Week One

Greetings from the other side of the world!

I have now been in Asia for a little over a week, and we have finally figured out how to get online using computers. (Up until yesterday, we could only use the internet on smart phones.)

So, you may be wondering, what have I been doing all this time?

Our journey started on Tuesday morning 9/20. We met up at Peter's house in Hampton and said our goodbyes. From Hampton, we had the long drive to Gwen's home in Connecticut. We were able to spend most of the day relaxing there—and enjoying the wonderful steak dinner provided by her parents—before heading to JFK late that night. Flying out at 1:30 am provided wonderful incentive to get some sleep during our 16 hour flight. After a much shorter connecting flight, we arrived at our destination, where we were met by Roger's sister and two brothers-in-law.

This began a whirlwind week of meeting people, settling into our apartment, finding helpful locations, and trying to begin to figure out what we are supposed to be doing here. One of our airport welcoming crew, Chad, has been traveling around with us acting as a translator and a guide. He has been invaluable in many situations, always willing to help, and a huge blessing to our team. Here are some of the highlights from week one:

We found an outdoor market a short walk from our apartment. We buy fresh fruits and vegetables there—and some lovely flowers for our coffee table!

There are many small, open-air tea shops all over the city. We have tried several and found a place where all four of us can buy noodle soup and tea for about $1 total!

We have met several local Christians who are interested in getting to know us more. They could be a valuable resource in learning more about the city, and also it's been exciting to start building friendships with people we have met while walking around our neighborhood or eating at a tea shop.

We had dinner with a missionary that Peter knows as he was traveling through the city.

There is a huge market in downtown that we were able to explore. We bought a guitar there, and have enjoyed playing music and singing together!

We were able to meet with two foreigners living and working in the city who we might be able to work with. They were both wonderful sources of information about living in this country and helpful in networking to other people and resources.

Overall, it has been a varied week where we never really know what we are going to do the next day—or in some cases the next hour. I came across this Bible verse the other day, and it sums up how we've been living: “The LORD directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way?”--Proverbs 20:24. We are trusting God to guide us to what He wants us to be doing here. We've certainly had some cool new experiences so far, and I'm excited to see what he has in store for us next!

A New Adventure

I have been thinking about adventures lately. A friend told me about a conversation he heard between two kids taking a walk: one complained that he didn't just want to walk; he wanted an adventure. Instead of just going on a walk, this kid wanted to climb a mountain.

It is time for a grand adventure!

Next week I set off on what will be my longest overseas trip to date. The plan is to spend the school year in Southeast Asia with three other adventurers from my church. That's about as detailed as our plan gets.

What will we be doing in Southeast Asia, you may ask? Like I said: we have not set many details yet. We are going to Asia in response to a request from a pastor over there—we will call him Roger. Roger leads a church, helps run a Bible college, and started an orphanage. He asked our pastor to send some folks to help at the orphanage or teach English. In January, several others from my church and I traveled to the city where we will be staying to check things out and decide if there was a need we could fill during a longer trip. We were able to meet with Roger, visit his church, orphanage, and Bible school, as well as work out other details for an extended stay in the area. We visited local English schools, met someone who was willing to get us business visas, found an apartment to rent, visited the local university, and toured parts of downtown. This short (about three days in-country) trip inspired us to commit to our eight month expedition to explore and serve.

Instead of narrowing our focus, this brief trip opened up many options of what we can do while in Asia. We hope to teach English, but do not know if we will do this in schools, at the orphanage, through private tutoring, or all three. Since our apartment is only about a mile from a local university, we plan to network with folks there as well. Roger's orphanage is near enough to spend time helping with the kids or giving lessons to them. One of my team members knows a lady who is part of an organization fighting human trafficking, so there might be an opportunity to help there also.

As a team, we have many ideas of what this trip might look like. I know that at many times it may not seem grand or very adventurous. Like the kid my friend overheard bemoaning the boring nature of walking, there will be days of mundane work and frustrating problems. There will be many days that are not super exciting. But God is sending us to this country for a reason. We are going not merely to sight-see and travel, and not even to just teach or help at an orphanage. We are going with the hope that we can show others God's love in a tangible way. And what adventure could be grander than that?