“Seminary trained my mind, but the poor trained my heart.” The Indian Malaysian man who spoke this piercing truth to my friends and I today, from his deep, painful and inexpressibly joyful experience, offered it to us, leaning forward with tears in his eyes. I could nearly see in his retinas a reflection of the [...]
Archive for November, 2011
Provoked, here in Malaysia
Posted in the Nations, travels, tagged Father, Kingdom, malaysia, poor on November 30, 2011 | 3 Comments »
Journey of Thanks-giving
Posted in food, travels, tagged family, food, Hong Kong, thanksgiving on November 25, 2011 | 2 Comments »
I am in a room of 200 jumping, yelling, joyful mostly-teenagers. I think the last time that happened, I was a teenager myself! It’s the day after Thanksgiving, but it’s no normal day-after-Thanksgiving Day… I am in Hong Kong, at an English-speaking youth worship event, hosted by a good friend of mine here. I’m not [...]
Everything’s changing
Posted in the Nations, travels, writing to YOU, tagged 24-7 prayer, japan, prayer, tsunami on November 18, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
“Have you girls ever seen two sunrises in the same day?” Our flight attendant asked this of Amanda Siebold and I, as we flew somewhere over the North Pole on our way to Tokyo. The route we took unusually afforded us two sunrises in one “day”, and I felt the Lord speak to me that [...]
That triangle, powerful
Posted in the Nations, travels, tagged grief, japan, story, tsunami on November 12, 2011 | 6 Comments »
Kanno-san sat down on the cushion on the tatami mats by himself, a late-comer to our mobile cafe. I offered him kohi, or coffee, and when I brought it to him he started speaking to me in Japanese. My new friend Andy, an American Japanese who grew up here but has lived in Chicago for [...]
8 cups of rice
Posted in the Nations, travels, tagged grief, hope, japan, tsunami on November 10, 2011 | 3 Comments »
Eight cups of short-grain Japanese rice. Rinse it, drain off the cloudy water. Fill to the 8-cup line with water. Push the red button with the Chinese characters on it, that I think says “zuo fan” – “cook the rice”. Ready for Japanese curry lunch. Cartwheels and front handsprings out front of this building where [...]
Here we go: Japan #1
Posted in 24-7 Prayer, Boiler Room, the Nations, travels, tagged 24-7 prayer, family, japan, prayer on November 7, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
I’m going to Japan tomorrow. I’m really glad. I am armed with eight hours of Japanese language and cultural lessons, which will make this trip very different from my other three this year! I can properly introduce myself now – hajime mashite Wendy desu, doozo yoroshiku - and I know some ways to honor those I [...]
