Bangkok

Hey guys,

I'm writing to you, completely jet lagged, from the Avana
Hotel in Bangkok. It has been an interesting day. Yesterday we spent
so many hours on a plane. I think it was about 16 hours of flight time
but that isn't counting the 3 layovers(Honolulu, Tokyo, and Taipei) we
had. Anyway, as it turns out, I am writing to you from the future. It
is 8:50pm on 12/20. If there is anything you want to know from the
future just let me know.

We had a little problem on the flight here. 15 of our 21 bags
didn't make it on to the plane. So, as of right now I don't have my
suitcase and we are supposed to leave tomorrow morning. I'm really not
that worried about it, our team is just trying to figure out what God
wants us to do while we are waiting. Send up a prayer that our bags
get to us so we can carry on with our scheduled plans. I have to go
now because they have prepaid internet here and my time is almost
gone.

God is good. All the time.
Dan

Prayer Requests

Here are a few:

• That God would give me the patience to love people who are hard to love
• As a leader, that I would be the biggest servant
• That God would break any apathy in my life
• That our team would be unified
• That God would provide something extremely disgusting or challenging for me to do each day
• That He will break me
• Safety as we travel (planes and the traveling around Cambodia)
• Health for our team
• That I would know God in a more intimate and real way than I've ever experienced

Thank you all who have been praying for me already. It means more than you'll ever know. Have a Merry Christmas!

Dan

Jesus was a kick ass dude...

First of all, I agree. I agreed with Carissa, the panhandling hippie we were talking to, when she made that statement. I don't think she knew how true that statement was, but she sounded sincere.(Disclaimer: Let me first tell you that this story does not end with them saying the sinner's prayer, but it was told for the truth that she spoke and so I remember the story.) She was bumming around the big island with her boyfriend, Ben. They were from California and Oregon. They were your typical hippies. Ben had a degree in horticulture, had been to jail for possession of weed (which was when he quickly told me Mendocino, CA had the best weed in the world), and had moved to Hawaii with Carissa, with $200 to their name, to escape the real world for a little while. Carissa was from Oregon, she was a massage therapist, had hairy legs, and recently started "dreads." They both had the smell of a couple days without a shower. When we walked past them the first time I noticed their cardboard sign that read: Hungry Hungry Hippies. I thought it was clever. Anyway, I really wanted talk to them so as we passed them the second time we stopped and started talking with them. As we started talking they told us all of these details about their travels in Hawaii. How they experienced racism in Puna, sold fruit for a living in Hilo, and worked for a couple of work trades on the east side of the island. One of the work trades was run by a group of Hare Krishna believers. They said they would make the workers go to chants. They also said they didn't like that. Then we started asking us about what we were doing. So we told them where we were going and what we would be doing. They asked us if we were Christians. I responded, "Yeah, but I hesitate to use the word "Christian" because I don't know what ideas are attached to that title. I do my best to try and live as Jesus lived." Carissa responded with, "Jesus was a kick ass dude." I said, "Yes He was. He was a kick ass dude." We talked for a little while longer, but we had to get back to campus. So we said goodbye and started walking home.

Later, I was thinking about what she said about Jesus. I prayed that God would move that truth from their heads down to their hearts and that it would change their lives. I was thinking about how I didn't, in words, share "The Gospel" with them. I kind of felt bad. Then I realized that they didn't need someone else to tell them what the truth was. They had already had that with the hare krishna work trade. However, I believe God used the testimony of what we were doing with our lives to speak to them. I thank God that I don't have to rely on "me" to share "The Gospel."

God is good. All the time.

Dan

It was a good run...

Last night I shaved my face. I know, it's unfortunate. However, fortunately for all of you I have updated my flickr page with some sweet pics. Among those pictures you have, "Wannabe Youth Pastor Dan Francis", "Clean Shaven Dan Francis", "Charlie Chaplin Dan Francis", and everyone's favorite Dan Francis, "The Bearded Dan Francis". I might have some pictures in the near future of me with a shaved head. I'm trying to decide whether I should grow it out for the next 3 months or shave it off. If you have any suggestions, leave me a comment. I will blog again soon, hopefully, with something of substance. Later.


Dan

Rain

Yesterday it rained over an inch in less than an hour. The water was creeping up the wall looking like it might come into our dorm room, but it stopped an inch or two below the door. We, also, had strong wind gusts. I'm not sure how fast the wind was, but it knocked over 2 trees and scattered branches everywhere. It was a pretty bad storm. It knocked out power on Oahu.
Davidson and I went out into the ocean to body surf yesterday afternoon. I wish we could have gotten some video of what the water and waves looked like. It was really choppy. I'd never been in the ocean when it was this crazy. The riptide, especially, was super strong. After we got back to campus, we ran around with boogie boards sliding down the muddy hills. There is no reason in particular that I told you all of this. Just letting you know what's going on.

Words about "The Don" and some other stuff

Don Gillman was our speaker this week. He was speaking on laying down our rights. I could use a year of someone speaking on that topic. Anyway, I already put some of the stuff he said a couple blogs ago. Here is some more wisdom:

• How big is God? I would always answer, "He's outside of space and time. He goes on forever." In actuality, God exists outside of forever too. This concept blows my mind even further than before. Just something to blow your mind.
• Everyone freaks out about what their "calling"(to use a very christiany word) is. Don says, "Just chill out! Seek Jesus and God will naturally release a calling on your life." This may be easier said than done, but still great advice.
• Faith can't be based on rationalism. This is hard because we grow up in an education system that is based on rationalism. This idea of, if you can't see it, touch it, or taste it; don't believe it.
• If you are bored it's your fault. Ask God what you are supposed to be doing.

On a completely random note, my roommate's mom sent us a small christmas tree and individual stockings today. You can check out pictures on my flickr page. It was really nice of her. I don't know what's in the stocking yet. We are opening them later tonight. I'll let you know when I find out. She is almost as cool as my mom who has sent me a bunch of packages with delicious cookies in them.

Well, guys, thats whats been going on recently. Talk to you soon.

Dan