I know that a lot of famous bands have groupies, but couple of dragons? I never thought I’d find myself in that boat, but sure enough, that was the realization going through my head as I followed two 100 foot-long dragons through the center of our friend Chuck’s hometown. It was New Years day, a time that many towns put on displays for their residents, and for us it was a pair of human-powered dragons snaking their way through the streets. As we followed the show around, I realized what a unique opportunity we had: likely the only foreigners in this 20,000 person town, we had the privilege of not just following some dragons around, but bringing in the New Year just like the locals did, with them, on their own streets.
This quick trip to our friend’s house was not all that special because of me being particularly spiritual or “on” (I wasn’t, after nearly four weeks of continuous travel and crazy schedules in my life), or because of our amazing conversations about the Lord (we barely had any), but rather because we got to spend time with one of our key friends, staying in his house, sharing meals with his family, and showing him with our actions that we care about him. I’m glad we got to spend time with Chuck, and we believe that he will come into the Family this semester, and one day be a rock and foundation of the church here.
Thank you so much for your prayers and support over the last month and a half. It’s been crazy: a two week visit by my family (yay!), 10 days in Thailand, a spur-of-the-moment two-day trip to Chuck’s house, a week of special teaching for the city while our friends were gone, and now we’re diving back into a “regular” schedule. On top of that, I’ve had some other cool things happening in my life – shoot me an email if you want to know more! 🙂
Can I ask you to pray for a few key things in this next month? They are:
- Help for me to focus on friends in the home stretch of our time in Asia. There are many things, all of them good, also calling out for my attention as CT changes and we start looking ahead to planning for next year, and I need wisdom to integrate all of these things with my primary mission of planting a “family party” here on campus.
- Good health and energy, not just for me (I’ve got the sniffles today, but nothing too bad), but for our whole team so we can finish well in our last 2 ½ months here.
- Our Stateside team, as they do a blitz of recruiting for next year, prepare for our April training event and get ready for all of us to come home in May. We only have two workers back home this year, and they’ve got a lot on their plate!
Thanks so much for your love, prayers, and support. We’re reaching Asia together!
Ben