Back in the US of A

Friends, family, and total strangers,
Please accept our apologies for this random and strange update. It has been a couple of crazy weeks since we have written and sadly we don't have a ton of great news on the visa end.
The first week of December we spent zooming around Thailand on a little scooter being told repeatedly 'no' by various consulates when it came to renewing Ian's business visa. Luckily Thailand was so beautiful, and the local IJM office so friendly that it was far too difficult to stay upset over a seemingly pointless trip.
So what IS one to DO when in Thailand and nothing seems to go quite right? I'll tell you. Eat lots of street food, stumble upon waterfalls, and ride elephants. Now you know in case you ever find yourself between a rock and a hard place and randomly in Thailand.
Sadly our visa charades have come to very little except more bad news, which is prompting us both to re-apply for visas and hope for the best. In order to do so we had to cancel our flights back to our post in South Asia and make an unexpected trip back to the 'motherland' of the US of A. We've spent the last week trying to figure out what needs to be done, who needs to go where, and how on earth to try to deal with all of our business and issues that are still in South Asia.
I'd like to say that we are generally at peace with this upheaval, and most moments we are handling it well. But the moments when 'what we are missing' or 'why are we here' strike, things can look a little bleak. I am trying not to look at this as a massive disappointment but it is difficult. Another road block... another day not working... another issue with our apartment or bills in S. Asia. It's a bit of a mess and a lot of international calling. Still, we have been reminded in many ways that every closed door is an opportunity. Every problem and detour presents an adventure, and at least this time every impossible visa request means a holiday with friends and family.
I'm still disappointed to have to give this update, and I was hoping by this time this week (one week since we have arrived in the US) that I would be able to give you all a functional update of when we would be able to return, but I am not able. We do want all of the wonderful folks who have supported us and loved on us during this process to know that we aren't going to give up so easily. We still have some good fight left in us and we plan to go forward unhindered by whatever problems are thrown at us trusting that there is a reason for the journey.
Our apologies for this late update, and we will update once again when we have some news or perhaps before that with a couple pictures :)
Many fond Christmas wishes!
B

Newsletter Available

Hello friends!
Just in case you didn't find your way on to the update list (or if your email bounced back... because I am still trouble shooting a couple that seem to hate me) we have our Nov. newsletter up and kicking. Give us a shout out and we'll add you to the list for future updates and (if you're realllllly nice) we can shoot out last week's update to you personally!
Here's a little teaser from the letter:

Top 10 "different" experiences
10. Fireworks from 3-10pm every night for two weeks straight
9. Watching rats and crows fight over paper for entertainment, and choosing sides
8. Having unexplained strings tied on one’s self during festival season
7. Playing human “Frogger™” to cross the street
6. Being woken at 5am by an unexplained group of people singing in the street
5. No hamburgers at McDonalds
4. Being told that you look so ‘nice and pale’ today
3. Being blocked from the office door by a herd of goats
2. Getting asked for an autograph walking home from work
1. A woman offering us her monkey which she is walking on a leash

:)
B

ps- we also are asking for continued prayers as we travel today to another country in hopes of getting Ian and extended visa to stay here. Much love!

Monkey Business

For those of you unacquainted with UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites, I strongly recommend proceeding with caution as this list may turn into a mild obsession if there is any Indiana Jones/history geek/wanderlust anywhere within you. I'm not sure when Ian and I became aware that many of the things we wanted to see and do in our lifetimes included World Heritage sites, but after visiting a number throughout Europe and and parts of Asia this past year we are hopelessly hooked. Lucky for us, our new locale has a number of relatively close sites (and by relatively, i mean closer than we are to them when in the USA *wink*) that keep us dreaming about what our next weekend adventure might include. This weekend we crossed another site off of our list as we visited some Shaivistic cave temples carved out of the stone side of a mountain thought to date back to the 9th-13th century.

Archaeological sites hold a special place in my heart, and I love art history. Being able to see pieces that I've read about or studied right up close really makes me happy, and sometimes a little giddy or emotional. Luckily this trip was not one of those emotional reactions, but ask me some time about the man who pushed me when i was viewing the Venus di Milo for the first time and I will still have some strong emotions to share.
Amazing pieces have always moved me, and this experience was no exception. The carvings in the caves were extremely complex and ornate. Many of them representing pieces of the human form in a way that portrays movement in exciting non-western ways.
Still, as any truly rewarding experience, there was a journey and price to pay to get there. This began on our boat ride out to the area where the caves are located. We got on a slightly rickety older boat with 30 of our closest strangers and made the hour long ride to our port. Usually I find boat rides very calming, but this ride proved a slight exception.
I believe I have mentioned via some social media within the last week that our forecast for the last two weeks have been "smoke." Not fog, not clouds.... smoke. Not only has that been the forecast, but it has been the extremely accurate forecast. As we pulled away from land and out to the open water I watched the skyline behind us disappear into a haze of smoky smog. On the upside I did see the blue color of the sky for the first time in a number of weeks. The air quality here is terrible and estimated to be the equivalent of smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. Adding to the sad view of our city was the sight of a mother instructing her child to throw the soda bottles and plastic bags overboard into the murky deep. It hurt my heart, because this cultural acceptance of rubbish everywhere adds to one of the biggest problems in the developing world which is the availability of clean drinking water. Each time one of the people on our boat tossed another piece of garbage overboard, all i could do was shake my head and hope that change is in the future.
Our boat finally docked giving us about two hours to climb the small mountain up to the caves and return before the last boat back. We made some tracks and paid a number of random fees to get up the mountain, but the most bothersome part to me was not the huge fees but the monkeys.
Yes, I said monkeys. It's not that I don't like monkeys or think they are cute or fascinating, but it is more that monkeys who have the ability to freely come up to me and invade my personal space freak me out a little bit.

On our trek up the steep stone walkway to see the caves I started to notice just how 'friendly' these little primates here are. The stone walkway we were trekking was covered by blue tarps above us as canopies to keep the hot sun off of the vendors that line the entire route. These athletic critters were using these well placed tarps as monkey sized trampolines. We'd be huffing and puffing our way up the trail when *phoomm!!!!* the tarp above us would slack under the weight of the fuzzy monkey it was receiving from a nearby tree. Then the tarp would recoil sending the monkey flying in another direction, or on less lucky jumps the tarp would give a little too much and you could see a monkey shadow sliding down the side of the tarp to be dumped swiftly into a heap on the ground.
Honestly, this became much funnier on the way down the mountain, as we stopped for a lime soda and watched the multi-level chaos with bouncing monkeys above and bustling shop vendors below, but on the way up I braced myself for a mid-air collision with every loud thump.
I would like to say that this was the only mischief these devious creatures were up to, but as we neared the caves we watched the monkeys chase tourists and steal plastic bags full of lunches! As I told my sister about this yesterday she said "oh.. so kind of like squirrels." Ha! Like squirrels with opposable thumbs, fangs, much better cognitive skills.... and the size of a toddler. So....no... not really like squirrels.
We made our way past most of the monkeys into the cave area, and explored the man-made caverns complete with stone carved columns for structural integrity. It was an exciting dip into the local cultural history, and I walked away with a lot to think about and hopefully a few good pictures.

Still, the way down from the caves was not devoid of monkey business. There was a group of women in their traditional dresses by the exit gate to the stairway who wait there with cooking pots balanced on their heads trying to get tourists to pay to have their picture taken with them. As I encroached into the crowd of curry-carrying women hoping not to have anyone's dinner end up on my head, the monkeys made their move. Out of nowhere a group of about ten monkeys of all shapes and sizes came charging down the gate and leaping through the maze of pots across the open gateway. I have a very limited native vocabulary, but one word that has been essential in maintaining my composure in difficult situations is that staple "NO" word. As the monkeys charge and the women crowd and my life seems to hover in a slow motion struggle all I can seem to wail is "no! no! no! no!!!" and boosted with a little extra energy by my verbal outburst I successfully snaked and elbowed my way out of the kitchen pot and monkey maze. Which was good because shortly after this became a screaming kitchen pot monkey maze as some other westerners with less elbowing ability got stuck in the middle. Phew! Close one.

With the monkey madness behind me, we headed back to the dock saying hello to some cows who were eating leftovers from the corn on the cob vendors. I spent most of the boat ride back trying to hide from some creepy guy trying to take pictures of me on his cell phone and watching more well-meaning mothers throw their rubbish overboard.
Luckily a tasty plate of spaghetti (served saucy.. which is the best add-on menu choice ever) while pondering the sights of another World Heritage site crossed off the list was my hard earned reward for a day of sight-seeing, litter grimacing, and monkey dodging. But as is often the case, the journey, not the destination, was the true adventure.

B

Rough start

This week got off to a rough start. We said good-bye to one of of our friends that we knew previously from DC as he headed back to the states, leaving our apartment far too quiet and us feeling a little less comfortable without him here to guide us. It's been a great blessing to have friends that we met in DC show us the ropes around our new digs and help us get adjusted. His wife leaves this week and the whole office and ex-pat groups will miss them a lot!
Besides difficult goodbyes, Monday already had a sort of comic dread looming over it. I've been allergic to something here that makes the skin around my eyes dry and puffy so that I have this sort of bug-eyed iguana look going on in the morning... extremely attractive, I promise. I woke up Monday late due to malfunctioning brain that forgot to set an alarm in the same room I was sleeping. After tending to my iguana eye issue, i got dressed in my half traditional-half western garb and ran out the door on my usual trek past the mounds of garbage, staring men, and wild pigs to my boss's home office. I apparently was earlier than I was supposed to be as she was still getting ready and I was locked out on the second floor stoop shooing the massive crows away. Eventually we got everything in order and were off to the train station on our way to a new possibility of homes to work with.
Generally I am a fan of public transport. I think it is a great idea for saving money, being kinder to nature, and getting from one place to another in a consistent and reliable manner. However, the train system here is a little more stressful than my usual metro commute in DC. My boss Stephanie was kind enough to 'steer' me as we pushed and shoved our way into the women's car... and I am not joking about the pushing. Here's a picture from a car in our area.
On the way out of the train all you need do is stand near the door and let go of whatever you had been using for balance and you will magically get shoved along out of the door by the raging river of humanity streaming out of the car, your only obstacle being the unlucky up-stream swimmers making their way onto the car against the pull of gravity. And the pandemonium doesn't end with popping out of the car. Next is the journey up the stairs when the rest of the trains previous inhabitants join in the fray. It was this ascent to the street above that put the finishing touch on ruining my Monday.. which hardly needs any help to begin with.
We've all experienced a bottle neck somewhere... a baseball game as everyone is leaving, the rush to the front car of a roller coaster, elbowing someone to get the fallen pinata candy at a third grade birthday party (hopefully you were in third grade when this occurred) ... we've all had to fend for ourselves in the writhing mass of humanity at some point. Getting out of our train stations here are one of those experiences at all times. I was given very explicit instructions to put one arm across chest holding on to my bag on the opposite shoulder for the mere sake of guarding myself from unwanted 'grazes'. I'm not kidding. I elbowed my way through the crowd 'graze free' until a moment when the crowd closed in and up the stairs became a shoving match and all of the sudden i realized that though i was guarding for frontal assault, my rear was only separated from the world by the long flaps of my kurta (long cotton tunic type shirt), which proved to be not enough for some especially forward member of the crowd who proceeded to grab my butt. With so many people from all different directions there isn't a way to whirl around and deck someone for being entirely inappropriate and intrusive so my first reaction was to make a fist and separate that appendage from my rear as quickly and forcefully as was possible in the circumstances. I reached the top of the stairs grope-free, but still in shock about what had just happened. My colleagues could read my obvious distress and I told them what happened, but not much can be done when you can't see behind you, and even if you can... it might not be that person anyway trying to get a handful of western bum. I get stared at constantly here, so even getting a drawn out glance from someone in a crowd doesn't really lend any clues to who decided to be gross and mean. Again, my Monday didn't need any more help in being rough, but this sealed the deal.
Luckily a good cup of tea and warm hospitality goes a long way to sooth a soul after a traumatic moment, and visiting the ladies who may be the next addition to our weekly visits was a much needed encouragement. It was fantastic to hear the history of the organization that runs this home, and to hear their plans and dreams and to see how we might play a part in them. Thank God for people who care about women in a culture that often doesn't care past their use as physical objects. And thank God that there are women who are beating the odds to come out of these difficult situations and become beacons to those around them.
I started to pray for the gender gap here, and for the person who was out of line to grab me in the station while I was on my way home. I tried to figure out what I was learning in this situation. It's difficult because as the feeling of violation set in I felt helpless and really upset, but I have also noticed that sometimes the battle is won in the direction of grace.
I thought of the story of Jesus in the crowd when the woman with perpetual bleeding touched the hem of his garment and he stopped and asked "who touched me?" because he felt healing power go out of him, and the woman admits it was her and that she believed that if she merely could touch him she would be healed. Jesus tells her to go in peace because her faith has healed her. I know being groped in a train station is a far cry from a woman being healed after touching the fringe of Jesus' robe, but this story impressed itself on my brain. I'm guessing this will not be the last time in this next year that something inappropriate like this will happen to me, and I have been asking that God really make me an instrument of peace and that peace and love would be tangible to the touch, even the unwanted touch. That when these things happen a holy guilt and shame would enter the hearts of these people and cause them to transform their hearts and transform their culture. I've been asking that my pint sized understanding of feeling violated will give me a bigger heart for those I meet and work with every day who have been violated in much worse ways. Also, that the lies of loss of worth or feelings of dehumanization that come with physical violation would be conquered and that the only thing that would remain would be empowerment through love.
I wanted to leave you with a quote from The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis that a friend set me on the trail of some time ago:

There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations--these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit--immortal horrors or everlasting splendours. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of the kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously--no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption. And our charity must be real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinners--no mere tolerance, or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment. Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses. If he is your Christian neighbour, he is holy in almost the same way, for in him also Christ vere latitat, the glorifier and the glorified, Glory Himself, is truly hidden.

Please pray for the treatment of those born into oppression and vulnerability, and that the work we are doing will contribute to the effort for positive cultural change.

with love
B

Shout Out!

Wanted to give a quick shout out to some awesome 5th & 6th graders from Covenant Christian School. We just got your letters today and can't wait to respond to you! Thank you all for your prayers and your encouragement :)
B

Quiet Week

You haven't heard from us in about a week and I promise there is a reason for that. Sadly it isn't what we would consider a good reason, but truly a viable reason. In short, our brief blog absence has been due to our first bout of food poisoning that took the wind out of Ian's sails for a few days and knocked me out pretty good for most of the week. I got back into the game and on the horse, but wasn't eating regularly until yesterday! Yikes! It seems a bad batch of hummus did us both in, and from what we hear, this probably won't be our last brush with that nasty little bug.

Our hummus consumption was just part of last weeks goings-on, as the holiday season has been in full tilt this week. twinkle lights and plenty of fireworks have punctuated our early evenings. We got the chance to do a little bit of necessity shopping at one of the nicer malls in the area. Generally a mall is something that reminds us of the hustle and bustle of the Western Christmas shopping season, and people pushing to get into sales after Thanksgiving... and while that season is still in the near future for our families on the other side of the globe, shopping season for the native holidays was very much upon us here. This looked a little different, however from our idea of holiday tinsel and reindeer.

First, part of the confusion happened in that this holiday is one that neither of us celebrated growing up, so we wandered in upon its' festivities without realizing what was going on. But also, the reason that a person goes to a mall during the holiday season here can be very different than the reason for going back in our home country. After discussing the massive amount of people in the mall with some of our friends here, we were informed that may people come to the mall during the holiday purely to see the spectacle of the lights and music and special exhibits and spend time in a place that they would never otherwise visit. Once this was pointed out, I started to notice a number of things that would have otherwise probably passed my notice. For instance, there was a line for the escalator... not because there were so many people, but because a number of sweet women dressed in their holiday best were completely mystified and almost terrified by the prospect of stepping on to this strange mechanical staircase. From what I understand, many of these women do not wander away from their neighborhood regularly. Often they keep house, plan for meals, and do the family grocery shopping within a very small radius of their home. Their husbands or or sons may be used to high-rises and the tricky escalator, but these are very unusual things for many of these ladies and they wander around the corridors wide-eyed, and often in a slightly confused daze clogging up the escalators until getting up the courage to take the leap of faith.

We did get the chance to see a movie in the mall, which was a nice break from all of the 'new and different' that constantly bombards us. Although entering and viewing a cinematic feature seems like something pretty straight forward, we still had some surprises. After going through a rigorous security check and getting our tub of popcorn and cup of cherry coke, we headed up the stadium seating to our pre-assigned seats. Looking for a specific row in a movie theater was already odd, but as we are climbing we realized that we were the only ones moving and everyone else has stopped dead in their tracks, stood, and are facing the screen silently. I honestly had a moment of "we've wandered into body-snatcher territory!! oh no!!" when i realized that it seemed to be a highly produced version of the national anthem complete with glittering animated flag waving in the digital breeze on the screen. Oops. My bad. We quickly joined the body snatched masses for the rest of the song and then plopped into our seats. We made it about halfway through the film fully suspended in American media export when suddenly the film stopped mid-wedding scene. What!? We came to find out that they have intermissions here.. about a 15 minute break to let you get some tomato flavored popcorn, and to watch a number of commercials about how cool various carbonated beverages will make you. Sadly our intermission may have cut out some of the dialogue of the wedding scene (probably mostly the "i do" part.. goodness!), but the rest of the film went on without a hitch except for us waiting with new paranoia at what other cultural faux pas we may end up committing during possible post-movie rituals. Luckily the end of the movie was the usual leaving a mess behind and seeking the exit... most of which we could handle.
We went on to make some poor food decisions that left us home-bound the beginning of the next week. Fun fun. nothing like a bout of twisted tummys to round out a good holiday season!
Happy Holidays!
B

Ride of our life

I have been thinking about the past a lot lately. Not because I am particularly nostalgic, but because my life keeps flashing before my eyes. This enlightening experience has been given to me by multiple auto-rickshaw drivers, but in particular this previous Saturday night's ride. Bekah and I had spent the day at a mall by ourselves (and we didn't even get lost, yay!) and decided it was time to head home. So we do the natural thing and hail an auto-rick.
(If you look in the little rear view mirror you can see us :) )

If you don't know what I am talking about see the photo below, but basically these things are a three wheel golf cart frame with a motorcycle 2-stroke engine in them. This allows them to go about 35 mph (though more if going downhill). It is fun and exciting to ride in them, sliding around the vinyl seat, feeling every bump on not such great roads, and hanging on for dear life. This last thing, hanging on for dear life, was what happened Saturday. We get in and our driver nearly hits a person getting in another rick and then laughs about it as we pull away (and the large gentleman who he nearly hit is saying not nice things in another language). And away we go.

Reflecting on it, I think this man thought he was driving a motorcycle. On numerous occasions he saw an opportunity to fit his nose in between two cars and then just wedge his way through (did I mention we are going over 30mph in an open vehicle with 7 lanes of traffic in an area marked for 3?). Needless to say Bekah was worked up. She handled it great though, barely squeezing my finger and not yelling at all. But we successfully made it through every time and I would laugh afterward because I was grateful for the time that the Lord has decided to give and to extend that time. People told us before we came that we were going to almost die here, but I didn't really realize it will probably be happening on a regular basis until tonight.

Much love- Ian

Tail end of monsoon

We thought the monsoon season was over, but it seems that mother nature played a little trick on us this week. We spent the first half wading through the mud puddle that is the car lot around our building. I thought you might enjoy Ian's monsoon style... we waded through the water to get some fruit, and even though we got drenched the pineapple was worth it!
I know this one is blurry... but you can still see his pegged jeans, which is the part that killed me :) Function over form is the reality when it comes to serious rain.
B

Reality Checks

I never thought staying in South Asia was going to be a breeze. No sir. I went through lots of internet research, asked questions from people who had lived there, read a few books... and scared myself reasonably silly before even stepping foot in the country that we have committed our time to for (God willing) this next year. But I've found that no matter how much you prepare yourself for a new culture and a new place, actually arriving and being there has a sort of x-factor that you cannot prepare for no matter how hard you try.

Tomorrow marks our 2-week mark in country and for me there have been a number of "oh crap," "oh-my-gosh," and "Toto... I don't think we're in Kansas anymore" sort of moments.
"Oh crap" moments like sudsing up my face all good and soapy only to realize that the water has been turned off for the day, and my best bet is to splash myself with the 'emergency flush bucket' water.
"Toto...We're not in Kansas" moments such as watching scads of teenagers burst into tears when they realize that one of the country's biggest movie stars is eating in the cafe we're in while I have been wondering why on earth that 'guy over there' has so many friends that only stop to say hello but don't sit near him afterward... (stupid American).
But one of my larger wake up calls so far has been something more of an "oh-my-gosh" moment.
I'm volunteering with a NGO that teaches jewelry making to girls in aftercare homes. The girls I have had the privilege of getting to know this past week are very much like any teenagers you run into anywhere. They giggle a lot together, they shoot each other glances loaded with sarcasm, and they like to show off the things that they know when they have a captive audience. I am that captive audience.
I'm still getting my bearings when it comes to this mad new world that we've been dropped into and my local language skills are non-existent, so at the moment I am mostly an observer while the women in charge of the project do their thing. This is not an issue for one of the girls who seems to find unending amusement in learning new phrases in English and testing out her English on me as often as possible. I personally am getting a kick out of trying to pronounce words in her language and how she and the other girls think it is so funny when I can't quite make the sounds. She also finds it amusing how my extremely pasty white skin turns pink and reddish when she pinches it for a moment and lets go. This also makes me laugh, as it is not the first time that my extremely pale skin has been amusing to another person and I respect the chutzpa it takes to poke so confidently at someone you hardly know.
After sitting for a while, listening to the discussion of the story of Queen Esther, she starts to sing quietly to herself and I realize that I know this song very well. "Oh be careful little eyes what you see. Oh be careful little eyes what you see! For your Father up above is looking down in love, so be careful little eyes what you see." I start to sing with her, which is great because her face lights up that I know this tune as well. "okay sister!" she tells me, "Let's sing more... come... oh be careful little feet where you go..."
It is about this time that the "oh-my-gosh" hits my stomach. This is not a just any teenage girl singing a song about simple lessons of self control and warning to other children that you need to keep you eyes free of bad things, but this is a young girl who has seen many things that 'little eyes' should never have to see, and has had to go where 'little feet' should never have to go... careful or otherwise. The heaviness of this song in this context makes my insides tumble.
I think this is one of those moments when something you thought you cared about previously, suddenly gains a real face. Girls trapped in brothels and being exploited are suddenly no longer grainy pictures with blurred out eyes, but very real tangible beings that sing and laugh and eat and give hugs. While I have known this to be true for a long time, this drove it home again.
I sat back in our flat that night turning it over and over again in my mind. Young girls laughing... oh be careful little eyes what you see... the smells of spices and dust. "Oh-my-gosh." How resilient we as human beings are. The ability to laugh and sing, even after such abuse, speaks so loudly of hope to me. Yes, there is a lot of hurt and dysfunction and plenty more beneath all of the singing and laughing, but still that glimmer of hope and possibility still sits on top and gives me some of the first chills I have had since arriving in this steamy part of the world.

*Please pray for the hope possible for these girls to be realized, and for healing, wholeness, and freedom for their entire beings.
B

Jetplanes and Jetlag

We have arrived! As an update, our flight went reasonably well. Now that long flights have personalized movies it makes flying much more tolerable, though I can't help but think that I am not unlike the toddler who needs tv to travel in the back of the mini-van. When we landed, though, things became more interesting. We had to go through a infrared heat gun and sign a statement that we had not had flu-like symptoms or a fever. (India is trying to prevent the spread of H1N1) Then passport control where we were given a quick look over and stamped through. And then baggage claim. We waited for our flight to show up on a carousel and when it did we waited. Then another flight was on the same carousel and we waited and then both flights disappeared from the carousel. At this point, I was worried but Bekah remained calm and we waited and about an hour and forty minutes after landing, we received our luggage. I felt bad for our friends who had waited that entire time outside in the heat for us. They explained that this was pretty typical and they were not worried at all.

After then getting a day of rest we went and had dinner at a local restaurant where the food was excellent. On the way home we had to pass through a festival, stopped and got pineapple that was cut in the most amazing way, and then listened to shouting and singing till nearly 11 p.m. We are still getting used to the sounds and smells of this new place but I think we will be able to be happy here. It is warm but we have fans and when it gets hot we will use the AC. Thank you all for your encouragement so far!

Safe and sound

We are now at our destination and getting ready to get some much needed sleep! Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. We had zero trouble with our journey.. which is awesome.
More updates to come, but wanted to let you all kw that we are safe.
B

Flying out

We're heading out today really quickly. We'd appreciate your thoughts and prayers as we head out.
Also for anyone that had the experience of reading that bizarre twitterfeed here.... sorry about that. We're fixing it :)
B

Cross-country meadering

We're back in DC hanging out with friends and preparing to fly away on our big adventure. After a long train ride I'm glad to be sitting on a squishy couch doing a quick post!

(Fishing on Lake MI.. I'm on a boat!)

We've had a great past month visiting friends and family all over the mid-west. As usual, it is always very difficult to say goodbye. We're going to miss everyone so much, but hope that you all will keep in touch and let us know what is going on in your lives as you hear about what is going on in ours!

(getting in some paddling)
(At 'the bean' with the fam)

Besides our friends and family, we also said a (much less tear-filled) goodbye to over half of our closets. That may sound really silly, but living out of a suitcase (or hiking pack) is swiftly becoming our way of life, so simplifying is a necessity. It's good to figure out what we need and what we can do without. We get some mixed reactions when folks figure out that the things we actually use fit into four suitcases.. and honestly it challenges us a lot to think that we even have anything in storage when we have figured out how to problem solve without all of that other 'stuff.' This time though, we put our wardrobes through the 'cultural sensitivity' filter and had to bag two thirds of my clothing. Bummer. I guess it is time to get lessons in eastern modesty. should be fun :) I'm at very least looking forward to picking up a colorful scarf or two!
Looking forward to giving some updates from the other side of this big blue globe!
:) B

(Extra points if you can find us 5 times!)

OOOOOHH WE'RE HALF WAY THERE!!

OHhhhhhhh! Livin' on a praaayyyyyer!!! (sorry.. couldn't help myself.)
Just wanted to give a quick shout out to all of our friends and family in the Northern Michigan area. We really appreciate all of the love and support you all have shown us in the last couple weeks.

Just as a quick update on the finances front.... (drum roll please.)

We're just a squeak over half way! Thank you for everyone who has gotten behind us and is partnering with us.

B

Quotable quote

I love a good quote... and I also happen to have a strange love for Teddy Roosevelt. So I found this among my daily design & craft blog wanderings (guilty pleasure) on a blog called "Make it Do." I love the do-it-yourself attitude of the craft world. It helps me stay motivated to keep going in a world that often has the attitude of waiting for someone else to fix what they are complaining about. Which brings me to my next quotable quote for today (drum roll please)....
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." -Mahatma Gandhi
Be the change in your world today by doing what you can with what you have.
:)
B

Read All About It

This came through the twitter-feed today thanks to our friend @shuttergrace and I thought it was worth a share. This article gives an interview with journalist & humanitarian Benjamin Skinner. A very well articulated interview about some of the realities of human slavery internationally. Check it out!

There Are More Slaves Today Than at Any Time in Human History

By Terrence McNally, AlterNet.

Summer Days

Ian is finally done with the dreaded California bar exam and we have moved on to the greener pastures of Michigan in August! We've been having a great time hanging out with family and friends and getting a chance to get our collective 'ducks in a row' before heading back to DC and off to Asia.
Be on the lookout for our next update letter letting you know how our fundraising is going and different ways that you can help as we work to secure justice for those in bondage internationally!
I've already had some really interesting conversations with people here in the mid-west about how wide-spread the issues of human trafficking are. Many of the people I have conversations with are sincerely sad to hear about trafficking internationally, but do not realize that trafficking and slavery still exist in their own country... perhaps in their own town (here are some State reports that Ian helped research and put together a little while ago). I think we all have a lot to learn from one another and I am really excited to share what we have learned as well as hearing what is going on here.
We're hoping to have some sort of get-together or event within the next two weeks if you are in the North-western Michigan region and interested in hearing what we are up to. As for now, here's a little eye candy via our fancy-dancey cell phone camera (seriously am going to miss that thing).

Chef John's with Bekah's sisters and our friend Sean

Quintessential trip to House of Flavors!
Hanging out with the MCRC worship team (John tried to steal my phone..stinker)

Taking care of business at Redolencia Coffee

More updates to come!
B

Week of Justice

In case you haven't heard, there is a great series of events going on at Ebenezers Coffeehouse in DC called Week of Justice! AND guess who is making a cameo appearance? Us!
Come out Thursday at 7pm for a night devoted to learning about and discussing the issues of Modern Day Slavery. Everyone is invited! Click for more info :)
B

Signs of faithfulness

God remains faithful to us even when we aren't faithful to him, and this past week seems to be a gleaming reminder to me of that fact. To be quite honest, this whole process leading up to our departure has been really tough already and I have found myself getting crabby for no apparent reason. I've come to think of these (ever seemingly increasing) moments where I get really angry and then get really humbled as part of the growing pains occurring in this process.
For example... when we were in the midst of licking and sticking all of our crazy envelopes and re-folding letters I had a moment where I did a little Shirley Temple hands-on-hips and said "God! Why haven't you been faithful to us in this process yet? We have put ourselves out on a limb because we think this is where you want us and nothing has happened yet!! Grrr! Throw me a bone here!"
Luckily for me, on numerous occasions when my spiritual immaturity is hanging out for all the world to see, God whispers back a reply instead of making me the kid who gets spanked in the super market (don't you try to tell me you haven't been around for that uncomfortable experience!). Almost immediately I felt my heart stop racing and my eyes open to realize I hadn't even mailed the letters and already God had provided me with a summer job, people who had already started giving towards our fund-raising goal, and friends with amazing hospitality who have been our rock this summer. Man, I felt dumb. I quickly got back to work as we zoomed all of those letters to the post office and waved good-bye sending them with a quick prayer thanking God for his faithfulness and asking for eyes to see his work more clearly.
I'd love to say that since then that our goal has been accomplished and we are good to go, but at the moment that is not the case yet. Still, the encouragement and love that has been all around us and the presence of a holy dream seems very tangible at important times. I am looking forward to looking back on these times and pointing back down the road saying "see.. God was and is faithful. He did it again and worked a miracle."
Thank you dear friends, for being the vehicles for God's faithfulness.
B

Project Update

RELEASE THE HOUNDS!!!..... er.... LETTERS!
We released a huge load of support letters into the wild of the USPS this week asking for God's providence and thanking him for his amazing faithfulness to us.
What a feeling! It's good to have those out in circulation, but it is also difficult to let those finally go after the work it takes to get them out the door! Many thanks to the people who helped make that happen and those who have already begun to support us through various means as we step forward to serve abroad. I wish I had gotten a picture of all those letters grouped and ready to go... but sadly i spaced. So.. just in case you have yet to get your letter... here's the front of our postcard for your browsing pleasure :)
hearts!
B

Welcome to our blog

Welcome! We'll be posting shortly. We're excited for you to join us on our journey!
I&B

London!

(Copied from Bekah's blog)
They say first impressions are important. With that in mind I have put off posting for a few days for the sake of giving a positive first impression of our stay in London. :)
We got here at 7am local time Wednesday morning and Ian immediately left for school and I began my 3-day stint of full-time Nanny to a friend's child who was a ball full of energy. I felt bad for the poor kid because I was so completely bushed after being awake for 24 hours that first day, i was probably no fun at all! Still... cameras are a big hit.. especially when you can take pictures of the other person taking a picture of you... she though this was just grand!If I had not yet won favor, I think that my ability to draw pictures that looked like her Disney princess dolls may have done the trick. Ah... my college education at work.
SO... If I had in fact blogged before today that is pretty much all you would have seen. Myself and my new preschool friend and Ariel in her post-mermaid dress. THAT is what London is all about. NOOoooooo. Moving on...
Trafalgar Square! Finally today Ian and I got out for a touch of sight seeing. After morning service at Holy Trinity Brompton (which we enjoyed) we headed out to the center of vacation snapshots....
This so far has to be my favorite picture... maybe ever. I love this guy and this picture makes me so happy! He's amazing and I am thrilled we get to finally globe-trot more together.
And me! Those cars whirring past in the background were actually going quite quickly... maybe. That is one thing I am unsure of here.. are the cars really going faster? Or am I just ridiculously close to the road at all times?
Big Ben! Since we are mere mortals we saw Ben (which happens to only refer to the clock and not the tower.. did you know that?) from behind a rather tall gate.
We have been reading up on London, and we figured it was no time to stop. Ian was reading me from our tour book as we went along. He read, I took pictures. Pretty keen deal.
Just one more for fun... with the London Eye in the background!
We took a quick turn around the grounds of Westminster Abbey...
And then back past Parliament on our way back to the tube to go back home to our teeny flat.
Hooray! The rumors are true! We really are in London!!!!

Needless to say, I plan to revisit all of these sights again, but it was good to finally get to take a little look around at some of the iconic sights of this city. If it crosses our mind please pray for our health. We are still recovering from some jet-lag and just generally no sleeping as well on our 'dorm bed'.
Cheers!
B