Thank you Steph for writing the journey of team Luminous in such an entertaining and truthful light. May my friends enjoy your blogs as much as I do!! And at the time she wrote this blog, she did not know the best part of the story…we made it to Vietnam…but the adventure is just continuing! Be thinking of us for opportunities to serve.
It’s day 5 of Operation Limbo.. er,
Operation Be Still and Listen (day 7, if you count the two travel days,
which trust me, we do). We’ve been listed as World Race Emergency Team
(somethin like that) under YWAM’s info, and after staying at the base
for the week and enjoying AC, good showers, fridges in our room, 7-11
runs and wifi in our rooms, we’re about to move down the street to a
more cost-friendly place until we decide our next steps..
Operation Be Still and Listen (day 7, if you count the two travel days,
which trust me, we do). We’ve been listed as World Race Emergency Team
(somethin like that) under YWAM’s info, and after staying at the base
for the week and enjoying AC, good showers, fridges in our room, 7-11
runs and wifi in our rooms, we’re about to move down the street to a
more cost-friendly place until we decide our next steps..
It’s been a tough, challenging, emotional rollercoaster of a few
days. We’ve had moments of clarity and conviction, but just as many
(if not more) feelings of confusion, uncertainty and slight paralysis
from not knowing what to do next or trying to find common ground. We
haven’t given up by any means. We’ve certainly had ample time to get
to the bottom of how things unraveled (the whole deportation story and
all the messy details and characters involved) and to deal with and let
go of disappointments. We’ve been stir crazy but also had time to rest
and to learn how to stretch our baht (no, not an exercise to firm up
your -nevermind).. We’ve been living on $2 USD a day to compensate for
sunk costs (altho praise God – we’re seeing our budget and morale inch
back up thru reimbursement and blessings from generous ppl – thank you Jared V and Paschalls!!). When Benny surprised us on Wednesday night with a visit to see Mike and Patti who were still in Thailand after debrief (see Mel’s blog),
I’m honestly not sure that our tears of joy weren’t equally for the
delicious meal (drinks, dinner, dessert) they treated us to as it was
to be in their company. The night was uplifting and refreshing , just
the boost we needed! Thank you Mike and Patti for being such caring
parents to us.
days. We’ve had moments of clarity and conviction, but just as many
(if not more) feelings of confusion, uncertainty and slight paralysis
from not knowing what to do next or trying to find common ground. We
haven’t given up by any means. We’ve certainly had ample time to get
to the bottom of how things unraveled (the whole deportation story and
all the messy details and characters involved) and to deal with and let
go of disappointments. We’ve been stir crazy but also had time to rest
and to learn how to stretch our baht (no, not an exercise to firm up
your -nevermind).. We’ve been living on $2 USD a day to compensate for
sunk costs (altho praise God – we’re seeing our budget and morale inch
back up thru reimbursement and blessings from generous ppl – thank you Jared V and Paschalls!!). When Benny surprised us on Wednesday night with a visit to see Mike and Patti who were still in Thailand after debrief (see Mel’s blog),
I’m honestly not sure that our tears of joy weren’t equally for the
delicious meal (drinks, dinner, dessert) they treated us to as it was
to be in their company. The night was uplifting and refreshing , just
the boost we needed! Thank you Mike and Patti for being such caring
parents to us.
As much as we’ve loved Bangkok (ha), we are heading towards a
decision.. we’re ready to get up off our bahts (had to do it) and just
GO. Please continue to pray that we’re at peace with what happened and
what will happen or NOT happen next… that we’ll be on the same page
(or as Jen astutely put it, be on the same rollercoaster cart as we
ride the ups and downs). We don’t expect or crave big stories of
redemption, but stories of how God’s faithful in the small, daily
things, like providing sweet street vendor ladies who cook authentic
Thai food for 25-30 baht, or giving us the YWAM base to ’emergency
land’ at (even allowing us to host our own movie night on a
projector).
decision.. we’re ready to get up off our bahts (had to do it) and just
GO. Please continue to pray that we’re at peace with what happened and
what will happen or NOT happen next… that we’ll be on the same page
(or as Jen astutely put it, be on the same rollercoaster cart as we
ride the ups and downs). We don’t expect or crave big stories of
redemption, but stories of how God’s faithful in the small, daily
things, like providing sweet street vendor ladies who cook authentic
Thai food for 25-30 baht, or giving us the YWAM base to ’emergency
land’ at (even allowing us to host our own movie night on a
projector).
So as not to reinvent the wheel, please visit my teammates’ blogs
(see My Links on left side) for the update on exactly what caused
Operation Vietnam to stall temporarily… it was kinda like solving a
mystery as pieces came together. It’s a drawn out, crazy story but
worth the read. Whenever I’m bored, I love to go back and re-visit how
it all went down… (k, i joke!)
(see My Links on left side) for the update on exactly what caused
Operation Vietnam to stall temporarily… it was kinda like solving a
mystery as pieces came together. It’s a drawn out, crazy story but
worth the read. Whenever I’m bored, I love to go back and re-visit how
it all went down… (k, i joke!)
