Day Forty-Five: Communion

Today was our last full day in Asia, our flight home leaves at 7 AM tomorrow. We once again attended the morning service at Christ Church, a beautiful 110-yr-old Anglican church in the heart of Bangkok.

The congregation is very multi-cultural, representing many different countries and ethnicities. As we joined together, though, taking the bread and wine, we were reminded that in Christ we are one body. As Bonnie and I leave Asia (hoping to return soon!) it was meaningful to us that one of the last things we did in Bangkok was to take communion with our fellow believers here.

"The body of Christ, broken for you. The blood of Christ, shed for you." It is as true in Bangkok as it is in Winnipeg, and the believers here are no less our brothers and sisters than those at home. It was a beautiful lesson to leave with.

Evan

Day Forty-Four: Complimentary Upgrade

With Evan's birthday coming up, his mom helped us get a bit of a nicer hotel for our last weekend in Asia. We still only spent about as much as an average business hotel in North America but you get more 'bang for your buck' in Asia. Since we made the reservation, we have really been looking forward to this weekend.

As we were going up the lift, our concierge turned to us and said, "Oh, by the way, our hotel is fully booked so we've upgraded you to a Deluxe Suite."

Oh, my goodness... I'm not sure I've ever stayed in a place this nice! At least, never a room as posh as this one. Now I wish we had more time here! With a couple of days left in our trip, we enjoy the simple beauty of an unexpected upgrade.

Bedroom and fancy bathroom

Living room and work station

Pool with a glass wall overlooking the city

View from our room

Thanks Evan's mom! 

Now if only we could get upgraded on our flight...

~ Bonnie

Day Forty-Three: Serving

Today was the fourth day of meetings but the first day of Asia Shared Services Team meetings. (Not sure who let that acronym slide.) ASST is a group of service domain leaders who meet regularly (often over the Internet) to discuss what is happening across Asia in regards to their scope of service. This includes domains like IT, HR, Publishing, Training and mine, Funding Management. There are more but you get the idea. We also have Area Directors join us to give us their perspective on what is going on in their regions.

One of our group exercises today was to brainstorm what made our team unique. There seemed to be an overall feeling of servant-hood. We really are here to serve. The specifics got much more detailed but it is pretty cool to be connected with others who just want to do good work for those around them and to honour God in the process.

Interconnectedness... Global < - > Grassroots

Punny helper spelling bee

~ Bonnie

Day Forty-Two: An Education

Today has been fantastic. We have learned so much, with meetings and sessions from 8 AM until 10 PM. This was the final day of the broader conference, so many of the participants have now gone home and a few of us are left for some meetings tomorrow and Saturday.

We were introduced to the organization's incoming executive director today and we really enjoyed hearing his passion, his strong missiological background and his sense of humour all coming through. There are exciting times ahead!

Our hearts and heads are full, but our eyes won't stay open anymore so we're off to bed.

Evan

They gave us Play-Doh. I gave them Einstein.

Our new director shared an alternate translation of a well-known passage.

Understanding the stages of language use.

Day Forty-One: Local Leadership

Second day of InterMission Asia. Today's theme was "Developing Local Leaders". Here we were hearing (and seeing) more about how Indonesia is developing leaders across the nation. A big part of their mission is working with and through the local churches. In fact, they have national partnership agreement to support this.

 

I also find it interesting that there has been a protestant church in Indonesia since the 1600's. The Bible has been available in Bahasa Indonesian for about as long as our English King James Version has been around. However, this one country has more than 10% of the world's 7000+ languages within its boarders. Of the 700+ languages, about 400 are still in need of scripture. Thankfully there are hundreds of people (mostly locals) working toward this goal. More importantly, they are partnering with local churches so that there are communities involved to support on-going "scripture engagement". Translating in a void doesn't always end with the most sustainable results.

It is very encouraging to know that local leaders are being sought after and that training them up is a priority at all levels in the organization. It is beautiful to see God transforming lives and carrying on His mission around Asia.

~ Bonnie 

Day Forty: "Drawing Together"

Today was the first full day of our meetings in Bangkok. For one of our activities, we had to create drawings of our worst case and best case scenarios for Bible movements within our areas, and another drawing to show what we'd need to do to achieve our best case scenario.

It was amazing to hear all the different ideas and to see people drawing those out and sharing their visions for their respective areas. We heard from people from so many different places and got a peek into their hearts for the areas they are working in.

Our drawings themselves may have been amateurish and clumsy, but the combination of passion, experience and intellect that people poured into them truly made them beautiful.

Evan

Day Thirty-Nine: Globalisation

Today was the beginning of the end. We are now at Baan Phu Waan, just outside of Bangkok, where our final conference of the trip is taking place.

After dinner was a 'meet and greet' with whoever was here already. People from all over Asia (and the globe) are gathering to learn more about and from each other. It was great to reconnect with colleagues we haven't seen for months or even years. And yet, we have a kinship that comes from working towards the same goals.

We were relieved to hear that all of our colleagues in Nepal are accounted for and doing ok. Still, join with us in praying after the devastation. Disasters like this feel so much closer to home when you know people there and have it on your radar to visit them. We could have been there. We will go there. These are the realities of living away from the safety of the Canadian Shield.

We are both very much looking forward to this week of getting to know our fellow Kingdom builders better and hoping to learn to serve them well.

~ Bonnie

Day Thirty-Eight: Familiar in the Foreign

Today we went to IKEA! We had no idea Bangkok even had one until our friend in Manila told us about it. It's not central at all but there is a huge mall there so we went on an adventure.

I think it was about 13 BTS (sky train) stops away and then a 20 minute shuttle bus. It took us over an hour to get there but we really enjoyed watching the city go by. We realize that Bangkok is not for everyone but we've totally fallen in love with this city.

Much of it is completely foreign. Most of the signage is in Thai, culture is different, it's WAY bigger than Winnipeg or Davao, street food is still a little daunting... a lot of the food we get is so spicy it feels like your face will melt off... and yet... IKEA... Sometimes to manage the culture shock of a new place, having something familiar to experience can be the break one needs. 

Speaking of which, the Mega Banana* mall where the IKEA is also has an ice skating rink. We can even do some winter stuff! 

Don't get me wrong, we love the Thai culture and are not generally the type to want all of our Western comforts all the time, but it does help to ease into a new locale.

~ Bonnie

*It's actually "Mega Bangna" but I kept reading "Mega Banana" so that is what I call it.

Day Thirty-Seven: Beautiful Manila?

I have a confession to make: I have had a bit of a bad attitude about Manila. As much as we love the Philippines, and Davao in particular, I have kind of dreaded having to go to Manila. The past few days, though, have really softened my heart towards this city.

We've been staying with one of my colleagues and his family (fellow Canadians!) at their home here in Manila for the past few days. They've shown us a side of Manila that we haven't really seen before. These people really love Manila and they have opened our eyes to beauty here that we would not have known about.

As we move today from Manila back to Bangkok, I am grateful for the opportunity to say goodbye to Manila with much more affection than I have had for this place in the past.

Evan

Day Thirty-Six: High School Theatre

The very first time we were in Manila, we were invited to a play at Faith Academy. Again, we happen to be in town when they are putting on a musical. We've now seen "Arsenic and Old Lace" and "Into the Woods" at this missions high school.

Besides bringing back fond memories of my own high school's productions, it is really beautiful to see these kids getting the opportunity to be involved in high quality events. Being an "MK" (missionary kid) in Manila sure has its perks!

~ Bonnie

Day Thirty-Five: Presence

Today we had meetings in Manila. I had a very excellent day.

The drive in to Ortigas Centre

Much like my time with Beth (see Monday's post) the meeting I had this morning with my team member Jean, was very encouraging. Besides doing stellar work in my department, she's been getting involved in the spiritual lives of those around her. She's part of a weekly in-depth Bible study at the office as well as doing additional mentoring with some of the ladies. It is so awesome to hear that my group is really getting involved in their communities. Above and beyond!

Unfortunately, Jean will be retiring next year and finding a replacement to fill her stunning shoes has been weighing on my mind. Done! It's not official but I think we have found the ideal candidate. Now we just have to go through all the appropriate channels and work out a time line. I did not expect issue to resolve so quickly.

My office space for the day

Since my "promotion" I've been struggling with my role in leadership. It has been getting better and today I got to meet with a leadership coach in our organization. She is a lovely lady and is willing to work with me through this learning process. This was another inspiring meeting.

Sometimes people see the travel budget that the organization uses and they think it excessive. If you've never worked in a global setting where team mates, supervisors and other colleagues are spread around the world, then it is really hard to understand the incredible value of face to face meetings. I didn't use to. Now I do. In Asia especially where relationships are far more important than tasks. To get work done efficiently and even correctly, one must know whom one is working with. Being present is vital. Maybe we should rename the "travel" budget line to "relationship building".

~ Bonnie

Some Bibles

Day Thirty-Four: Industrious

When we were talking language lessons in Cebuano early in our time in the Philippines, one of our first vocabulary words was "kugihan". This means industrious. It seemed a strange word to learn at the time but we soon saw how cultural it is. People here deal with a lot and don't always get the same opportunities we would in Canada. Still, they manage to find ways to survive. Like selling peanuts in traffic.

~Bonnie