Early in the month of September we
found ourselves in Siem Reap, Cambodia for our month 8 debrief. We
have a total of four debriefs in the 11 month span. They are after
months 2, 4, 8, and 11. This particular one is where they know
they’ll find us ragged and exhausted in every possible way. The staff
who came from America did a great job of re-energizing us, pouring
into us, and being available to us for whatever we needed. However,
I’d say their biggest priority during those few days of debriefing is
to prepare us for re-entering life back home in America, or Canada if
you’re Anne Embree 🙂
The major points I took away are:
-
Have a plan. What are you going to
need to do the first day back?, the first week?, month?, etc. -
Find a community.
-
Find an opportunity to get
involved -
Talk to your family, friends, etc.
about your expectations and merging the new you with the old. -
Ask for help.
-
Prepare how you’ll talk about your
experience.
You’re going to ask, “How
was your trip?” and I’m going to say, “Great!” while
at the same time determining if you want the 10 second version, the
10 minutes, or the 1 hour long version. How can you possibly explain
this experience in the 10 seconds or less that everybody hopes your
answer will take?
So let me know if you’re the hour long
version person, otherwise I’ll give you a shorter version that I’m
sure I’ll have ready by then. Also we can have ongoing discussions
about it if you want. I’m sure I’ll think about it every day for the
rest of my life.
Get ready for me to be overwhelmed at
answering that question, but at the same moment wanting to convey
everything that God was doing in the world
and in me. Heck, just the other night I’m pretty sure I cast out an
evil spirit! Seriously. Now that I think about it, I’ve decided to
compile a list of suggestions of things to ask about, seeing as how I
can jump to a particular story easily 🙂
Buddhist/Hindu temples
Hindu gods
Muslim mosques
Indian weddings
house visits in Moldova
glue kids
hiking/camping in Nepal
clearing and planting rice
teaching English
casting out demons
my testimony
singing out
team time every day
being given dog to eat
fasting
hospital visits in Swaziland
the Jesus film in Mozambique
our 60 hours of travel through
Mozambique (including the soul-sucking chapa)
an authentic Asian restaurant
getting lice
learning to prophesy and having tons of
prophecies given to me
intercessory prayer for women in bars,
the Navy boys on Bangla Road, health, druggies, children, parents,
etc.
my first motorcylce ride
feeding homeless indigenous people
trains, planes, automobiles, tuk tuks,
koombis, autos, taxis, etc.
bargaining
braais
elephants
monkeys
hippos
fish spas
iced coffee and pad thai
game drives
beaches
the Taj Mahal
Angkor Wat
…and last but not least, dating on
the WR is not allowed, so there’s nothing new to report there, I
promise 🙂
