Starting a New Journey

Hello, I have kept an email journal for more than a decade, but for this adventure I have decided to open the gate a little wider, and while I will keep the Update Journal, I am going to add this for anyone who would like to stay informed about our trip. Good reading, friends! I wrote this first update a week ago, but it's such a good explanation of what is going on, I've repeated it here on a public forum. 

Today is the beginning of a new season for us. In 5 days we will be getting ready to hop on a flight to LA. From there we will attempt a flight to Sydney (though today there are but 24 seats left, we will need two seats by next Saturday. On the bright side all the remaining seats are in Economy Plus or better, so if we do make the flight, the chances of legroom for me are excellent). We have our passports, visas to Australia and Papua New Guinea, we made our first run at packing and I feel like a DTS student trying to figure out how to make everything I want to come fit.

I will attempt to bring some comforts from home to make the transition easier. Among the things I find comforting (you should think about what you would bring that would help you ease into a different culture!) that might not be considered necessary are (in order of importance):

-       French Press, personal mug and coffee I love. (includes some sweetener/powdered flavor)

-       A blanket to sleep under (the ship is equipped with air conditioning)

-       Some pictures of home and people I love.

-       Oatmeal for breakfast (most of the world eats Muesli and yogurt, not my favorites)

-       Powdered protein shake mix

-       And assorted other things that I could get there, but choose to take (mostly toiletries)

These are the things that will help me make a transition. Don’t get me wrong, the ship (confusingly named the PNG) is first class! At the same time, it IS a new culture, two new cultures, in fact, and will take some patience to get used to. In addition, when we went to Afghanistan 11 years ago, on our first adventure, I had a strong “culture shock” reaction and that was difficult, so I am attempting to prepare myself better, by being more aware. 

But the adventure feel is unmistakable, and I will be attempting once again to capture my sensory perceptions in this journal and allowing you to come along with us in a “virtual” experience around the world! Perhaps one of the hardest parts for me (and perhaps for the best) is the loss of connectivity to the world wide web!! Once we leave Townsville on March 3^rd, we will be in a place of vastly limited access to the outside world for about 6 weeks. Probably I will be able to hop online to upload these updates, but in all likelihood, that will be it. I am so used to surfing the web, streaming shows, skyping with friends around the world and mainly keeping in regular touch with people I love and like; that will be the hard part for me. But I know it will be good to be forced to live in the radical present, to experience the people and culture I will be serving and perhaps gain useful perspective!! Ready or not, it’s happening. So, to those friends that I text or write or skype daily, weekly or monthly, I’ll be back, pray for me! lol

The Thesis is turned in, the DTS graduated, the plans have been set, the money raised (we received a gift of over $5,000 recently towards the trip, praise God!) and the tickets we can buy, bought! We have a few loose ends to wrap up here, some communication to do, but mostly, I think we could walk out the door tomorrow and be on our way!! Last night I had the chance to spend an hour with a close friend and say goodbye (or see ya later, at least) and that’s the last and hardest part. Some friends will have left staff at ywam before we get back and though it is quite natural for people to move on from Denver, we have been here for 25 years. Who knows what the future holds, but I’m glad I know Who holds the future!