The time that is given us.
“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” — Gandalf, The Fellowship Of The Ring
Well, this trip has served as a boot camp for patience and flexibility. Thanks to Covid, it took us forever to get here. We endured delays, cancellations and round after round of rescheduling. But we finally got here. And boy, is it good to be back.
Unfortunately, once we got here, Covid struck out at us again, and I tested positive. Although my case was minor, it took the Thai section of our planned itinerary and threw it in the toilet. So, we’re spending an extra two weeks in Cambodia.
And that’s really not the worst thing in the world. I love this country. And my time in mandatory coronavirus quarantine wiped out an entire week of visits with the kids and staff at our six Prek Eng homes. Now we can get some of that time back. But my Thai staff and kids are bitterly disappointed, and I’ve missed graduation parties, staff outings and even a wedding.
I’ve already promised my Thai staff that we’ll be sure to visit Thailand in the summer, but certain moments are gone and can’t be recovered. So, in the words of Gandalf, “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
With the white wizard’s wise words in mind, Benjamin and I are going to do a lot of the same stuff we started out doing here in the ’Bodia: shoot lots and lots of video, take tons of photos, eat as much as we can and spend every evening at our Prek Eng campus, playing soccer, Simon Says, and whatever other games we or the kids come up with.
The extra time here reminds me of days past when we could really get to know kids by name and on a personal level. Tonight we’re headed to the Prek Eng 6 home, sponsored by Vineyard Columbus. We’ll play for a couple hours, enjoy dinner cooked by the home staff and then, who knows? We’ll probably dance. That seems to be the evening schedule these days. And it’s pretty great.
Far too late for optimally safe driving, we’ll trundle back to our hotel and collapse into our beds before doing it all again tomorrow. Only difference? Tomorrow’s a Saturday, so we’ll probably spend all day with the kids and head home a little earlier in the afternoon to give me time to prepare my sermon for Sunday morning.
It’s busy and it’s tiring. And as much as I can’t wait to get home to see my family, sleep in my own bed and take a real bath, I’m going to miss this — a lot. So we’re going to wring as much out of these last few days as we can, and then I’ll be back in the states. I hope to hit the ground running, fundraising-wise. We have a lot of big plans for the future of Asia’s Hope, but costs are rising here in Asia just like they are at home, and we can’t stretch a dollar quite as far as we could last year. So if you know anyone who should be supporting or partnering with Asia’s Hope, please introduce me. I’d love to invite more people into this joyful, surprising adventure.
john@asiashope.org 614.804.6233