Posted in General Posts by Kris Tippett on 6/12/2011
One last blog of my World Race journey; one last word I want to share with you, my loving supporters... THANK YOU!!!!!!! :
Спасибі
(pronounced "Spa-si-ba" in Ukrainian)
Go raibh maith agat / Thank you
(Irish Gaelic / English)
Asante Sana
(Kenya - Swahili)
Weebale
Nnyo
(Uganda - Lugandan)
Asante Sana
(Tanzania - Swahili again)
ขอบคุณ
(Pronounced "Cab-cun-ca" in Thai)
ឣរគុណ
(Pronounced "Aw-Kohn" in Cambodian Khumer)
ขอบคุณ
(Pronounced "Cam-on" in Vietnamese)
Muchas Gracias
(Nicaragua - Spanish)
Muchas Gracias
(El Salvador - Spanish)
Muchas Gracias
(Guatemala - Spanish)
This year wouldn't have been possible without you. Thank you from the depths of my heart!!!!!!!
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Posted in General Posts by Kris Tippett on 5/25/2011
What's around the riverbend?
Well, I'm planning a WEDDING! I guess I didn't expect to enter into this process so soon after I came home, but I am loving it. God's ushering me into one of the greatest ministries of all time - marriage. It's humbling. I never thought that's how I would describe being engaged. But it's true. There is much excitement and joy, but humbling sort of overtakes them all. I understand the seriousness of this promise and pray that Ben and I will constantly propel each other towards our Father for the rest of our lives. We've already started a bit of planning and are thinking sometime this fall :)
There have been a lot of things this year that have sort of striken my heart in new ways, and I like to think of these things as kisses from the King. Certain passions that have been awakened in my heart have allowed me to see more into the Father's heart and who He has created me to be.
Consistently throughout the year I have thought a lot about reaching the lost in my own backyard. I've felt pretty convicted that if I can cross oceans to proclaim the Good News, whats stopping me from sharing with people who I have relationships with at home? And people from my own country who clearly need the Love of God in their lives? Sadly, it is a lot easier to be vulnerable with people you don't know and who you know there is a slim chance of ever seeing again. I don't want to live like that though - love gets vulnerable.
The race has given me such awesome opportunities to work in so many different types of mission fields, so many different places, so many different cultures. I have been discovering new things about myself all along the way, which I praise God for because I asked Him for that before the race began. I discovered that I have a passion for urban ministry. People often ask "what was your favorite country?" And immediately, Ireland and Thailand come to mind. Not because of the landscape, no matter how beautiful. Not because of available conviniences. But because of the ways in which we were reaching out to the people there. Working in both of them ignited a fire inside me for replacing the darkness that most cities are saturated in with the Light of Life. Just something about the urban work we did made me feel right.
As I re-enter the United States, my prayer is that the Holy Spirit sweeps through Baltimore and DC. Columbia and Frederick. Mount Airy and Woodbine. The biggest cities to the smallest towns. I feel like He's been whispering to me about ways in which to effect these places for His Kingdom. I truly do believe that somethings in store for ministering through art or dance or both. Whatever that looks like, I'm really excited. And instead of trying to box them in, or pick one or the other, I'm just going to take each step as I feel led and see where God takes me with them. I definitely have visions of Him using me to show Himself to my neighbors near and far through the arts.
There are some job opportunities that are happening right now and I'm excited. The
one I am really praying over is working for an organization called
World Relief. They are a Christian nonprofit based in Baltimore. I
really believe in what World Relief is working for and would love to
partner with them in that. You can check out their website at :
http://worldrelief.org/Page.aspx?pid=2665
I have lots of vision and just pray for clarity in it all.
Amigos in Christ (an organization we worked with in Nicaragua) has a saying...
"Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."
I won't settle for anything less than Life. Being alive in the spiritual sense... Abundant life. He desires it for us, and that we desire it for one another. I praise Him for this past year, I praise Him for what may be ahead... for what's around the riverbend.
To all my supporters - - a HUGE thank you for being with me this year. For loving me, praying for me, supporting me through it all. And for continuing those prayers in this crazy re-entry stage. The word 'appreciation' doesn't make a dent on the way I feel, my gratitude. I love you very much.
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Posted in General Posts by Kris Tippett on 5/17/2011
I want to share some things I consider valuable to those who may be going on the race and are in a relationship with someone not going on the race.
Here's a little (actually a lot!) about my experience on the race being in a serious relationship with someone back home [to preface, I'm sharing from my experience. I know all relationships are different.]...
...So there I was, three years into a relationship with my boyfriend. And then I saw the world race website and my whole world was shifted. How could I do this? I was deeply in love with Ben, but had an undeniable tug on my heart to do this crazy thing. Should I just pretend I didn't feel the call? Should I break up with Ben? Or the most unthinkable in my mind... should I pursue both?
First, I realize that God calls each person to whatever He so desires them to do in life. He placed a burden in my heart to go on the race. He did not do that in my boyfriend Ben's heart. While I battled for the months leading up to the race if this relationship was hindering me, propelling me, frusterating me, encouraging me. All I knew is that whenever I sought the Lord's direction, neither my desire to go on the race nor my desire to be with Ben subsided.
I know there are many who have been in the same situation. I know there are many who will face it. All I can say about going on the race, whether you're in a relationship or not, seek your Papa.
After spending a while trying to control the situation (as I tend to fall into), my heart was hurting more and more. I was subconsiously pushing Ben away because from a human standpoint, of course this wouldn't work. 11 months away from your boyfriend/girlfriend? There's no way. That's what the world says. Why does it seem to take us so long to actually seek and listen to the voice of our Father? Once I finally did surrender the situation, things just clicked.
He brought me to a place of understanding that He is good and knows better than I. If He wanted me and Ben together, than no matter how long or far I went, nothing could break us. If He didn't want us together, than me staying home wouldn't keep us together. Basically, it was pivitol that I stop basing my decisions on what was good for Ben and I's relationship, and started basing decisions on what was good for the Lord and I's relationship. Truly following. Truly surrendering. And yes, surrender really is so sweet.
There were (dare I say it?) thousands of times on the race I wanted to come home. Ben was a huge part of that, but I'm also just really close with my family and had never left them like this before. Both my family and Ben have such influence on me. They were such sources of encouragement, and truthfully sometimes discouragement. They didn't feel the call I did, so it was very difficult for them to understand why I didn't necessarily always want to stay, but needed to. Ben asked me to come home many times. This was extremely hard on me because as much as I wanted to sometimes, I knew it was not an option. These challenges only provided more opportunities for growth. I was very challenged with who I would follow. I was challenged to encourage my family and Ben. I was challenged to challenge Ben to welcome this chance to grow into the spiritual leader I need him to be. And at that time the way he could do that was encouraging me when I needed it because we both knew full well that this is where I was supposed to be for this time. With very little communication, conversations like this were rough and hard. But oh so fruitful.
That's another thing. Communication. Sometimes you'll have lots of it. Sometimes it will be once a week. I had a few months of unlimited internet where we were staying, and it turned out to be both a blessing and a curse. It was so nice to be able to check up on loved ones whenever. However, it was extremely tempting to spend massive amounts of time and energy connecting with them... and the thing is, we don't come on the race to spend all our time on the internet. The constant ability to connect made it difficult because it's easy to miss out on things. With my team, and spiritually.
In Africa we could only get once a week, bad connection internet. It was terribly difficult. I had an international phone that was stolen in Tanzania. I was just plain frusterated. On top of just missing my loved ones, I thought I needed my phone to check in and make sure everyone was ok every so often. But I tell you, those months of separation from every sort of comfort (physically, relationally) brought me to depths I've never before experienced with Jesus. I had no choice but to trust Him with everything that meant so much to me. The hardest times are an opportunity... an opportunity to really put into life what we say we believe. I can talk all day about the importance of surrender and dependence on Him. But when it comes down to it and He brings me to those places, how will I handle it? In Africa I did try to fight Him for a while, then I finally embraced it. Embraced Him. I know it was His jealous love for me that brought me to that place. He knew that too, knew that's what I needed to bring me on my face.
And now I look back and count those as the sweetest times in my life. We must separate ourselves from the thinking of this world. I thank Him for that pit I was in in Africa, for it was then that I really felt a need for Him like I've never before experienced. But the thing is we always have that need for Him. It's just a lot easier to feel and see when you're stuck in a valley.
The weight of being on the race and dating Ben was really hard. A lot of times I felt really distracted. A lot of times I felt really overwhelmed. I know God has a unique path for everyone, but I really envied the people from my squad that chose to go home early. There were plenty of times I was seriously about to, but for some reason I just couldn't. I know that reason was Jesus whispering to me that the fruit of this would be worth the hardship. So, it's going to be tempting to go home. But if you hear that too, I plead with you not to. It was vital to me to be surrounded by the encouragement and support of my team/squad. You can't really hide things from them - they're always there. That support system was so important for me. I literally wouldn't have lasted without the community around me constantly speaking truth and life to me.
I think that support system is extremely important for your significant other as well. We were not created to carry burdens alone. They need people to pray with, encourage, speak into them too. It goes both ways.
On a bit of a lighter note, you both will inevitably both go through different stages. Your squad leaders will go through the typical heart ones with you - abandonment, brokenness (I spent a lot of time here), dependence, empowerment, calling. I know Ben went through some of these as well. But his stages also came out in physical form. Shall we take a looksie?
It started with him wanting to look like me, via braids...
...continued with the worlds most massive stache...
... onto caveman Benny...
... to finally, a low messy bun for my arrival. As you can see, a lot of hair happenings can go on in 11 months!
Anyways, something else that kept me on the field and completely rocked my world was to see fruit in Ben's life because of this. In a relationship, I know the importance of both parties seeking our Savior. If one does more or less, the yoke is just uneven. So to be honest, I was afraid of this before I left. It's a blind leap of faith. I didn't know what would happen with us... would he go off the deep end? Maybe. But all I could do was trust. I knew this was my path, and deep down I knew God would take care of it. One of the most awesome things was seeing the growth that Ben was experiencing with the Lord. Getting to talk with him about it all now, it's really clear that God seemed to have taken our hearts through very similar things. This, in turn, allowed us to grow in similar ways. It blows me away because we were living in such dramatically different circumstances. But it just goes to show, nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37 - which was actually a verse we clung to while I was away.) I knew that me doing the race had just as much to do with Ben and my family as it did with me. This definitely kept me on the field - who knew what God had in store in months to come to teach not just me, but Ben too? It was not my place to cut that short.
For me, coming home was amazing and really tough. Ben proposed to me at the airport! It was unbelievable and so joyous! But I also cried a lot. There is just A LOT going on in your mind when you come back. Your boyfriend/girlfriend has got to be understanding of that. Sometimes I want to be here, sometimes I wish I was back on the field. It's SO good being in this relationship face to face again. But that doesn't discount the fact that I miss my squad like crazy. Ben and I had been skyping the whole time I was gone, so we were up to date on all the essential info and heart stuff. But there was/is (since I only got home 2 weeks ago!) an element of the 'get to know you' stage all over again. It's not bad, just different.
I don't recommend dating and going on the race. I know AIM doesn't either, and for good reason. I'm so thankful God seemed to have put blinders on my eyes and made me naive to many things. Because it was harder than I ever could have imagined. But I wouldn't trade that experience for the entire world.
Now, again, this was my experience on the race being in a relationship. This post is in no way to guarantee anything... I just want you to know the reality of what I went through. The difficulty of it, the fruitfulness of it. I had friends who started out in a relationship and saw that God was leading them out of it, so ended it on the race. I had friends who started the race in a relationship and went home. I was in a relationship for all the race, went home and got engaged. Although we get really worked up on what the end result will be, that's not the issue. The issue is following Christ, rather than a person or even our own desires.
If God's leading you to it, I plead with you to follow. You won't be dissapointed you did. Whether the relationship works out and grows, or if it ends, your heart will be filled with peace knowing you did what Jesus lead you to. And He always knows what He's doing.
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Posted in General Posts by Kris Tippett on 5/17/2011
Coming home.
I'm home!!!!!!!!
I'm home?
I'm home :(
I'm home!!!!!!! :-D
I'm a girl. So these have pretty much been my emotions for the last two weeks that I've been back in the states.
I get off the plane, use the bathroom real
quick cause I was about to burst, and then follow the signs to baggage
claim. I'm in Baltimore. I saw our mall from my window as we landed.
I hear a commotion of people and start running. It's my family! Surreal.
That night was an extreme whirlwind of emotions. I was so happy. I was
so stunned to be surrounded by what once was normal. When I got to my house, I just sat in Ben's lap wrapped in his arms and sobbed for a good
while. I didn't even know why I was sobbing, but I was. Now I think it
was just everything. So much going on, such a big transition, a combo of grieving having to leave that family mixed with the
joy of seeing this one. Grieving my life on the race, and the joy
of my life here. Taking it all in - my sisters 9 months pregnant due
any day, my other sister's life in Haiti, my best friend's engaged, I just got ENGAGED! And things from the race
that just kept flashing through my mind, like African hospitals and our
kids faces in Budaka... things that maybe I couldn't take in at the time
and really process through what I was a part of, what I was seeing. The
hurt of the world. As much as I tried to not be overwhelmed, I was and
it came out here in Ben's arms. I was crying out of pain, I was crying
out of joy, I was crying with every emotion felt that I think the human
heart can experience.
Even on my flight to BWI, I
heard Him saying 'prepare yourself, Kris. These people, these things happening, this place... they're all gifts, but
this is not your Home.' And the last few weeks, I've thought
continuously on that. And felt that. It is so good to be back here, but
this is not my Home. At my last feedback night Angela told me about
perseverance and patience and how God has grown those in me for more
than just the race. I am starting to see and feel now just what that
really means. It takes a great measure of perseverance for a citizen of
Heaven to live in this world. Heaven is Home. And when I say I've felt
that the past few weeks, I mean just that. I have been so happy with
being back and getting engaged! Such exciting things. But nothing
satisfies like the moments that I've experienced (wherever it may be) in
the presence of the Lord and truly feeling at His feet before His
throne. Because where His throne is, there is my Home.
Another blog to come about the specifics of coming home and getting engaged. Because I'll say it was quite an event!
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Posted in General Posts by Kris Tippett on 4/22/2011
Hope Haven Guatemala is an organization that gives away wheelchairs to children in need. We've been having a wonderful time getting to work with them! Every thursday and friday, about 15 children whom the government has selected come to the factory and get fitted for a wheelchair of their own. We have been helping assemble the chairs and hanging out with the kids while they wait for their chair to be complete.
A little girl with her family after just recieving her wheelchair.
This is the inside of the factory where the chairs get worked on.
This is the first chair that I got to help assemble. It is the first chair she's ever had!
After the work is done, we have some fun with these wheels!
We have wheelchair races... make wheelchair trains...
... play wheelchair basketball. Go Carrie!
The teachers are on strike in the village of Xenacoj, where we live, so we spent a day teaching the kids about hygiene and Bible stories. It's always a good sign when a kid asks "can we have school tomorrow too?"
We got to help lay concrete for the floor of this church. We had a mixing team, and I got to help spread and smooth.
You should check out Hope Haven's website if you're interested in more info on them! :
http://www.hopehaven.org/news/Guatemala_Shop_in_Action
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Posted in General Posts by Kris Tippett on 4/16/2011
I could just sit for hours and just think. Let my thoughts spiral into other thoughts, ideas bouncing off one another. Sometimes I do do this. Lately, I've been doing it a lot but not always on purpose.
I kind of feel like my brain is a composition of really random thoughts that just pop up every so often. It's been hard to have coherent thoughts lately. I think it's because I've been super pensive with just trying to process through everything I've done and seen this past year. It's quite a lot to think through! I've wanted to further explore these thoughts and then share them with you, but the sparatic-ness of my mind has not died down yet like I expected it to. So, here are some of the things that have been running through my head: [these are just thoughts... some may seem crazy, but I never said I wasn't :P ]
To believe in a God that not only created this whole universe, but cares about the inner workings of my heart is something I have tried to wrap my head around, but (go figure) I can't. I have been learning and hearing about Him my whole life, so the enormity of it all must have slipped me by. Like seriously, thinking about a Being that has always existed, with no beginning (no beginning!) that has always been, is just crazy! And to think that He is GOOD. How fantastic is that! God who is God, above everything, Creator of everything, is good. We have no control over anything, we are just SO blessed that He is really and truly a GOOD God. Unlike those mythological movies you see with moody and selfish greek gods. Wow, praise Him He is not like them. All the stories we read and movies we watch where we feel on edge as we're taken through the plot and then experience peace because the good guy wins... i think there's so much to that. It's parallel to the way of our God - He's given us this life with so many things happening and many of them bad because of the fall, but in the end, good wins. He wins. And deep within our hearts, we all know that's how it is, how it's meant to be. We are full of unrest when stories end in any other way. Man, even things man thinks we've made up, its all still come from Him. Like writing a story and it having a plot. We wouldn't know what a story was if we weren't given the greatest story ever from our Maker.
I love how there is spiritual symbolism in everything. The way flowers turn towards the sun. The way you can hear, feel, and see the wind moving things but you cannot see the wind. Even disney movie storylines like Tangled. I could discuss this for hours and would love to if anyone's up for it :)
I tell you, if ants were human sized, they'd take over the world.
The fact that God can redeem anything shows so much of who He is, how big He is. Which makes me think of how we try not to box Him in, but being humans with a brain capacity that doesn't allow us to fathom Him, we do. Which frustrated me for a while, but I think being content with trusting He is who He is and not having to grasp everything us to greater levels of faith. This year my view of God has changed a lot. He feels closer to me than ever before, and at the same time He feels bigger to me than ever before.
I also think that every single thing was created with a dance. For Orcas, it's spy hopping (their different ways of jumping out of the water). Butterflies don't just fly, they flutter and float in a dance of freedom. Trees dance in the rythem of the breeze. Every culture of people dances.
I've gotten to meet and get to know some amazing people. I've gotten to share life with people and gotten to know some beautiful hearts. I just wish I could spend all my time with them, because however long we have together...
...a month...
...a year...
...a whole lifetime...
...its just not enough! I love different things about them and how they are all different! And the craziest thing is that even how awesome they are, God created them all. HE is even more awesome than the people I love. Imagine how caring and so so so funny God is. He must have a HUGE sense of humor if He's created people so funny. And the fact that everyone loves to laugh. He is perfect, and so the definition of caring and loving. He's given these qualities to some people, but He IS love. He IS joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness...
I'll never understand most things in the Universe, but I sure love wondering about it. I love thinking about Who God is. I love wondering what He was up to before this world began. I love wondering what else is far beyond what our telescopes can't see. I love thinking about His sense of humor and picturing a horse or a puffin in the spiritual realm sitting right in the middle of our circles during feedback. hehe. We just never know!
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Posted in General Posts by Kris Tippett on 4/11/2011
These people. These crazy fabulous people I am surrounded by... We've traveled together, shared bunk beds together, eaten together, prayed, laughed, cried, fought, encouraged, annoyed, sang, danced, acted, taught, worked out, watched countless movies, and celebrated holidays together. We've dressed up as one another, braided each others hair, gotten sick together, been literally jammed in vehicles together, and frequently skype each other while still out on the field. We... love each other. A lot.
I'm kind of obsessed with these people I've been galavanting around the
world with.
And that brings me to what I've been reflecting on a lot lately... People. And relationships. It really shouldn't be a surprise to me that God's taken me further into my love for people. When becoming a killer whale trainer just wasn't working out, I knew it was because He wanted me concerned with people more than whales (shocker). We joke that on the world race you spend 26 hours a day with people, so this was quite an opportunity for me to get a feel for living in a close community.
Relationships and living in community have undoubtedly been the primary way in which the Lord has spoken to me this past year. This is actually two-fold. Through the community I have here and the community I have at home. The relationships I already possessed and the ones that I've been beyond blessed to have made have done a number on my life in the most incredible of ways. He used the people around me to teach me more about Himself. He used relationships in my life to teach me more about His relationship with me The best part is that I truly believe this is just the beginning. Realizing the importance of relationships is such a precious thing. And the impact that people can have on one another. God tells us how to live and its super simple: love Him, love people. In loving people we are loving Him. And when we love Him, we will be propelled to love people. They're intertwined, hand in hand. The New Testament is flooded with the consistent call to unity among believers.
It's easy to live in unity when Love is fueling you. At home I have a fabulous community with my family and close knit friends, where we are constantly loving each other in the fullness of Christ's Love. I have been convicted to dive deeper into that, to pour more into the people that I've been surrounded by, and to extend that beyond just the people who know me inside and out. I've seen and been a part of many different communities around the world. In Ireland, in Tanzania, in Nicaragua, I have seen thriving communities following Christ and living together in unity.
"All the believers were together and had everything in
common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he
had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple
courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and
sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.
And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." Acts 2:44-47
Together we are a body. HIS body! We are His hands and feet. Christ's body was not meant to be sedintary, self indulgent, and lazy. Just as our physical bodies feel antsy and gross when we veg out all the time, we as Christians should feel antsy and gross when we are doing nothing to utilize our spiritual hands and feet. It's all too easy to get caught in a routine in which our efforts spiral into mostly self-focused things. It's all too easy for me to caught in that. But, 'I see a generation rising up to take their place with selfless faith.' Selfless faith means pushing the opposite way of that spiral. Selfless faith includes walking this life together.
As you can see, God's been sparking some things within my heart about people, and
it's through living in community with these ones that He's done it. A lot of
the time its been extremely hard, especially for an introvert like
myself. But the movement of the Holy Spirit in it all has been
undeniable and for that I must have more. It's no surprise that I see Him moving so much through my relationships with His kids. He doesn't just sit on the sidelines of our lives, He's a really involved Daddy :)
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Posted in General Posts by Kris Tippett on 3/28/2011
Holy guacamole, it's already country 11! (Thankfully, a country rich in guacamole :) El Salvador!
We're working with a sweet newlywed couple, Oscar and Jackie. From the moment I got here, I really just felt at home with them. They personify the saying "mi casa es su casa" as they are so full of gracious hospitality. It's nice being able to just sprawl out somewhere and watch movies! I am so encouraged by their passion for what the Lord has them doing here, working with all their hearts from the big things right down to the smallest of details. Oscar is the leader of the worship team at church. aWe sing some incredible spanish worship songs. These songs really make me want to learn spanish all the more!
We've been learning and performing dramas about living for the world vs. Jesus. In parks, at church services... on live TV. We didn't see that one coming! My team mainly does two dramas, one called "sticky chair" and the other one "the hitchhiker". Sticky chair goes something like this: there is a chair with a sign on it labeled "No tocar" which means "Do not touch", symbolizing sin. Well, one by one, we come to it and all end up getting stuck to it. Then a believer comes and prayers for each of us and we are freed from the sin chair!
"The hitchhiker" is about a man who picks up hitchhiker after hitchhiker who lure him into their ways... ones into drugs, ones a seducer, ones a thug. And then he picks up a Christian whom he tries to bring into his newfound hobbies, but she ends up telling him about Jesus. So he becomes a believer and is freed of the things that he picked up from his not-so-friendly previous passangers. They are pretty light hearted skits that, even though I'm not at all an actress, are enjoyable to do :) Team Roar is also working with the church we are a part of and they perform the skit to Lifehouse's song "everything". I've seen them do it so many times, but it never fails to give me goosebumps! It's so touching.
I've found that the scheduled ministry we have each month is always great, but not always necessarily what grabs my heart. I really treasure just getting to live life with Oscar and Jackie here, and hang out with our translators, two girls in college who are super spunky and fun. I love getting to build relationships with them.
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Posted in General Posts by Kris Tippett on 3/13/2011
Hello again Western Hemisphere!
For the past 3 weeks, I've been in a charming little town called Chichigalpa, Nicaragua. We've been working with an organization called VIsion Nicaragua and have been so blessed to live at their facilities, which are settled right at the base of an active volcano! Our Nicaraguan home really showcases the peace and beauty of our Lord so evidently:
We've been involved in a bunch of different things since we first arrived. For the first few days, we painted a church nearby and got to know the children of that village. I've gotten to practice spanish a lot and it's been fun! We worked with an organization called Amigos for Christ for a few days which provides business opportunities and homes to people who lost everything in the devastation of Hurricane Mitch. We got to help them by digging waist-high ditches and laying pipes to provide clean running water to a village called El Chunko.
We also got to help hand out bags of beans and rice to families who are in need of food (and toys to the kids!). For a day we worked at a medical clinic, where I took kids temperatures. It was fun trying to make spanish small talk as the thermometer sat under their armpit. We visited two different special needs schools and got to have dance parties with the kids!
And for the past few days, we've been going to Candelaria, another nearby village, to help out an organization called Newsong. They've got an awesome ministry going there with a dental clinic, Bible studies, a dance team. We got to watch the dance team practice for a performance they're doing tomorrow. This ministry resonated with my spirit so much... what an impact something can have on an entire village to really help build community. While the dance team is fun and entertaining, it's also bringing the people together and lifting up the name of Jesus. I have such a desire to see that happen in our cities and towns back home.
Luckily there are swings almost everywhere we went, so I got to find rest in doing one of my favorite things - swing! We have two awesome hammocks set up where we live and those are delightful. I'm actually sitting in one right now as I type this :)
It was neat to be able to stick our feet in so many different things this month. It really made the time seem to fly by here and it's hard to believe we're about to begin in our second to last country. I have so many thoughts to share before the race is over... about this journey, about Jesus, about life.
Today we are busing to El Salvador! My team will be in San Salvador, the captiol. I'm not sure what we'll be doing there yet, but I'll keep you posted!
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Posted in General Posts by Kris Tippett on 2/25/2011
As I mentioned in my previous blog about how one thing on my
teams bucket list for Hanoi was to offer to wash dishes at a restaurant for a
day. Little did we know that we would actually end up working at a restaurant
for our whole time in Hanoi!
In the kitchen, in the bar, as waitresses... this is how it all began...
We arrived there during Tet (Chinese New Year) which is the
biggest holiday celebrated in Vietnam. Everyone travels to their home province
to be with their families and we were told that everything would be shut down.
Stores, restaurants, everything was to be closed for a few days, some for a
week. So we were a bit unsure how our food situation would look coming into
Hanoi. We were just praying that something would be open for us to be able to eat.
Even if it was a tiny convenience store... anything. We went walking the first
day around the city to get acquainted with our new home, and to search for food
options. The city was absolutely deserted. But we saw a
restaurant with lights on and realized it was actually open! It was called
Gecko.
A very smiley man welcomed us in and ushered us upstairs.
His name is Phom. He spoke pretty decent english and was very welcoming. I was
actually expecting whoever worked at this place during Tet to be a grump, since
they obviously weren't celebrating with their family. But it was in fact the
opposite of that - Phom was the happiest waiter I've maybe ever had. Another shocker of the day - they served both Vietnamese and American food! Yes please.
It was morning, so I got hash browns and a crepe with
bananas :) Happy
Tet!
 Our first day eating at Gecko, we were the only customers in there!
We ended up eating there ALL the time, multiple times a day.
When Tet was over, we met many more of the people who worked there and each one
was just so precious, and genuinely happy to see us each time we went.
Yes, Gecko was one of the only restaurants open during Tet. And
yes, the food was pretty good. But what
stood out to us the most was the people who worked there. They are just so special. So my team was definitely all in one accord
about where to offer to help out one day by washing dishes... Gecko!
They were delighted to have us by their sides helping out. Even
just by offering to help, they were so tickled that they sat us down to
complimentary tea. And then they took us upstairs and sat us down for
complimentary lunch. And more lunch. And finally, they stopped feeding us, and
let us get to work alongside them! The Gecko is a small place, so there weren't
that many dishes to wash. Trang, a waitress and our new friend, told us that
they clean everything in the mornings so there weren't any windows that needed
washing or toilets that needed scrubbing. After a few minutes of whispering amongst her and another worker, Son, she came to us and said:
'Ok! One in kitchen, one in bar, one waiter.'
Time to get started!
I made my way up to the kitchen, Garrett worked as
bartender, and Carrie waited tables. And from that day on, we were
Gecko workers :)
Meet some of our wonderful new friends:
Son is
18 years old and works as the bartender, and for someone who speaks zero
English he communicated very well with us! He would always smile and bob
his head from side to side. It was adorable.
This is Son.
Trang was never without a smile when she saw us. She's super funny and full of personality. She spoke pretty good english, so we got to know her pretty well and love who she is. She also lobes photo shoots..
Trang smiling for the camera.
This is sweet Noom. She is Gecko's accountant and has such a quiet, peaceful way about her.
Noom working on some numbers.
Dom is awesome. She is a waitress here and is also a student at a University. She spoke English really well and was such a friend to us.
I
always worked up in the kitchen with my sweet friends Diep, Di, and Bac Voot. Bac Voot is
the cutest older lady who chops veggies and washes dishes. Di
and Diep are both guys about my age who are the main chefs there. They literally work all day, and spend the nights there during the week. We spent a lot of
time going over English and Vietnamese words, just having fun, as we prepared
food. I was surprised at how quick they let me join in with them up there -
within the first 5 minutes (after offering me food to eat of course), they gave
me some spring rolls to roll on up. Random tasks they would have me do -
decorate dessert plates with chocolate syrup, roll the spring rolls, dry
dishes, chop carrots. I got to know them the best of my gecko friends since I spent the most time with them. Oh yes, I can't forget to mention that they make a mean apple crumble.
Di getting ready to serve up some apple crumble!
Diep on the far left with two other workers. When it's slow, they like to play cards.
This is the kitchen, and Bac Voot is on the left. Trang and Carrie are helping out.
It wasn't all work with these fabulous people. After hours we got to hang out with them one night! We took Trang, Son, and Son's sister to see the movie Tangled in the movie theater. That blessed them more than we realized, because later they told us they had never seen a movie in the theater before.
And on Valentine's Day, we celebrated the evening at the Gecko where we brought some cake and homemade Valentine's for them to enjoy! Working Valentine's night was hopefully a bit more enjoyable for them now.
Bac Voot, Di, and Diep!
Noom, Son, Trang, and Dom! Valentine art courtesy of Carrie Campbell :)
It was really fun to work with them and I think they all
got a kick out of us being there. I believe the Lord granted us lots of favor with Gecko. The day we asked if we could help out, the manager was in and he is rarely ever there. He was completely loving the idea, even though we were strange foreigners whom he knew nothing about.
Us with the manager (up front) on our first day.
We had a great time for that month serving food and drinks at this character-filled restaurant. Getting to know this great group of people and bless them was such a treat. It's so true that everywhere we go, we desire to bless the people there. And in turn, we always feel so blessed to have had that time with them. I pray that the love we showed even felt superhuman to them... that they would know it's a love beyond any that this world offers that brought us to them. Divine appointments are what seems to have defined our time in Hanoi. And for that we are so thankful.
Here's some more random fun that we got to have with them, both inside and outside of the Gecko...
Many photo shoots with Trang Eating street Pho (soup)
Oh yeah! One more thing. Here's a fun fact. the reason that the restaurant is called 'Gecko' is because they have some type of alcohol in this huge glass bottle with about 30 dead geckos floating in it. We were thinking it was just for show, as a decoration of sorts, but one girl ordered a glass of it while we were there! Son even seemed reluctant to serve it. haha.
Dom behind the bar right next to the gecko juice!
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