If the Phone Doesn't Ring, it's Me (by Jimmy Buffett)

Sorry I haven’t written in a while. I’ve been busy traveling, connecting with old friends, making new friends, and trying to be successful in some new forms on ministry for me. But I can assure you that even though you haven’t heard from me in a while, I’m still thriving and having the time of my life. Let me try to get you a little up to speed.

Thailand was a pretty unique experience. It was mostly quite quiet and low-key. The first of my two weeks there was mainly spent relaxing and hanging out during the day at the home of Krista Engebretson, a Westwood missionary teaching at a missionary kid’s school in Chiang Mai, and her roommate, Holly. Part of me was worried that I was wasting my time in Thailand by hanging out in a house the whole time. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I was having my own unique cultural experience. First of all, I was getting some much needed rest after four months virtually non-stop in the islands on the ethno-tours. Second, I was engaging into the life of a missionary teacher in northern Thailand. And third, I was reminiscing back to my own experience of living and teaching in Guatemala several years ago. I was also able to use that time to engage in some quality relationship building communication. I know that my time in Chiang Mai with Krista and her friends/co-workers was definitely a blessing and a ministry to me … I can only hope that I had something to offer to her and them.
Now, for those in my life who understand and encourage my passion for nature, culture, and adventure, I’d like to make mention of some of the other things I did beyond hanging out inside on my own. In the first week I was there, I was taken out around town by Krista and Holly at night to various restaurants and local cultural marketplaces. Sometimes just the three of us and other times with some of their friends whom I got to know fairly well. The one full weekend I was there, a group of 12 of us drove about two hours out of town to a reservoir where we took a couple boats to a floating resort where we relaxed and played for 24 hours. It was a GREAT time! The last couple days I was in Thailand, I spent one day rock climbing with a group of other travelers and another day with another group of travelers where we did a jungle hike, a village visit, a bamboo rafting ride, and elephant rides. Oh, and the very last day I was there I got to eat a fried cricket and bamboo worm. I highly recommend the experience!

I spent a couple days in Singapore between Thailand and Australia. During that time, I had a flat all to myself since my friend who lives there was out of town for a couple days. It was a blessing to have my own place of solitude to rejuvenate myself. But I also got to reconnect with a friend I made while climbing in Thailand who was passing through Singapore on her way to Melbourne (we’re getting together this weekend again) and I got to visit another friend at work on her birthday. My days in Singapore were fun, relaxing, and busy!

Now I’ve been in Oz for the last week with my parents. It was so exciting to get to see them for the first time in five months. They arrived a few hours before me and were there to welcome me with a “Welcome to Australia” balloon as I passed through customs. We spent just under four days touring around Sydney as my parents acted as my tour guides. We took a boat tour around the Sydney Harbor where we went past the Harbor Bridge and the Sydney Opera House, among other amazingly beautiful and iconic landmarks. One day my parents took me to Bondi Beach where I finally bough the surfboard I’ve been wanting for so long. We then drove down to Manly Beach where I got my one chance to actually use the board. It was a pretty amazing experience to be catching a few waves in Australia! I could get used to it, frankly! I was also able to reconnect with an old friend, Charlene, who I met while I was on the expedition in Indonesia back in ’99. Two times my parents and I got to grab something to eat and sit and talk for several hours as I was able to pick up on a nearly forgotten friendship. She, along with the friend I made in Thailand, are now both in Melbourne. Along with a fellow college classmate who’s now living here with her husband, I officially have a total of four friends in Melbourne that I will be reconnecting with. Small world, isn’t it?
For the most part, Melbourne is a time for me to work. It’s kind of cool to realize that both my parents are speaking at a conference where I’m promoting the work going on in Indo. The three of us are all working the same conference together … that’s a first! But it hasn’t been ALL work. The first full day we were here we met up with my former classmate, Taniel. She took us to a place called the Healsville Sanctuary. It was there that I finally got to see dingos and kangaroos and wombats and koalas and wallabies and so many more native Australian animals. I even got to pet a wombat and practically cuddle with a wallaby that didn’t want to stop licking my hand. It was the cutest thing ever … I wanted to take it home with me!!! I’m sure my kitty, Yampa, would’ve loved the new playmate. I still have nearly a week left here and a lot of friends to connect up with, so hopefully I’ll have a lot more experiences to have and stories to tell.

Never Satisfied (by Jackie Greene)

I recently heard a quote that said something like, “Life doesn’t wait for us to get back on our feet … it’s happening right now.” It’s amazing how quickly time moves on at such a consistent pace without ever slowing down or taking a rest. On my birthday this year, I was on an airplane from my first part of my time on the far side of the world and I was trying to figure out how three weeks could have happened as quickly as it did. But, at least I had the next four months with the second part of my time on the far side of the world to look forward to. And now, in what almost seems like the blink of an eye, here I sit in Thailand reflecting on the past four months, wondering how so much anticipation and curiosity could become memories so fast. And now, I look forward to the next two months as I bounce around throughout south east Asia and the massive islands of the southern hemisphere, trying to brace myself for the moment just around the corner when those two will become another part of my collective past.
So far I’ve been witness and participant to ministries to two distinctive religious people groups from the top of the world to the depths of the sea. I’ve been exposed to the concept and reality of witnessing to the lost by actually WITNESSING, and not through the self-gratifying work service projects that have become the norm in the upper middle class white suburbia of America. God has blessed me through interacting with his people and his nature, exposing me to personal highs and painful lows, and has taken His time in refining my life to become more of the person He wants me to be (although He’s got His work cut out for Him and has a LONG way to go before He’s finished with me!). And now it’s on to the next page in this chapter of my life. It’s time to visit new places, meet new people, experience new ministries, and allow God to continue the work He’s begun in me.
Thailand is a beautiful place with wonderful people, like most other parts of the world I’ve interacted with. When I first began planning my time here, it was mainly for personal reasons and included everything from heading to the southern part of the country to go scuba diving to heading out of country to places like Cambodia and Laos. However, that’s not why God wanted me here. Whether it’s for me to show support and encouragement or for me to be the one to learn and grow from her, my time in Thailand has changed to spending my time with a Westwood missionary who’s at the beginning of her third year here. On different levels I’ve been fortunate enough to see Carol Messerli be a blessing to me and to other missionaries as she’s done missionary care with Wooddale. My hope and prayer are that I can offer something similar while I’m here in Thailand. It’s a new kind of ministry for me and I’m excited to see how God uses me.
From here I go on to even further ministry ventures as I do marketing and promotions for the work I’ve been doing over the past four months. I get to attend a conference where I’ll have a display set up for people to stop and learn about how God’s working in south east Asia and then I’ll travel around from church to church to share more one-on-one. New people, new countries, new cultures, and new ministries … God’s keeping me on my toes! But He’s also providing for me along the way. I’ve made new friends in two different countries so far, I’m getting to know a new friend I’d only previously met once over lunch during a brief homestay in Minnesota a year ago, I’m reconnecting with my parents on the far side of the world, I’m spending time with old friends on their home turf for the first time ever, and I’m making all sorts of new friends through some unique networking.
So, now I have two months of new adventures to look forward and anticipate. I have a challenge that comes with that, though. Someone very close to me recently gave me the assignment of keeping focused on the here-and-now, not allowing the questions of what’s to come get in the way of enjoying, appreciating, and growing from the experiences I’m in the middle of right now. Ironically, it’s a promise I made to myself before I left back in March … to not pay any more attention to the future then is necessary but, instead, to focus on what’s going on at the moment and savor it for all it’s worth. Even so, I already know that come early November I’ll be reflecting back on this moment and I’ll wonder how the past two months went by with the speed in which they did. But then, I’ll have new adventures to look forward to and will need to put my attention and energy on staying focused on those moments as they happen. It’s a never ending battle … and I wouldn’t have it any other way!