Following God's Plan, Not My Own
I came to SE Asia with the focus to help develop a health education program, but over the last few months we have been exploring the possibility that God may have called me here for a different purpose. Currently, I am continuing to help with public health education but more on the nutritional side of things through working at our farm in the mountains. We use the farm as an educational center for community development, helping our friends see how they can sustainably farm steep terrain and raise goats to provide food for their families and generate more income. We also have examples of small… Read more >>
Language is a Door
If I use the phrases in their language that I know, the local people often light up. You can almost see them thinking to themselves, "This white person is speaking one of my languages!" When I try to speak in their language people are more at ease, and it opens a door to connect in a different way. It encourages me to keep trying, even though I often make a fool of myself by mis-pronouncing words or remembering them incorrectly. Language school was a stretch for me. It was good, difficult, and successful! I am a long way from being fluent, but I am hearing, understanding, and speaking… Read more >>
Adventures in Language
Guess what? I have the opportunity to go to language school! I'm two weeks into a six week intensive language course at the other end of this lovely country. My teammate and I have the opportunity to jump start our language learning so that we will be able to be more effective in our service for the next 18 months. We are in an urban college town with many modern conveniences, but it still has a small town feel. During the week we have class in the morning and practice with vendors in the market in the afternoons. Local families are hosting each of us, so we also get to practice in the… Read more >>
Making Him Known
A lady with a bright orange scarf caught my eye and waved me over. I could tell just from looking at her that she was happy. She explained to me the best English she could muster that she could SEE! She came to our medical clinic, saw one of the doctors, and then was able to go pick out a pair of glasses. She was so excited that she could see the world around her clearly again. She was glowing with excitement and joy. In mid-January our team was able to serve almost 1,150 people through providing counseling (including prayer with every patient), health education, medical and dental care… Read more >>