Rachel Hampton

Adjusting March 9, 2010

Life with God is never boring. I know that for a fact. Sometimes I might wish for a little “boring”, but if I had very much of it, I’d be back to wanting excitement again.  I’m kind of in an in-between stage right now. Life in Manila is definitely not boring. I am out of my element and experiencing new things regularly. I’m surrounded by people that look very different than me (though I do spot a whitey almost daily) and also speak a different language. None of that bothers me. What I want is to find my niche. Meet those people who are God-ordained to become my friends this year (Heaven help them). The people I text on the weekends to find out what we’re doing for fun. Those that I invite over for dinner and a game night. Close friends I can pray with and talk to about what God is teaching me.  I know I have that last thing with friends that aren’t here, but I’d like some face-to-face conversations about that as well. From people that live in the same place I do. I’ve made some work friends since arriving and reconnected with people I met last March when Doulos was here, but it’s different. I feel like they have their lives here and foundations built that maybe I don’t quite fit into.  I’m the new girl looking for my place to fit in. And that’s ok. It doesn’t depress me, but it does make me feel a bit bored sometimes at night. And I know time will cure the issue. I look forward to finding a church, joining a small group, and getting involved in ministry that will open up more doors to get to know people. Of course that’s not why I want to do those things, but it’ll be a pretty nice bonus.  Majority of people here are very nice and friendly. In fact, I have an amazing neighbor who is always checking up on me and making sure I’m doing ok.  I am also encountering the battle between being a good witness/showing love to non-Christians and not participating in their lifestyle. It’s a fine line and one I want to be very careful about. If someone asks me to go out, how can I constantly tell them ‘no’, knowing where they’re going but make them understand I’m not judging them but choose not to live that way? Will they give me the time of day later in a different environment if I’m always turning them down to go out? Just please continue your prayers regarding these issues.

Speaking of church…at least I was earlier…I’ve visited a couple different ones since arriving. My third I really enjoyed and I went back this past week as well. Now I know I probably should try a few more before I decide on one, but I really like Victory. The worship was led by different people the two weeks I went, but was very genuine both times.

In other news…*whispers* Wanna hear something exciting? I found an apartment! That’s right and it’s perfect! In the three weeks I was looking, there wasn’t one that I really liked (at least not one that was in my price range). I was so grateful to find one online that I thought looked really nice and scheduled a visit. Less than a week later, I moved in!  Many of the places here say they are furnished but are usually filled with leftover furniture that doesn’t match or is half-full but still wants to use the title of “furnished”. My place is actually furnished and furnished beautifully! The owner took care and made the place look like a home and somewhere you would want to live. The items I needed to buy were pretty minimal. Not only that but it is close to work, cheaper than most things I saw, and in a nice, quiet neighborhood. I felt God hand-picked this for me. And the owner is AMAZING. She actually took time out of her schedule to come and pick me up in her van and move me and my stuff in. And I’ve already had a visitor! My friend Ruby from the Doulos has stayed with me a few nights. I will try to post photos of my place soon so you can see where I’m spending probably way too much of my time.

Work also is going great! The office is filled with Mac users (yay!) who, on top of that, are pretty cool individuals. I’m excited to get started on the work I will be doing. Some of you probably have no idea what it is I am doing. How about I save that for another post? My fingers are begging for a rest. I’d better oblige, I’m pretty low on friends right now and I’m fond of those guys…:)

Birthday in Manila February 15, 2010

Spending your birthday in another country is pretty cool. No, you don’t have your friends and family but you do have a new experience. That is just what this birthday was for me

A few friends decided we would go get dinner and a movie. Well, Julia, one girl who lives near where I am living now, decided we should ride together to meet Aileen at Mall of Asia (biggest mall in Asia!). But getting there was no small feat. First we took a jeepney to a local mall where we could pick up the MRT or train.  We waited at the platform but realized as the train pulled up that…oops…the train did not stop that far down. So we ran down the platform a bit to try to find a door we could fit in. There was quite a crowd so it wasn’t easy. We ended up pushing and shoving our way onto a car with little room. But we had made it! We rode to the end of the line where we had to pick up a taxi or jeepney to go the remainder of the distance. Well, where we got off there were jeepneys galore but no taxis in sight. After asking someone, they directed us to what jeepney could take us to Mall of Asia. Finally, one was coming. Unfortunately, it didn’t stop. We saw a bunch of people running to jump on so joined in the group. I doubted the chance of us getting on but Julia kept urging “run, run!” I had this vision of me falling and injuring myself as I grabbed the back and attempted to hoist myself into the moving jeepney. Thankfully another passenger grabbed my arm and helped pull me in.  I couldn’t help laughing and loving it. I can’t say that on any other birthday I ran down my transport. The traffic was absolutely INSANE. If you are ever in Manila and want to go to Mall of Asia, DO NOT go on a Sunday night. Or probably any weekend night for that matter. We actually got out and walked the rest of the way. So we were there, hallelujah. Unfortunately we had to get to the restaurant. And when I say this mall is enormous, I am not exaggerating! And the people traffic was possibly worse than car traffic. As we are hurrying along, weaving between people, we ended up walking along side a playing percussion/band. And watching Julia dramatically launch into a marching band walk was pretty entertaining. Then maybe 5-10 min later, miraculously, the restaurant came into view. One problem: the thousands of people between us and the door. Shoulder to shoulder…barely room to walk. I have never seen anything so crazy! I’m sure it didn’t help that it was Valentine’s Day and Chinese New Year. Everyone and their mother was out. We employed the buddy system and, though feeling like fish swimming upstream, eventually made it.  Poor Aileen ended up waiting on us for about an hour!

After our dinner we headed upstairs for a showing of Valentine’s Day. Since it was my birthday, we decided to splurge on the Director’s Cinema. A small theater with reclining leather armchairs! The $6 price also included popcorn and drinks. Living the high life, haha. It was a great night and I am so thankful for another year of celebrating my birthday in the Philippines! Last year we were in Cebu, Philippines…I think

Today I was able to celebrate my birthday even more with my new co-workers who kindly bought me cake and presents. We sat around and got to know each other some before Aileen and I headed out to shop for an apartment. We went to 14 today and I’ll see more tomorrow. Please pray for wisdom as I choose a place that will be my home for the next year. Also I’d encourage prayer for a good deal as they are a bit more than expensive than planned.

God is good; he has granted me another year to serve Him. Here’s hoping this next year is better than the last and they keep getting better from here

My new home… February 9, 2010

I’m here! Manila, Philippines. Even though I’ve spent the past year on a ship that has traveled all over Asia, right now I feel like a great adventurer. There was a certain cocoon-ness of ship-life. Yes, you are exploring cities around the world and are constantly in new environments, but when you go home, you go home to a ship that is in the harbor and somehow cut off from the city in which it’s berthed. You are never alone and there is never one city that actually becomes your home. Those days are behind me. I am a resident of Manila, Philippines. For the next year, this beautiful, friendly, foreign place will be my home. It’s hard to imagine a life where newness and travel are not a part of it. I’m of the rare breed that loves change. It can sometimes be nerve-wracking, but in an exciting way. And traveling allows me to see even more of the wonderful world that God has created. It blows my mind to see how different (but still sometimes the same) the world is. God formed the people here in their mother’s wombs and cares just as much about the details of their lives as He does mine. We may not all speak the same language, eat the same food (except for McDonalds which you cannot escape from no matter where in the world you are), or come from the same culture, but we have at least one thing connecting us: we were brought into existence by a vastly creative God.

In the past few days I’ve walked down the street, ridden in a jeepney, hailed a taxi, wandered a mall, all the while looking at the people around me in my new home and being overwhelmed by God’s love for them. I have a purpose here that surpasses working in an office for a great organization that I believe in. And my purpose doesn’t require a job description, office clothes, or a business savvy attitude.  It all boils down to one word. LOVE. God has really been working in my life recently on this issue. When we truly have love for others, it permeates everything else we do. Our own desires and list of priorities are torn down to the very basics; from what we want to what we need. If I truly love my brother down the street who is struggling to provide food for his family (which is much more a reality here), how easy it will be to give up something totally meaningless like cable TV in order to use that money for him? I want to be filled with a love and compassion for the people here as I know God is. The line of a famous praise song constantly comes to mind “Break my heart for what breaks yours.” I know God’s heart is broken for the lost people here who are destined to spend an eternity without him. Is mine to the same level? I’m not sure that I can honestly say it is. But I desire for it to be. The line of that song is certainly a cry of my heart. I yearn to be a light to the lost people around me. To be as effective a disciple of Christ as I can be. To be emptied of the ugly pride, selfishness, and sin that is in my heart. To fill that with the love of God. On my own, I am incapable of living out love with complete abandon. But-can I hear an amen-I belong to a super-powerful God who makes that possible. And through Him, even this sarcastic, self-centered, failure of a woman is capable of anything! And I’m looking forward to what “anything” will turn out to be this year.

October 13, 2005 January 23, 2010

This date may mean nothing to you. It didn’t really mean much to me until about fifteen minutes ago. That’s when (while reading an old blog) I came across an entry that mentions, for the first time, my interest in the missions program I belong to now. It was written over four years ago!

I was talking to a friend online a bit ago who had a timeline for missions that was completely changed on him. We were discussing how God’s timing is often very different from our own. That’s not always easy. In fact, it can be extremely hard. Often because we have a “I want it now” mentality. But have you ever looked in the Bible at the people who God spoke to? Have you ever seen how long they actually had to wait to see His promises fulfilled? I have a whole list that, of course, I can’t find right now of people God made a promise to and then how long it took for that promise to turn into reality. Seems often “waiting” is just how God operates. But, we get into this “blame God” attitude when things don’t go our way. But just because God promises us something doesn’t mean He’ll do it on our time table…or right away. He has reasons, that are far above what we could conjure up, for doing what he does and when. It’s just our job to trust and obey. He told me to go to the mission field. I said ok. Then I waited. And I got impatient and a little peeved. Um, hello…God? I said ok…what are you waiting for? To this day I still don’t know why I had to wait three years, but I feel God taught me a lot about trusting him. Being faithful and willing to do what He’s called me to do and let Him do it when He wants. Not that I’m an expert or perfect at this or have amazing, limitless amounts of patience. No way.  Just ask those who ride in a car with me. It’s called a passing lane for a reason people!

But honestly, this is as good of a reminder for me as anyone. If we have surrendered our life to God, that should mean we trust Him to do what He wants WHEN He wants.

I’m doing a little bit of waiting right now. I should be on my way/in the Philippines right about now. That was the plan. My plan. I had it all worked out. Sounded perfect. I was ready. Then things happened to change that. So now my leave date has been pushed back a week or so. Thankfully, God gave me so much peace the day I found out and since. I just had this feeling that, for whatever reason, God was not surprised by this change in MY timing. Don’t think surprising him is really too possible. So if He knew, why get stressed?

I’m sure I’ll also be facing some waiting/patience tests in the Philippines as well. While I don’t look forward to them, I do look forward to learning more about the great God I serve. No matter how hard things get, He’s always enough. His grace expands to fit the need we have for it.  Pretty remarkable.

So please, continue to pray for me as I embark on the next year….a year in Manila. And I pray that no matter where we are in life, we’ll be able to trust more and more on God’s timing. I guess that’s a lifetime kind of lesson but…well….what else do you have to do?

Bitter-sweet December 30, 2009

I am home. That is the sweet part. Doulos is no longer home. That’s the bitter.

It is so strange for my crazy, world-traveling year to already be over. But as I rode on my freaking-long plane ride only hours ago, I listened to some worship songs and couldn’t help but smile as I mouthed the words “Lord you are good and your mercy endures forever”. This past year has been everything I hoped for but so much more than I expected! And it went by way too fast. Just a few things I feel God taught me:

1. Serving Him with gladness is so much better than serving Him out of  a sense of requirement.

2. People around the world are a lot more similar than we sometimes think.

3. Cultures are different but you can still build amazing, lasting, compromising friendships in spite of that fact.

4. God may not always show you how He’s working, but He IS faithful and will bring things to completion in HIS timing.

5. I have lived a blessed life.

6. There is a big world out there and I need to stop living selfishly and give more.

7. I serve an amazingly powerful God who is as capable of performing miracles now as he was in the Old Testament.

8. Planting spiritual seeds is just as important as harvesting, we should always be willing to do whichever God places before us.

9. It really is a small world.

10.  Serving God is a privilege and a blessing and I’m humbled to be given the opportunity every single day.

There is more I’ve learned but those are just off the top of my head. Though I am still headed to the Philippines for another year of service with Wycliffe, I am now home for three weeks to spend time with friends and family. I seem to adapt so quickly to everything that thus far, this just feels normal. Maybe I’m still in denial of leaving or the full impact hasn’t hit me, but for some reason it doesn’t feel odd to be sitting here on the couch between my parents while my mom watches tv (and comments to no one in particular cause no one is listening) and my dad reads a magazine.

I’m just overwhelmed by God’s goodness. It took me so long to get to the Doulos but it was definitely worth the wait. It would take a long time to express or explain all that I went through and no one but people who went through it with me would truly understand. I’m really looking forward to the next year and seeing what God will do then. But for now I’m just filled with thankfulness. God is good. All the time. I know this to be true. I’ve seen and experienced it. My prayer is that each one of you will see the same.

Change is exciting! November 30, 2009

In case you don’t receive my newsletters, I have big news! The Doulos, the ship I’ve been living on since February 1st of this year is being decommissioned. We all knew this would happen but figured it would be September of next year. Boy were we surprised to hear it was December 31, 2009! This threw a lot of people’s “schedules” off because we had a new group of people join just a few months ago for two years. Still, the attitude on the ship is positive and uplifting for me to see. Most people are unsure of where they will go next but excited to see the opportunities God has for them. It didn’t cause too many problems for me, just moved my leaving date up. I had planned to go to Manila, Philippines in early February but now I’ll be leaving about a month earlier. I’m excited to go and start working with Wycliffe Bible Translators for the next year. Please do pray for our community on board that everyone will see where it is God wants them to go and will follow Him wholeheartedly. And pray for my transition to Manila as well because it’ll be a very different lifestyle than ship’s life. I’m looking forward to it though!

Also I’ve updated my newsletter page with all my newsletters for the past few months. Since we’re no longer going to the middle east, it’s not unwise for me to put those up anymore. Oh yeah, that reminds me…we’re not going to the middle east. Haha. We’re staying here in Singapore until the end of the year. After that, the ship will be sold or…something. We’re not sure. So thanks for your prayers and if you’re in Manila, be sure to look me up!

Time with God November 15, 2009

There is one really great thing about having lots of free time here in Malaysia during my second land team phase. The amount of time I’ve been able to spend with God. I’ve downloaded sermons from Ergun Caner and Ted Cunningham (my amazing pastor from my church in Arkansas) which were really great. I’ve been reading “What’s so amazing about grace” by Philip Yancey (thanks Doulos library!) which has taught me a lot already. And of course I’ve been able to read the best book…God’s Word. I wanted to share something that God taught me last week that is still floating around in my brain. It’s amazing how personal He is! If you’ve got your Bibles, turn with me to Acts 20:22-24 .

“And now I am going to Jerusalem, drawn there irresistibly by the Holy Spirit, not knowing what awaits me, except that the Holy Spirit has told me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. But my life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus–the work of telling others the Good News about God’s wonderful kindness and love.”

I felt God really showing me the parallel between Paul’s missionary journey and mine. I am in no way comparing myself to Paul. I’m not stupid enough to make that mistake…but God knows how influential this man has been in my life and was showing me how we have some things in common. He’s not just a character in a book, he’s real and his life lessons are applicable to me. Like Paul, I am traveling from city to city on the Doulos. I may not face jail but there is suffering involved. Not to the extent of Paul, but suffering nonetheless. Like missing family, losing my grandfather, encountering loneliness or discouragement. All kinds of things. But I knew this would happen. God says in His Word that we would face trials and be persecuted in one way or another because of our faith in Him. BUT, that means we get to share in his suffering! I’m not worthy but what an honor!! And regardless of what suffering I face, I know God has called me to serve here and, in a few months, the Philippines. So why complain about these sufferings? Like the verse says, what is my life worth unless I am telling people about God’s love? It is the work God has assigned me, just like he assigned Paul…and all of us. There are still so many people in the world who don’t know the amazing love of God. It breaks my heart to think about it. What a huge assignment I have. What does a little suffering matter in the grand scheme of things? It’s not about our comfort now that we know him. We should be rescuing people from the same fate we were once destined to face. It was a great reminder for me. And of course you’re a missionary too. Maybe not overseas being tossed around on a big ship, but God has still given you this same assignment. Don’t take it for granted!

9 months…really? November 7, 2009

“Hi, my name is Rachel, I’m from the USA and I’ve been on the ship for…..9 months?!”

This was my intro at a recent program at a church in Malaysia. I was surprised as I announced it. Just a few days ago I hit my 9 month mark of being on the ship. Unbelievable. That means only 3 more months to go! It’s so amazing how fast time flies. It does not seem like I’ve been living this crazy, world-traveling life for that long. It’s been such an exciting ride.

Last you heard I was in Pasir Gudang, Malaysia. After a few weeks of great ministry there, we headed to Singapore. The ship was only open for five days but we tried to use the time as best as possible. I also used the time to do some sightseeing. Having never been to Singapore, I was determined to see as much as possible. Luckily one of my good friends, Clarence, who used to be a stepper on board, lives there and was kind enough to show us around.

After a quick five days, the ship moved into dry dock. Every year it has to go through routine maintenance out of the water. During this time, half the crew is sent on land teams to Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia to do ministry and help in these areas. For the first two weeks I was in Bandung, Indonesia, near Jakarta. I went with an amazing team! One of my roommates, who was more than happy to go back to her home country, my previous roommate, Fumie from Japan, and one of my dear friends, Jennifer from USA. We worked with a local church doing youth programs, bible studies, as well as traveling to schools and sharing about the work that Doulos does. The two weeks absolutely flew by! Our hosts were so gracious and kind and made sure we saw alot of the area. There were also three young people who worked/went to the church who befriended us and made us feel like we were just hanging out with friends.

After that, all teams met back in Singapore for three days of debrief and preparation for PHASE 2. My second phase brought us back to Malaysia, closer to Kuala Lumpur. There’s me, Natalja from Russia, Tseko from Mongolia, Soomin from South Korea, and Minhae from South Korea. Again, our hosts are WONDERFUL. We’re staying at a youth house the church just opened recently for local students. Their desire is to have a place for the young people to study because many of their homes do not have a good environment for this. Next week we’ll be busy painting the inside and working on putting the logo I designed on their wall. In the meantime we’ve been spending time with the youth, local churches, and hosting ladies meetings while also seeing a lot of the surrounding area. We were scheduled to be here for two weeks but just found out the ship is not going to be ready to sail on time so we are staying here for another week. But hopefully the 23rd we’ll sail from Singapore and head to the middle east! I’m excited to see this part of the world and serve them in God’s name. Because this is a sensitive area, all of the ladies on board will have to adjust our wardrobe (hello ankle length skirts!) and be sensitive in what we say and do. If you’d like to hear more about how God has been working in my life, feel free to send me an email. I’d love to share. Thanks for your continued prayers. God is good…all the time. Everyday I see that this is true!

Malaysia is pretty awesome September 28, 2009

So it’s time again for a massively-long post. Again. I really don’t try to be so horrible at blogging. But I won’t bore you with excuses again. I’ll bore you instead with detailed descriptions of my past month.

I am now in my second port in Malaysia. The first one, Kota Kinabalu, was one of my favorite ports thus far. It was absolutely gorgeous and I would definitely recommend it for a vacation destination! The ship was surrounded by beautiful, blue water and we could see stunning mountains in the distance. One, Mount Kinabalu is the tallest in Malaysia. I wish I had a chance to go and visit it but it was a little far. There were islands around the coast that you could go to for the day and enjoy the beaches, snorkling, and water sports. The first time we attempted this (James, Josh, Ryan, Geoff, Clarence, Anderson, and I) was not a success…weather-wise. It was sunny when we headed out but the water was rough. In fact, the boat we rode in to get there was throwing us all over the place. I was holding onto the side and each time I slammed down onto my seat, my arm also slammed into the pole i was holding on to. I had a HUGE, lovely bruise for about a week afterwards. It rained off and on all day but we still had a lot of fun. It was cold if we got out of the water so we just stayed in the water the whole time, up to our necks so none of our skin was exposed to the elements. We stayed there all day but eventually had to head back for work. Because of the rain and massive waves, we were continuously soaked by water in the boat on the way back to mainland. But it made for a really hilarious memory.

We also got to go to an island another day. Our shift from bookshop decided on our day off we were all going to go to an island. It was the perfect day and we had a great time! We had a BBQ, did some swimming, laying out, snorkling, and…best of all…I got to go parasailing! I had never been before and it was awesome. We got about 10 min but being up above the water and sailing was so peaceful. It was also one of the last things I got to do with James before he left the ship. If you’ve never done it before, you seriously need to. That night I didn’t want to eat ship food so James, Josh, and I decided to go into town and eat Italian. Then we sat in Starbucks (free internet!) for hours on our respective macs and enjoyed the fast wifi. It was the perfect end to the perfect day.

A few days later, James left to go back to Ireland. A bunch of us decided to take him out for one final dinner and it was, honestly, one of the most fun nights I’ve had on the ship. We all dressed up and ate at one of James’ favorite hotels in KK. It’s hard to explain what made it so great. We had hilarious conversations, took great photos and made lasting memories. That sounded so cheesy but it’s true. After we came back to the ship, we didn’t want to separate so we just sat outside and talked and laughed for another hour or two. The next morning he left.

Many people are coming and going on the ship and you get used to it. I’ve never been too sad about it but this time was different. I’ve never been really close to the people that have left. In the past few weeks, many people I’m very close to left. Not only that, but I felt a void in their absence. Especially during work. A new group of crew joined in the days after my friends left and so bookshop changed completely. Instead of the comfortable, easy conversations and work environment I’ve been used to, it changed so much. The first few days I had a really hard time. I missed my friends and being comfortable and having fun. I didn’t want to have the “getting to know you” conversations a million times. But as we sailed from KK to our next port, Pasir Gudang, I went on the deck and was talking to God. He asked me “Rachel, you feel such a void from some of your friends being gone but your time with me has been horrible lately and do you feel a void from ME being gone?” Ouch. I suck. It was a really good reminder. And I need them all the time. It’s amazing how even when I’m a crap daughter that God is ALWAYS willing to teach me things. I hope I never stop listening. So since then, things have been much better. Yes, I still miss my friends but things are going well on the ship. In fact, the other day was SUCH a good day. God blessed me hour after hour. But I need to be more willing to praise Him and thank Him on days that aren’t so wonderful. That’s more of a challenge.

So speaking of the new people. I am no longer the newest pre-ship on board! 64 (I think) people joined the ship in KK. It was really exciting to be on the other side and cheer and scream for them as they walked up to the ship for the first time. It’s cool to see new faces and a bit overwhelming. We can sign up to be “big sisters and brothers” for new people and my ‘little sister’ is awesome! Her name is Hannah and we get along great. We are doing the same program with Wycliffe so we’ve been able to bond over that as well. And she’s also working in book shop.

Before leaving KK, I was able to go on a ministry overnight with three other guys on the ship. Jun (South Korea), Robert (Indonesia), and Pravin (India). We traveled about two hours north to a town called Kudat. We stayed for two days with a church there and taught them dramas and other ministry skills they could use to reach out to the people in their area. It was a lot of fun getting to know them and seeing them come out of their shell. Not many people spoke English which made it difficult. When our words were being translated, one person translated into Malay and the other into Chinese since it was a multi-lingual church.  Pretty entertaining. On our last day there, the pastor took us up to the Tip of Borneo, the northern most tip of eastern Malaysia. It was beautiful there. The water was so blue and clear and warm. We wanted to go swimming so badly but didn’t have time. But man, it was gorgeous!

We also had I-Night before leaving KK. I was involved in two things during the night, a praise team and the Tinkling dance. Both went well but there’s always room for improvement While we were waiting backstage for the show to begin, Joseph, one of my friends from South Korea, asked me to break a board with my head. (There is a Tae Kwon Do team during I-Night which is why they had boards). I wanted to break one but not with my head. It had been five years! But then he started chanting and everyone else did so I pleaded with everyone not to laugh if it didn’t break and reared back. Bam! It broke! But if I”m being honest, these boards were easier to break than the ones I used in martial arts. Still, it was fun. After the night was over, I had the chance to talk to two young girls in the audience. One was a Christian but one was not. God is really working on her heart so please pray for her. Her name is Elisa.

We are now in a new port with new crew and new steppers. I’ve only met a few of the steppers but one, Paul from Brunei is really cool. He’ll be working in my shift and while talking we found out his brother goes to college at Liberty University in my town. Small world!

I’m on break right now and really enjoying myself. Just me, Carola, and Jen. Girl time. Pool time. Internet time (hallelujah). And food time. I love to eat! It’s nice to get away from the ship and relax. In fact, I’m going to go do some more of that. Love you all!

PS. HAPPY BIRTHDAY EVAN!

Trouble with being far from home… August 24, 2009

I have good news and bad news. The bad news first. My granddaddy passed away. The good news. My granddaddy passed away. I’m happy for him because I know that he is looking into the face of God today. How amazing is that? That has given me so much comfort and joy while I’ve struggled with the knowledge that he is gone from me for now. It makes it harder knowing I am so far from my family as well. I heard that he was sick and immediately started praying about him as well as whether God would have me go home if something happened. Selfishly, I was thinking that I needed to but didn’t want to miss out on what God wanted of me. Over the week or so, I felt God telling me to stay here. That was hard to hear. I wanted to be with my family. Mourn and rejoice with them. Be there for them as they grieved. But I left home knowing that something like this may happen and that I was serving the Lord…sometimes we have to leave family and follow him no matter the cost. It doesn’t make it easy but it makes it right. And what peace God gives when you’re following His will. And my family is amazing. They kept encouraging me to stay here as well, telling me that my granddaddy would want that and that he was proud of me. I was even blessed enough to spend a few minutes on the phone with him. When I mentioned that I wished I was there with him he responded, “You’re where the Lord needs you”. That is granddad…focused on God til the end. So selfless and amazing. I will miss him but I will also see him again. This I know!

We are now on our way to Malaysia. I’ve heard it’s a beautiful country; especially the port we will be visiting. It’s a four-day voyage and I’m hoping for some fun waves…though I’m sure a lot of people are hoping just the opposite. My last few days in Thailand were good. I was able to meet up with a new friend. Andrea, my good friend from church back home used to teach in Thailand and put me in contact with one of her friends still there. She came to the ship with her students one day and we made plans to hang out on Saturday. A few friends and I headed to a local church first. Though we had a bit of trouble getting there, we made it just in time for the service. It was a small church of young people that met in a kind of coffee house setting. The worship was great and in Thai and well as English. It was very low key but really enjoyable. In fact, it felt kind of like home since I walked in and there was a guy sitting there in a Liberty University tshirt (the college in my hometown). Small world. Seriously. After church we wanted to go grab a bite to eat. It had been pouring while we were in the service and as we came out we saw that the streets were completely flooded! Might want to work on your sewage system…just a thought. We were going to go to a nearby restaurant so waded in the shin-high water and rain for a few blocks. We ate at a small Thai restaurant with seating outside under an awning. The four girls Kristin brought with her were so sweet and interested in the ship. We talked for awhile about that as well as their work as teachers in Thailand. It was such a good time of fellowship. We even discussed Saved by the Bell since I had on my Zack Morris necklace. And a very cool thing was that one of the girls went to Liberty and attended Thomas Road. I got to talk about my home church with her and it felt so nice! We had a great time with them and then headed back to the ship. I thank God for little moments like those. They make the world feel so much smaller and it’s encouraging to meet fellow children of God in random places. Off to a meeting to hear about how ministry went in Thailand. Next time you hear from me, I’ll be in Malaysia! Please continue your prayers