My 2008

One of my 15-year-old Facebook friends (she's a friend in real life, too) posted a note today, listing what she did and learned in 2008. That inspired me to think over my own 2008, and here's the result. Please do enjoy. (I know my months are perfectly divided into quarters. Interestingly, sometimes life doesn't neatly divide.)

January - March

Difficult job transition at WGM

Christian Stewardship Association in Albuquerque, New Mexico (plus sightseeing afterwards!)

Started doing tech crew at church

Finished the Oasis room

New, fantastic discovery: It snows in Albuquerque.

April-May

Diving into new job as writer

Evangelical Press Association conference in Portland (plus sightseeing afterwards!)

Joined local farming co-op

We bought our first house!

New, fantastic discovery: My first Tenebrae service on Good Friday.

June-August

We moved into our house!

Steve's cousin's wedding in Charlotte, and we road-tripped it back with Phil

Becky's wedding in Michigan

Played softball in YMCA Corporate Challenge

New, fantastic discovery: It's nice when close friends are with you when you get really good news.

September-December

Daddy's Girl at Marion Civic Theatre

Dad's surgery (went well, he's fine now)

Weddings in North Carolina and Ohio (another Steve cousin and friend at WGM)

Ideas in Motion Trip to Peru (the real Peru)

Thanksmas with my family

Christmas with Steve's family

New, fantastic discovery: “Green gunk” made with lime Jello, cream cheese, pineapple, and cool whip. Absolutely amazing stuff.

There you have it. It was a good year. A rough one, but a good one.

Prayer Calendars and the Girl Who Compiled Them

No matter how much you love your job, they all have the busy work and things you just have to do. I love my job, I really do. But for the last couple days, pretty much all I’ve worked on is the prayer calendars for the website, where we list a missionary, support staff member, MK, and college-aged MK on each day. I had been compiling them month by month, but my boss decided (and I agree with her) that it would be good to have the whole of 2009 available on the website to be printed out.

So what is usually a two-hour job has become….a lot more than that. Plus I’m reformatting the old Word files I inherited, cleaning up information, and rewriting some of the copy to sound less pompous. It’s not creative work at all, and I’m getting bored, something that really rarely happens with me. And several days in a row of it – with more to come – is getting to me a bit.

But what it HAS done is put the names of every WGM missionary, retiree, support staff member, and MK in front of me in a very short amount of time. Now that I’ve been here four years, I’ve gotten to know a lot of them, and even would call some of them friends. I could pretty much tell you what each missionary does – at least the basics. And as I’ve been typing, coping, pasting, editing, etc, I’ve realized anew how important prayer is to these guys. I know, it sounds all cliché-y. But I believe God truly gives certain people a burden to pray through these prayer calendars, praying for each person by name.

So, even though I’m still not enthralled with this project, I’m okay with it. Because it’s not about me. At all. And that’s a good feeling. Want to check out my handiwork? (Okay, that maybe was a little about me) The whole of 2009 one will be up....oh, you know...sometime.

A funny thing happened while posting books on Half.com...

I have a bookstore in my home office. Sort of.

I started selling books on Half.com and Ebay last year, first getting rid of my old/unwanted books, and then books I found for cheap at yard sales, then my parents old/unwanted books, and now I'm selling books for my sister, a couple people at WGM, and now, the father of a friend of mine, herein called SF (Sara's father).

SF is a counsellor, and called me randomly one day to ask if I could sell a bunch of books for him. I said sure, giving him a few guidelines - they had to be in good condition, and should be relatively recent, like no older than 10 years.

I think he must have forgotten about those things, because I now have 12 boxes of books in varying degrees of intactedness, and some dating from 1957. Yikes. But I'm making the most of all that, selling what I can on Half.com and other book buyback sites like bluerectangle.com.

Now for my story. Most of SF's books are about counselling and mental issues. After a couple hours of seeing titles like "Female Sexual Psychology" and "First Person Plural : My Life As a Multiple" - ya know, your mind can start doing funny things. I picked up the next book in the box, and it was a beat-up paperback with a black cover and the title was in dark red letters, which spelled out "Self-Love."

And I was like, holy cow, did he send me a book about...???!!!?? (My mind was NOT in the gutter, it was just embroiled in psycho-babble titles!) But then I looked closer, and the author was Robert Schuller (of Chrystal Cathedral/Hour of Power fame). And the subtitle was something like "Your guide to loving yourself to success" or something equally inane.

Whew.

All that to say, if you are interested in any books about counselling, give me a holler! There's a link to my Half.com store on the right.

A Few Shots of Peru

There are not enough cameras and pictures in the world to capture the scene at Machu Picchu. It's so huge and so incredible - and the mountains that surround it are breathtaking. God's amazing!

Me, schelping around Tom's tripod while he was collecting b-roll footage.

I saw this sculpture at a tourist-trap pottery place. But it really hit me - something eloquent about how broken and damaged pots in the Potter's hand can turn into a beautiful work of art, stunning because of the flaws, not in spite of them.


And here's the obligatory team shot. It poured for the first four hours of our day at Machu Picchu. The poncho-sellers made a killing that day. Pictured are Tom (videographer), Tracy (web writer), Lindsey (photographer), Pat (web designer), Joyce (editor), Nancy (media relations), Kristi (the Boss), and me (writer)!

Life, Post-Peru

Since we got back from Peru on the 19th of November, it seems like I've just been treading water to stay on top of the multitude of the fun craziness that comes with every holiday season. We went to Clare for Thanksmas, because the three of us (brother, sister, and I) are doing Christmas with our in-law families. It was really nice to spend time with my parents, especially since Dad is still recovering from heart-valve replacement surgery. We have new jokes too! I LOVE coming up with new inside jokes! His new valve is from a pig. Oh come on, how could you NOT have fun with that!!

WGM's winter missionary-staff conference is next week, and we're having some missionaries from Honduras stay with us. And then it's like, party central until Steve's family gets here on the 22nd.

And in the midst of it all, I want so much to take the time to meditate on "the real meaning of Christmas." At our fake (Fake in that it technically wasn't Christmas Eve, but we pretended it was) Christmas Eve the Friday after Thanksgiving, Dad read the Christmas Story out of Luke, paused a minute, then read the section about Simeon at the temple. And I was really struck by what he said to Mary: "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own heart, too."

Not a very happy ending to the Christmas story. But what really good story does?

Life, Post-Daddy's Girl

I realize that people in theatre do this all the time – give everything they have to a show, and when it’s over, they move on. But since it’s been about 10 years since I’ve done theatre, I’m allowing myself some adjustment time. And I’m fine with the fact that I process experiences slowly.

It’s been two weeks since our last show. I suddenly have time to do laundry, clean the house, and make something for dinner more complicated than frozen pizza. I get to go back to my weekly Bible study. I can actually hang out with Steve in the evenings, and I can finally get back to the stack of books waiting for me on my bedside table. (I seem to be on a freedom-for-oppressed-women kick: I just read Princess Masako: Prisoner of the Chrysanthemum Throne and Daughter of the Saints: Growing Up in Polygamy)

But last week, after a day or two of pretty much just coming home from work and crashing, I wandered around the house trying to figure out what to do. I felt lost and disoriented, because suddenly Daddy’s Girl was not the boss of me anymore. I left my stack of memorabilia – the poster, my program that Gary Ray Stapp signed, cute gift from the director, a menu that was used in the play, and my script – out on the kitchen island until two days ago. I just didn’t want to put it all away. Now it’s all up in my office, and it sort of looks like a shrine. Yikes.

Steve was elated that I was home in the evenings, and I was mopey. Always a good combination. We had the usual (I would assume) debates about when/if I would do a play again anytime soon. It was a pretty significant time commitment: about 16 hours a week, sometimes more. I loved every minute of it, but I realize the toll that kind of absence takes on a marriage. My hope is that next time, if there is a next time, we would both be more prepared for the time thing.

At this point, I’ve seen a couple of the cast members post-play, at home and at church, so it’s been nice to keeping building the relationships outside the theatre building. I think that’s helped put a period on the whole thing. Also the fact that life does go on!

Steve’s parents are here this weekend, then next weekend I’m going to Michigan to hang out with some college friends, then the next weekend I go to North Carolina for a wedding, and then the day AFTER I get back, I go to Peru for 10 days. And then comes the holidays. Whew. So, while I don't think I've quite gone through the conclusion to this whole experience, life post-Daddy’s Girl has been pretty good, now that I think about it!

Engrish and Podcasts

Whenever I'm having a rough day, am bored, or need to perk up, I go to Engrish.com for the finest English misuse from around the world. Mainly China and other eastern Asian countries. I just start looking at pictures until I laugh out loud. Which usually doesn't take long! Here's a stellar example:

"Only authorized rigmarole."

It's awesome. In other news, we are going to start producing podcasts available for download on the WGM website. I'm super stoked. Anything we can do to get the word out in as many different mediums as we can! I think I'm going to be handling the tech side of things, with uploading to the iTunes site, etc. And I also get to be one of the voices - we're starting by using articles from the Call to Prayer. Hopefully they'll sound good!

Silence

A while ago in chapel at work, we watched a short film by Rob Bell, pastor of Mars Hill church in Grand Rapids. He talked about God speaking to Elijah – not with the storm or the earthquake – but with a still, small voice, or as it is sometimes translated, in the silence. The film went on to be completely silent, only flashing words on the screen. The point was that it’s possible that there is a connection between the amount of noise in our lives, and our closeness to God.

We are constantly exposed to so much noise. Cell phones, TV’s, radios, MP3 players, computers, so much that exists to be something to listen to or to interact with.

At one point in the film, there was about 60 seconds of nothing. No audio, no visual, just silence. And it was uncomfortable.

Why do we feel the need to fill the silence?

Is it because we can’t bear the fact that when there’s no noise, there’s nothing to distract us from our own thoughts? Or does it mean that the only thing left to do is listen to God, and that makes us squirm in our seats?

When was the last time I worshiped God in the silence?

Daddy's Girl is here!

The set is done, with just one or two little mishaps. Lines are memorized, with just a few little hiccups here and there. And lights are set, with just a few little awkward moments.

I've been sick this week with a cold/cough/sore throat/fever. I know, great timing. My voice is a little lower than it should be, but I think it'll be okay. The odd squeak will just add to my character's awkwardness. I'm nervous beyond belief, but I think I know the thing good enough that I could do it in my sleep.

One funny set mishap: there is this bubble gum machine in the back of the set, at the opening of a hallway. A couple days ago, during a set change, one of the cast tripped over the base, and sent the whole thing crashing to the ground. The glass bowl shattered. But instead of just removing the machine, our director taped an "Out of Order" sign over it, which really adds to the whole "devil-may-care" attitude of the proprietor of the diner.

Looking at the World through God's Eyes

For me, it meant reformatting my iGoogle homepage.

I took a deep breath, and deleted the RSS feeds to CNN and BBC. Feeling bolder, I then moved my “Verse of the Day” gadget from my random stuff tab (that I looked at once a week) to the main tab, which is in front of my face anytime I open up the Interweb.

I’m a news junkie. Mainly international news, but now that I’ve lived in the US for a few years, I’ve become more interested in what’s going on here. And entertainment news is a guilty pleasure. I chose CNN and BBC as my news outlets of choice because CNN is definitely slanted towards the US, and BBC is definitely slanted away from the US, so I figured I got a balanced view. Plus, those were the two news outlets we could watch in South Asia, so there’s a sentimental factor, too. (BBC’s soundtrack is AWESOME!)

At any rate, I had gotten to the point where I was checking CNN and BBC about 10 times a day. Each. That’s a bad thing for several reasons, but most importantly, I’ve realized that the huge amount of time I was spending studying the horrific problems of our world was discoloring my view of humanity. It was making me doubt the effectiveness of missions. It was making me doubt the power of God.

And I work for World Gospel Mission.

You would think that someone who works for a missions agency would be utterly convinced that God can save the world, and that He is in complete control of how that will happen. But to be quite frank, I was starting to doubt. The images and words that were constantly in front of my face told stories of fear, war, crime, famine, death – and so many people living in utter hopelessness. So, so many people. Under the surface, despair was starting to creep in.

I didn’t even realize it was a problem until a brother in Christ started asking questions I was shocked to find I couldn’t answer. Something needed to change. So that’s why I got rid of the proverbial carrot when I deleted the RSS feeds from my homepage. I vowed to only check CNN and BBC just once per day. And to keep me accountable, my wonderful husband set up something so that it would send him an email if I checked them more than once during the day.

On top of that, I’ve started doing some online Bible studies through Urbana’s website. Urbana is a huge missions convention for students that happens every third year in Urbana, Illinois. The one I’ve started with is all about missions, surprise, surprise. Sometimes in order to heal, we need to get back to the reasons we do what we do.

I’m not trying to bury the problems of the world in a flood of “Christian stuff.” But I need to re-learn to look at the world through God’s eyes. I’m still a global person, but I’m just switching out the lenses that I look at the globe with. I’m not really sure what that means, exactly, but I think at least I’m on the right track.

From Luke 22: “The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”

Missing Grandpa Crane...

Steve and I went to a Fernando Ortega concert tonight at Taylor (nice, peaceful inspirational music. And a darn funny storyteller.) It was parent's weekend, so it didn't feel weird at all that we didn't have parents with us. Ah, the joys of being MKs.

One of his songs was "Mi Abuelito" which means "my grandfather" in Spanish. The cool thing about Fernando's music is that he uses pictures in the songs to convey meaning. In this song, you could really see his grandfather, as he lived on this one mountain, sang old songs, etc. It also is a goodbye song, as well, as he and his family buried his grandfather on that mountain. Anyways, I started thinking about my Grandpa Crane, who passed away three years ago this month. And naturally, I might have gotten a little teary. Grandpa was incredibly loving, kind, gentle - just a wonderful man. I remembered that while Mom and Dad were in the US taking care of him and Grandma, Dad spent a lot of time scanning old family pictures into his computer, and he gave copies to all of us.

When I got home from the concert, I started looking through them, and as the memories came flooding back, I decided to post a few. So, Dad, thanks for these....

This is one of my favorites of my grandparents. They lived on a hay farm just outside Lansing, Michigan, that had been in the family since the 1870's. Their farm was a haven for my family - a safe place that was always there for us to go to first as soon as we got to the US.

Grandpa was a flight instructor during WWII. He and Grandma got married in 1944, at the military base where he was stationed in Florida. (Wasn't he cute?!)

And I wanted to have one of Grandpa with the three of us on the farm. I'm the one all scrunched up on the right.

Grandpa was just shy of his 89th birthday when he passed away. Grandma had died the year before, and they had been married for 60 years. They always loved being together - even towards the end of Grandma's life, she still made it clear she wanted to be where he was. I loved them both very much, and I still miss them. So, thanks, Fernando Ortega, for helping me remember.

The Travel Bug

I’m pretty lucky to have a job that helps assuage my Travel Bug. As much as I sometimes gripe about being a low-level munchkin who doesn’t get to do the fun overseas travelling, the reality is, in the last twelve months, I’ve gotten to fly to three states for work purposes that I’d never been to before. The important thing is: being in an airport. I LOVE airports! Most TCK’s (third culture kids) would agree that airports are their favorite place to be.

Obviously, my preference is international travel. (I know, I sound like a snob, but I so dearly love to use my passport!) The good news is that I get to go to Peru in November! The real Peru, not the town about 20 minutes from here. (The locals tend to pronounce that one “Pee-ru”) My whole department is going to do a media work trip: we’re going to get video footage for a field video and web clips, photos for publicity use, web content, brochure content, stories, etc. Basically, anything media-related that we can do to help the missionaries, we’ll do.

Peru is a relatively new field to WGM; we only have three missionaries there right now in the city of Cuzco (Emperor’s New Groove flashback!). They are partnering with several national churches and working in humanitarian outreach. They’re all veteran missionaries from Bolivia, so they’re doing great as “pioneers.”

And for our day off, we’re going to see the Incan ruins at Machu Picchu! Man, I love my job! My only real concern for the trip is the altitude. Cuzco is really high – about 10,000 feet. And, well, I grew up in a place that was about six inches above sea level, and now I live in Indiana, which is, of course, known for its majestic peaks. The last time I was in a place that elevated, I got winded just turning over in bed. Fun times, let me tell you.

Maybe I should give my Travel Bug a name, like Hermie.

Love for the fam

I've been thinking lately about how very much I like my family, and so I'm bringing them in to my blog. My own blood family is very interesting: we have Dad, a OB/GYN development worker in South Asia who is "chief cook and bottle washer" this year while Mom is getting her masters in ESL, Mom (who is getting her masters in ESL) teaches English and MKs, older sister Becky, who just got married, has a masters in English and is now trying to find herself in Grand Rapids, younger brother Joe is a first lieutenant in the Army Reserves and married to Karley, who is as weird as Joe is. In a good way.

Joe, Becky, and I at Becky and John's wedding a few weeks ago.

Dad and Mom in South Asia with some friends.

Steve's parents are missionaries in Budapest, Hungary, and they're the best in-laws ever. His brother, Phil, lives in Wheaton, Illinois, and he's all artsy and awesome.

Oh, and then there's my amazing husband, Steve, who is crazy studly in this picture! Funny thing my outfit (Both my skirt and purse were from Thailand): A guy came up to me at the wedding we were at, and asked me if I'd been to Thailand. I said yes, and he said, "I was pretty sure when I saw your skirt, but then I saw your purse, and I knew it!" It made me feel good. :)

A Scot in America

On Wednesday, my second family from Clare came to visit. Cathy and Jack sort of adopted me during college when the folks were out of the country. (Geez, some people. You’d think they were following God or something) They are missionaries with OM (lived in Britain for a long time), and have two daughters, Caroly and Susan, and Susan married a Scottish dude she met while serving on OM’s ships. Andy has the thickest accent you ever heard. And amazingly enough, a lot of Americans have a hard time understanding him. In fact, one day they were talking to one of the older ladies at church, and she said to him – totally innocently, “Andy, it’s okay. I know a lot of people here can’t understand you. But I work with mentally disabled kids, so I can understand you PERFECTLY.”

Fortunately, he can take it. We went to Payne’s for dinner, and he had a fun time trying to get them to give him some “tomato sauce” with his dinner. (Except he pronounced it “to-MA-o soos”) “Oh, you want ketchup?” said the confused waiter.

Steve’s birthday present was Rockband for the Wii, so of COURSE we had to break it out. There’s nothing better than rocking out on fake plastic instruments with two MKs and a Scot.

Two MKs and a Scot would be a cool band name.

Daddy's Girl, Part 2

So, the reason I haven't blogged in about a month is because I GOT THE PART!!! And four nights a week, for about three hours, I'm at Marion Civic Theatre, trying not to be too awful.

It's a fun part, though. A confused, sort of clueless waitress. And it's okay that I haven't done very much waitressing because I'm supposed to be a really bad one! It really has been a lot of fun to do something different and get to know new people.

You should come! We're showing the first two weekends of October. Tickets are $11. Check out the Marion Civic Theatre's website for more info!

Daddy's Girl

Yesterday, I auditioned for a part in Daddy's Girl, at Marion Civic Theatre. And I really hope I get it. I got asked to come back tonight, so a call-back is always a good thing.

I guess if I don't get it, I'll have to delete this post out of shame and remorse.

If you can be remorseful, can you also be morseful?

Hmmm? Think about it.

Awesome sari

My sister, Becky, is getting married in August. I know, it's great. And she is going to wear a sari - a very pretty lavender silk - and she wants me to wear a sari too! So I ordered one a few days ago online from a business in Jaipur, India. Which is cool, because I've been to Jaipur. (Nice town; kind of poluted, but lots of old palaces.) Isn't it gorgeous?? I really like the embroidery.



I probably will not look quite that hot, but it will still be fun to wear. The company is custom-making the blouse and underskirt. So it's been fun to exchange emails with people whose first language isn't English! ("Thanking you very much for the respond quickly.")


Mom is wearing a sari, too. And Dad, Joe (my brother), and John (Beck's fiance) are all wearing Punjabi shirts. It will be one really, really, really cool wedding! Joe and I are going to be Becky's bridal people, so I think we're going to walk in together, since John is having all guys on his side. Got to love nontraditional weddings!

Funny Quote of the Day

"Sorry, we're all out of crackers."

- Waitress at Cracker Barrel setting our food on the table.

It's Good to Own Land

We have our house!!!!! We are now officially homeowners!

That's so nuts. Only grown-up people have houses. What am I doing?!

It's lots of fun! We went over last night briefly (we actually move on the 5th) and while Steve was tinkering around with the network jacks, I just laid on the floor, and hugged as much of the floor that I could, saying, "My house! My house!"

We totally need to name it. I checked out this website called We Can Think of a Name, and my favorite was "Hippo Pools". I also liked "Lindisfarne Manor " and "Sha Tanze" and "Two Hoots."

Enter Chai and Lady

The cats were giving me some sweet photo ops yesterday. Yes, I dearly love my cats, and if I were allowed to, I would probably have about 30. I'm pathetic like that.

WANT.

Chai tends to be a little dumber than Lady. But at least she doesn't hiss at everyone who comes over. Maybe being a black cat gives Lady a little more edge on being evil.

Belly kitteh sez MORE FUD PLEEZ

"Honor, virtue, and courage mean everything."

I was sick yesterday, so I stayed home and watched the movie Secondhand Lions. Even though Haley Joel Osment is as annoying as Michael Caine and Robert Duvall are awesome, I still love the movie. And - spoiler alert! - I cry every time the lion dies. Two great lines stood out to me. 1) "She died with her boots on." and 2)

"Sometimes the things that may or may not be true are the things that a man needs to believe in the most: that people are basically good; that honor, courage, and virtue mean everything; that power and money, money and power mean nothing; that good always triumphs over evil; and I want you to remember this, that love, true love, never dies... No matter if they're true or not, a man should believe in those things because those are the things worth believing in."

I like the idea of living with honor, courage, and virtue being the hallmark of who I am, and of course, the goal of going out with a bang. (Steve and I joke about hiring a plane when we're 90 and crashing into a mountain - not unlike how the two old uncles kick it in the movie.) But it's hard to imagine being courageous when I spend about 40% of my day sitting in front of a computer. I did protect Steve from a stick-snake once, and one time I killed a bee that was about to dive-bomb a friend. I'm hardcore.

Sometimes I wonder when my moment will come, when I will find out if I really am courageous, honorable, etc. Maybe that's the point of BEING all that - you don't have to wait for your moment.

I always wanted a pet tiger, but I'd take a lion, too.

Losing Faith

No, I'm not, but apparently, a lot of people are. CNN did a story several months ago on the number of people leaving the church, and the theme of this month's issue of Mission Frontiers magazine was "Losing Faith: Is there a cure for this ongoing problem?"

First of all, I think it's awesome that the faced this issue head-on. Honestly, I felt a little threatened by the CNN story - just the idea of more and more people turning away from God for so many reasons. Feelings of insecurity with others' loss of faith was one of the issues Ruth Tucker raised in her story in the magazine called "Great is Thy Faithfulness: Some Reflections on the Loss of Faith." Ruth tells the story of a man who made the decision to turn away from God, and received a letter from his pastor that clearly showed how insecure and threatened he felt by James' disclosure of his disbelief.

"It is not his [the pastor's] responsibility to argue or to shame James back into his faith. He should not have reacted so sharply, but instead encouraged James not to make any final decisions right away. He should have urged him and Allison to allow the children to continue their church activities and for the whole family to continue sharing in social outings. And James, he might have said, we just can't get along without you playing shortstop again this year."

It just reminds me how easy it would be to just cut off ties with someone who had declared his or her unbelief. But that's not what God calls us to do.

We have our closing date!

And it's June 24! But the fun part is that two days later, we fly to North Carolina for Steve's cousin's wedding, and then when we get back, the next weekend is the Fourth of July weekend. So no one will be here to help us move. Bummer.

But the cool thing is, God is bringing people to help in a really nifty way. One of my good friends from my B-desh days is just "happening" to drive through Indiana that week, and she's going to stop by and help for a couple days. Which is AWESOME!

So we're not worried. And we're thinking that the gradually-move-a-box-or-two-over-at-a-time thing might be an interesting change from the usual stuff-everything-in-a-big-truck-then-pile-it-in-the-house-altogether way we've usually moved.

At any rate, we are now at the stage where we're using up all the weird foods you buy and then forget to use. We're going to be eating Falafel mix, three cans of cranberry sauce, and 10 packs of jello for the next three weeks. Fun stuff.

There's a bird in my kitchen, dear Liza, dear Liza

Steve and I thought it would be nice to give our indoor-only cats an outdoor experience by taking out the windows in our sunroom, and give them access to a little ledge where they could wander a few feet out into the great unknown. We spent the afternoon outside, washing our cars, and came in every once in a while to check on them. Just a little bit ago, we came back inside. I put a few things away in the basement, and I heard Steve say, "Rachel, Rachel, come upstairs!" I ran into the kitchen, and he asked me, "What happens when you leave windows wide open all day long?" I thought, surely not a bird. But yes, it was a bird, nestled right between the olive oil and the soy sauce. Lady, Cat # 1, was prowling around and was VERY interested.

Naturally, we thought, what do we do now? I grabbed a box with a lid, close the door to the living room, and Steve tried to coax Bird into the box. Bird did not want to be coaxed, and dive-bombed towards me. I screamed like a little girl - very sad, I know. Bird landed by our coats, which handily enough, is right by the front door. Steve finally got it, and it flapped pitifully against the box as he carried it outside. He placed it on the driveway and opened it up, and Bird did nothing. Just sat there. Still nothing. Obviously stunned.

So I picked it up and placed it on the driveway. Bird blinked at me, and still did nothing. Steve picked it up and it perched on his finger while I ran for the camera. I got to take a few pictures of Steve looking like Nature Boy. Bird didn't do anything until Steve gently tossed it in the air, and it flew - somewhat erratically - away.

At least we have the proof.

The need for trained native missionaries

Today, I was flipping through the most recent issue of Christianity Today, and saw an ad for Christian Aid Mission. What caught my eye was the large picture of a south Asian man holding a Bible in a language that looked awfully familiar. And, as I looked closer, I saw I could READ the front of the Bible! Always a fun thing to discover. It was a man from Bangladesh - a tribal man, to be exact.

The point of the ad was that it makes more sense to send native missionaries than Western people because 1) they already know the language, 2) they are already a part of the culture, and 3) they are able to reach unreached people groups. The ad claims that 90% of mission work is being done by native people, but they are only receiving 10% of resources given to missions, and for $50-$100 a month, I can support a native missionary. "They live at the same level of the people they're reaching, they eat the same food, and they never take a furlough."

Huh.

I'm obviously not about to go into all the fun little issues this ad touches on. I definitely don't think bashing all foreign missionaries is the answer. I think it comes down the fact that we need both: foreign and native. Both have valuable resources to share with each other. Foreign (in most cases Western) missionaries have the responsibility to build up a church and native leadership, in the hope that one day, missionaries will no longer be needed. It is undeniable that native missionaries can be much more effective in many areas than foreign missionaries, particularly in third world countries. I strongly believe that foreign missionaries must make deliberate efforts to raise up nationals to take over the ministry, and national believers must understand that it is their burden to take on; they can't depend on foreign missionaries forever.