Packing ... and "Why on earth ..."

66 days until I take off. Not that I'm counting ... or have been for months. I'm aware of my departure date and my return date, and it's curious to think that in just five months I'll be back home and sleeping in my own bed. That is if I'm able to leave Craig and Julie's house. They wouldn't hold me hostage. I'm just not sure how eager I'll be to leave. But it's a little too early to be writing about coming home. Time now to write about preparing to leave.

I’ve often been asked how I'm going to pack for three months. That's been asked by people who have travelled with me and know the challenge for me personally (it’s more about books and not wanting ever to be cold) and by people who haven't travelled with me and are just curious how one does that when the plan is to be touring 200,000 square miles in seven countries. My answer is that I have no idea. I read one suggestion on the Internet: spread on the floor everything I think I'll need ... and take half of that. That sounds good. I do have a couple thoughts, though. First is that I don’t have a lot of clothes just in general, and even here in the States I tend to wear the same few outfits. No reason to change that. The second thought is that I can buy what I need in Central America and do my part for the local economy. I’m going there to learn the language, and going prepared for every possible contingency doesn’t give me much cause to engage with the locals.

Why I’m going has been another question I hear often. People generally ask if I’m going with a group from church and what I’ll be doing. I get mixed reactions when I say that I’m not going to do anything. I don’t have real transferable skills. What I do best is learn and reflect and analyze. I’ll have ample opportunity to do that, I imagine, and yet it won’t contribute much to the people I meet. I’m going there to be … be formed, informed, and transformed … and to just be. I’m going with some eye and ear for servant leadership and how perhaps to be a deacon to those whose cultures and lifestyles are so different from mine. I’m going, too, with a heart toward the people’s faith and theology. But really, I’m just going to “be with” … maybe to receive but not “give to” and certainly not “do for.” I don’t want to be an ugly arrogant American going somewhere with the mindset that “these people” need to be ministered to or lifted up. It’s me, I think, who needs ministering and lifting up.

I also say that I’m going because it’s what love does. I talked with a friend last night about the idea that sometimes people of faith don’t have a lot of options. That trickled into material for another entry. Stay tuned.