the mexican food

(sorry for the delayed updates!)

Day 10

Mexican food. Its probably the cuisine that I miss the most. But hey, we have enough of the same ingredients so we are improvise and do our own Vietnamese version of it! (Personally, I am grateful to be away from Mexican food...allow me to explain...it has forced me to learn how to make it, I mean really make it...actually make tortillas and pico de gallo instead of just buying them :)

I spent my friday night eating Vietnamese-Mexican food and hanging out with the good people of team awake...doesn't get much better.
















Grace and peace and the third way,
Kait

the pigs

Day 9

We delivered pigs to a village today! Livestock raising as a micro-enterprise is one of the many facets of our child sponsorship program.

We believe that though the child is the one "sponsored"- programming needs to be approached from the entire family point of view. Its great if a child is given a uniform and backpack to go to school...but if there is still not enough money within the household, they still might be required to stay home and work.

Through our livestock program, families are given an animal (most often a pig) which they are to breed and sell for profit. They are also given the pig with the understanding that they are to pass along two healthy pigs to a neighbor.

Pig delivery days are some of my favorite at AOGWR! It might be hard to imagine the kind of impact that one pig has on a family...this analogy was told to me by a friend this week and it really put it in different terms. A pig to some of these people is almost the equivalent of say a grocery gift card that is supplied monthly to a family in need...

Grace and peace and the third way,
Kait

the graduation

Day 8

We had a SHINE graduation today! Shine is an incredible program that we do at AOGWR that speaks worth, purpose and value into girls (of all ages) lives. It is an 8 session course that is celebrated at the end by a nice luncheon. This particular course was sponsored by the church that I grew up in- Creekside Covenant. Besides the participants- my coworkers and team members of Awake (a team from APU) are also pictured here.














Grace and peace and the third way,
Kait

the see-you-later

Day 7

I said "see you later" to Becca today. My dear friend and sister gave up 5 weeks of her summer to come and stay with me here in Vietnam.

It was wonderful to have here her. She is another one of those people in my life, whose love teaches and consequently changes me.

I will miss her...but its only "see you later". Its only...on to the next chapter of our eternal friendship! :)















Grace and peace and the third way,
Kait

the early morning

Day 6

Here is the sunrise from this morning. Incredible, right? And believe me...this picture doesn't even begin to do it justice. This is the view that I have the INCREDIBLE privilege of seeing pretty much every morning as I ride my bicycle.














Grace and peace and the third way,
Kait

the room

Day 5

This is my room-well, my side of the room. Audrey and I share a room at the new house (and have been blessed with the company of a third roommate for the past month as Becca has been with us).

Messy, yes...guilty as charged.

A perk of the new house is that we have AC in the bedroom-quite the luxury!!!




















Grace and peace and the third way,
Kait

the kitchen

Day 4

This is my kitchen. Its a pretty typical Vietnamese kitchen-nothing built in...just a sink and counter space. Most people buy a stove top/burners. We have a refrigerator but often times even that is a luxury. Whats on the menu for tonight? Lentil burgers :)













Grace and peace and the third way,
Kait

the wheels

Day 3

My motorbike. This is how I get around town. We are feeling the affects of the storm in the Philippines right now so my wheels had to be accompanied by a poncho today.

One of my coworkers graciously gave me this motorbike. I like to say that my motorbike is like an old volvo- its a beast/indestructible :)



















Grace and peace and the third way,
Kait

the beach

Day 2

This is the beach. It is about a 2 minute bike ride from my house.

I know, rough.

Did I mention that it is virtually uninhabited between the hours of 8am and 4pm? The Vietnamese don't want to be tan so they typically only go to the beach early in the morning and in the evenings.












Grace and peace and the third way,
Kait

one a day

Alright everyone...here's the latest challenge that I have posed to myself...

Post one picture on the blog everyday for 2 weeks straight. I figured it would be a good insight into my daily life here. The ins and outs of my daily life are sometimes lost in my haphazard (at best) posting schedule. So, I thought...that I'll give this challenge a go!

On your mark, get set, go!

Wish me luck!

Day 1: My desk and beautiful coworker. Here it is, the place where most of my emails/skype calles/blog updates/etc. originate from. Hmm...it looks a bit empty, I think I need to work on that...maybe add some pictures?














Grace and peace and the third way,
Kait

5am

The sunrise this morning was incredible, truly incredible. Believe it or not, I see the sunrise about 6 mornings a week! With the schedule change of transitioning full time to AOG World Relief, I have had to fit in my daily bike rides early early in the morning. It was a difficult transition at first, but I have come to love the early morning ritual.

Today’s sunrise was even more spectacular than usual. One thing that I love about Vietnam is how big the sky is here. And, of course, I know…the sky isn’t really bigger here….but you can see a lot more of it at once. Not as much vertical competition in this city as in others that I have lived in ☺ All that to say, this morning I was left breathless as pinks, oranges, reds, light blue and black were painted literally-panoramically around me…with the full moon in one direction and the coming sun in the opposite.

As I rode in wonder, I found myself thanking God for such a beautiful start to the day.

The colors changed moment by moment. The sky went from multi-colored to solid, brilliant blue within a matter of minutes.

It got me thinking…it got me thinking how the sunrise is one of the best physical representations of time that we have.

The persistence of time- it goes on whether we like it or not. It goes on whether we choose to acknowledge it or not. It goes on whether we “see” it or not. It goes on.

The sunrise this morning made me thinking about how quickly things change. It made me think how things change whether choose for them to…or not. It made me think how things change even if we aren’t conscious of them. It made me think how sometimes there isn’t much power over change. It made me think how sometimes there isn’t much power over circumstance.

But.

We can choose our response.

In the glory of the sunrise this morning…it would be easy to be sad that it didn’t last longer. It would be easy to be sad when it was over (when the colors resolved to blue). It would be easy to miss it (with the aid of the ‘snooze’ option).

And. None of those options are necessarily bad or wrong.

But.

I have been trying to live differently. Like I have said many times before, I am trying to be fully present. I saw that option starkly offered before me this morning amidst the changing colors.

So, as a representation of a much larger life decision that I am trying to daily live in.

I just enjoyed.
I just enjoyed watching the colors.
I just enjoyed the encroaching heat of the day.
And at the end, I was grateful to have witnessed such a beautiful start to the morning.

Here and now.

Grace and peace and the third way,
Kait

Change

There has been a lot of it lately.

Why don’t I just re-introduce myself. Its been awhile and a lot has changed…it will catch us all up to speed.

Hi, my name is Kait! I live in Danang Vietnam and work full-time for the NGO- AOG World Relief. It is an incredible organization of which I have the privilege of being a Project Manager in. I started working part time with AOGWR back in September, 2 weeks ago I just transitioned to full time!

In a nutshell, we do all sorts of community development; on a more detailed level we have a child sponsorship of about 1,200 kids, we are involve in over 100 different villages-providing clean water filtration systems, micro-enterprise livestock projects, uniform/backpack distribution, etc. We do relief work. We have programs for both women and men- “Shine” and “Strengths” that impart value, purpose and worth into people’s lives. We host teams who come and volunteer. We provide for medical surgeries ranging from heart to cleft pallet repair.

One of our biggest, current projects is a coffee shop. We are working on opening up a coffee shop this year that will serve as vocational training for at-risk-youth. We desire to be a part of the efforts combating human trafficking. After some initial research, we feel like our part to play, in the here and now is prevention. Education is power. Education and vocational training both act as buffers against trafficking. We finished a new training room about a month ago and just weeks ago re-modeled our kitchen to better suit teaching. We are on our way…

I just moved into a new house with two of my roommates from the old house-Audrey and Robin. We live about a 5 minute walk from the beach!

Just last week I got back from a 10 day trip to Cambodia. It was a multi-purpose trip: firstly, I had to leave the county because my visa expired (I had to leave the country and come back in). Secondly, I attended the meetings of an anti-trafficking coalition that we are a part of. It was a wonderful trip. It was a rejuvenating and inspiring trip. I was able to see some really great projects that have been set in place to help rescued girls and women…talk about life-giving work.

The next couple months will be quite the adventure- in the mix…various friends and family that will come to visit, a trip to Singapore and a trip to Thailand.

Please check out the new AOGWR website- www.aogwr.org

Cheers to new beginnings ☺

Grace and peace and the third way,
Kait

"But the man put his fingers in his ears, and ran on, crying, 'Life! life! eternal life!'"

*warning-I think this post is a bit preachy...and if it is such, know that it is only directed at myself. Think of this as a glimpse into the types of conversations Kait has with herself :)

I have found myself a bit discouraged as of late...consequently...these two questions have come to my mind...

Do I live in want?

or

Do I live in faith?

I never have really thought of them as opposite standing questions...but in the past week I have come to see them as such. Recently I have been reading a lot from Paul...and it seems many times, from many different letters...his message is "you have everything you need-go live!". It is a an admonition that my dad often reminds me of "Kait, you are ok. You have everything you need."

"You have everything you need."

You see, if I claim the faith that I profess to be true, then I am saying that in accepting the sacrifice of Jesus Christ I have accepted the gift of eternal life. ETERNAL LIFE! Not temporary life in the here and now, not life on earth, not life for as long as I can imagine...eternal, never-ending, infinity...life.

Not only that (lest some say "eternal life sounds more like eternal hell") I believe that the life on this earth will pass and those that accept what Jesus did on the cross will carry over into heaven. Into life restored as it was initially created. Now, I won't claim to know what heaven will be like...but I do know that the Bible talks about it being better than anything we can imagine. Let me tell you, I can imagine some pretty incredible things...and so...it will be EVEN more so!

In light of Jesus' sacrifice and consequent gift that He offers everyone, in light of my acceptance of that gift and expectancy of life lived now and forever...I, in a sense, am living in a game whose final score is already known. I am living in a story that will for sure end in "happily ever after". In light of all that...I have everything I need.

Sure, life might not be fun at times. It might be hard, be painful, be confusing, etc. but I know the final score. I know the end result. There is no wondering if the current pain will win, if the confusion will win, if the hurt will win...because I know, at some point it will pass!

I am sorry, I know this all sounds preachy...but I have just really been challenged to think about the way that I am living. I think I so often live as though the final result is still up in the air. I have found myself living in want-allowing the bumps of life to make me think that I DON'T have everything I need. But. That. Is. A. Lie. I have everything I need.

Sure, life does hurt and its ok to hurt. Sure, life is hard and its totally ok to acknowledge that its hard. But there is hope...there is always hope because ultimately, I have everything I need.

These excerpts from Pilgrim's Progress really struck me this week:

- In light of other influences trying to convince Pilgrim that he was in want...
"But the man put his fingers in his ears, and ran on, crying, 'Life! life! eternal life!'"

- A conversation that Pilgrim has with one of his companions while in the dungeon of Doubting Castle (after having been captured by Giant Despair)...

"Pilgrim: Brother, what shall we do? The life we now live is miserable. For my part I know not whether it is best to live, or to die.

Hopeful: My brother, remember how valiant thou has been heretofore? Apollyan could not crush thee, nor could all that though didst hear, or see, or feel, in the Valley of the Shadow of Death. What hardship, terror and amazement hast thou already gone through...remember how thou playedst the man at Vanity Fair, and was neither afraid of the chain, nor cage, nor yet of bloody death?...

Now a little before it was day, good Christian (Pilgrim), as one half amazed, broke out in this passionate speech: What a fool am I, to live in a stinking dungeon when I may as well walk with liberty. I have a key in my bosom called Promise, that will open any lock in Doubting Castle."

And so...I am choosing to live in faith.
I have everything I need.

Grace and peace and the third way,
Kait

Piglets

* This is another article that I wrote for AOG World Relief*

What do you think of when you hear the word ‘piglet’? Maybe you think…cute or dirty or ‘oink” or smelly or funny or bacon. Surely, many different images, ideas and thoughts come to mind. Let me ask you this though…do you ever think ‘life changing’?

Under our comprehensive child sponsorship program there is a livestock component. This aspect of the program gives one female piglet to the family of each child being sponsored. The piglet comes with the responsibility of raising and breeding as well as eventually paying forward two healthy pigs to a neighbor (the same responsibility of paying it forward is expected then from the neighbors). Through the breeding of the piglet, families are able to generate an income. It’s the age-old story of giving a man a fishing rod rather than giving him food for a day. The livestock program is an empowering program that enables a family to generate income for themselves as well as help their surrounding neighbors.

About 50 pigs were handed out in the Dai Hung village a little over a month ago. Though each pig is precious and each pig is life changing…there were two in particular that we wanted to check up on when we re-visited the village last week.

A church in Australia raised the funds to hand out this particular lot of pigs…and when the word ‘church’ is used it isn’t just in reference to the adults. Two of the pigs handed out last month were funded by the kids of this church in Australia. Those two pigs were the ones that we wanted to check up on!

The first pig, affectionately named “Be Be” was given to a family with 6 kids. When we saw it last week, it was doing quite well having gained 5 kilos in 1 month! It happily grunted and sat in a pen as we came and observed. We weren’t the only ones to come and observe though-shortly after our arrival about 15 family and neighbors came and watched! Imagine, about 20 people in a small home all because of a pig! When the mother of the home was asked, “What will you are able to do now that you have a pig?” She responded saying that she will be able to help her family but also stated how excited she was that this pig would allow her to help someone else.

We found the second pig doing just as well, bigger in fact than the first one! The mother of this household has three children and was also left with her brother’s two children. Though life is difficult, hope and resiliency remain etched on her face. She spoke of looking forward to the pig growing bigger and eventually changing her family’s economic state.

“Piglet”- cute or life changing? You tell me. Not to say that a piglet can’t be both, only to point out the power behind such a small animal. It has the potential to generate income, to empower a family and to weave a community together in a web of mutual help- all of that from a pig.

breathing

The ability to breath is an incredible thing. Truly. Yet, when was the last time you stopped to think about it? Isn’t it amazing that something so central to life…something so central to every second of our existence can remain so far from our thoughts?

I have found a new appreciation for breathing-sounds funny, right? My attention and conscious thought was drawn to the act of breathing all last week…consequently I am more grateful and aware of it.

Monday of last week started like any other day but about half way through I noticed a pressure on my chest. It felt as though someone was sitting on me and my body responded in spasms of pain if I dared breathe too deeply. I remember thinking that it was a very odd thing but tried not to spend too much time on the issue. The pain and pressure persisted on and off throughout the week. I had been hoping that it was just a weird fluke thing and that it would take care of itself.

Thursday evening came around and I was scheduled to start a brand new class. Not a new course, mind you, a new class- 16 brand new to English 3-5 year olds. With 15 minutes left to go, I turned to my TA and told her that I could not finish as my breathing had gotten to the point of short gasps accompanied by tremendous pain.

I called a friend who picked me up and took me to the hospital. While there they did an x-ray and EKG, both of which yielded nothing. I returned home very discouraged and in a lot of pain. Three of my housemates were sitting around the kitchen table and quickly sat me down to be prayed over. During the prayer time, I experienced significant release in my chest and was able to breathe much more deeply than I had in hours.

We prayed for about an hour and then went to bed. That night was rough. I hardly slept and any little movement sent my back, chest and sides into spasms. Two of my housemates came into my room early, sat with me and prayed. Within about an hour’s time, there were 10 people in my room. Ten beautiful people who had come to pray healing over me. After we prayed for a bit someone said that they felt the need to worship so what did we do? We went and grabbed the keyboard from Audrey’s room and had a worship service right there and then in my room 

Essentially, I think the chest pains were a panic attack like I have never experienced before. Through the prayers and petitions of my beautiful brothers and sisters, those both physically present and present in spirit, I was freed. I went from being bed-ridden, hardly able to move…to within a matter of hours, showering and going out for lunch.

Isn’t that what the church is all about?
People gathering together to call on the power and authority of the Lord.
People living life alongside one another.
People being healed.
People being freed.
More of the Kingdom of Heaven being brought to earth.

So…breathing. I am a fan.

And this Easter I awoke with a new gratitude for resurrection. Last week felt like a slow death, but the body of believers that surrounded me embodied Jesus. They called me out of death and into new life.

He has risen.
He has risen INDEED.

Grace and peace and the third way,
Kait

the small things

This is an article that I wrote for one the AOG World Relief project sites...

"On Tuesday we drove about an hour and a half away to the village of Dai Chanh. Our destination- a small school for children ages 20 to 36 months. We drove up to the small building, cheerily painted a mint green outlined with purple trim. We were warmly greeted and entered one of the rooms to find 13 precious little faces staring back up at us. These 13 children come to the center from morning to early evening so that their parents can work. The school is somewhat of a hub for the area as it is home to the clean water filtration system that AOGWR previously helped install. Being home to the filtration system means that they are the clean water suppliers for all the other schools.

Though neat, cute and efficient the school is far from luxurious. Upon entering the room with all the children my eyes quickly did a scan and found only a few toys on a shelf. So imagine the kids’ pure delight at the sight of a big box with a promising picture of some sort of brightly colored contraption! The kids watched in wonder as some of the men started on setting up the new toy.

The real fun came when the “installation” was done and the new toy was ready to be played on. At first, though the slide was set-up and ready, the kids weren’t sure if they were set-up and ready! At first, they just stared, unknowingly at the slide. They didn’t know what a slide was! They didn’t know how to use a slide! After some coaxing and coaching a few brave souls dared to try. Shrills of delight from the sliders and fits of laughter from the spectators began to fill the room.

The ice had been broken, but it would still take some time for all of the kids to warm up. In the meantime, the men took apart the slide to morph it into a kind of rocking toy (the slide had 3 different set-up options). While the kids waited for the new toy option they decided to entertain themselves. The actual slide piece wasn’t needed for the rocking toy set-up so about 7 kids quickly climbed on the now horizontal slide. They sounded as if they were just about having the time of their lives. It’s the small things.

They played on the rocker for a bit and then waited as it was returned back to its slide-form. In the time between the different set-ups more children had summoned up the courage to give it a go and pretty soon all the kids were lining up to have their turn!

It’s the small things; indeed…it’s the small things. Not to discredit the small things but to in fact shed light on just how important and just how crucial they are; to in fact shed light on just how important something as simple as a play-set can be.

All too often, we are caught in the trap of self-defeat. “There is so much need in the world. I can’t do anything to even begin to tap that need. What can I do as one person? Or what can we do as a group/church/whatever?” It’s the small things. It’s a play-set that 13 children in the village of Dai Chanh village in the country of Vietnam…now have.

“Making life better” is AOGWR’s motto. We believe that making life better happens person-by-person, story-by-story, and relationship-by-relationship. We believe that making life better happens through money contributed by an individual to buy a play set-up for 13 children J We believe that making life better happens through the seemingly “small things” that actually end up to be anything but small."

Grace and peace and the third way,
Kait

No one won, everyone lost...

I have had the privilege of meeting some pretty incredible people while I have been here. One such person, I will call him…Mark. Mark is Vietnamese and worked with the American troops during the war.

I knew that he was fairly well known around town, but I had no idea just how far that reached. Come to find out this week that he has had a book dedicated to him in North America and is known within the Vietnam war veterans' circles. He is a very humble man, so it has taken me 8 months to find all this out.

He was telling me today of a story that just about brought tears to my eyes. He is often sought after by veterans looking to come back to Vietnam. The story he told me was of a vet who wanted to come back to find the family of a man that he had seen killed. Apparently, the gruesome story goes that an old Vietnamese man was tied to a board-dropped down a well and shot at by American troops. The vet witnessed all of this from the tank that he was driving.

Decades later, the images still haunted him. He wanted to go back and see how that man’s family was doing. Mark was the literally the middle man between the two parties-translating…translating more than just words though. He recounted how the situation was so stressful that he went through 10 cigarettes in 30 minutes.

He told of how initially the Vietnamese family was very angry. The vet’s return conjured up all the emotions from their father’s death-though decades ago it was still painful. Mark stepped in the middle and lectured both sides. This was the point of the story that I had to fight back tears. He told me how he told both sides…in this war there were no winners, only losers. Everyone lost. He told the Vietnamese family, don’t be upset with this veteran…he lost many of his friends here and can’t you see that this has haunted him for decades? He told both sides, hey we can’t identify Vietnamese or American anymore, the war is over. The war is over.

Reconciliation. What hard work. What brutal work. What heart-wrenching work. Yet, what exquisitely beautiful work.

I told Mark that I thought what he did was incredible. He responded, in his modest way saying that all he wants to do is help “release” people. He said that he could see how much the war affected this vet and if he play a part in releasing him from that burden-that it was well worth it.

That is a picture that I will take with me.

Reconciliation.

Grace and peace and the third way,

Kait

Sally Came to Town...

Sally Came to Town…

The day after I got back in Vietnam my best friend/sister/kindred spirit- Miss. Sally Stemple came to stay with me for a week. Sally is currently teaching English in China and is actually familiar with Vietnam as she spent some time here last summer. She and I have pretty much been inseperable (in spirit at least) since junior year. We were in the same social work cohort (which believe me, says a lot-your junior and senior years as a social work major are pretty much lived with your cohort) and were on the same RA staff senior year. From the very beginning of our friendship, I just had a feeling about her…had a feeling that we would become very close friends…and indeed, we have.

The timing of her visit was incredible, completely divine. Coming right off of my trip back to the states, I was exhausted physically yet in need of debrief. Having Sally with me for a week, forced me to slow down, forced me to relax. I am not very good about doing either left to my own means but having her there reminded me to do so. And we talked, boy did we talk-about everything and anything. We went from the most frivolous of subjects to those that warrant tears. She listened to me…listened to my ramblings and stories. She asked me good questions-helping me process all that had happened while in the US. We slept in, drank French press coffee in the mornings, were “artsy”, went to the beach, ate good food…medicine for the soul.

If you know me well, you have heard me say this many times…and I will say it again. I believe that a big way that the Lord reveals himself is in and through relationship with others. Like it says in the word-we become Jesus to others/we show Jesus to others when we care for one another, feed one another, clothe one another, etc. I think we learn more about the Father in relationship with others. I think one of the reasons why Sally is my best friend is because I feel like she is constantly teaching me about the Father-she is constantly showing me Jesus…and she doesn’t even have to try, it flows so naturally and abundantly from her heart…and it is beyond beautiful.

Thank you Lord for blessing me with such a friend!

Grace and peace and the third way,

Kait

Party in the USA!

(I wrote this awhile ago but forgot to post it)

Just got back yesterday from 2 weeks in the states. It was a whirlwind of a trip-completely exhausting and wonderful all at the same time. I spent the first half of the trip in Seattle and then the second half down in California around the APU campus.

It was so great to spend time with family and friends. It was so nice to talk face to face rather than email and skype. People kept asking me if it was “weird” to be back. I think the weird part about being back…was how not weird it was…does that even make sense? I think I was expecting for it to feel strange to be back, but it wasn’t. Relationships fell right back in line-no awkwardness or sense of distance. (Granted there were some things that were weird-like stores…oh man, l avoided those like the black plague-so overwhelming).

I think to an extent, it was comforting that home didn’t feel “weird” because it normalized life over here for me. I have always told people that I am just living life…it happens to be in Vietnam right now…but at the end of the day, I am just living life…and that’s the way it truly felt when I was back.

I think there was a certain amount of anticipation beforehand…wondering how I would react to being “back”…wondering if it would mess with my head…make me question being over in Vietnam. But you know, it did nothing of the sort. It was so good to visit but also so good to get back. I woke up the first morning back in Vietnam feeling so glad to be “home”.

Grace and peace and the third way,

Kait

pride comes before the fall (literally)

Man, if I got a dollar for every time I have made a fool of myself while here in Vietnam…I would be one rich girl. Last week was no exception. Like I mentioned in a previous post, I recently got a motorbike!!! Well I have been driving and practicing a lot on said motorbike over the past week. Its like learning anything new…riding a bike, driving a car…its awkward at first but improves with practice.

One of the things that is taking me the longest to get used to is the weight of the bike. It is so heavy!!! Once I am on it I am ok, but the weight difference between moving a bicycle versus a motorbike is quite substantial :)

So, the other day Christa and I were out and about. I was starting to think “Wow, look at me-I’ve got the hang of this motorbike thing!” Mistake number one…I was starting to get cocky. Mistake number two…as I was backing the bike out (while I was on foot-not while on the bike) of the parking area I somehow lost my balance and allowed the bike to fall over and subsequently followed. Don’t worry, I didn’t sustain any other physical injuries other than some pretty bruises on my legs…emotional bruises though, well…they sustained a little bit more damage. No, I am kidding, I am being melodramatic but I did manage to allow the bike to topple down for an audience of about 20 Vietnamese guys, cool. Yes folks, if the blond hair didn’t give it away-the motorbike handling skills surely did- I am a foreigner! :)

Later that day I was reflecting on what happened and a few things occurred to me. First…yes, pride comes before the fall. I was getting a little bit too confident in my driving skills-not that confidence is bad, but more confidence than skill warrants is just not a good idea. Second of all, I had to laugh at my reaction. Seven months ago if I were to make a spectacle of myself like I did, I would have just about died of mortification. Instead, yes…I felt somewhat sheepish but was over it within a minute’s time.

You see, like I said earlier-the incident last week is but one in a very long string of events where I have made a fool of myself here. I thinks it just a part of living in a different country, different culture, language, etc. I have learned to not take myself so seriously. Learned to laugh more when things don’t go as planned. Learned to not care so much what I look like. Learned to be more comfortable with who I am-flaws and all.

Yes, its a bit painful at times but mostly... its freeing.

Grace and peace and the third way,

Kait

Of course

This will be short (and I promise there will be more to come soon) but I just had to share. I think that this definitely falls into the category of best quotes from my time here in Vietnam thus far...

So tonight we began a new unit in one of my classes. This particular class is 9-12 year olds. We began to talk about hopes and dreams-I intro'ed the idea of a "dream job". I had the students get up and talk to each other about what their dream job is...while watching the kids interact...I was caught off guard when a student came up to me and turned the question on me! "Teacher Kait, what's your dream job?" To which I stumbled around a bit, for simple words that would convey what my dream job is...to which I finally came up with "Well, my dream job is to be someone who helps people." I looked anxiously at my student's face to gauge her reaction-did that make sense? Would that answer suffice?

My sweet little 9 year old student quickly nodded in acknowledgment. "Oh" she said. "Of course. You want to be a fairy."

To which I just had to smile and nod.

A fairy.

Of course.

:)

Grace and peace and the third way,
Kait

Expecting...

Don’t worry, I am not pregnant. As I wrote that title it occurred me how many different ways it could be interpreted, ha! Anyways, though its already over 2 weeks into the new year…I find that my thoughts remain in that wrap up of one year/launch into the next mode…that reflection and anticipation mode.

On the first day of this new year, I journaled pages and pages worth of the advenutres that encompassed 2009. There is a pretty broad spectrum-all within the 12 months of the past year, I was a social work intern at a girl’s group home, a Resident Assitant for on campus apartments, a student trying to finish up her last semester in college...and then came graduation where all of a sudden the tables turned. That benchmark that I had worked my entire life’s time up till, now had a check mark beside it! Oh the persistence of time! Then I moved home for 2 months, then moved overseas to Vietnam where I became a teacher and NGO worker. What a full year! What a full year indeed!

I find my thoughts reflecting on all of the incredible stories, relationships and new experiences that filled 2009. All of the reflecting leads me to be very expectant…expectant of all that the good Lord might have in store for 2010 (which has ALREADY proven to be eventful-two weeks in and I am a proud new driver of a motorbike!!! Watch out world!!! And yes mom, I will wear a helmet, I promise J). All of the reflecting has made me excited-not wondering about whether the Lord will do incredible things…rather, what those incredible things will be!!!

2009 was a great year and I couldn’t have fathomed even half of what ended up happening…so bring on 2010. Can’t wait to see what will fill my journal entry as I write on January 1, 2011!

Grace and peace and the third way,

Kait

Welcome 2010

My goal of writing weekly in this blog has dwindled, so I thought with the new year here...what a better time of a time to recommit to that goal.

As I look over my previous entries there are some missing pieces that I figured would be good to fill everyone in on.

First of all, the Christmas party was great! We ended up having 50-60 of our friends show up on Christmas eve. We served them a full course meal...including mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, green been casserole, salad, rolls and chicken. We of course did not neglect the most important part of a meal (the dessert) as we had pumpkin pie, chocolate cake, gingerbread men and peanut butter cookies. We decked the house out with tables and chairs with christmas decor and tealights. It was truly a beautiful experience to have everyone there. It was truly a beautiful experience to look around and see so many different cultures, nationalities and backgrounds represented. So many of my friends came up to me and said "Kait, I am so happy because this is my first time to celebrate christmas." What an incredible experience indeed.

Second of all, I don't think I have properly introduced the other half of what I spend my time doing here. It has been a few months now that I have been working with an NGO called AOG World Relief. It has been like a dream come true to work with the team there. In a nutshell, the agency does everything from child sponsorship to medical surgeries to community development and beyond! When they invited me onboard it was with the initial invitation to start some research on human trafficking. You see truly, it is a world wide issue but Southeast Asia especially shows a large representation of the problem. When they first approached me with this, I could hardly believe my ears! You see, this is the issue that I initially wanted to be involved with before I even moved here...but hadn't been able to find an organization that worked in the area.

All that to say, for the past few months I have been working at AOG World Relief. I have been connecting and networking with agencies and individuals across the Mekong Delta. The idea is that is to first get a clear picture of the state of the issue, what agencies are already doing, what the need is, etc. We want to be a part of coalition that attacks this problem-not a lone agency wanting to play superhero and assert itself where there are already those doing good works. We want to collaborate...because collaboration is the name of the game when it comes to such a widespread issue like human trafficking.

My involvement at AOG World Relief is not limited to that area though...everyone helps out everyone else...we are a family and a team there. I have done everything from become a certified SHINE trainer (an INCREDIBLE program created to empower women and tell them of their worth) to hand out pigs in a village (as part of the child sponsorship program we help give families a means of providing for themselves. They are to breed the pigs with the promise that they will pass along 2 healthy piglets to a neighbor).

I absolutely love working at AOG World Relief. My heart soars there...and I feel so fortunate to be a part of the team.

On that note...cheers to 2010 and to more up-to-date blogging :)

Grace and peace and the third way,

Kait