Returnings

Less than a month from today I will be in Asia again...

It still amuses me when I think of it. I was so resistant to the idea of visiting Asia at all, and even more resistant to the idea of actually getting involved with anything there. And yet, now, year after year, like the quiet but persistent drumbeat of my heart I am drawn back. Back to Cambodia. To the squalor and the filth and the poverty and the shame and the pain of a nation in recovery from trauma and abuse. Why? It is so strange, so irrational. I like my First-World lifestyle.

But I am also drawn back to the beauty, the smiles, the fun-loving spirit; the innate courtesy of the people; the wonderful Khmer friends I now have; the precious children rescued by XP Missions; the feeling that drop upon drop upon drop of compassion and involvement can and does make a difference; and my abiding love for the incredible people who have chosen to spend - expend - their lives in drip, drip, dripping that difference into the continent. I think of Andrea, Mark, Sharon, Alice, Shelley, Jen, Ginny, Pastor Chuck, and so many more, and I know I am so privileged to get to touch their lives, even just a little bit.

And ultimately, it is about obedience. Jesus said that He did what He saw the Father do. He indicated, quite clearly, that if we wanted to know what God was like, we should look at Him. At the way He lived, taught, dealt with people. And then He said that the works He did, we should do also. We too should be demonstrating in our living what God is like. And one thing has always been clear - God cares about the poor and the suffering and the downtrodden and He fully expects us to care too.

As time has passed, I have found my horizons expanding in Asia. It is still not a rational thing. God asked us first of all to open our hearts to Thailand, and right now I have no idea what to do about that. Was Thailand a marker on my road or a destination? So far, Thailand has ended up being a means to an end - it is the neighbouring country of Cambodia that has engaged my heart. Although of course, Pattaya, that coastal Thai city, that place where it all came into focus, that murky seedbed of nefarious activity, is never far from my thoughts..... And I know lightbearers there too, Malina, always Malina. And David, Ying, Pu, Nella, Somsak..... It's relationship that calls me most. I am very relational, and for me, it is always about people. Knowing people, and loving people.

And now there is Myanmar. Drawn inexorably by the determined vision of my young friend there, I will return for another week, again to teach in a Bible College and to visit with David and his friends, and to bring encouragement to Burmese Christians from a member of the Western church. We look different and speak different languages and have different cultures and life experiences, but our love for God draws us into a fellowship that is beyond those things.

So, reflections over, I am excited. I will spend a week in Thailand, a week in Myanmar, and two weeks in Cambodia. In the flurry of preparation and activity that precedes a trip there is a growing anticipation. I look forward to being in Asia. Again.