Firstly, in case you’re out of touch with the rest of the team that’s here some of you are undoubtedly wondering what’s been going on as I’ve only reported of one new family member during my entire stay here. There have been two that I’ve directly been a part of… but in the past three months the count is somewhere around twenty for us as a team. That’s a lot of changed lives. Beyond that, countless seeds have been sown. There’s certainly no shortage in the harvest department… laborers could use some help…

Secondly, in the past month I’ve had the chance to make friends with several guys of a specific Muslim minority. Though their hearts are entrenched in the religion which is so closely associated with their culture, God has really been giving me a heart for them as a people. Because of the horrible injustices against their people, most of them have fostered hatred in their hearts toward the Asian people… and just in the few meetings I’ve had with them ( during all of which they were very much a pleasure to talk to) there is a deep sense of the lack of love and hope which permeates their being.

God has given me a burden and a sense of His love for these people… so much so that it has me increasingly seriously considering the possibility of returning here in the near future specifically for these young men.

Which brings me to the third point, that there is a chance- though right now it’s still only at the level of “possibility”- I will return next year. I’m not sure what God has for me, right now I’m still going to try to find a job and sort of see how that goes- but if the past has been any indication… my heart is not really in engineering. We’ll see what happens. The experiences I’ve had this year, the people I’ve met and particularly the need for MEN to get out here and labor have made a deep impression on my heart.

Finally the last, and my personal favorite point. This may be a bit surprising, but I have yet to say anything to you all about the individual who has been probably the best friend I’ve made here. And she’s not Asian. Though at this point we’re not sure what God has in store and are just trusting everything with Him.. she has become one of my all time favorite people- in her heart for God, passion for people and friendship.

That said, truthfully there have been too many amazing friendships here for me to recount them all to you in any manner that would do them justice. It’s been an incredible experience to fellowship with brothers and sisters- from the US, Sweden, Australia and a handful of other places- who have all answered the call and chosen to give up their lives to serve the author of life.

There may never be a book written about them, and you probably will never hear their names on any Christian radio station…but they’re out here everyday living, loving and serving … being Jesus to the world. There is no better life.

Finishing something significant always involves a peculiar surge of emotion, mixing up all kinds of feelings that wouldn’t normally ever come together. Sadness at leaving, joy at returning. A loss to say goodbye, a gain to say hello again. A little give, a little take. Some bending, some stretching and some breaking. It’s bitter, and still it’s sweet.

Yet, I can’t help feeling like something has been put in me here that I’ll carry with my for the rest of my life. Wherever that takes me. It’s something I can’t explain, and I can’t put my finger on- but I know it’s there.

Sure there’s a handful of things I can name off the bat… a greater understanding of the world, of different cultures, and different (sometimes very different) people. A new language that I’m capable of communicating in. Stories upon stories. A clearer and closer relationship with the God of the universe. A greater burden for the untouched hundreds, thousands and millions living in this country- and other countries all over the world. A mindset of purposeful relationships. A boldness in my character, and my faith. More new and beautiful friendships than I could have imagined.

It’s all those things, and it’s more than that. It’s true I miss Sergi’s Pizza, Applebees, bagels and poptarts. I missed snowboarding, water skiing and downhill mountain biking. I miss clean air and sunshine. I miss my dog. I miss the countryside and camping. I miss my friends and my family. I missed two new babies and four new weddings. I missed the death of one of my closest relatives.

Even so, if you ask me if it’s been worth it- I will look you in the eye and say yes.

Yes.

It’s a yes that I don’t understand, and I can’t make you understand.

But it’s a yes.

So then we propped him up sideways on a rock and left him there. That night when we had 10+ local guys over for a guys night, they started gathering around our bowl trying to figure out how the turtle was sideways.

Perishing amphibians aside, the guys night was a success- this week marked our 3rd one. It’s a cool time to just get all our friends together, play some games, do some arm wrestling and mostly get to know each other better. The conversation is occasionally spiked with references to our faith… one of my favorite moments so far was during introductions the first week.

We had almost 20 guys there so we were going around the circle saying our names, school, major, favorite food, and favorite thing to do on the weekend. It got around to one of the Asian guys in our group who’s name is Moses. He said the normal stuff- name, etc- then when it got to favorite thing to do during the weekend, he got this gleam in his eye and said “My favorite thing to do on the weekend is go to church!” Up until that point everyone else had said basketball or pingpong, so there was kind of a pause, then a collective “what?” amidst a few murmurs of “are there really churches here?” Scattering seeds.

Moses is an amazing guy that I met randomly at an English corner a little over a month ago. He’s been in the family for about 6 years (which is almost unheard of) and just moved here this semester. He’s since got connected with our group and has almost instantly become a leader. It’s cool to see God’s hand in everyone we meet.

So I was on Clarkson’s career website looking for something that jumped out at me.. when I saw it. Schreiber foods. The worlds largest privately owned cheese producer. The job description started off perfectly… “Are you looking for an exciting, challenging job that will develop your leadership in a highly team focused environment?” Well, yeeeesss. APPLY.

A few days later I received the reply that although they were impressed with my qualifications, they had decided to pursue other applicants. Honestly- I wasn’t terribly disappointed. Guess I’m just not ‘cheesy’ enough.

Things are continually good here. Had a good talk today with a dude. Played some ping pong. Met a new dude. Hangin’ out with some more dudes tomorrow. It’s a good life.

I’m going to miss it. 6 weeks and counting.

The past two weeks have been really rainy, gray and sort of melancholy. Whether the weather, or just the flips of life, I’ve been feeling a little on the down end of the scale lately. This past week was one of the few major national holidays where most everyone gets a week off of work. I didn’t really do anything special besides playing a little ping pong and the usual meeting/teaching friends, which seems to be going good. It’s fun to be around new believers who are so anxious and hungry to hear everything you can tell them. This week on Wednesday we’re planning on having a guy’s night as a start to a regular meeting to hang out with some friends and deepen relationships by playing highly intellectual games like see who can eat a peanut butter sandwich the fastest.

One of the best moments of this week, besides the time I did the chicken dance solo in front of 20 people, was meeting with my friend Andrew. He’s one of the first guys I met here and has been a hard nut to crack, but at the same time I can see God drawing him. Over the worlds smallest table in the worlds most crowded Mickey D’s, Carl and I unpacked a lot of deep stuff for Andrew about how our lives have changed and how our real identity and purpose in life can only be drawn from the One who made us. It was cool to see him soaking it all in and volleying back questions. The crack in the nut’s getting wider, and though the process is slower sometimes than I’d like, it’s fun to see.

I like pistachios.

In addition to pinging the pong, I’ve been making new friends. Last Tuesday, Carl and I met with a dude named ‘ksun’ who I met at an English corner the previous Friday. Usually at an English corner you get mobbed by like 20 people, then just 2 or 3 lead the conversation. Ksun was one of those leaders, but every question out of his mouth was something about God. Usually we keep the spiritual things on a low key in such a public setting, but since he was asking it was an unusual opportunity to talk to everyone who was listening there.

Tuesday we went to eat at a Muslim noodle place nearby (sharing Christ in a Muslim noodle place…cool). At first I was really distracted, and it didn’t help that a fully bright orange robed buddhist monk sat directly behind us. I don’t know what it is about monks, but they fascinate me. So I was basically staring at him the whole time, not paying much attention to Carl and Ksun.

But thankfully he left soon thereafter (monks eat fast). And we really got into some good conversation with Ksun. Turns out that both his parents were Christians, and he knew a handful of other believers on his campus… which is extremely rare. I asked him if he understood why Jesus came to the earth, to which he replied that he did not.

From there, I was able to explain the good news to him, and then it became a matter of connecting the dots. He had a lot of great questions about other religions, conscience, and how we find the truth. Although the answers were intellectual (props to my boy C.S. Lewis)… it was obvious that everything we were sharing was sinking into his heart and he was really grabbing a hold of it.

Finally Carl asked him if he wanted to do it, if he’d like to pray with us. With a deep look in his eyes he replied “Yes, I’d like to try”. And I was able to lead my first friend here in a prayer of salvation. It was an awesome experience, I found myself choking up afterwards to think that God had used me to reveal Himself to our new brother.

It’s not about numbers, it’s not about convincing people of some theology over another one… it’s about transforming lives and showing people the saving power of Jesus.

Last week there was a short term group from another country working with us, which turned out to be an awesome experience. There were about 15 on-fire, ready to go, not afraid to step out of their own comfort teenagers to whom basically all we did was point them in the right direction and let them go. And now there’s five new ‘family members’ plus a handful of other people who’ve been handed off to us who were interested but not quite ready to take that step.

There’s really a sense of momentum building, and I personally- who’ve been hitting the same walls over and over with virtually all my friends- found it really refreshing to see some new life. There’s a feeling that it’s not just hype, or a gung-ho one shot surge of something… it’s building, and as we continue stepping out I really believe God is going to continue to meet us out there on that limb.

In other (related) news, I’m staying for another two months- the plane ticket officially has been changed. My thoughts about what God wants me to do when I return remain an enigma- I feel like I have a lot of the puzzle pieces but don’t really know how they go together. Theres a substantial array of different ideas and relationships and callings all swimming around in my head. So keep me in prayer about that.

And this weeks awesome factor is that I am now living a dream. Yes, it’s true.

I have a moped.

And it is fearful and wonderful.

And ghetto and secondhand.

But wonderful.

The new team got here about two weeks ago, they’re all uber cool people and it’s rather nice to have someone besides that voice in my head to talk to again. Yesterday I moved in with two of the guys, although I’ll miss the family I stayed with over the summer (they were absolutely amazing..), it’s a welcome change to stay with some bona-fide Americans again.

And the big news of the week is that (pending the work of changing the date on my ticket) I am now planning on staying until the end of November- which will give me two more months here. Why stay longer you might ask? My reply is, why not? Financially I’m set for a bit longer, and though I do miss you all, the opportunity to chill here might only come along once in a lifetime. That being said, any and all of you who would like to come visit me, just let me know- I’ll meet you at the airport.

And just because I haven’t really said much stupid or random in a while, let me inform you about a little phenomenon here that we like to call “splash bricks.” At first you may think that sounds like fun, but in fact it is quite far from jovial… unless of course someone else is the victim (funny how that works). The sidewalks here are often made of bricks which sometimes are mortared (can that be a verb?) together in a rather shoddy manner. This creates loose bricks with cracks along the sides. When it rains- as it has been doing quite often lately- said cracks fill up with water. It’s just a matter of time before a hapless soul wanders over a brick and is met by a burst of cold foul water squirting up their leg. This is the cruel nature of the infamous splash bricks.

The previous night I spent the night at my friend Fish’s apartment. He told me he knows the invitation is there, and he knows everyone is invited. He also expressed that he knows I can see his name on that invitation. But he still wants to see his name there for himself. Keep him in your prayers that God would reveal Himself to Fish in a very real, personal experience.

After a few long months of feeling like nothing was happening here, it’s encouraging and humbling to see how God is still at work in my friends hearts.

Tomorrow morning I’m heading to another city for three weeks to meet up with the world renown Premo (one of my college friends) and my sister who are coming in for a short term trip. Evidently we’ll be doing a lot of farm work. Mmm. Dirt.

Unfortunately my camera is having trouble now, so I’m not sure when I’ll get another video out, hopefully I can get it fixed soon.

Drive it like you stole it,

j-meister

Until this past Thursday.

My friend Shawn and I were riding in a bus, minding our own business, likely discussing the finer points of whether or not it’s REALLY necessary to have rice at every meal … when suddenly the wild scream of a lady a few seats in front of us pierces the air and she bolts off the bus after a man who had dashed out just in front of her- with her wallet.

However, the ladies wild scream and swift pursuit evidently scared him so much that he threw the wallet on the ground and took off faster than your grandmother through a red light.

The lady picked up her stuff and got back on the bus to the accolades of those sitting near her. It was really quite an impressive spectacle. So should you ever find someone leaving with your wallet in tow- I recommend you charge at them like a crazed bull and scream bloody murder. You might just get your stuff back. Or you might get beat up and still have your stuff taken, no guarantees- I can only report what I’ve seen.

On a more significant note, I said goodbye to my friend David yesterday- he just graduated and is off to a job in another city. He became a Christian shorty before my arriving here, and Joe and I often hung out with him. I was with David when he received the Holy Spirit after we prayed for him. It’s rare to meet anyone as simply sincere, and genuinely wholehearted as this guy is. There’s such an innocence and caring spirit to David that I think people are just drawn to him.

As David and I volleyed tennis balls back and forth I was struck with the thought that it would likely be the last time I get to do this with him. Walking back to his dorm where we would part ways I had to swallow the growing knot in my throat more than once and when we finally did say goodbye, there was no holding it in anymore.

I don’t mind saying I cried, it’s a deep testament to the way God has knitted our hearts together. I’ve only known David three months, and yet somehow in that time a bond was forged like that I’ve only known a few times before and certainly never before in such a short time. Sometimes the sweet sorrow of parting ways is necessary to realize how deep a relationship actually was.

When it comes down to it, it’s not about having all the right words and ideas- it’s about truth and love.

Truth and love.

And those my friends, can only come from Jesus.