorant and miserable.
Help me to walk as Jesus walked, my only Saviour and perfect model, his mind my inward guest, his meekness my covering garb.
Let my happy place be amongst the poor in spirit, my delight the gentle ranks of the meek.
Let me always esteem others better than myself, and find true humility an heirdom to two worlds.

For Unto Us...

2010-12-22T01:46:00.002+07:00

Luke tells a story in the first 2 chapters of his letter about real people (who, had they lived in the 21st century, we just might have been friends with on Facebook) daring to live lives of worship, and how God used them to bring about the most significant and humanity-defining event in the history of the world. You should read their story here.

May God bless you richly by setting your heart set on Jesus this Christmas as we celebrate the birth of Emmanuel, God With Us.

Indelible Wisdom

2010-12-18T10:18:00.011+07:00

Just for the record, I love to learn about early missionaries (see On Sacrifice, On Perserverence) . Their work, experiences, and hardships leave a deep, indelible mark of wisdom in their words. James Gilmour (1843-1891), Scottish missionary to Mongolia, explained how God called him to his work in this way:

During the summer session in Edinburgh I thought the matter out, and decided for the mission field; even on the low ground of common sense I seemed to be called to be a missionary. Is the kingdom a harvest field? Then I thought it reasonable that I should seek to work where the work was most abundant and the workers fewest. Labourers say they are over-taxed at home; what then must be the case abroad, where there are wide stretching plains already white to harvest, with scarcely here and there a solitary reaper? To me the soul of an Indian seemed as precious as the soul of an Englishman, and the Gospel as much for the Chinese as for the European; and as the band of missionaries was few compared with the company of home ministers, it seemed to me clearly to be my duty to go abroad.

But I go out as a missionary not that I may follow the dictates of common sense, but that I may obey that command of Christ, 'Go into all the world and preach.' He who said 'preach,' said also, 'Go ye into and preach,' and what Christ hath joined together let not man put asunder.

This command seems to me to be strictly a missionary injunction, and, as far as I can see, those to whom it was first delivered regarded it in that light, so that, apart altogether from choice and other lower reasons, my going forth is a matter of obedience to a plain command; and in place of seeking to assign a reason for going abroad, I would prefer to say that I have failed to discover any reason why I should stay at home.

Lasts

2010-12-09T08:13:00.002+07:00

As I get closer and closer to leaving the country I have lived in my entire life, I'm beginning to notice all the things about it that I may be missing soon. Already, I am taking note of the big and small "lasts" that may not happen again for quite some time. Last piece of Thanksgiving pumpkin pie, last time my toes are numb from the cold, last time I'll conveniently order anything off the internet, and others.

I don't say this to make you think I'm sad - no, it's more like pre-nostalgia. Taking in and noticing all the good things here that usually I take for granted. I am blessed in Kansas. I will be blessed in Thailand. Still, they are not the same, and there are things I will miss.

I'm looking forward to moving to Thailand. There are so many good and new and different things to come. And even so, in his grace, Jesus tells us (Matthew 19:29),"...everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life."

Not gonna lie, the lasts are hard. But Jesus promises 100 times better. And that makes the lasts not sad, but full of anticipation for what is to come. Maybe some in Thailand, but maybe not until heaven. But the promise is sure.

Last day as a Food Pantry volunteer.

Bananas, Birthdays, and Bethlehem

2010-12-07T22:27:00.002+07:00

It is amazing how fast time flies when you're...busy. The past couple weeks has been a blur - and I'm writing this through bleary eyes that are ready to call it quits for a while. Coffee at my side, let me give you a quick rundown of all the fun I've been up to lately. [I had to go to bed after I wrote this last night - posting this morning for you, though!]

Last Tuesday, I successfully defended my right to an MPH degree! The presentation went well, several people came to support me, and I only got mildly sizzled by the questions I was asked by my advisory committee. They must have liked my answers enough to pass me! Praise God! The presentation was followed with cooking mountains of lo mien and other Chinese dishes for a shared birthday celebration. (I turned 29 on Dec.1!!) Only, my co-birthday girl was secretly helping conspire a surprise party for me! While we were downstairs eating with chopsticks on a festively decked ping-pong table, friends and co-conspirators alike were gathering upstairs to celebrate my MPH and my birthday with me. I have great friends!

I also hit 83% of my needed support level before I can leave for Thailand! I'm a little closer each day, but not quite there yet! This elephant still needs five more bananas ($500/month) until those mountains of northern Thailand become a reality.

Lunch with a group of vet friends I used to work with was another highlight - coincidentally, the four of us all work at different places now, but somehow, adversity bonded us while we worked together a few years back, and I enjoy catching up with them so much! We were too busy talking to take a picture. :)

Friday I had to have a new picture taken for my driver's license, complete with helmet hair...because I got a motorcycle license! (Thank you to my dear friend Lisa who made it possible!!) That's right, travelers and pedestrians alike should tremble in fear at the thought of me rocketing down the road at a lightening speed of 25mph (it feels that fast, okay!?) on the back of a two-wheeler. Whether or not I have a scooter in Thailand, I'm sure the license won't go to waste.

This weekend culminated in the event I've been looking forward to for several months: Bethlehem Revisited! A walk-through, live nativity from Genesis to Jesus' ascension into heaven, it is alway a favorite of mine, and ~~several hundred~~ 1,800 to 1,900 (just found out numbers for this year) other people who come to walk through each year. This is the first year I was able to be in costume to help lead groups, as usually I am behind-the-scenes. Three nights, worth 18 hours in frosty weather with 200 other volunteers dressed as Roman centurions, beggars, shepherds, prophets, and angels has got to be a good time, doesn't it!?

No picture of me in costume, since cameras aren't part of the biblical dress code! This is a pic from last year's BR.

Not Quite the Big Time

2010-11-22T07:44:00.002+07:00

This article was recently published in a small circulation. It is kind of weird to hear someone else describing what I'll be doing, but cool nonetheless!

Introducing Dr. Rachel Buffington, CVM's Newest Long-Term Missions Veterinarian

Dr. Rachel Buffington - Serving with CVM in Chiang Rai, Thailand

Christian Veterinary Mission's Send a Vet program has strategically and carefully placed over 30 extraordinarily qualified veterinarians in more than 13 countries. Their newest addition, Dr. Rachel Buffington, is no exception. Rachel is going to a remote part of northern Thailand in the famous Golden Triangle area of [Southeast Asia]. This is an area widely known for the illegal drug trade. Her work will address animal production as a way for the poor ethnic minorities (the hill tribes of South East Asia) to earn a living and effectively care for their families - without participating in the drug trade. Rachel will also fight against the spread of AIDS by working to prevent the trafficking of young women. Throughout all of this work, Rachel will have the opportunity to speak of the gospel and introduce people to God's love. She will bring the news of hope and abundant life to those living in the spiritual darkness found in Animism and folk Buddhism.

Rachel's calling and preparation to serve in Thailand is impressive and divine. Following graduation from veterinary school in 2006, Rachel began practicing as a veterinarian to receive the hands-on experience recommended by CVM. She has diligently pursued all necessary avenues to obtain her goal of long-term missions with CVM including numerous CVM trainings, a Master's degree in Public Health, and a short-term mission with CVM to Asia. Through that trip in 2008, Rachel felt the Lord affirm his call for her to go to Asia and she has worked ever since to prepare.

Rachel has currently raised 75% of her financial support and hopes to have her full support raised in time to depart in January. As well as financial support, she also needs our prayers. Please consider partnering with Dr. Rachel Buffington as she finalizes her formal deputation.

To learn more, please visit Rachel's CVM website.

A New Tweet

2010-11-17T10:00:00.001+07:00

As of today, to the best of my ability to calculate, I am 77% of the way to being able to leave for Thailand. Only about $700/mo left! And that's only 14 people giving $50 per month. (Coincidentally, if you'd like to be one of these 14 lovely individuals, please don't be shy - let me know! I may be close, but that one-way plane ticket is just a dream until I reach 100%.)

So, in a selfless effort to stay more connected with you once my spell checker no longer recognizes English, I have done something I really never thought I'd do. I've joined Twitter.

I'm not Twitter's type. I already know nobody cares what kind of spaghetti sauce I bought on sale this week, or how the guy standing in line with me looks like Jamie Lee Curtis. I forget my cell phone at home all the time, but it doesn't matter because it hardly is ever charged. I pay $0.10 per incoming text, and would never think of adding unlimited texting to my plan because even if I typed all month long I couldn't send enough texts to make it worthwhile. They need to invent phones that have more than 9 buttons for that.

But I'm excited about the possibilities this brings. I still won't be tweeting about the grocery store or my favorite brand of toothpaste, but I do hope to utilize this mode of communication for something important: prayer requests. So, as things come up here, or in Thailand, I can tweet them and know that I have a group of people that is praying in real time. Wow!

You can click on the page above (labeled Prayer Requests (via Twitter)) to see my feed with constantly updating info, or you can follow me by clicking on my new little blue friend.

And for those of you who may need extra incentive, my Twitter profile pic is of me chowing down on a worm. You know what they say about the early bird...

Electronic Housecleaning

2010-11-13T13:21:00.000+07:00

I like cleaning. In a way it's cathartic to just scrub or sweep and it helps me clear my mind. I haven't been doing too much of it lately with everything else going on, but one thing that has been nibbling on me is this blog. I've been wanting to wipe it clean and start fresh. So, to celebrate the attachment of my thesis to an email sent to the members of my academic advisory committee this afternoon ("handing it in" is an outdated phrase, isn't it?), I thought it would be fun to perk it up a bit around here. I've got a few other ideas in mind, but I think this is a good start. Right now, I'm ready to hit the hay.

Its good to be back. I missed you guys!

Words: 6,785

2010-11-11T09:42:00.003+07:00

It's been slow around this blog lately, and I have missed posting. But! I have a valid excuse for my negligence: I've been diligently working away at my Master of Public Health report, and I'm a couple of days away from being done! I came up for a breather, so I thought I would share the current stats on the longest paper I have ever written.

Topic: HIV/AIDS prevention programs in developing areas

Pages: 38

Words: 6,785

Chapters: 8

Weirdest word that is not a proper noun: p-value

Number of times weirdest word appears: 12

Longest sentence: A baseline needs assessment was established in 2006 in order to gain an understanding of the people's knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors on HIV/AIDS/STI in the target township, to help shape the intervention and the curriculum used, and to determine the degree of comparability of the target (Mxe) and control (Mun) townships.

Okay, back to work. I'll post the final stats after I hand it in. See you in a few days!

On Perseverance

2010-11-01T11:17:00.000+07:00

November marks the climax of a year and a half of work on my Master of Public Health degree. This is the month in which I will submit and present my defense. It's make or break.

I'm overwhelmed with work these days - on my paper, classwork, support raising, work, and preparations for living in Thailand. I'm reminded of what William Carey, missionary to India and the father of modern missions, said about trusting in God:

"There are grave difficulties on every hand, and more are looming ahead - therefore we must go forward."

MedSend

2010-10-27T06:31:00.002+07:00

Great news - I have been approved as a MedSend grant recipient!! These people work hard to fund grants for the educational debt of health professional missionaries while they are serving overseas. The high cost of health (and veterinary) education is one of the primary reasons willing missionaries never make it to the field. MedSend is making it possible for more people to make it overseas by taking over their loan repayments while they are serving. Check out the MedSend website to learn more about the great work they are doing.

It Has Begun

2010-10-26T07:32:00.004+07:00

My orientation to missionary life, that is.

[Written and posted while stranded at a local cafe that has been open for at least 5 years in this town, but I have never frequented. I'd say that was a wise choice, considering this raspberry Italian soda.]

This week I am leaving the perfectly-red-leaves-in-the-66-degree-fall-pleasant Kansas for 4 days to the cold, soggy Northwest to be officially oriented as a Christian Veterinary Mission fieldworker. I've been looking forward to it since I made the plans a few months ago.

Suitcase brought up from Mom's basement: check. Laptop and cell phone chargers: check. Adequate layers to stay warm: check. Umbrella: no idea where that thing went - I'll survive. All liquids zipped into a clear bag: check.

Little did I know that my orientation into missionaries-have-stuff-go-wrong-frequently lifestyle had begun already. It was all coming together until late this afternoon after I packed up my car and popped to the other side of town to run a couple of errands before heading out to Mom's tonight, to cut down on tomorrow's 2:30am trip to the airport considerably. Errands accomplished and minutes before merging onto the highway, my car overheated, squirting a stream of green engine coolant into the street, and instantaneously rendering it nearly undrive-able.

God is good. I was just around the corner from my mechanic's.

God is good. He wasn't busy at all and had my car up in the air in no time.

God is good. I didn't break down on the highway.

As it turns out, the diagnosis is a faulty fan that is not cooling the engine properly. (If this brings back memories from the last time I posted on my car, I'm happy to report it turned out that it was a minor sensor problem, and not the transmission. God is good.) The bumper and headlight will have to be removed, and new parts ordered. It will be out of commission for a while.

God is good. I have a Mom that is willing to come pick me up and take me to her house tonight, half way between me and the airport.
God is good. The mechanic is just around the corner from a cafe that has free Wi-Fi and terrible Italian sodas. I only suffered minor humiliation toting my wheelie suitcase, a big duffel bag, a loaded backpack, my purse, and a shoe box down the busy road, past a grocery store and a medical supply store before pulling up at the cafe.
God is good. Thanks to Mom and Howard, I have a vehicle to get to the airport in the morning, and a way to get home at the end of the week.
God is good. I won't be needing my car this week, so it can be fixed without leaving me cloistered at home.

I've learned that being stranded with a broken car, hours away from missing my plane and my plans can be a stressful event. Unpleasant, to say the least, as is this raspberry Italian soda. But, in the end, my orientation so far has left me with only one conclusion: God is good.

Almost There!!

2010-10-19T21:26:00.001+07:00

I am getting close to being able to leave for Thailand! I still need just about $1000 in regular monthly donations. Will you help me fly this plane all the way to Thailand?

(For example: 10 people giving $100/mo will get me to Thailand! Or 20 people giving $50/mo, or 40 people giving $25/mo!)

Email me at rdbuffington@gmail.com for more information!

An Ocean of a God

2010-10-18T00:21:00.001+07:00

Note: This is Part 6 in a 6 part series of an exploration of the book Expectations and Burnout: Women Surviving the Great Commission.

Today is the last day of our series. We've talked through expectations missionary women have of themselves, of their sending agency, of their sending churches, of the people they go to serve, and of their own teams. Missionaries also have expectations of God.

What does the missionary expect of God? She expects Him to work in and through her to draw people to Himself. Of this we can be sure He will do. But, she expects Him to do it in a way that is predictable and makes sense, and not leave her disappointed when circumstances are hard and she needs him and wants him to show up: this is where she falters. She wants God to show up in powerful and miraculous ways in despair, to always see him clearly in situations that are hopeless. And when he chooses not to, she gets frustrated and confused. Robynn explains it this way:

"I don't like swimming in the ocean: there are living things lurking beneath the surface; the waves are unpredictable and splash my face; it's cold and deep; there are undertows that pull and frighten; it's salty and sandy and alive. I do not like swimming in the ocean. I much prefer a swimming pool, a heated pool at that. The temperature is controlled. You can enter at your pleasure, either the deep end or the shallow end. You can go in as far as you like and then climb back out. Inflate a floating device and float on top if you choose! The bottom is level and smooth. There are no surprises. Nothing lives in a swimming pool.

"And that's the kind of God I would prefer as well: one that is controlled and moderate; a God I can measure and understand. I can enter His depths but only as far as I am comfortable. However, that's not the kind of God we have. Our God is an ocean of a God. He is alive and dangerous. There are forces at work below His surface. He alone controls the depths, the sprays, the splashes of His personhood. He woos us to the bottom where the water may appear murky and mysterious. Our God is wild and untamable. He is expansive and unpredictable. When we say He is holy, we mean He is strange and we do well to take our shoes off. The ground is holy and the water is deep."

Our faith and trust in God is not based on what He will do for us, or how well the ideal outcome in our minds lines up with his plans. Our faith in God is rooted in who He is. We are studying Habakkuk in my church this Fall, and it is fitting that Sue and Robynn should end with Habakkuk's conclusion in Chapter 3:

"Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
The Sovereign LORD is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to go on the heights."

God is not safe, but He is always good.

Team Spirit

2010-10-16T00:18:00.001+07:00

Note: This is Part 5 in a 6 part series of an exploration of the book Expectations and Burnout: Women Surviving the Great Commission.

It is extremely rare to send a missionary out on his own. In the bush of Africa, or in the high rises of Delhi, missionaries work in teams. We need each other for support, encouragement, accountability, advice, and a shared nostalgia for spaghetti and cookie dough ice cream. We work together, play together, eat together, share holidays together, and worship together, and sometimes live together. You can see where this is going.

Being on a team is hard. Different personalities, viewpoints, convictions, goals, and opinions can sometimes get in the way of being united in one purpose. Team mates have expectations of each other and let each other down. Sometimes these expectations can hinder teammates from being honest about their struggles, for fear of being seen as less qualified than others.

For a new missionary, coming into an established team is hard. Team dynamics are already established, and it may be difficult to find how she fits in. Vetran missionaries may not realize a newbie is having a hard time with the work or the language or the culture shock or just finding milk at the market. Sometimes they are left to sink or swim. Single women on the team often feel like the married couples expect them to do much more than they have the capacity to do, because no family is at home to care for. They may not have a reason to take vacations or holidays, which can lead to burnout.

The Bible says that others will know we are Christians by our love for one another, and if for only this reason alone, team dynamics are incredibly important. Good communication, grace, truth, mercy, love, and intentionality are paramount. Sue and Robynn recommend honest communication about expectations of one another, expectations of ourselves, and humility in sharing our struggles.

Just like any situation in life where two or more people are involved, mission teams need to work with each other and grow together in order to move forward. Luckily, we have a God who says he makes all grace abound to us at all times, having all that we need, so we may abound in every good work.

The Church: Partner or Pen Pal?

2010-10-08T02:39:00.002+07:00

Note: This is Part 4 in a 6 part series of an exploration of the book Expectations and Burnout: Women Surviving the Great Commission.

Missions does not start or end with the missionary, but is a mandate for all believers in Christ. Jesus told his followers to "go and make disciples", and this charge is still applied to Jesus-followers today. The job is not done and we are all responsible to complete the Great Commission.

But the fact is, only some believers are called to minister in another culture, while most are called to be in a support role. (I happen to believe more are called to go than actually end up out there, but that's a topic for another time.) In fact, John Piper, pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, would argue there are only three types of Christians today: the goers, the senders, and the disobedient. The church plays a vital role in the sending and supporting of a missionary.

Understandably, sending churches and missionaries alike have expectations of the other. Sending churches desire their missionaries to be faithful in their work and ministry. Missionaries expect their sending churches to be supportive and care for their work on the field. More often than not, I believe the relationships between these senders and goers are compatible. However, the very definitions of going and sending describe a disconnect and distancing between the two, and that's when communication can break down and barriers can be built up.

Sue and Robynn explain that for missionaries, the sending church is critically important. It is the church that supports her and cares for her, and faithfully prays for her. It is the place she is accountable, she seeks guidance, and turns to for strength. They are partners in her ministry.

However, time, distance, and life can disconnect the missionary from the bond of her sending church. She may not be able to visit for years, and when she returns, she only knows a few of the faces. The church may not understand her struggles and frustrations of living in another culture. A surface-level relationship can end up feeling more like pen pals than partners. Sometimes, in an effort to be good stewards of their resources, churches may place undue restrictions or requirements on missionaries that may cause misunderstandings. All this can lead to a build up of hurt, frustration, isolation, and disappointment.

I am very blessed to be sent by Grace Baptist Church, where they take their call in the Great Commission seriously. The mission of the church can be summed up in four words: seek (putting God first in all things), saturate (delighting in God's Word), send (working to expand God's Kingdom), and serve (loving others through serving). They strive to walk alongside their missionaries, even from across the globe. The love, care, and commitment Grace gives is unparalleled, in my book. They do a great job caring for, praying for, and communicating with those they've sent, some of whom have been on the field 50+ years, and still call Grace their "home" church. Though people come and go, Grace's commitment to missions and their missionaries are foundational in the church. What a blessing.

I'm so thankful for Grace, and I'm excited to see where this new partnership takes us!

Introducing Mekong Minority Foundation

2010-10-01T21:20:00.001+07:00

I just can't help it - one more video before we continue with the series. I'd like to introduce you to a great team of people doing some great work in Northern Thailand, and I get to work with them! I am blessed!

Introducing Christian Veterinary Mission

2010-09-28T20:27:00.003+07:00

Since we are halfway through our series on Expectations and Burnout: Women Surviving the Great Commission, I thought we could take a break and watch a video.

I'd like to introduce Chrisitian Veterinary Mission to you. This is the video they have produced for the 2010 theme: Rest for Your Soul.

Foreign Is A State Of Being

2010-09-27T23:07:00.004+07:00

Note: This is Part 3 in a 6 part series of an exploration of the book Expectations and Burnout: Women Surviving the Great Commission.

One of my first experiences outside of the US was a trip to Mexico with my Jr. High youth group. Packed into a van loaded down with Pringles and tape casettes for the road, we headed south of the border to an orphanage. The children lived in a low, long bungalow with dirt floors and iron bars instead of glass in the windows. In the front of the building was a dirty courtyard where the kids ran barefoot, kicking up dust and a deflated soccer ball from morning to night.

I remember thinking that we were doing something so great. Playing with the kids all afternoon. There were so many of them and they wanted to braid my hair and show me where they slept, since they had no other belongings to be admired. We were there for hours, playing and loving on the kids.

The afternoon was hot and the sun beat down on the treeless courtyard. My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth and my face was gritted with a layer of dirt. My hair clung to my neck and shoulders. All I could think about was the sparkling, cool water bottle I had left in the van. Oh, to have a sip! Nobody else seemed to notice the thick air or how their sweaty shirts clung to them.

So in a moment undetected, I slipped past the heavy iron perimeter gate and popped open the back door of the van. The crisp, fresh water was now like bottled bath water, but never was there a drink more refreshing. I relished it. Only, I was not alone. Little Mexican eyes popped in and out of sight through a crack in the wall surrounding the orphanage, and soon I found myself chastised by my leader and the orphanage director. If the children don't have any water to drink, you should not tease them on this hot day by drinking your water in front of them. It was only then that the light bulb went on: I realized they must be thirsty too.

I learned an important lesson that day. It is shocking to a missionary to realize that the good intentions she has do not always match the needs of the people she goes to serve. Missionaries serve in other places because they desire to make a difference in the lives of others. They desire to serve not only their spiritual needs, but to minister to their physical needs as well. But in their only partial understanding of the culture, and their exuberance, sometimes what they give the needy is a game of dusty kickball, when what they really need is spiritual and physical water.

Unrealistic expectations about the host culture are common among missionaries. Sue and Robynn touch on many of these. For some, it is the expectation that she can adapt to her new culture to a great degree. She can become like the people. For others, it is a struggle when the host culture does not embrace them and their good intentions with the appreciation and/or admiration they think should be forthcoming. Maybe they are not even welcome. Many missionaries do not expect to have to "work to find a place in the community" (p. 127). Many missionary women expect to make friends with nationals. What they may not be prepared for is trying to figure out if the friendship is wanted, or if ulterior motives like money or help or a green card may be driving the befriended national to play the part.

What does all this mean for me? I am finding it important to think through exactly what I anticipate happening, and then challenging those expectations with the opposite! The what-if's loom large right now, and it's important to keep an open mind. But it can be discouraging to think that I may not be appreciated by the Thai people, I may not befriend anyone without them trying to gain something from me, or that I may not be welcome at all in my new culture. Sue and Robynn explain there is only one solution.

I must remember that heaven is my real home. The Bible says we are only sojourners on this earth, waiting for the day when we can truly go Home. The fact is: I am not home here in Manhattan, KS as much as I am not home in Chiang Rai, Thailand. My roots belong somewhere else, and I am only visiting for a short time here. So, when the going gets tough and I feel like an alien in a foreign land, it's because I am! It may be hard, but it's temporary. And the anticipation of one day finally being Home - that is an expectation that will not be disappointed.

On Chickens And Water Wings

2010-09-23T22:33:00.002+07:00

Note: This is Part 2 in a 6 part series of an exploration of the book Expectations and Burnout: Women Surviving the Great Commission.

Let's face it: I'm like a chicken trying to swim with the swans. This missions stuff is relatively uncharted territory, and I own few skills to navigate here. While there is bound to be a learning curve regardless of my experience, the fact is I've never dipped my toes in the pond before, and I don't even know if chickens can float. I'm not about to just dive into the deep end, strap on an Eddie Bauer backpack and hop the first train to Thailand. A swimming chicken needs the buoyancy, faithfulness, and the security of water wings (I'll leave you guessing as to whether that pun was intended), better known as the mission agency.

A mission agency's role is essential in the life of the missionary. They help her figure out where God may be calling her, what ministry may be a good fit, and how she should best prepare for the swan-swimming pond. They help figure out how much money she needs and help her raise it, and they talk and pray through the hard times with her. They support and encourage her on the field, and make sure she is cared for. They support the chicken in her endeavors to swim.

However, misunderstandings can happen between the missionary and her agency when communication breaks down, or when she does not feel supported or cared for by her agency. Sue and Robynn explain that for the relationship to work, both sides must do their best to agree upon responsibilities, roles, and expectations of the missionary and the agency. If these areas are not settled before the swimming starts, a chicken may end up feeling as if her water wings have sprung a leak.

I am so grateful to call Christian Veterinary Mission my agency. Not only do they care for me as a missionary, but they care for me as a person. They are delightful, God-honoring people with a twisted sense of humor (as only vets can manage), and do a great job making sure that each of their fieldworkers is well-supported in their ministry overseas. They have experience working overseas themselves, and have gone through many of my own experiences. They give wise advice. I have been well tended by CVM, and I am so thankful God placed me in such a wonderful organization. Not only have they guided me through my preparation to serve overseas, but they have proved their intentions to care for me after I leave by their obvious love and support for the CVM missionaries already afloat in their own ponds. As far as this chicken is concerned, CVM water wings are just what I need to jump in!

"I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers." Ephesians 1:16

Part 3: Expectations and Nationals

The Perfect Clay Pot

2010-09-19T09:26:00.005+07:00

Note: This is Part 1 in a 6 part series of an exploration of the book Expectations and Burnout: Women Surviving the Great Commission.

Expectation #1: A missionary woman should be perfect!

It doesn't seem like it should come as such a shock to a person that she is not perfect. What human being with a belly button is? (My seventh grade science teacher warned my class to never trust a person without a belly button, as this proved they could not human. This is my only take-away lesson from seventh grade science.) Instead, when a person comes to know Christ, she admits she is faulty down to the core of her being, and takes on Jesus' perfection as her substitute. So, why should it come as a shock to a missionary that she doesn't have it all together?

Our authors Sue and Robynn explain that for a woman in misisons, having idealistic expectations about herself and what she can achieve for God is not uncommon. Missionaries go because they desire to live lives that reflect Christ's love. They desire to do that well in a different culture: to speak fluently, to have meaningful relationships with the people, to always minister in the right way so as to point to Christ, to have a clean home and offer generous hospitality all the time, to have successful programs or bible studies, to (insert your favorite missionary daydream). But those hopes and aspirations become her measuring stick by which she falls short when living real life in another culture. And this feeling of personal failure can contribute to burnout over time. She hasn't accomplished enough for God, and she is disappointed.

This is a timely warning for me, and I am grateful to be tuned into my unrealistic expectations before nosediving in Thai culture myself! I am a Type A personality, along with most other vets. We are a group of driven, detail-oriented, achievement-seeking people. We like to do well. We like math and science: they follow formulas. You add X to Y and you always end up with Z. Formulas for science, formulas for life. Such a nice way to live, don't you think?

But in a different country, all the X's and Y's, and formuals for that matter, are coded in a different culture; as impossible to understand as the label on the grocery store package that has a picture of what appears to be a steaming cup of tea, but contains something completely unimbibable. (That is not a hypothetical example - I bought a box of lotus root starch that way.)

I am bound to have and create misunderstandings; to not like some people I meet and have some people not like me. I will find it difficult to connect with people, or to understand their needs and how to serve them well. I will not know the right things to say to point them to the cross, or if I do, I won't know them in the right language. I will fail, and I will be disappointed.

But Robynn reminds us that we are called, chosen and clay. Though we are as fragile and unimpressive as clay pots, women in missions should remember we are called by the Potter, who fashioned us. He knows the difficulties, and does not ask us to do more than He has made us to do. He is in charge, and we can trust him with the less-than-ideal results. It is good for me to remember that He chose to put this clay pot in Thailand. Not because I can do it all, but because through my weakness His power is known (2Cor 12:9).

Next up: Expectations of her sending agency

Expect Some Expectations

2010-09-11T04:37:00.002+07:00

A couple of weeks ago I was recommended by two separate individuals a book addressing cultural adaptation and learning to live successfully in another culture. Okay, that's nice, but I've already read lots on this subject. Maybe I'll get around to another book about this sometime.

Ah, they replied, but specifically, this book works through particular hurdles women in missions need to be aware of in their own lives while ministering overseas in order to avoid dissatisfaction and exhaustion. Oh, well now that's more like it!

Ever since picking up Expectations and Burnout: A Woman's Guide to Surviving the Great Commission, I have had a difficult time putting it down. Chock-full of experience from the field, co-authors Sue Eenigenburg and Robynn Bliss identify six areas where women tend to have unrealistic assumptions about ministering in another culture, and how to handle the disappointment that comes from unmet expectations.

I have found the book insightful, and helpful in identifying some of my own expectations for the field that I was not aware I had. Over the next few weeks, I'd like to journey with you as I prepare to minister in another culture and try to expect the unexpected. So, check back, and be expecting some expectations!

Obsticality Reality

2010-09-06T23:38:00.001+07:00

Obsticality: n. The condition in which obstacles inhibit rapid (or any) progression in the preferred direction(s), and in fact the preferred directions become obstacles to one another. Example: Rachel's life is an obsticality.

It seems as though I've been paralyzed with indecision lately. Too much to do; what to do first? The top priorities are:

Raise full support to live in Thailand
Write a Master's paper (which must be thoroughly researched first)
Finish the last semester of Master's classes well
Prepare to leave for and live in Thailand
Maintain status of "live human being"

How do you manage five full time jobs at once? An obsticality, indeed. If left to my own devices, I will certainly fail at all of these priorities and crumple into an unidentifiable and useless lump. 2 Corinthians 4:7 reminds me that I am but a feeble vessel God is shaping to display His goodness, not my own. The stretching hurts sometimes, but it's worth it in the end.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

He Swung His Legs Over

2010-09-02T01:11:00.008+07:00

This past week I had the opportunity to attend CVM's 9th Annual Shortcourse. It was a blessed time to catch up with old friends, make some new ones, and fellowship with other Christian vets that have a passion for sharing Christ's love through veterinary medicine. This year's theme was "Rest for Your Soul", based on Jeremiah 6:16

This is what the LORD says:

"Stand at the crossroads and look;

ask for the ancient paths,

ask where the good way is, and walk in it,

and you will find rest for your souls."

What a nice command, right? But how is that possible when so often our lives are caught up in sickness, conflict, financial trouble, job insecurity, stress, loss of loved ones, deadlines, and hardship on all sides? When the wind howls around us and the waves crash down? Can we truly have rest in a restless world?

Peter knew this rest for his soul. It's what caused him to swing his legs over the edge of a boat on the night a storm raged so fiercely he thought he might die. Though outwardly, Peter's world was in turmoil - slammed like a rag doll into a battered boat, terrified and exhausted, the wild spray stinging his skin and eyes to blindness - the deep current in Peter's soul was quiet. He knew to Whom he belonged.

Rather than fighting against the crashing waves in his own power, Peter allowed Jesus to give him true rest. Though the outward appearances look bleak, all we need to do is swing our legs over and go to Jesus, who is faithful to bring us through the storm.

Wahoo!!

2010-08-21T01:41:00.008+07:00

My Christian Veterinary Mission webpage has had over 1,000 hits since beginning in May! Thanks to all of you who have supported me through your encouragement, prayers, and love! I am blessed!

In honor of the occasion, I've posted new pictures on the site. Check it out!

This Little Light of Mine...

2010-08-16T04:45:00.002+07:00

...I'm gonna let it shine...

Ever since I came back from Asia, that little "CHECK ENGINE" light has been my constant, happy companion, glowing faithfully everywhere we go. Great.

Now, I've been back for several weeks. And I'm not trying to be willingly neglectful of the fact that first gear is getting stickier and stickier and we're not shifting smoothly any more. I've noticed. But what do you do when you're so totally dependent on technology and modern transportation to have any semblance of a functional life? What does it say about me that I am unable or unwilling to sacrifice my freedom of movement for just a few days, or hours?

I plan to take it in this week to see what's going on. I just wish I had a horse.

Point Me To The Skies

2010-08-06T21:33:00.006+07:00

This past week marked a significant event in my Grandma's life: she went Home. I will miss her, but can't help but rejoice she is in the presence of Love himself. What a great hope we have in Jesus.

Father, Long Before Creation

2010-07-30T11:27:00.006+07:00

In honor of my recent trip to Asia, I thought I'd post a translated hymn written by a Chinese brother or sister. God is at work in Asia, revealing Himself as loving and steadfast:

Father, long before creation

Thou hadst chosen us in love,

And that love so deep, so moving,

Draws us close to Christ above.

Still it keeps us, still it keeps us

Firmly fixed in Christ alone.

Though the world may change its fashion,

Yet our God is e'er the same;

His compassion and His covenant

Through all ages will remain.

God's own children, God's own children

Must forever praise His name.

God's compassion is my story,

Is my boasting all the day;

Mercy free and never failing

Moves my will, directs my way.

God so loved us, God so loved us

That His only Son He gave.

Loving Father now before Thee

We will ever praise Thy love,

And our songs will sound unceasing

'Til we reach our home above.

Giving glory, giving glory

To our God and to the Lamb.

Prevailing Purpose

2010-07-26T21:58:00.003+07:00

Already the end of July!

I am Stateside this week and still fighting major jet lag, but today already seems better than yesterday which was way better than the day before. My time in Asia ended a few weeks early so I could come back and spend some time with my grandma who hasn't been feeling well for the past couple of months.

It's nice to be home, but there is major stuff to be done! Since I left early, I will need to pick up on my Master's project this side of the Pacific, which will entail more work than I had anticipated. There's a detailed MedSend application to complete, some presentations to prepare for, support to raise, and a garage sale to pull off sometime this fall. That's on top of classes which start in a month and work which I hope starts sooner!

I wasn't able to travel around in Asia, like I had planned, and some things I wanted to accomplish while I was there never happened. I have to pick up where I left off from 2 months ago, plus add all the new stuff I have to catch up on while I was gone as well as all the things that need to happen in preparation for what comes next.

Plans don't always work out as we want. There are usually plenty of twists and turns in the road. But God has a way of working out exactly what He wants from all of our messed up intentions. Already, I can see how the unexpected events of my summer are working for my good and for God's glory (Romans 8:28). And that makes all the inconvenience of not getting my own way a very little thing, indeed!

Many are the plans in a man's heart,

but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.

Proverbs 19:21

The Heat is On

2010-07-13T06:53:00.006+07:00

It's a heatwave here in Asia-I think someone may have forgotten to let them know it's summer and they can turn off the furnace. Temps have been up in the 100's this week, and one night at 11 I went to bed with the outside temp reading 89, with the inside temp being a good deal warmer. So what do you do when you insanely do some impromptu hiking up a giant hill in the middle of the day right after lunch and don't have a hat?

You let nature provide!

The air was so muggy and hot it felt like wading through a bowl of re-fried beans. But we were rewarded with a beautiful view of an Akha village and a little shade through a rubber tree grove on the way down the hill.

Akha houses have 3 levels - the ground level below the house is open and this is where firewood, motorbikes and other non-perishables are stored. The second level has the main floor of the house - kitchen, bathroom, bedrooms, etc. The third level is a loft that houses the stored grains.

On return to the village, I was so soaked in sweat I figured I wouldn't be any worse off for making a quick visit to the pigs.

On the way home our van overheated when it ran out of water (call it drought conservation??), so we cooled off in the stiff wind that was blowing on the side of the road. Overall, a very nice day.

Top 10 Things I've Learned in Asia

2010-07-05T05:11:00.009+07:00

Yesterday marked the 1 month anniversary of my arrival in Asia. Okay, not that it's exciting, but the past 30 days has given me plenty of new experiences to glean some important take-home messages from. Like the time I accidentally ordered squid for dinner, or had to find my way around the domestic airport with no English help. So, I've decided to compile a list of the 10 most important things I've learned since my arrival.

10. Just because it looks like you're buying milk (which is not refrigerated and comes in shelf-stable packages) in a plastic water bottle does not mean it's milk. It could be soy drink or yogurt. Even if it is milk (or soy or yogurt), it could still deceive you by being peanut or apple or corn flavored. The moral of the story is to taste it before you dump a big chug in your morning coffee and take a swig.

9. Walking down the sidewalk makes you a traffic hazard. Your white skin and light hair will cause motorcyclists (on the street or the sidewalk next to you) and taxi drivers alike crane their necks around for the best possible gawking opportunity. This is also true in the supermarkets. Asian shoppers will invariably glue their eyes to the contents of your basket as you pass, curiously trying to decipher the impossible, strange puzzle of what white people like to eat.

8. Saying the same thing over and over again in a language the other person does not understand does not help that person comprehend your meaning. I know, as the sender and receiver of such repetition.

7. All kids speak the same language, regardless of their words.

6. A Praying Mantis on your wall could mean that it is waiting to feast on the baby Geckos that have hatched somewhere in your kitchen cabinets.

5. Dogs are a conundrum. They are ardently loved by their owners, but are allowed to run free on the streets amidst the endless variety of cars, tractors, bikes, and motorcycles. As a result, they have better traffic-sense than I do.

4. Banana flower soup? Corn ice cream? A street vendor's fried dumplings with mystery filling? Try it; it might be delicious!

3. Just because you don't speak the language doesn't mean people won't be warm, friendly, and hospitable. You will still be invited home with them for dinner.

2. Just because you are staying in a very nice, new apartment complex in town doesn't mean you won't be awakened daily by a rooster's crow at 5:30 am. Your neighbor may just be housing a flock of chickens on the balcony next to your bedroom window.

1. There is probably a good reason for the way things are done, even if you don't understand. It's wise to remind yourself of that occasionally.

(The aforementioned residence of my faithful poultry alarm clock: they live in the coop under the press board by the outer wall.)

Gettin' Around

2010-06-17T05:38:00.003+07:00

This is one of my main modes of transportation these days. You see these little 3-wheelers all over the roads, parked at corners with their drivers zonked out, or zipping down the street packed with 7 or 8 people, a dog and possibly even a mattress or something as equally peculiar. The seats have been covered and recovered several times, and my feet are always close to being vibrated numb and my hair is in a frazzled state by the time I/we reach our destination. At any rate, I don't think we ever leave first gear.

Mercy

2010-06-08T07:00:00.002+07:00

It's been raining daily here in this city that is nestled low between the tree-covered mountains. Hotels, shops and apartment buildings stud the streets like pearls on a string that wind through the valleys of this region. Life is not slowed by the rain--umbrellas are everywhere and it is common to see poncho-clad bicycles peddling through standing water after a downpour.

Rain brings restoration and life to the area, and has been long-overdue here. The overcast skies are a welcome relief from the drought as well as a cooling insulation from the scorching sun. I am reminded that God is sovereign and He is merciful, bringing rain on the just and the unjust alike.

Hello from Asia

2010-06-05T10:42:00.003+07:00

Hello from the beautiful continent of Asia!

I arrived late last night after a long, but uneventful 40 hours of traveling. We went up and over the Arctic-far north of Canada, Greenland, and Europe, then came south through Russia and Mongolia, where we passed right over Ulaan Bataar. That weirds me out a little to be so close to the North Pole, but we made it safely so it must be fine to travel up there.

Today was a morning of orientation, then lunch at a local restaurant where we sat at a table 2 feet high on little wicker stools and drank tea from miniature cups. I was waiting for a bunch of little girls to show up any minute with their stuffed animals, but the place was full of grown businessmen hunched around their tea and bowls of rice, so I guess that's fine too. I'm still jetlagged so this afternoon I couldn't resist taking a nap.

Dinner tonight will be an Asian pear and a ripe, almost syrup-y sweet mango with some toast and tea. I've been in Asia twice before, but have missed the mango season both times with much disappointment. Third time is a charm, and I'm looking forward to eating as many of these as my GI tract can handle!

I hope to have fairly regular internet access this summer, so check back for more updates...

Moving on

2010-05-27T10:00:00.002+07:00

Time just keeps marching forward, ready or not! Tonight is my last night at the ER clinic, tomorrow I finish packing up my things and move out Friday. A weekend to figure out where I packed my passport and travel alarm clock, and I leave Tuesday! Looking forward to 10 weeks in Asia. Now, what to bring...

Love Lustres at Calvary

2010-05-18T06:56:00.004+07:00

Christ was all anguish that I might be all joy.

cast off that I might be brought in,

trodden down as an enemy

that I might be welcomed as a friend,

surrendered to hell's worst

that I might attain heaven's best,

stripped that I might be clothed,

wounded that I might be healed,

athirst that I might drink,

tormented that I might be comforted,

made a shame that I might inherit glory,

entered darkness that I might have eternal light.

My Saviour wept that all tears might be wiped

from my eyes,

groaned that I might have endless song,

endured all pain that I might have unfading health,

bore a thorny crown that I might have a glory-diadem,

bowed his head that I might uplift mine,

experienced reproach that I might receive welcome,

closed his eyes in death that I might gaze on unclouded brightness,

expired that I might live forever.

Taken from Valley of Vision's 'Love Lustres at Calvary'

Done!

2010-05-11T22:45:00.001+07:00

I am officially finished with Spring Semester 2010, having completed my last graduate project 3 days early! Woo! Leaving for Asia in 20 days though, with sooo much to get done.

Tidbits

2010-05-07T02:05:00.012+07:00

A very sweet note was waiting for me at work last night. It was full of pictures of Tilly's 8 pudgy babies! Mama and Tidbits are doing great - getting fatter and fatter daily. Thanks for sending them, Mitchell family!

Forewarning: These pictures were taken at 4:30am after 3 hours of surgery prep, c-section, and recovery. Cut Tilly and I some slack, please!

Here's what the note read:

A lapfull of Tidbits just after being born

Tilly saying "What have you gotten me into?" just after waking up from surgery

At home, Mama is content in her role as Cafeteria Lady.

The FW's EPL is re: STM

2010-05-05T21:31:00.007+07:00

Here are some common lingo that are used in the missions world:

FW: Fieldworker. The missionary. Aptly named after Matt. 9:37-38 I think.

PL: Prayer letter. Usually monthly to bimonthly.

EPL: Electronic (email) version of said letter.

JD: Job description. What I'm doing out there! Part of my JD will be training CAHW. See below.

Secondment: An agreement between the FW, the mission agency, and the partner agency.

Goer: The person who is the FW.

Sender: The person who supports and prays for the FW, just as vital to the ministry.

LT: Long-term, usually describing a commitment of 3 or more years.

STM: Short-term missions, usually referring to a few weeks to months mission trip

Shuttle: The CVM word for a STM that focuses on vet medicine. I am looking forward to hosting some vets/vet students on shuttles!

CAHW: Community Animal Health Worker. A villager trained by me and my team to do vet type work in their own community. A very important role!

MOU: Still don't know what this means!

Here's a pic of a CAHW training in SE Asia. Learning to give shots to an unsuspecting water buffalo:

Abundant Life Project

2010-04-30T19:47:00.003+07:00

I did a c-section on an English Bulldog named Tilly in the wee hours of Monday morning this week. A first time mama, Tilly did great. Her regular veterinarian had taken an x-ray just previously and had counted 5 puppy skeletons inside her belly, so when she went into labor Sunday night, we knew what to expect.

Only, after Puppy #5 was born, came #6, then #7, and then #8! Tilly's got a lot of work cut out for her! With 7 sons and 1 daughter, I'd imagine a lot of wrestling, chewing, and general mayhem is in her near future.

It got me thinking about the concept of Abundant Life. Jesus said he came to give life, and give it abundantly. (John 10:10) He gives not only the status quo, but loves to give so much more!

I chose the name Abundant Life for my project because that's really what it's all about. Finding abundant spiritual joy and life in Jesus, but also practically helping people see abundant physical life in their livestock. We shouldn't just try to live, but to thrive! That's a lot of living to do!

I hope to post pictures of my youngest patients soon. From what I hear, they are growing like weeds and getting pudgier every day.

Crunch Time!

2010-04-30T00:56:00.002+07:00

Big week this week.

Heard back about my visa - very good news! I've been issued the visa with the least restrictions, which will be very easy to work with this summer. Now, for the nitty gritty planning to actually get there.

Also, my first prayer letter is getting assembled and mailed out this week! I'm doing it myself, as this is the first one, so lots of work to get done.

Two big final projects to do, one which I've just received this week and the other which I've had over a month to do, and have excelled only in procrastinating to get it done. Working on that one big time this week, and so far, so good. It's going to get done, slowly but surely.

Things are coming together to finish up this semester well, as long as I stay on track!

One Elect

2010-04-27T07:52:00.003+07:00

If you haven't got a copy of The Valley of Vision, let me share with you what I read today.

Love to Jesus

If I love thee my soul shall seek thee,

but can I see thee unless my love to thee

is kept alive to this end?

Do I love thee because thou are good,

and canst alone do me good?

It is fitting thou shouldst not regard me,

for I am vile and selfish;

yet I seek thee,

and when I seek thee there is no wrath

to devour me,

but only sweet love.

Thou dost stand as a rock between the scorching sun

and my soul,

and I live under the cool lee-side as one elect.

When my mind acts without thee

it spins nothing but deceit and delusion;

When my affections act without thee

nothing is seen but dead works.

O how I need thee to abide in me,

for I have no natural eyes to see thee,

but I live by faith in one whose face to me

is brighter than a thousand suns!

When I see that all sin is in me, all shame

belongs to me;

let me know that all good is in thee,

all glory is thine.

Keep me from the error of thinking thou dost

appear gloriously

when some strange light fills my heart.

as if that were the glorious activity of grace,

but let me see that the truest revelation of thyself

is when thou dost eclipse all my personal glory

and all the honour, pleasure and good

of this world.

The Son breaks out in glory

when he shows himself as one who outshines

all creation.

makes men poor in spirit,

and helps them to find their good in him.

Grant that I may distrust myself, to see

my all in thee.

Answered Prayer

2010-04-21T00:09:00.001+07:00

"But animals don't get AIDS." This is the sentence that I've been hearing a lot lately.

It's usually after I've just explained that I'll be traveling to Asia this summer to work on my Master's Project which entails largescale HIV/AIDS surveillance and prevention strategies.

True, animals don't get AIDS. But I happen to be a veterinarian in the field of public health. And you can kind of think of the public like a large herd of animals. Disease spreads largely the same way through a group of people as it does through a group of cattle, and I know something about that.

First, my being in the Master of Public Health program is a direct answer to prayer. I had heard of the program as a vet student, but it wasn't until last year - only 2 weeks before the application deadline, that I decided to get serious about it. I wasn't convinced it was a good idea, but the Lord knew otherwise. I will hardly be finishing in December of this year before I put my newfound public health skills to work in Thailand.

Second, the project itself is a direct answer to prayer - I will be able to learn, to a great degree, part of the job I'll be doing when I get to Thailand, since MMF is also diligently addressing the alarming HIV epidemic in SE Asia. Part of my job as a public health vet will be to evaluate these programs and help with the technical aspects (all that boring math and statistics stuff).

Third, God has provided financially for this trip in a direct answer to prayer. Being a student full-time, and getting started with support-raising for Thailand which is a significant time investment, have left me with just enough hours in the week to work part-time at an ER vet clinic. But going to Asia is not cheap, and plus, I'm going to have to pay tuition for this trip. Yikes! I've been praying that the 3 scholarships I've applied for will cover 100% of my expenses, and so far, I've heard back from 2. They are covering more than 75% of my anticipated expenses, including tuition!

I leave sometime during the beginning of June for 10 weeks, which should give me a chance to take some good pictures for you.

Matthew 7:7-12

The Daily

2010-04-19T22:48:00.003+07:00

Sent my passport away to the Consulate in Chicago for a visa this morning, with no concrete plans nailed down. Hoping things will fall together soon! There's not many pages left, and I may just get it filled up this summer.

Peter Paralleled

2010-04-18T09:23:00.005+07:00

I've been thinking about Peter walking on water lately. The focus always seems to be on the walking-on-the-water part. Did it feel solid or squishy? Cold and clammy? Wet and wavy? Undoubtedly a miracle.

But I wonder if Peter even felt any of those physical sensations at the time because a bigger miracle had just taken place: Peter jumped out of the boat! Adrenaline must have been pumping through those veins; thoughts going a million miles an hour but not thinking a thing except "I've jumped out of the boat! What have I done? I don't care how, Lord, but I know you're the only one that can do anything about this now!" And his feet just kept moving.

Everyone has storms in life, and there are many different sources of waves and wind and rain and eye-stinging stinging sea spray. Maybe it's finances, or health, or a personal crisis, or a new direction, or maybe, it's apathy and distraction that's making it hard for you to keep focused on Jesus. Regardless, we all have choice to make: cling to the man-made boat in false security, or swing your legs over the edge and start running. There is a right choice, and we have the ability, through Jesus, to parallel Peter's miracle.

I think Peter had the courage to jump out because he knew the One he was running to:

"He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it." 1 Thes. 5:24 Ready! One, two, three, jump!

On This Side of the Shampoo

2010-04-14T10:26:00.009+07:00

I ran out of shampoo yesterday, and completely forgot until I was already mid-shower this morning. Fortunately for those that laid eyes on me today, there was enough of a film in the bottom of the bottle to procure a decent lather with a little hot-water help.

A year ago, I would have had a moment of frustration at myself, made a slightly greater effort at remembering to buy shampoo today (maybe the empty bottle would actually make it out of the shower), and gone on with life. Besides, what's the big deal when you can just zip on over to Wal-Mart and get whatever scent you want and a Diet Coke for the ride home?

Today, however, went a little differently. After my self-admonishment for being so irresponsible and that I really should know better, my thoughts gravitated not towards how I dealt with problems a year ago, or how I'll deal with them today, but how I'll deal with them a year from now. What's going to happen when I run out of shampoo in Thailand?

Not that Thais don't use shampoo. They do. There will be plenty for me when I get there (if I remember to buy it!!) But as I draw nearer and nearer to being a foreigner, I often wonder about a lot of the unknowns. Of course the big things like food and culture are different, and I can certainly live if they don't have my brand of shampoo, but what about all those other creature comforts I've taken for granted for so long?

There's a lot of unknowns on this side of the Pacific too. Like, will I be able to find good homes for all my houseplants that are sort of like pets to me? (If you've got a green thumb and are interested, let me know! I've got a deal for you!) What things should I take, what should I store, and what should I give away? Funny how I didn't realize I valued my butterfly display or my TV stand until I thought about parting with them. The heart really is deceitful above all things, isn't it?

It's been a good pruning process for me. Jesus himself said not to worry about these things. He would take care of them.

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these."

Matthew 6:28-29

Mission to Mail

2010-04-07T10:17:00.005+07:00

I accomplished something huge this week: I finished my first prayer letter! It is submitted to the CVM office and being prepared for printing as I type.

It may not seem like a big deal to put a few sentences to a page, but it is for me! Having the Type A curse, I realized I have been putting myself under great pressure to create the perfect letter that will dazzle and amaze my readers in every way. I've started it at least four times. I've got almost an entire letter written that is not going to be used saved on my laptop. Nothing but a literary masterpiece was going to be good enough!

But dazzling and amazement is not really the point. The truth is. Finally, I just prayed God would give me the right words to say, and I began the intro...again. The intro turned into a couple of paragraphs, and pretty soon, a letter! It may not be a work of genius, but its honest and I hope it communicates my heart. And it's spell-checked.

It's amazing what the Lord can do through one, when one stops trying to do for oneself.

I've also been busy gathering contact information from everyone that I think might be interested in what I'm up to. If you'd like to be on my prayer update list, but you haven't got a reason to believe I've got your info, let me know! I'd be thrilled to add you!

The Last Week

2010-04-01T03:42:00.007+07:00

We are now in the middle of Holy Week, the week set aside by Christians all over the world to reflect on Jesus' last week on Earth. It started last Sunday, known Palm Sunday, when Jesus made his way into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey colt, and the people laid their cloaks and palm branches in the road in his honor, yelling "Hosannah!". Tomorrow will be Maundy Thursday, to remember the Last Supper Jesus had with his disciples in the upper room, and where the first communion was had. Then will come the day of Jesus' crucifixion, Good Friday. Holy Saturday, he was in the grave, and come Easter Sunday, we will once again celebrate his glorious ascent from the dead!

If you're like me, you're wondering where Monday and Tuesday went. Business is the stuff of life, ever present and always begging for more time and attention. This week, I am a full time grad student, a part-time veterinarian, a full-time missionary on the road to full-time ministry, a writer, an administrator, an employee, a friend, a hostess, a roommate, a dog-owner, and many other things. When am I going to have time?

I am making it a priority above the business this week to read the historic events of Holy week. You can find the story of Jesus' last week on Earth in John 12 to John 20.

On Sacrifice

2010-03-22T02:33:00.004+07:00

David Livingstone, a Scottish medical missionary to Africa from 1840 to his death in Zambia in 1863 had this to say about why he did what he did.

"For my own part I have never ceased to rejoice that God has appointed me to such an office. People talk of sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. Can that be called a sacrifice which is simply paying back a small part of debt I owe to God, which I can never repay?

"Is that a sacrifice which brings its own blest reward in healthful activity, the consciousness of doing good, peace of mind, and a bright hope of a glorious destiny hereafter? Away with the word! And with such a thought! It is emphatically no sacrifice. Say rather it is a privilege.

"Anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger, now and then, with a foregoing of the common convenience and charities of this life, may make us pause, and cause the spirit to waver, and the soul to sink, but this is only for a moment.

"All these are nothing when compared with the glory which shall hereafter be revealed in and for us.

"I never made a sacrifice. "

The First Step Out

2010-03-09T07:33:00.003+07:00

This blog has not been started without considerable trepidation. If you know me at all, you know I am not one of many words. Maybe because I have nothing to say; maybe because others say it better. Nonetheless, I hope this can be a way to connect you and me: travelers along the narrow path leading deep into the riches of God’s grace, truth and mercy.

Many sources have inspired me in the creation of this tiny blip on the internet. I think of Micah 6:8 telling us to do, love and walk in justice, kindness, and humility with God. It is the desire of my heart to do these three things well, and to encourage others to that end.

I remember Peter in the storm-ravaged boat who understood it was safer to climb out of the boat and walk on the raging sea with Jesus rather than cling to the mast with a false sense of security. Oh, that I will not hesitate to take that step forward when He calls. Isn’t the center of His will truly the best place to be?

I can’t help but mull over the words John Kent penned in 1827.

Sovereign grace, o’er sin abounding!

Ransomed souls, the tidings swell;
‘Tis a deep that knows no sounding;
Who its breadth or length can tell?
On its glories,
May my soul for ever dwell.

Indeed, the grace made available to us through Christ’s cross is deep and the current is strong. It is here that I intend to sound the depths and explore the fullness of His grace as I prepare for ministry in Asia. I need to step out of my own boat and into the unknown with Jesus. Though the footing seems unsure, I will fix my eyes on Jesus and walk. It is here that I’d like to experience this with you. Will you come along with me as a fellow sojourner?