Sayings

A week ago I landed at SFO and finished my trip through Southeast Asia. As you’d guess it’s been a hectic week of catching up. And of scratching flea bites.

But one week gives enough distance from the trip to focus on the important things I learned. It’s not exactly a week of reflection, but the passage of time offers a chance to realize which memories really matter. Those memories shape my heart and will influence my future.

Not surprisingly, I remember the people. And what I remember most are the things they said. Sometimes I don’t remember the exact wording, but the gist of what they said will stick with me a long time. Here are the comments that jumped out.

– When asked what motivates him, a Burmese church planter confidently says, “Twenty years ago I accepted Christ and immediately spoke in tongues for 4 straight days. I don’t know what your theology allows you to believe about that, but such an experience changes your motivations.”

– While I was visiting a rickety bamboo home, the homeowner humbly says, “We are blessed by your presence. I may have lost all to the cyclone, but God has provided in many ways. One of those ways is we have your presence to be thankful for.”

– In the midst of a conversation about the causes of human trafficking, my daughter quietly says, “Poverty is the trafficker.”

– The experienced relief worker in the slum says sadly, “It is as if part of the preparation for a life as a sexual worker is to be abused at a young age. Virtually all the children in this area have been.”

– After one of my less generous comments about the Western men who hire teenage girls in Bangkok, one woman reminds me, “Don’t be too harsh. They are lonely men and this is all they know to do.”

– When I settled in to write at the Writers Bar of the Raffles Hotel in Singapore, Ben the Bartender says with a smile, “What story will you tell? We all have stories. Not all of us know them.”

– A Marine Captain on our vision trip, while sadly remembering the prostitutes in the red light district he saw earlier, mutters under his breath, “My guys need to hear the whole truth of this mess, not just believe it is merely an economic transaction.”

– Another person on our vision trip comments, “It’s all about leadership. Lots of organizations say they do good work, but the ones with good leadership do what they say. SOLD is doing it.”

– I sit at my hotel desk seeking an inspiration. The words that go into my journal are, “It’s not that we don’t care for the poor, or that we want to exploit the poor. We just simply forget them.”

– The counselor who works with at-risk rural youth and their parents is asked how she can keep it up when there are so many disappointments. She quietly says, “Jesus.”

Those are memories that will last a lifetime.