Notes from Asia

The woman with the light brown skin and colourful calf-length skirt put her hands together in a prayer gesture and lifted them to her chin, greeting me in the traditional way. "Hello!" she said to me in her language. "Hello," I replied shyly, utilizing the only phrase of the local language that I know and remember!

My bare feet slapping on the cool tile floor, I went inside the church and sat on a plastic chair at the back of the room, next to some other young people, and tried to make some sense of all that the preacher was saying. I couldn't! One lady, who spoke English a little, told me that the text was from Ecclesiasties 3, and so I looked down at the Bible in my lap and writhed in frustration. I wish I had the gift of tongues!!

I joined my fellow SMs and some other Engish speakers for Sabbath potluck, which was sticky rice and various sauces and vegetables. To eat potluck here, you take a big scoop of sticky rice and fashion it into smaller "cups", with which you scoop up the other food.

My team here has done so much to make me feel welcome and at home, which I really appreciate with all the changes I have to get used to. But this is a beautiful city, full of fascinating things. There are elaborate temples on almost every corner, coloured red and gold, with large idols at the gates and smaller ones carved into the walls and roof corners. Small "houses" or altars to ancestral or territorial spirits sit at some street corners or houses. There are beautiful red and pink flowers, tall coconut trees and deep green plants wherever you look. Almost everyone here rides a motorcycle wherever they need, and the traffic laws are very...flexible!! As one of my team mates told me, "You need to drive defensively if you don't want to get killed!!"

Please continue to pray for me. I'm sure I'll go through some culture shock at some point, and I have many expectations to live up to and jobs to accomplish. In the moments when I can't communicate and everything seems a bit too different, I remind myself that God called me here. He has some plan. And that's enough for me.