Greetings from the Northwest (previous email update)

I am at my parents home in Washington for the summer and am so excited to be able to update you about my crazy happenings.

In March, I returned from an outreach adventure to Nepal (sandwiched by brief periods visiting a House of Prayer in India.) My time in Asia was both wonderful and hard. This trip was my first experience in a non-Western culture, where I understood little to nothing of the language or the culture. It was eye-opening to see the way in which so much of the world's population lives, but also reassuring that people are relational and open even with tremendous barriers to communication. There are so many stories and pictures, it would be impossible to share it all in person, let alone through an email update! But if you want an overview of our time and the places we visited, check out the Outreach photo album from my blog. Generally, I experienced the chaos that is life and travel in Asia. We had some crazy bus and jeep rides between the two countries; experienced road strikes & garbage pick-up strikes (we didn't even realize there was a trash collection service-most people just burn their refuse, or simply throw it in a ditch...); we cooked homemade Tibetian Momos; painted a wall mural which included the message "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life," shared "open programs" in villages; wrote our own Prayer flags which we hung in the high places of worship, and generally enjoyed spending time with our contacts and their wonderful families.

I don't think I realized quite how much I appreciate and love life in Germany (or the West) until we got back from outreach. It was such a relief to be able to set my clock to the Deutschbahn (German train system), to understand the language being spoken around me (well, at least more than Nepali or Hindi), and revel in drinking water from the tap, and having electricity all 24 hours of the day! Even though the awe wears off quickly, the reality of the challenges that much of the world face stays present in my mind. I am excited to be a part of a community that is seeking to meet the needs of the poor and needy in practical ways, as well as bringing the light of a life lived in relationship with God.

As I shared briefly in the winter, I will be going back as a full-time missionary at the Herrnhut base. I will be doing practical work at the base helping coordinate the various schools, I will meet with students in one-on-one and small group settings (in the future, I would love to staff schools and lead outreaches, but want to focus on serving in Herrnhut this fall) and I will focus on the long-term goal of opening a cafe in Herrnhut. Our vision for the cafe is that will be more than just a comfortable spot to enjoy a conversation and a good cup of coffee. We will do good through our cafe. Our cafe will be an open invitation for the local community to learn about and share in the work that God has called us to, both here and around the world. Our proceeds will go to help open other cafes in locations around the world, such as the cafe that opened this winter in Ethiopia, where prostitues were given the chance to take up a new line of work! We want the cafe to be a place where we can develop and share the creativity that God has given each of us. To have exhibitions of the photographs and stories that students have collected from around the world; open mic nights for musicians, story tellers and poets; an art and pottery studio where we can use our hands to express God's glory.

Whew!

I am loving having some time to be "home"--to work a bit; to celebrate High School graduation with my sister, Tressa; to visit friends in Colorado; and to spend some time with my entire family when we are all home in August. Life is full and sweet.