Purpose Asia

The sun glimmered brightly through the open door as I pushed the blanket away from my face. A fire crackled in the middle of the room and Rhona's sister-in-law sat beside it tending a pot of sweet potatoes. Smoke wafted up towards the rafters and the grass roof. Everything smelled alive and wild and new. Elemental like earth and water and fire. I pulled in a deep breath, feeling life tingle in every part of me. Easter. The reminder that my Savior didn't stay in the tomb but rose from the dead. Because He lives I could live and because He came to rescue me I came to Papua New Guinea. It was almost too much. I stared at the ceiling beams and listened to the sounds of the household waking up. Soon I willed myself to get up and wash. Today I would be going back home after the morning church service. The sun was bright and the sky new washed like a blue cloth pulled over the tented sky. I sat on a rock to warm myself as the rest of the family bustled around getting ready for chu...

Easter Youth Camp in Famo My mouth was dry. Over a hundred pairs of brown eyes were trained on me. I felt like my skin glowed white and my blonde hair might as well be a neon light. I looked in each face. What could I possibly have to say to this group of young people? Me. A white girl from another country who grew up in a city instead of a village and who could only observe and imagine some of the struggles they faced every day. I had prayed before coming to Famo about what I should speak about if I was asked to speak at the youth convention. The pastor had asked me to share my testimony. A dozen thoughts had clamored in my mind as I walked up to the front of the blue and white tent and grasped the microphone in my hand. I licked my lips, smiled and found my friend Rhona's face in the crowd. She smiled and lifted her eyebrows in a very Papua New Guinean signal of encouragement. I set down my little notebook where I had jotted my thoughts as I had prayed about what to say and I...

The night was fresh and my friends stood around me as we shifted our bags and started off down the road. It was Good Friday and my friend Rhona had invited me to spend the Easter weekend with her and her family in their home area called Famo. Steep hills huddled around the road that wove around their knees as we tramped along, enjoying each other's company. Rhona and her family members chatted with me, pointing out different landmarks, villages, and areas. I drank it in like a parched man coming in from the hot sun; the fuzzy, grass-covered hills turning blue in the setting sun, the bleached-bone river rocks under my boots, the deep orange clay chiseled away at the roadside, the soft breeze carrying the scents of the valley towards me and filling me with their heady richness. I smiled and marveled at how amazing and good God was to me all the time. We ambled on, making steady progress towards Famo in the coming night. Stars began to poke holes in the navy dome above us and the ...

Megdaniel and I (credit Michael)  He was finally here. I had waited the exciting and anxious months with my friend Rhona from her first whispered confidence to her tense days before his arrival. Now my friend gently placed the bilum on the floor, lifted him out and placed him in my arms. He was perfect. I felt so overwhelmed with joy. I felt a little ridiculous. I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face, and pride and joy welled up in my heart threatening to burst out of me at any moment. I looked up at my friend and it was as if she could read my heart through my eyes. “ We wanted to name him after you,” she said, “but since Megan is a girl’s name we decided to put your name inside his first name. You will be his namesake.” My eyes began to blur. Namesake. Wow. “Thank you,” I murmured and my eyes dropped down to his sleeping face. I stroked his downy hair and marveled that God would bless me so much to bring me inside this family and honor me with a n...

Markham Valley, Papua New Guinea looking toward Lae Rank upon rank of palm trees stood in slouching indifference keeping watch over the sleepy earth below. Saw-tooth mountains bristling with velvety, pale green grass stabbed into the brooding sky of skimming clouds and brilliant blue. And out before me stretched the Highlands highway, shimmering in the mirage-like haze of the hot morning sun. A bus packed with passengers bumped along with me, mesmerized by the pumping pop music blaring from the speakers above us. Our little hodgepodge family was packed like sardines into the faded seats of the old Coaster bus. I loved it. The smell of coconuts and mangoes mingled with the steamy wind and the scent of kunai grass that was whipping around me through the open windows as we sped down the highway towards the mountain pass into the highlands.  I've lived in Papua New Guinea for almost 3 years now and yet, there's things that still take my breath away about the wonderful country ...

“”The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” which means, “God with us.””  Matthew 1:23 (NIV) We’ve heard it a million times, could recite it in our sleep. We intellectually understand it and once a year actually probably think about it a little bit. But how would our lives look different if we walked around acting like it was true? For instance, I’m a nurse, that’s who I am. But lets pretend for a minute that you didn’t know me and someone told you I was a nurse. You have heard it a thousand times from others that I’m a nurse, you could recite it in your sleep. You intellectually understand it and whenever you have a sniffle or an ache you actually probably think about it a little bit. But what would happen if, in a crisis you had me in the room with you and, instead of asking me to help, you turned to your friend and asked for help or whipped out your cell phone to Google what to do or call a...

Airports: the intersection of my most bitter sorrows and deepest joys. A tangled mess of gut wrenching goodbyes and laughter filled hellos. I love and hate them all at once. Corridors to my future that lead me further and further away from my past. Away from those I love, to reunite with those I love. A topsy-turvy, upside down, paradox that I can't seem to work out no matter how much I try.  Before I left Washington people kept asking me if I was excited to go back. Yes? No? Can I get a pass on this question? I can't help but laugh. Before I lived overseas for extended periods of time I asked the same question. Now I find the question so confusing, and my emotions so convoluted around the issue, that whenever anyone asks that question I stand there dumbfounded, paralyzed by my conflicted feelings. It's the nature of my life, my calling.  Things are more complicated now. My emotions, impressions and feelings are so different now. I'm struggling through them but gratef...