Well, I'm far from over the Jet Leg… but I'm getting there.  In the mean time, I've uploaded some more pics from the trip.  For the bulk of the stories, you'll have to wait till we can sit down with a coffee. 

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What a journey!

The past couple of weeks have been amazing in so many ways.  God used them to open my eyes, my heart, and my life up to so much more.  I met incredible people from all over Asia (and even a few from the U.S. believe it or not… HA!)  Honestly, to reflect on it is to count the blessings of what will forever be my 'first trip to Asia'.  I know that it was the beginning of incredible things to come.  I'd had suspicions, but it's now become quite clear.  God has plans for Janna and I that include Asia, and I'm speechless at the thought.  What exactly it might look like is beyond my comprehension at this point.  All I know is that this trip was merely an introduction to a HUGE continent filled with amazing people, and that I have been invited to begin sharing life with a handful of them.

That said, it is incredibly good to be home.  As I sat on the plane from Korea to Seattle the other day (a 10 hour flight!) I was feeling exhausted, anxious, etc.  Suddenly I began to think of our house in Comox, and the home that God is building for us here.  Immediately my heart was at peace, and I was filled with contentment.  I am so thankful for the incredible life that God has given to me.  Janna and I have really started to put down roots here in this Valley, and no matter where our journey's take us, we feel strongly that this place will continue to be a place of rest and refuge for us for many years.  In other words… this is home.

The gift of 'home' is one that I believe to be universally treasured.  It looks different all over the globe, but it is of a high priority and deep value to most.  The truth is, many people live without it in our culture, and yet even they seem to fight for it, search for it, and live with a longing for it.  Home is place where you are known, where your heart is trusted and allowed to find it's way.  Home is a safe place where we are able to truly be ourselves.  A place of peace, rest, life, and love.  Ultimately, I believe this longing is for Heaven. Heaven – a place where 'home' is all the things I've described our Earthly home to be, only there it is complete in all these things. 

I wrote a song a while back called 'Where I Belong' (I'll try to record it in the next bit so you can hear it).  It speaks of a longing in each of us for Home.  In it there is a lyric that says

I've found a place

Where I belong here

Safely at rest

In the arms of my Father

The lyric is a description of home!  Many of us can deeply relate to the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15.  All of us have in different ways taken our inheritance and 'left home' for what we figured was a better option.  This inevitably has left us with this shared longing to return home.  One of my favorite books of all time is called Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen.  In it He uses his reflections on Rembrandt's painting – the Prodigal Son – to speak of dive deeply into this parable from Luke 15.  This painting has become a deep and ever growing inspiration to me (I have a print of it hanging in my worship room that Marty and Keri brought me from Russia).  It is a reminder to me that I have a home, now in part, and one day in all it's perfection.  I wrote another song while Jayda was sick, and it speaks to the traveler on this journey towards home.  It's called travel on, and the chorus encourages us to

Travel on

Sweet Child

Journey on

So here I am.  Home, after an incredible couple of weeks, I'm Home.  I praise God today for the blessing of this place, and the taste of things to come that it is has become for me.  I pray for each of you today… that God would help you find home.  Heaven is not a place on Earth, and yet Home is not only a place that can be found after death.  Christ's invitation to 'fullness of life' is surely an invitation to come home.

I'm over a week into my two week trip to Asia.  It's been an incredible trip filled with amazing encounters with new friends.  I can't wait to come home and share pictures and stories.  I'm not sure what the future holds for me in relation to Asia, but I'm quite sure this won't be my last trip.

Through out my time here I've really been learning a lot about myself.  It's incredible how such an intense experience forces us to see things that may get lost in the everyday moments of life.  One of the big things has been an affirmation and greater understanding of my identity in Christ.  A couple years ago God revealed to me that I am only 'complete' when I am who He created me to be.  In addition, I've come to believe that our true identity can only be found when we allow Christ to fully live in and through us.  

This trip has really challenged me in this area of identity.  Maybe it's the incredible change in culture, or the detachment from my 'known environment'.  Perhaps it's a bit of both.  Whatever it is, I've really found myself wrestling to find peace in who I am (something I haven't wrestled with so much in the past number of months.)   God has really been faithful to meet me in that wrestle, speaking to my heart and reminding me that I am first and foremost His child.  I've also learned two things that have really expanded my appreciation for who God has made me:

1. Christ Reveals Himself In Me
2. My Life Is A God Story

First, I've learned that as we step into our true identity in Christ we become like Him.  As we take on the character and life of the one we so closely follow, it only makes sense that He would 'rub off on us' so to speak.  The powerful realization here for me was found when we prayed for a Thai man in Bangkok.  God clearly showed us that he was a faithful man (a truth that become increasingly obvious as we watched him over the couple days that followed.)  God then asked us to tell him that his faithfulness was a reflection of the Father, and that his desire to be faithful should act as a reminder that God would always be faithful to him!  That caused me to think about how Christ wants to reveal himself to me through the man He's created me to be. 

Secondly – I've been reminded that my life tells not only my story, but God's.  As I interact with Him and allow Him to walk this journey with me, my story really becomes about Him.  Honestly, what is my story in comparison to the one that God is writing!  I'm reminded that as I come to peace with my identity, others are able to see Christ in me… they are able to understand Him, get to know Him, and even see how He wants to move in their lives.  Just as the stories of David, Paul, Gideon, etc from the Bible show us how God moves here on Earth, so does my life.

As I've wrestled to find identity in a place that seems SO crowded and chaotic, God has been faithful.  He has consistently spoke to my heart, and has not only shown me myself… He's shown me deeper things of His heart for me, and a clearer picture of who I am.  I knew this trip was going to change me, and that is obviously happening.  Only time will tell just how deeply the change runs, and how it will impact life as I live it. 

Hey everyone, I had in incredible day today.  We visited the a HUGE slum in Bangkok where the Vineyard church has it's building.  It would be really hard to put into words, but it was so amazing to see the church in the middle of such need.  It is a reminder to me of the fact that Jesus can be found in the midst of people who desperately need justice.  The poor, broken, abandoned, and needy have Jesus live and working in there midst here.  Suikat and his church are doing an amazing thing, and it would be no exaggeration to say I feel honoured to have been invited into their midst.

I'm really tired tonight… so I won't write much more, but I have posted some pictures to my facebook for you all to have a look at.  Enjoy!  Facebook Album