From the Midwest and Around the World

This is a panorama taken from my balcony at the convent. On our first morning there, we discovered that in the convent compound, besides chickens, there were also doves. As my roommate and I walked around the grounds before breakfast, she commented, "Doves and olive trees! How Middle East can you get?!" Indeed, connecting our convent to this beautiful region in which entire civilizations have risen and fallen really helped me realize that I was not in Indiana, much less the United States.  Photo Credit: Katie Ito After walking the grounds, we ate breakfast with the rest of the group. Breakfast in Lebanon is a delicious affair. Always consisting of flat pita bread (most of the pita bread that I had in Lebanon was thin and floppy...more like a crepe than pita sold in the US), 3-4 types of soft cheeses (usually feta, goat cheese, etc), laban (basically Greek yogurt), fresh vegetables, and honeyed figs or dates. And don't forget the Lebanese coffee (which is fai...

The Saturday of our departure arrived and about mid-morning, it was discovered that our flight had been delayed. So with a bit of scrambling from our group leader and the travel agent, we got a later flight. Instead of flying from Indy --> DC -->  Frankfurt -->  Beirut, we went through Chicago and London instead.  So we boarded the tiny regional jet to Chicago. Once there, we had a long layover before departure for Heathrow, so the small eight-member team enjoyed a short break before the eight-hour flight. I took two laps and took in the many languages at this International Airport.  Finally, the flight was called and we all boarded the plane for the long-haul flight. As I settled in to journal and flip through the 5 movies that were available, I considered the prayer for today in "Seeking God's Face," based on the Heidelberg Catechism: "Captain of my life, help me grasp the cosmic battle that rages in my heart and throughout the world. I'm in a ...

Since my personal Bible is a bit too heavy to carry on the flight, I'm taking "Seeking God's Face," which is a year-long Biblical prayer devotional in the Reformed tradition. I got it when I was a student at Calvin College. To be quite honest, I have not been very diligent with a daily (or at least every other day) prayer and Bible reading time and since journaling is sort of required for this mission trip I decided to integrate it with a short and sweet devotional as well.... Gel Pens, journal, and small (carry-on friendly) Journal! You, Lord, are my lamp; the Lord turns my darkness into light. with your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall. (2 Samuel 22:29-30) The verse above was how the devotional invited me into God's Word. Sometimes you don't realize how thirsty you are for God until he leads you to the Water. This bit of encouragement as well as wisdom caught me off guard. In this world where there is so much suffer...

Hey y'all!  I haven't posted in more than a year or two: partially because I was busy...but also I'm lazy and not good at blogging. So anyhow, this Saturday, I'm going to Beirut, Lebanon for a 10 day mission trip. I will be visiting refugee camps and helping to distribute food and other necessities as well as visiting refugees and learning about their experiences. During that time, I will only have my iPhone...so blogging will be scarce. But I will be keeping a pen and paper journal and once I get back, I will transcribe (with pictures!) those entries and share them with you here. This next week, I will be reflecting on a few questions before my trip, and will also be focusing on questions during and after the trip. If you wish to follow along during the trip through prayer and reflection, please sign up for email updates here .  Ignore the dates, the actual trip is June 18-28. Pre-During-Post Trip Questions 1. What are the 3 greatest needs of the refugee? 2. Wha...