Leaw lung lae na

Philippians 2 tells us that Jesus left Heaven and eternal glory, took the form of a common man and dwelt with mankind here on earth. He humbled Himself to be with us, to love us. He became a servant and a sacrifice.
Now is the time when we celebrate the birth of Jesus. To think that One Who could walk on water, would become a helpless baby, unable to walk or even crawl is remarkable. The Bread of Life depended on a young virgin to feed Him. It's amazing to think of the frailty of Christ as a child and to think that this was God's purpose- to pin our hopes and salvation on such a implausible plan. It echoes of Isaiah's words, "Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary; and his understanding no one can fathom."

Maybe with a touch of audacity, I can say that I am grateful to know that I share a likeness with My Savior in this situation. Read with grace and mercy and allow me to ramble on...

It was this time last year when I left my home and much of what I knew. I live in a place that is not my home, not my destination. And the fact that I am here rings with implausibilty (if that's a word). I never planned on serving overseas for 2 years. I never planned on being in Thailand, maybe Trinidad or South America, but never Thailand. I never planned on eating millet, morning glory or panang curry. But God had planned it.
I don't know if I humbled myself; I think He's done a better job of humbling me, than I have ever done myself.

But that was last year and the events building up to it...

A year that started with new friends in a place like no other.

A year that included my first real "film" shoot.

A year that included meeting a man that almost lost his family, but has now found Jesus.

A year with students hungry for English... and hopefully for Jesus.

A year that at times felt like I was traveling through a desert, and times I actually was traveling through a desert.

A year when I could look out and see the divide between two great lands and hoped that the chasm that separated the locals from the Lord would be bridged by the Cross.

A year of meeting ones that were captives, but now are free.

A year of new heights.

I remind you of these moments not to say, "look what I've done; look where I've been", but rather to show you that Our LORD works throughout the world. He will not be confined to a building, a country or a continent. He is at work throughout this world.

One thing I have learned is that it's a small world (unless you're on a plane for 13 hours), it just seems really big. But when you pray the world is a much smaller place.

What does 2006 hold? I don't know. I hope trips to Italy, Central Asia, China amd more. I hope it means seeing people I've met become brothers and sisters. But I'm not going to venture a guess, because I would have never guessed 2005 would be like it was.

Thank you for your prayers, support and love. Thank you for caring about the people of the world. Thank you for taking this journey with me.

Much love to you, Jason.

(A little something special for the first person to tell me what the Title of this entry means)