stopover.ca

We do mission because:

• it is good for us
• we feel bad for others
• we are called to be obedient to God
• important people let us know of it’s value
• we owe it to others – they have so little

Ask any number of people of people why we do mission and the answers tend to be various responses somewhere along the theme of responsibility. While I believe in our responsibility, as well as the ethic necessary to move that feeling toward action, I think that there might be something more to the reason ‘why’ …

Here is my answer to the question, “Why do we do what we do?” – it was recorded during a training session in Ottawa, November 07. Check out others at the podcasts tab at the top of this page

If you are a mid-termer – individuals who have worked in a cross-cultural setting for one month to one year – I would appreciate it if you would take a few minutes to help out others planning a mid-term experience themselves.

Click here to take this survey to provide valuable feedback for others as they prepare. You can also navigate there from the Surveys link at the top of this page.

Thanks

Thanks!

Here is an series of emails that I sent home to Supriya a few years ago when I was in Sierra Leone. I like how they remind me of the realities of travel. The ebb and flow of strange customs and basic differences, the joys and frustrations. Makes me wish I was back there …

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Arrived, safe and almost sound.

My appreciation for air travel was again diminished as I traveled from Calgary to Toronto, beginning with the surly Customer ‘Service’ Agents shouting at people lining up in the too small waiting area. Although I arrived 2 hours before the flight and was the second person in the lounge, I still had a crappy seat near the back (although I was able to change for a window – being a night flight) soon after we took off, I began coughing as a very sharp odor came wafting forward, I thought it was the disinfectant or something, but was soon proved wrong.

My seat companion also began coughing, and after a couple more episodes, I turned backward, to the woman behind me, and asked if she was spraying something. She told me that she needed to use these essential oils, but it was okay, because they were natural. I tried to reason with her, my seat companion joining in – natural or not, they were causing respiration failure – but she would have none of our reason – not for her.

I am not sure how to describe the stench, somewhere between sandalwood and methane … with notes of cat pee, vinegar, and pepper thrown in for good measure.

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