As I sit here in this air conditioned condo in Bangkok, munching on cataloupe, I reflect on the happenings of the last 5 days.
On August 28th we were whisked from the YWAM base in Bangkok, along with our debrief staff, on chartered buses, to a pier just south of the city. We were bound for Samet Island (or as the locals call it, Koh Samet). We hopped on speed boats with all of our gear, and traveled the crystal blue waves to the island. When we arrived, the boat dropped us off right on the beach. So, we touched our feet down in the beach waters (and got our clothes wet, of course). As the hotel was right on the beach, we picked up our room key and searched for our little stilt hut.
Once Scott and I finally found our little “rustic” cabana, we laid down to try to stop sweating. That didn’t work, so I got up, showered, and looked for the “OFers” (Old Foggies), Lynette and Jake. We made a date for dinner that night, and just enjoyed eachother’s company until debrief meetings commenced that night. After the meeting, we took in a fire twirling show right on the beach. Those young boys are very talented in their fire skills, as the youngest of them was about 13 years old. (If John Eldridge were there, he would have said that these boys were going through an initiation of sorts… testing themselves, as “cowboys”. If you want to know more about these stages of initiation, read
The Way of the Wild Heart, by Eldredge.)
During our stay on the beach, I managed to get my feet wet, but I never actually did go swimming. Maybe it’s my eversion to salt water, and sticky sand, and getting burnt out in the hot sun. Or that I always feel like I need to shower right after being by the water. I’m not saying it was a bad time… in fact, it was awesome. We went on a boat cruise in the evening around the island one night, a group of us played some good games of volleyball, I had a night to go out with Amy (who I’m spending this next month with, since she’s on team Zeo), and another night to spend with Seth and Karen Barnes, our leadership.
Spending time with leadership proved to increase my desire to see people come fully alive. I shared my ideas on how to improve the balance of the racers. I shared ideas on how to give healthy living tips on the race, ideas on exercise, and even ideas on how to integrate physical exertion on race days. And I also shared ideas on building a sorority of women, not just individual women who aren’t complete without men around. And it was so nice to feel like my input matters. I mean, Seth is the leader of AIM, and he makes notes on what
I think.
All this being said, I’ve blogged before about vision and dreams, and how AIM may fit into all this, and all I can say is that AIM will fit into all of this. In fact, Seth wants to empower us through AIM. And it’s not Seth’s vision, it’s our vision, but AIM will support it. And that’s where we are. Because we’re pursuing the vision (adventure camps, fathers for the fatherless), we’re going to be, most likely, continuing to raise support. And fortunately, AIM says we can continue to support raise through them. So, if you’re inclined (or feel like God’s telling you to), please give to our account OR please pray about being a member of the vision physically.
