Re-entry and Reflection, Part 1

Friday - Saturday, April 27-28

We return home safe and sound and.... tired. We've been traveling for nearly 36 hours straight. The closer we got to home the more homesick we became. Embrace of the rest of the family was sweet. It's good to be away and it's better to be home - good mattress, cool pillow, and no mosquito netting.

Even though it's only two weeks, it seems a lot has changed. Our worldviews are rocked, are passion for the world increased, and our appreciation of family and friends multiplied.

Friday brings the barrage of unopened mail. Then the e-mail program finally works - 216 messages greet me. Most are the usual items, but tucked here and there are updates from Trinity that keep us tied in. And then, there is one that grabs me hard - a notice that Dr. Lyle Vander Werff has died. I rejoice that he is in heaven but grieve with Phyllis and with her children - David, Kristyn, and Kathy - all of whom were in church together on Easter.

Lyle was my first college professor - the first period of the first day of my college experience. I'll never forget it. In OT Faith he gave me the words "Biblical Worldview." He taught us what a worldview is, what a Christian worldview is, and why it matters. He taught a class on world religions and how Christ's claims were unique and exclusive and worthy of making known to the ends of the world. He taught a class on personal evangelism, the books of which still are useful in my library. His passion for international students and concern for the lost was contagious. His teaching was a key step in God turning my heart to ministry and I am so grateful for his life and witness.

And there is culture shock. Two weeks among the poor will do that. Lauren and I laugh at the suggestion that we "need" the A/C on in the car. At the store we marvel at our selection and wonder why we should be so blessed and others truly struggle for their daily bread. We travel to Sioux City - 45 miles in 40 minutes - when the same journey a week ago took us 2 hours. And while it is much better to be with family than away, we desperately miss our new friends - will Bright e-mail us? Will Titus and Steven and Charity remember us? What are they doing right now? When can we go back?

Lauren is making plans to move. OK, maybe not just yet, but at least to take a semester of Study Abroad.