Getting Reaquainted with an Old Friend

Another wonderful part of my trip to Calgary was getting together with an old friend! Bruce and I had spent a year together when we were with Venture Teams International back in 1986/1987. Together we, along with 7 others spent a year traveling across Canada, parts of the northern US and also 3 1/2 months in India. Our group would present the gospel in schools, churches, camps and outdoor, open-air meetings using such things as music, drama and puppets. Some of my most memorable adventures with VTI are:
- Listening to the children sing with gusto and beautiful, big smiles at a children's home in India. All of these children's parents had leprosy so they only saw them 1 day a year!
- Visiting Calcutta for the very first time. Being approached for money over and over again. I never dreamed that 20 years later the very same thing would be happening to me daily as I walk outside my office building in Canada.
- Seeing the Taj Mahal in person. Unbelievable!
- Getting more homesick then I ever knew possible. Then, learning to trust God more fully, see the people of India as His people and learn to love them. This was a tough lesson for 20yo who was away from home for the very first time! There were many times I wasn't sure if I was going to survive the 3 months in India and was very close to asking to be sent home. But, God was faithful and I learned to trust Him more. What I didn't know at the time was that He was preparing me for His next plan. Just 12 months after leaving VTI I was on a plane headed to the Philippines to help out missionary friends when their 2nd son was born. God was preparing me in India for the plans He had in the Philippines! Isn't that just like God?!

Bruce and I had a great time getting caught up on what is happening in one another's lives. He is praying about certain things and I was able to share with him about the upcoming adoption of Hannah!

When I picked him up for lunch he asked where I wanted to go. All I said was, 'Somewhere with interesting food.' We ended up at a Vietnamese restaurant not far from the VTI offices. Lunch was great as we had shrimp spring rolls + BBQ beef with noodles. The only utensils available were chopsticks. Let's just say I have a lot of work to do in the next year if I hope to eat anything in China or, be able to feed Miss Hannah! Many of the babies have only been fed from chopsticks so won't eat from a spoon at first. I've done a little practicing in the past couple of weeks but need much more! Oh well, at this rate it should help with the weight loss I'm attempting...but also means a lot more laundry until my chopstick skills improve!