so, once again, i'm off. back to norway and latvia for the summer, then off to oregon for jesse's wedding, and then.... back to maine. eventually. i think.
i'm excited, awed, humbled, and amazed that i have the opportunity to go back to norway and latvia this summer, on the same trip (under the auspices of the Navigators) that i went on last year. i knew in my heart that i wanted to go back, but it's only been in the past few months that my head realized that you know what, this just might be possible after all...
it's totally a God thing
life has been so busy as of late that it's only just now beginning to sink in that i'm actually going back. that i'll see some of the kids at Zosna camp again, see those majestic mountains and fabulous fjords surrounding Skjolden, sweat in a Latvia banya and freeze in a Norwegian lake, fellowship with some kindred spirits and reach out to some people desperately in need of Love, of Life, of the Lord. there's too much to describe, to many sights to see and people to visit and soccer games to play and mountains to climb and conversations to have around the campfire into the wee hours of the morning. i know it won't be exactly the same... but that's part of the reason i feel drawn to go back
so, once again, i'll be out of touch with the "civilized" world for a couple of months... sporadic access to e-mail/internet, unavailable by phone, and a little out of the way for a personal visit. feel free to drop me a line via e-mail, but don't expect a timely response. real, actual, honest-to-goodness letters would always be appreciated, too. but even more than communication from you, i would covet your communication with God on my behalf. please, please, if you can, pray. pray for safety, for strength, for wisdom in outreach and faithfulness in discipleship, for steadfastness in my personal walk with the Lord and for the capacity and impetus towards growth. pray for an effective ministry to college students in Norway, and to kids (many of them orphans) in Latvia. if you'd like more specific requests or information regarding the trip, let me know (by, um... tomorrow, since i leave on tuesday) and i'd be happy to fill you in some more
also, if you live in the u.s., and wouldn't mind letting a scruffy and bedraggled hobo crash your pad sometime from august on... that would be appreciated also. i'm going to try and be faithful about journaling over the course of the next few months as i'm traveling overseas and in the states, so hopefully i'll be able to recount the events once i arrive home... whenever and wherever that is
so, here goes nothing... i can only see part of the way down the road, and i don't know where it leads, but i know that this is the way. sometimes it's only by removing all of the things that we depend on from our lives that we can truly learn what it means to be totally dependent on God. that's my hope, that's my goal, and we'll see where this summer leads.
adios!
