Imminent Return

This is the first post in over a month. Hardly the regularity of someone who was once a frequent blogger. And even then, it's likely to not be a forth-coming resurgence in thrice weekly posts. But leaving the appologies behind me for my lack of informative posting, I'll move on to the body of the post.

I'm finishing up my time here in Asia, and am well into the final push. I'm finishing my report on the feasibility of a Hope Fund in Nepal today, and beginning the process of good-byes. The return is sure to be quite profound in many ways. Not least because I'll be making it home just in time for Christmas.

Just as a space ship's re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere has the potential to be disasterous if not well calculated & executed, so I've heard is that of someone returning from spending a significant amount of time in the 3rd world. Much different than any of my previous "re-entries" from Europe both in adolensence & adulthood, this one must overcome profound differences between cultures. I stand ready for the task. Ready for the uncertainties, the chages, and the hope of a beautiful next chapter of life.

Until next time, may you be filled with the joy of the Christmas Spirit.

Link to buy Nepali Christmas Cards

The Nepali christmas cards are now up on the ServLife website...you can order them online and we'll be shipping them directly from Nepal. CLICK HERE to buy yours today!!!

Christmas Cards

COMING SOON . . .

CHRISTMAS CARDS HANDMADE IN NEPAL (courtesy of Shannon Taylor & Ellen Bender)

Our Nepali friends Bipin and Sarah Sharma have a printing business and this Christmas they are making these really cool batik cards that are screen-printed by hand.

We're in the process of working out details to sell these via the ServLife Store on our website. It's a short-term project that, if successful, provides an opportunity to enlarge their business market, add a little bit of a cause to your Christmas spending, and encourage the vision of this young couple. A portion of the proceeds from the cards will go towards sponsoring outreach in Kathmandu in partnership with a local ministry.

If you haven't bought your Christmas cards yet and can wait a little longer, then buy these! They should be purchasable on-line soon. I'll post here when they are available.

New ServLife Hope Fund Video

ServLife just published a new short film on the ServLife Hope Fund that I developed in Thailand. The piece is just under four minutes long and explains a bit of how the project works, and shows footage filmed on scene in August. Your's truly even makes a few cameo appearances in the film, although I spent most of the time trying to hide behind the camera. You can read the intro & watch the video by clicking here. Hopefully this will give some of you a better understanding of just what the heck I've been doing over here for the last 8-9 months. Enjoy!

Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

I used to love that show...and the old floppy disk computer game as well. It was an integral part of my childhood computer training.

Anyhow, sorry for the lack of posting these last two weeks. I spent 5 days with a good friend from Butler, named Ed, who came to the US as an international student for college. After we graduated, he moved back to the Phillipines, where he is originally from...or at least where his passport says he's from. He's lived in 7 different countries, and at the moment, his siblings are both living (or headed) the the US, and his parents are living in Japan. He, however, is living in Manila, about a block from his grandparents house. He's doing great things there, and it was a joy to be with him.

It was great to see a familiar face around, and to relive old memories of our college (glory) days. You know, the days when deadlines were meant to be broken, classes were scheduled to be skipped, and there was always a break to look forward to. Now I'm back in Phuket finishing up the training of the committee who will oversee the ServLife Hope Fund here. They're doing a fantastic job, and I'll be handing over the reigns on Oct 23, when I hop on a flight to Katmandu to spend the last 3 1/2 months of my time here with ServLife.

I'll be back in the posting swing of things now that I'm back.

A slaughter of the porky kind

I stumbled upon a gruesome scene the other day in total disbelief. This post is not for the faint of heart.

I was out running and came across ten guys holding big sticks (that sounds like the back of an old No Fear t-shirt) out front of a small pig farm not far from my house. Being a curious young chap, I had to stop & take a look and find out what these guys were up to. I realized one of the guys had a gun. Now immediately when I say gun you think double barreled shotgun, maybe a Winchester. But this guy (I think) found his buried underneath some soot from a Thai revolution in the 1700's. His gun needed to be repacked with gun powder & stamped down after every shot. It was helarious watching him pack leaves in the barrell before shoving the rod in there to pack the gunpowder down. The objective of the shotgun was to kill one of these pigs. It took the guy forever...and I was totally confused because he seemed to have so many clear shots on these big pigs. Oddly enough though, come to find out, when he finally did let the shot go, it wasn't one of the big pigs that started squealing...it was one of the small guys. This is where the ten guys with clubs come back in. The squealing pig was running all around, and to tame him, the guys clubbed him to stun him. When they finally did, two guys held him down while a third guy came in with a knife & stabbed him until he seemed dead. Then they left for a while & went to smoke, tell jokes, and laugh together back at the house. I left, but I'm sure they came back to pick him up. I found out later that this is not the normal method for killing pigs around here...

It was a really sickening experience. The Thai people were all laughing like this was a normal affair. Even children were looking on like it was no problem. I guess I'm just not cut out for rural life. I told Chelsey when I got back that I've decided to join her in her vegetarianism. Don't tell her, but I slipped up and ate meat a few times already...shoot!

2nd hand presents and farang food

I spent the day on Tuesday with Chachuan, the pastor at Hope of Takuapa church ServLife partnered with for the tsunami response. He's also one of the ServLife Hope Fund's committee members. I went up in the morning with a truck full of toys, tables, chairs, and other things left from our office & the Vestal's house. We had a committee training meeting in the afternoon, and that evening Chach and his wife Mong had to come to Phuket, so I invited them over for some "farang" (Thai word meaning Western) food. It was a good day. So here's a few pics...