Hello Friends,
Yep, it's been a year since I've updated this blog, as you can see. And quite a year it has been! Last Oct & Nov (2013) I spent 4 weeks in the US to attend weddings and a conference. When I returned to the field in mid-November, my life on the field was in for a dramatically change. The next several months (till July '14) were some of the hardest of my life. Mostly, it was because I no longer had any teammates serving with me at the Home, dialoging and encouraging me, helping me to maintain focus, and simply providing companionship in my "off-work" hours. Loneliness became a difficult trial to endure, and I kept looking for ways to endure well. I'm not sure if I succeeded-- I'm still searching for answers to the significance of that period of my life-- but I know God had a purpose in it, and that He grew me in valuable ways that I'll understand more clearly in the future. But by the time May rolled around, it became clear that the situation was not going to change, and it was not a healthy situation for me to stay in. God's will that I leave the field became clear. So in July, I said good-bye to my friends on the field, to the dear smiling faces of the children, packed up my apartment, and flew one-way to Atlanta, thus ending my term at the Children's Home.
Since I've been back in the US, every day I've asked God what He wants me to do now. I expected to serve in the Saffron Land for years to come. Returning to the US with no specific plan of what to do next was not in "the plan". I still don't know what God is calling me to do, but as I've prayed and thought and prayed more, a few things have been made clear: I still have an deep and unexplainable love and burden for the Saffron Land, and specifically for the needs of fatherless children and their caretakers. Sometimes I wake up with the unbidden desire to cry simply because I know the needs in the Saffron Land, their faces float through my mind, and I feel so helpless, far away, and unable to do anything significant to help. I'm still sorting and praying through what I CAN do --what God wants me to do-- now that He's closed the door on me actually being there. I'll let you know when I figure it out.
In meantime, here are some pictures from my last weeks on the field...
In June, my dear friend who is a house mother at the Children’s Home got married and my apartment was transformed into an Asian beauty parlor!
Though it rained heavily on our team hike, we found a sheep lean-to just in time to avoid the heaviest showers, and someone thought ahead enough to bring ponchos for all. :o)
After the three summer interns left, another team from the US came to teach seminars to some staff and give art and photography workshops to the children at the Home.
Before the taxi drove me to the airport, I went to the school to meet the kids for one last goodbye during their break time.
My empty room...
July is a month of religious pilgrimages. On the way to the airport we passed many orange-clad pilgrims who walked for days by foot to holy sites destinations where they would collect holy water and carry it back in special containers to bring blessing to their homes.
From the airport window, my last view of the Saffron Land, the capital city...
I wonder,... what will the next year hold??
Yep, it's been a year since I've updated this blog, as you can see. And quite a year it has been! Last Oct & Nov (2013) I spent 4 weeks in the US to attend weddings and a conference. When I returned to the field in mid-November, my life on the field was in for a dramatically change. The next several months (till July '14) were some of the hardest of my life. Mostly, it was because I no longer had any teammates serving with me at the Home, dialoging and encouraging me, helping me to maintain focus, and simply providing companionship in my "off-work" hours. Loneliness became a difficult trial to endure, and I kept looking for ways to endure well. I'm not sure if I succeeded-- I'm still searching for answers to the significance of that period of my life-- but I know God had a purpose in it, and that He grew me in valuable ways that I'll understand more clearly in the future. But by the time May rolled around, it became clear that the situation was not going to change, and it was not a healthy situation for me to stay in. God's will that I leave the field became clear. So in July, I said good-bye to my friends on the field, to the dear smiling faces of the children, packed up my apartment, and flew one-way to Atlanta, thus ending my term at the Children's Home.
Since I've been back in the US, every day I've asked God what He wants me to do now. I expected to serve in the Saffron Land for years to come. Returning to the US with no specific plan of what to do next was not in "the plan". I still don't know what God is calling me to do, but as I've prayed and thought and prayed more, a few things have been made clear: I still have an deep and unexplainable love and burden for the Saffron Land, and specifically for the needs of fatherless children and their caretakers. Sometimes I wake up with the unbidden desire to cry simply because I know the needs in the Saffron Land, their faces float through my mind, and I feel so helpless, far away, and unable to do anything significant to help. I'm still sorting and praying through what I CAN do --what God wants me to do-- now that He's closed the door on me actually being there. I'll let you know when I figure it out.
In meantime, here are some pictures from my last weeks on the field...
In June, my dear friend who is a house mother at the Children’s Home got married and my apartment was transformed into an Asian beauty parlor!
A team retreat... (goofing off doing robot poses one night)
The staff ladies at the Home gave me a sweet farewell program the day before I left.
As I packed my apartment, I took a map off my wall and let some little boys study it on the lawn outside.
Before I left, I spilled out a box of rubber brand bracelet-making materials that a sponsor had sent and the kids had a grand time assembling them in the Resource Center in the days before school resumed.
My friends in the city gave me a nice farewell...
After I sold my car (how I'll miss that car --it was SUCH a blessing!!) my friends drove me back to the Children's Home from the city. It was a sad farewell and we took a photo to document the emotion.
How I miss these smiling faces!!!!
My last morning at the Home and last time eating breakfast with the girls....
Saying goodbye to my friend Meera, her new husband, and their adorable pup..
My empty room...
July is a month of religious pilgrimages. On the way to the airport we passed many orange-clad pilgrims who walked for days by foot to holy sites destinations where they would collect holy water and carry it back in special containers to bring blessing to their homes.
From the airport window, my last view of the Saffron Land, the capital city...
Back at home with my family...
I wonder,... what will the next year hold??
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