That thoughtful rooster always makes sure I get up in time for morning worship by 5:30. Not that it was a problem this morning. Jet lag hs been minimal but I'm still not completely flipped over the 12 hour difference and was up by 4. Spent some time chasing a goodly sized cricket out of my room (No wonder they eat those things! You should see the meat on those hind legs!!) and made my way over to the chapel.
Watching the sun rise while surrounded by the voices of Thai children praising God is one of those "something of Heaven touches earth" moments for me. We read through Prov 11 (same at today's date) and I was able to follow fairly well.
After breakfast the older kids spent two long and lazy hours with me doing a puzzle (in Thai - jeeg saaw) Jen Connor got for me to bring. It depicts a cottage sunset on still waters, and I played Steve Bell's Shepherd of Life and explained, I hope, how it all connects based on Psalm 23. And we just hung out (I'd say we chilled but that would be a lie because today was hotter) and I enjoyed the simplicity of just "being" and loving on the kids, listening to their happy chatter and learning more about them.
There was a point today when I was feeling some dismay at how much Thai I seemed to have forgotten. I was blaming it on my Hebrew course last fall. But then, after the jet lag and heat put me out for two hours, I woke up with a fresher brain and was understanding more and able to talk a bit more. So maybe I don't have quite as much to relearn as I thought.
Saw the frogs and fish and garden today. All these are expanded projects by which Suradet and Yupa utilize all the resources and the gifting God has given them in order to be as self sufficient as possible. The food gained from this feeds the family. What this communicates in terms of the work ethic and value system in play here is huge to me.
Highview has been beautifully connected with people of great integrity, gratitude and industry in our partnership with Suradet and Yupa. AND they are passing these skills and values down to our children, who not only eat the food grown on the property, but help with the related tasks as well.
I will see if tomorrow I can figure out how to send a picture from the blackberry.
Well then. 9 pm here and I'm thinking I could fall asleep (lap) quite nicely about now.
Think I will.
By the way, this is NOT roughing it!!! Especially this year so far. Feeling like I've grown out of the culture shock. Only took five times! ;)
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It's the way to say that you're happy to see someone, but it literally translates "Happy in my heart". And that's what I am.
Big blessing/surprise that all the kids were there to meet me at the airport. I was so not expecting that give the late arrival. However - and there's the great news! - school's out! Yes! So already we've been planning the outings. I think we will just have to do the waterfall again.
So...tomorrow is some shopping for supplies, a visit to the prison because they'd planned on that already, and then out to Hot Springs!!!
The long flight is over, and it wasn't so bad. I'm not sure if I'm getting more used to flying or I just know better what to wear and how to pack a carry on, but I'm not finding the actual trip to be nearly as gruelling as that first time in January of 2008. Plus, so far, I'm really liking this new route and airline. Except....I think we flew back over Toronto from Atlanta and got here by flying over the north pole!!! That's sure what it looked like from the map on the screen in the plane.
Didn't do nearly the kind of work or amount of work I thought I would. Perhaps being up now for more than 24 hours has something to do with it. Didn't sleep too much, just dozing on and off. But I feel really good, really relaxed, AND feeling the excitement at the same time.
I had a set back though. The small blue spiral bound note book that I started on our trip last May and added to in preparation for this trip, got left in the first plane. It's one of those 'no monetary value but HUGE personal value' kind of items. It has the words to Come Now Is The Time To Worship in Thai all written out, all the names of the children written out in Thai, lots of pictures and other smaller pieces of paper collected from last trip, a list of everything I left in the bin at Hot Springs, my lists for this trip...oh my.
I've already connected with Ken and he's chasing it down for me to see if they can send it home again. If they do, I still won't have it for this trip, but at least I'll have it.
Even so, I'm quite surprised at myself for how quickly and easily I'm letting it go. Maybe I'm getting better at the control thing? Maybe it's just put in a different perspective when you've spent the last 24 hours clutching your passport and boarding pass, keeping your purse strapped to you at all times and never letting your packback out of your sight. When I think of any other item I may have left behind in my sleep-deprived stupor, I'm really okay if it was my "Master Type A Notebook".
I've chosen a new route for my trek to the other side of the world. Toronto to Atlanta. Atlanta to Seol. Seol to Chiang Mai.
So far, as I sit in Atlanta's beautiful and well laid out airport, I'm thinking I like this a lot. Shorter layovers in nicer air ports works for me. Just finished a yogurt protein smoothie. Getting myself psyched for 15 hours in the air.
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Cuddling with Abby this last evening at home. Packing is all but done. Running around is over. Just not sure my new shoes are going to be comfortable enough for all that walking!!!! Do - have enough gum? How is it possible that I am allowed to do this again?
These are my random musings tonight.
I'll be leaving the house at 2:45 am Tuesday morning and due to arrive in Chiang Mai on Wednesday around 11 am Ontario time.
I will do my best to keep posting along the way.
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I've got to start packing for real so I can stop packing in my head.
That's the preoccupation of it, I think; this over and over again sorting out of items and ideas to prepare for my fifth visit to the other side of the world. Can't forget my extra pair of glasses. Make sure to bring all the cords for the cameras. Pick up the malaria medicine..... I know the routine now, but it still takes a fair bit of coordination. I think that if I just haul down the suitcases and start throwing it all in, I might gain back a bit of room in my brain. There is, after all, a sermon to preach on Sunday, tasks to delegate for my absence, details to be sure are covered while I'm gone. Gets crowded in my head. So if I just started to actually pack, perhaps I'd have more mental real estate available.
Or maybe not. Maybe it's just part of the experience, part of the deal, when you head off for that other life God has given you. That other place where your heart feels at home in a "I'm so NOT at home" kind of way. The worlds are so different. Especially right now. Cold and dry compared to hot and humid. English compared to Thai. The place smells completely different, wild and wonderful - most of the time - and completely, completely different from here.
It's still remarkable to me that Asia has made room for me at all, really. Why would this more than middle aged white woman from Canada be welcomed as part of a young Thai family? How weird is that?
And maybe that's why I'm restless. Between two worlds, weirdly so. Amazing. When Jesus said he had come to give life abundantly, who knew it could be abundant times two?
For me, one of the best things about my line of work is watching what God is doing in the hearts and lives of young adults. When I come across a person in their late teens, twenties or thirties who has clear passion for and great ideas about how they will serve Him, it injects hope and life into all that we're dreaming of for the future of the church. That in itself is reason enough to get up in the morning.
But when those passions and ideas are about addressing the injustices of poverty -- well, you can't get much closer to the heart of God and His strong words to those who say they follow Him. (Check out Isaiah 58 or Matthew 25, if you need a refresher).
Enter, stage right, one Shannon Blake, play write and cofounder of The Bench Theatre Initiative, and active member of Sanctuary. Sanctuary is a downtown church where the poor and excluded are particularly valued and where Shannon has found a spiritual home.
The Bench is a hospitable, gracious, trust-risking theatre initiative prioritizing the poor and excluded, particularly those who are or have been street-involved, operating out of downtown Toronto. They are artists working in intentional community with other social and artistic initiatives, being an aesthetically compelling and credible voice in Canadian theatre, engaging their community as artistic equals.
This is not something undertaken lightly, and it has only come for Shannon as she has invested of herself in the lives of street involved people in real and meaningful ways over a period of time. Having been privy to some of the journey, I know that Shannon has been on her own discovery of self, understanding God's grace and love and redemption in profound, life-changing ways, because of her experience with this community.
In her own words,
"You don't get a lot of points for being inauthentic, and so as you're more able to share who you are and receive grace and love from that person, you're more able to extend those things to other people. Also, the power of God to build joy and redemption into settings of really immense sorrow; the fact that you do actually see the light overcoming some of the darkest scenes you can imagine deeply affects how I understand God."
We recently featured Shannon and The Bench Theatre Initiative at a service at Highview where cohorts Richard Bechard and Lyf Stolte brought to us the challenge to consider our own poverty before God.
Since our context is totally different - Highview being in suburban Kitchener and Shannon's ministry out on the mean streets of downtown Toronto - one of the main purposes of our morning was to help connect us to what God is doing there.
Shannon recommended two books, both by Sanctuary's pastor, Greg Paul.God in the Alley and The Twenty Piece Shuffle; moving and motivating both.
She invited us to come downtown to visit their community, and perhaps even arrange for a street walk where we could meet some of the particularly valued individuals who live there.
Some churches are involved in production preparation by constructing props and designing sets. Youth teams and drama teams have a lot to bring to this experience, and a lot to bring home from it as well. Other churches offer their support by advertising for productions.
The next production is set for this coming spring, running from April 29 to May 21. WONDERFUL is the story of three women living in poverty who, motivated by the impending birth of one woman's fifth child, seek to carve out space for themselves in the midst of a relationally, socially and institutionally difficult landscape.
An endeavor such as this requires funding, and that is another way, and a very important way, those of us with resources can participate in this amazing work. For that, I would refer you back to the link for The Bench where you can be directed in making a donation.
But perhaps the most significant means of connecting with what is happening downtown Toronto is by inviting God to help us think of ways we are poor, and ways we are rich, and how to invite people in your life into that. To consider what kinds of barriers exist between ourselves and others, regardless of economic standing, and how we might dismantle those barriers.
On a personal note, I have enormous confidence in Shannon and what she is undertaking. This is my first "endorsement" blog ever, and not something I have done randomly. I believe there is a strength of character, an integrity of person, and the passion of God's Holy Spirit behind The Bench. Shannon is real. She's intelligent. She writes magnificent plays. And she loves her people.
I am so looking forward to how we at Highview might share in some part of her adventure. And I am truly grateful for her inspiration.
