Land of Our Sojourn

We shared at a bible study group a few nights ago. It was (as usual) a joy to speak to others about our work. We have come to enjoy speaking with groups from a generation or so older than us. So often we are divided up by our age or life stage. I truly enjoy listening to their conversations as they are different then what 30-somethings are talking about. I am blessed to see their faithfulness to the Lord and to hear about what challenges they are facing. 
During the course of our conversation someone mentioned how they really began to understand our work. The word that came to his mind was ‘unglamorous.’ That is such an apt description. We often feel the pressure to tell a story, give a report, give people something to engage with. But in reality the day to day work is very unglamorous. Homeschooling with a 7 & 5 year old with a 2 year old running around; doing a session at a local church but only 5 people show up; hearing the struggles of a national worker but not really knowing h...

We love our home assignments. There is much to look forward to that we don’t have at home. But there are those moments when we wonder, ‘What on earth are we doing to our kids?’ The last few months have brought that question to our minds again. After settling near K’s family and dear church community there, we backed up for 10 days and headed north. We spent two Sundays at wonderful churches, but churches that our kids didn’t know. We also had 5 or 6 meals with wonderful families, but again, people our kids didn’t know. And we 'moved’ into a small home provided for us - another home that our kids didn’t know. You get the picture. You can see why we were a little anxious to see how they would react to these changes. Well… they didn’t amazingly well. Both churches had very different Sunday schools, but our kids happily did whatever. They played great at the other homes and genuinely enjoyed playing with new kids. Sometimes we fear what 'damage’ our lives might do to our child...

Sometimes when you attempt to communicate clearly simply knowing the language isn't enough. I've sat through many talks from Westerners that have come for short term trips using many analogies that don't compute here. For instance, American Football is hardly ever a good analogy in Asia. If your translator doesn't understand you, you can bet that your audience won't understand either. They most likely will nod and smile, and laugh when you laugh. But it's probably just because they don't want you to feel embarrassed. When you can speak the language, then it will become clear that no one understands you. The frown and the wrinkled brow make it quite clear. So, when we are teaching abstract concepts we have learned that you need a good story that is relatable. When teaching about the need to keep trying, we use the analogy of learning how to ride a motorbike. When we teach about the concept of having a clear goal and working towards it, we use the picture ...

In our interactions with Kali people, we are often reminded that who we are and how we think is largely shaped by the culture around us. Last week I stopped at the nursery where I've been purchasing soil and plants for 7 years. This Kali family is very warm. We have periodically watched our children grow up and visited them during the fasting month. We are not close, but we have known each other for quite awhile. I hopped out of the car and noticing that the husband wasn't there, I asked his wife, "I haven't seen you in awhile, how is your family?" With a big smile on her face (which can be the sign of embarrassment) she said, "Oh, we have terrible news... my husband left us and married another woman." Naturally I was shocked. I tried to ask a few gentle questions, but she was happy to tell the whole story. "He's had girlfriends for 4 years now, but just last month he got married! That young girl was just looking for money.... " Thr...

After many years living here, we have discovered the importance in our culture of observing religious holidays. As a Westerner we have a certain emotional response to how you celebrate appropriately. The sentiment is the same here as well, but it comes from practices that are very different from the Western tradition. I'll share two with you. First of all, attending religious ceremonies is huge. Where in our tradition there isn't a service on Christmas Day, here there are multiple services. In addition to the Sunday before Christmas, after Christmas, and after New Years, there are services Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Years Eve, and New Years Day. Each on of these is at least 2 hours long - sometimes 3! In this culture who is present and who isn't are clearly noticed (and noted). This year we did our very best to attend all the Christmas services (but were worn out by the time the New Years ones rolled around). :) Second in importance is the tradition of v...

As Thanksgiving was approaching, K and I started talking about our desire to help the kids really understand the concept of gratitude. We began talking a lot about it throughout the day. And as we did this we realized that it wasn't just our kids that needed to learn this lesson. We had grown so accustomed to complaining. It is easy in this life to check out from the normal inconveniences here, to pick up our phone and start looking at what's going on with our friends. Of course, this doesn't actually help. In fact, it makes things worse! Look at their beautiful table, living room, lawn, play area for their kids! Look at their beautiful weather! Trees, mountains, streams!!! Look at their vacation.... AHHHHHH! :) So, we were deeply helped when we purchased the book Growing in Gratitude  by Barbara Rainey. It wasn't the perfect devotional for our kids. We had to explain a few words and concept here and there. We had to leave out a few portions from the biographies becau...

Kylie and I have been working hard at praying together lately. It's a bit embarassing, but for 12 years of marriage now we really haven't established a consistency in praying together. We have times of praying individually every day and we pray with our kids in the morning and the evening, but unfortunately for the most part we have just let it go... knowing it would be great if we did, but resigned to the fact that it's hard to find time. Well, last April I became aware of the ministry of Family Life and began listening to the podcasts of their radio program. It was really great to hear good thoughts and content throughout the week. It helped me remember the significance of my role as a husband and father as well as evaluate what I want to be true of my family and how to get there. I began implementing lots of little things and seeing a lot of fruit. Then came the Family Life Oneness Prayer Challenge. The challenge was to begin praying together every day for 30 days. I...