India or Bust

Busted

Jon — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:18:02 +0000

So a “little while” has become a long while.

The India business is officially shut down (and has been since December).

What happened:

We choose the wrong location
We should have spent lot more than 3 days in the city before deciding to locate there
We should have investigated more locations before choosing one

We chose the wrong partner
Instead of finding a partner that did what we needed, we tried to teach our partner how to do it. This resulted in a lot of wasted time, effort, and money, with little return.
Also, we found after arriving that we had different definitions of Business as Mission… and different priorities for being in India. This turned out to cause a lot of problems.

The US economy tanking dried up all the work
IT was there one day and gone the next. Luckily we’d already started shutting things down by the time it got really bad.

We moved too fast and committed too early
We should have gone to India for a longer period of time to begin setting things up… while leaving the option open to move elsewhere or rethink our expectations/assumptions.
We should have not shipped out stuff before we knew we’d be there long term (an expensive lesson).

All in all, we learned a lot… and paid a steep price.

We’re not heading back to India any time soon.

Back in the US

Jon — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 15:14:01 +0000

We’re home for a little while…

Our first 6 months in India was hard. Very, very, very hard. There were some beautiful bright spots, and God moments, but mostly it was hard. And hot. And stinky.

But it was good. Not a soulish, earthly good. The Godly good that is a spiritual goodness. The kind of goodness that surpasses the flesh (hot, tired, frustrated) and produces character, humility, and wisdom.

We learned a lot — I’ll share some lessons in the next few posts (for real this time!).

It’s good to be home… and weird at times. Though the weirdness is wearing off slowly.

I miss Indian food… sometimes.

The Purpose of Kingdom Business

Jon — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 15:08:23 +0000

Patrice Tsague, a partner at the RCE, wrote a great article on the purpose of Kingdom Business (aka Business as Mission).

Our giving must be the substance of our lives rather than the substance of our earnings.

Well put! This is the litmus test for whether you’re doing Business as Mission or just Business for Missions (BFM). Do you see your impact as just dollars given, or lives changed through the very act of doing business?

We’ve run into this misconception time and time again and struggle to explain the difference to people every time, but it’s a crucial thing to understand. Recently someone asked us how you can do Business as Mission - focusing so much on your business and be focused on ‘missions’ as well. Which is impossible to answer, until you realize that they are the same thing when done by a Christian with the right motive. As a friend of ours always says: motive is everything.

Now, I’m not saying BFM is “bad,” just that Business as Mission can do both: transform lives thorough doing Godly business and give generously to see the Kingdom expanded. Who doesn’t want both?

Has it been that long already?

Jon — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:14:08 +0000

So… this blog had been pretty quiet, but our lives have not!

How do I sum up the journey we’ve been on these last few months? I don’t think I can do it justice…

We learned a few lessons that I’ll share, and we’ll see if we can blog more going forward.

Have no expectations or you will be disappointed, frustrated, and exasperated daily (you will anyways, expectations just add to this)
Do what you have to do to survive- if you have to eat popcorn for dinner because nothing else sounds appetizing at 9pm in the broiling heat, do it
Take a break from time to time- taking a trip out of town or spending a night at a hotel helps give you perspective
Don’t overdo it- you are not super man (or woman)
Sleep when your body tells you to (it knows what it’s doing)
Take a vitamin daily (don’t sacrifice your health)
Ask about everything- your assumptions will usually be wrong
Run all “advice” by the Holy Spirit and a multitude of counselors, and discard as necessary
Your experience will likely be different from other expats in the area- that’s normal and is not a bad thing
In a foreign country, it takes a lot more time and effort to do anything

That’s all I have for not, there’s so much more to say, but I’ve got so much to do! After a few months of attempting to “take it easy” I have a massive backlog of work!

Lesson Learned

Beth — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 19:53:28 +0000

You would think that with all the time we’ve had to prepare for moving that we would have done our homework on international shipping. Well, back in October when I packed a majority of our shipment, I didn’t thoroughly study India customs guidelines because of a time constraint. We had to be out of our apartment in a matter of weeks, were in the middle of selling our furniture and other household items and trying to determine what needed to go to India, into storage here in the States and what could go to Goodwill. It was a crazy time.

After spending a few days packing our shipment with my parents, we read an article that said that the mover should pack our belongings to help move the shipment through customs. Yikes! We had just packed 20 boxes! We quickly decided that we would find a shipper that would repack all of our belongings to avoid any potential problems. Just a few weeks ago we found out that we did not inventory our belongings correctly. I had a general list of the items in each box, but did not specifically describe each item. This was problematic because we need to have an itemized list of everything in the shipment, it’s approximate purchase date and value. So, yesterday we spent a majority of the day going through those boxes in order to create a more thorough list with dates and values. It was a very loooong day!

And, yes, we learned a valuable lesson about preparing an international shipment. Do your homework thoroughly before you start packing!

We’re really moving to India

Jon — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 23:12:12 +0000

It’s hitting us daily now: we’re really doing this.

I put our car (!) up for sale today.
We’re compiling the list of things we need to buy (things that we can’t buy there, like good toilet paper) before we go.
We have a moving quote for our stuff.
We have our going away party planned and invites sent out.

We’re really moving to India. This month!

In the car the other day, we were talking about where we’d be in just a few weeks.

It went something like this: “Right now, we’ll be on the plane, over the east coast, on our way to India, and we won’t be coming home for a very long time.”

Yikes!

My first love

Jon — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 18:02:26 +0000

At church yesterday, we talked about the 10 virgins- 5 of which will be ready for Jesus’ return and 5 who will not.

Matthew 2:1-13 (The Message)
The Story of the Virgins
“God’s kingdom is like ten young virgins who took oil lamps and went out to greet the bridegroom. Five were silly and five were smart. The silly virgins took lamps, but no extra oil. The smart virgins took jars of oil to feed their lamps. The bridegroom didn’t show up when they expected him, and they all fell asleep. “In the middle of the night someone yelled out, ‘He’s here! The bridegroom’s here! Go out and greet him!’ “The ten virgins got up and got their lamps ready. The silly virgins said to the smart ones, ‘Our lamps are going out; lend us some of your oil.’ “They answered, ‘There might not be enough to go around; go buy your own.’ “They did, but while they were out buying oil, the bridegroom arrived. When everyone who was there to greet him had gone into the wedding feast, the door was locked. “Much later, the other virgins, the silly ones, showed up and knocked on the door, saying, ‘Master, we’re here. Let us in.’ “He answered, ‘Do I know you? I don’t think I know you.’ “So stay alert. You have no idea when he might arrive.

I’m not ready.

I’ve really been coasting the last few weeks (few years?) — diving into work, being disconnected from my beautiful wife, in short… looking for oil in all the wrong places.

Yesterday, I spent 8 hours working on a project and listening to worship music. Even through I was “working,” it was a totally different experience than the last few weeks.

I wasn’t stressed out, tired, or cranky. I was just hanging out with Jesus, doing something He designed me to do, with Him. It was wonderful.

Time flew by, and I spent way longer than I had anticipated, but it didn’t matter. I felt more connected to Jesus than I had in weeks — my commute home was amazing-I sang my guts out in true worship to Him — I was so in love with my Savior!

If that’s what work as worship is really like, well, sign me up! I want to spend every workday that connected to my God.

But it’s not just about working as worship, it’s about living a life of worship. I’ve been talking about it for over a year… but have I been living it? I thought I was…

I’m really feeling convicted (in a good, Holy Spirit way) that I have been neglecting my first love, Jesus, for most of my day.

This week, Beth is taking a road trip to visit some friends before we leave. Instead of a lonely week home alone without my beloved wife, I’m looking forward to spending a week with my first love, Jesus.

I’ll still miss Beth though

There’s a song that says: “So I will return to my first love, for it was better for me there.”

It hits me hard every time I hear it. I need to live it — what better place is there than in the embrace of my first love? Everything else is just a shadow… lacking depth and life…

Beloved Jesus, help me to run to you instead of my other loves… to jump into your arms and never leave. I want to worship you with every thought, breath, step, and glance.

Random Thoughts

Beth — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 22:36:45 +0000

At random times I find myself wondering what life will be like in India. A lot of times I end up wondering about the most trivial things like:

“Where will I get my hair cut? Will they know how to cut my hair the way that Dee cuts my hair?”

“What about hangers? Will they have the nice, sturdy plastic hangers that we do? Should I bring some just in case they don’t?”

“How will I sustain my coffee habit? Will I be able to buy coffee beans? And what about a coffee grinder? Am I doomed to drink instant Nescafe everyday?”

“Will we have a microwave?”

“What will it be like to not have the convenience of a grocery store? Will I have to go to the market every day? What will I cook?”

“Will I be able to find a decent hairdryer?”

“Do they have dried cranberries and apricots?”

There are so many unknowns involved in moving to a different country. I’m sure we will adapt just fine and discover that we can live without the perceived “basic necessities” of the American culture. But, until we get there, I know my mind will continue to wonder about the most trivial things.

Emotional Roller Coasters

Beth — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 16:24:19 +0000

Now that our departure date is just around the corner, the reality of leaving behind family and friends is starting to hit hard at random times. I remember my youthful zeal during my college days when the thought of leaving everything behind and forging ahead on a grand adventure overseas seemed so glamorous. I was so full of anticipation that I couldn’t seem to wait for the day that I would finally set my foot down on foreign soil. I guess a few things have changed since then.

I am still very excited for the adventure that lies ahead, however, reality has a way of abruptly knocking off the rose colored glasses that I have worn for so long. I am suddenly aware of the huge sacrifices that we will be making - things that were never on my radar before - like raising our children half way around the world. A trip to Grandma and Grandpa’s will be 15 hours by plane instead of a few hours by car. Our church community will be more like strangers to them than family (like they are to us now).

Despite the roller coaster of emotions that come and go, I am choosing to hold fast to God and believe that He will enrich our lives in India and provide us with a family away from home. We are finding that we cannot make such a huge transition without His grace. He’s teaching us to lean completely on Him, not trusting our own weak strength that fails us time after time (which is a whole other post in itself).

I’m not quite sure how to end this post other than saying that God is good whether I’m in the valley or on the mountain top. He is proving Himself faithful!

Alien

Jon — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 23:21:55 +0000

If I had to choose one word to describe the last few days, it would be alien.

Friday was my last full week in the office, and it was weird to leave knowing I would not be back on Monday. I will not be gone in a vacation sense, but working, just remotely. I’ve done it before, but this is really permanent- I will never have another ‘regular’ week in the office. Sure I’ll be back, for a day to a several weeks, but it will always be temporary — in fact I won’t have an actual ‘office’ to go to at some point.

The drive home was equally surreal. As I drove through the suburbs while listening to Aradhna, I was struck with the tension between two worlds I’m living in. First I was driving a car (won’t do that very often in India), through suburbs (which exist in India, but not in the same sense, and definitely don’t look the same) on an hour long commute from work (it’ll be more like a 10 minute walk in India).

Even more so, I was taken by the vastness of everything. Giant strip malls with huge parking lots set hundreds of feet from the highway with 40 ft lit signs and polished signage- tiny little towns of only a few thousand people with miles of nothing in between. I can still remember driving through Kerela and being amazed the civilization never really ends- it just follows the road to the next town… and it all blends together into one giant country.

Mostly, I looked at things with new eyes. I looked at things I will see rarely, if ever, in the future. I looked at my country, America, and realized that every day I feel more alien here.

In so many ways, my heart, mind, and emotions are already in India. Everything here feels temporary, distant, and in some senses, unreal. At times, it feels like a dream… that I will awake from in India and realize I was simply dreaming of home. But not home — because nowhere feels like home anymore.

We’re living in someone else’s house- so this isn’t home. Visiting my parents or the inlaws feels more like home, but it’s not our home. We are, in effect, homeless at the moment.

The feeling is probably more acute for me, since Beth knows the owners better than I, but for me, it feels like they will arrive home any minute now, but of course they won’t. I’m constantly having that “I’m in someone’s house and they are not home feeling.” It feels… alien. I’m sure it will pass in time. Then we’ll move again, and the alien experience really begins!

I wonder if anywhere will ever feel like home again. I suppose India will, in time become home. Our friends who live there assure us that India has become home for them and their children.

ThenÂ again, if I’m really living in the reality that I am God’s and His Kingdom is not of this world… then this world will never be my home, and perhaps this alien feeling is just the way it is.

Either way, I am at peace, knowing I serve a good God who, in the grand scheme of things, is the only home I’ll ever need. Which is a nice thought at the moment, but needs to become a way of life for me. It’s a constant struggle to find my identity and home in Him alone — not the physical dwelling I’m inhabiting, not the job I’m doing, and not the million things that come along every day and want to take His place in my life.

In the end, I must realy on his faithfulness and love for me… it is the only hope I have… that any of us have.