One of my nieces reminded me of my blog, which hasn't exactly been active. But I want to be able to keep in touch with family and friends a bit more regularly than the last couple of years, so this is one way to do it! I have thought 'I need to write that home' in the last 48 hours or so since I arrived back at LAMB, so I will try to do so now!
Life at LAMB
First, it is early morning here, and the view out my window is typical: rice fields in the slight fog, as the weather is cooling down nicely (thank you, Lord). I have actually been up since about 3, though awake since 2 or so--jet lag, yeah. My first couple of nights I slept pretty well, but once over the intense exhaustion of 24 hours straight of travel, I only got 2 hours the night before, about 5 hrs. last night. This too shall pass...
I wrote already to family of pest count: bat and mouse in bedroom my first night, mosquito bites I am scratching, scraping cockroach egg pods off my books... But much more important really, is the joy of being back among these friends--giving me flowers, hugs, joyful smiles, a few tears at people who have passed away while I was gone (one dear faithful woman of God who was one officemate's mother, one's mother-in-law; another was a quite young staff person, a man of only 42 who had a heart attack while on his way home from work). But other friends have become parents and grandparents. Actually there are a number of staff children marriages--kids who were 6 when I first came have now grown into professionals with families of their own. WOW. Actually, just like my nieces and nephews at home, but we won't raise those tears, at my present nearness to the former, and distance from the latter...
My first full day back, yesterday, started with a board meeting. I never really thought I could avoid it, though Pat told me I should try. I knew it would be a way to get an overview on what has been going on recently, as well as a good chance to see whether things had changed much or not! Of course I was already hearing about various issues and one colleague has already asked me to take on 3 roles which she carries, 2 of which I had previously. But I am definitely exercising my arrival caution in not agreeing to anything (except obstetrics call which starts next week).
I am supposed to be writing an assignment for my current Fuller class on Worship, due tomorrow, related to some overlap of worship and justice. Good timing, because on Friday, LAMB is hosting a conference on justice for 350 staff. Our organizational chief aim is "People, transformed by the love of God, live in healthy and just communities." So after a conference last year on holism, this one is looking at issues of justice we face locally, and how we work together with local communities to address justice. One talk which intrigues me is something like 'Communicating non-violently.' It is supposed to be about how to speak truth in love in the midst of conflict, a lesson we so much need to learn in a context where perspectives can clash between foreigners and Bangladeshis of different backgrounds, as well among foreigners of various countries and cultures.
We pray to work together here as we grow together: "Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ." Eph 4:15
Prayers and Thanks
- For Dad at home: health (physical, social, emotional, spiritual). That all the medical, transport, household, social, etc., issues will be sorted. He is still getting chemo every 3 weeks, his most recent scans were holding steady, his lab numbers have been quite good. But nevertheless his lung function and balance are still sometimes unsteady. Thanks for all who have and will support him. I have Face Timed with him a couple of times already, and it is proving much easier than anticipated, which is great!
- Fuller studies: one concern I had was from previous experience in Bd, the Internet access here was quite slow. However, the whole country has apparently been wired for 3G speed while I was gone, and I can now get my course work (sometimes video and sound recordings, but lots of documents) downloaded with relative ease. Thank you Lord!
- pray I can now apply what I am learning here, and reflect on ministry here at LAMB fruitfully.
- LAMB work: I am thankful to be here when our current ED is winding up his time (I pray I can be a sounding board for he and his wife as they leave); our new ED (exec director) will be arriving in a couple of weeks, and I look forward to working with him, as he was the ED when I first arrived at LAMB in 1997. (We bonded over diarrhea stories when I had my first severe bout while I was in language school and he took me to the doctor!)
- Definitely pray for discernment of which tasks to take up
- Pray for our Justice Seminar Friday: speakers, participants, logistics managers
- Pray for us as the issues of growing in breadth of coverage versus depth of holism continue to be put before the Lord.
