2 Months Later

We had many missionary friends warn us that re-entry into life back home would be hard. So in an attempt to give myself some therapy I will try to write about what's going on in my head, heart and spirit.
The first 2 weeks felt totally like being a fish out of water. There were so many questions to answer in regards to our trip that we felt overwhelmed in knowing how to explain what we saw, felt and experienced, and in many ways that is still the case. Cari and I have found it very difficult to pick up were we left off at work, but have managed with the help of our co-workers. The kids overall seem to have taken the transition smoothly and of course have very much enjoyed reconnecting with friends.
Maybe one of the most difficult things for me personally has been how to deal with the pace of life here in the states. It goes much deeper than just being too busy, it is the fact that the ability to go below the surface in relationships in our society is very difficult, because of all the things we put into a day just does not leave the time needed to walk with others.
I also find myself struggling with the stewardship of this life God has given me. Where I spend my time, energy and finances is in serious need of transformation. We have looked into selling our home and questioned what our working roles could or should be. Right now its all up in the air and we pray that we do not interfere in letting it all land firmly in God's hands.
The biggest upfront positive we came back with is a greater love for people and a deeper understanding of community. It is safe for me to say that our relationship with Jesus and others go hand in hand and it cannot be one without the other if we are to live the 'Christian' life.
Please join us in prayer as we desire to be in Christ.
-Kurt

Oh, How Great it Was

When you plan something for couple years it is really easy to build your expectations to a level that just seems impossible to achieve, but in the case of our 4 month adventure we can honestly say that our expectations went beyond our hopes. I have not heard one word of regret from the family and as we all talk with friends and family the memories are so postive and exciting it makes us all want to do it all over again.

This blog will be an attempt from each member of our family to individually summerize what we took away from the whole experience. We have also added the last of our trips pictures (click the title).

Cole

I am glad our family went on this trip. It was a lot of fun. I meet tons of nice people and saw amazing things.
Some of my favorite fun things were the elephant ride in Thailand, waterfalls in Laos, safaris in Africa. The “flying fox” zip line at Victoria Falls was awesome. Seeing old but interesting stuff in Greece. Devotions with the family, card games with the family and missing school.
One family and ministry I enjoyed was friends of the Queensberry’s that ran a school for hill tribe children in northern Thailand. The students had a great time playing and an opportunity to go to school. We got to speak at their devotions and they had lots of questions for us. The school and home is on a green tea plantation. We got to spend the night there and the next day be a part of an Akha engagement party. We ate our food wrapped in banana leaves. It was impressive that two dedicated people, Luca and Ghunn could impact so many children in such a positive way.
I found it interesting that people all over the world can live with so little. I couldn’t do that for 2 days.

Meghan

This trip was a great experience for me. I loved getting to know different people and their cultures. All of them were SO different. Everyone in Asia bowed, while Africans gave you a big hug as if they’ve known you forever. It was also neat to see the difference between tribes and non-tribes. Tribes lived a more simple way as the non-tribes lived more modern. Though there is not much we could call modern in their homes. It made me feel sad to see some of the living conditions, but comforting to know that they were not dissatisfied and they were in God’s hands.

I also enjoyed being with passionate missionaries sharing God’s love to the people. One of my favorite projects was “school on a mat”. A few very dedicated teachers go to different mats and teach kids what they need to know. Those were a few thoughts, but the whole trip was a great experience!!

Jessica

I would like to believe that the last four months were an amazing experience that I will never forget, but the truth is that there will probably be pieces or events that will fade from my memory in time. The trip as a whole though is something that will remain with me forever. There were three continents, eight countries, and numerous cultures and languages that have added to my perspective on life and my character.
Asia was without a doubt the favorite portion of my trip. The culture was great, the people and language fun, and the food amazing; not to mention the warm climate that was particularly favorable. This isn’t to say though that the rest of my trip was not enjoyable, on the contrast I was having fun and enjoying myself wherever I went. I don’t think that I could ever get tired of seeing new things and learning new cultures. I am afraid that if this trip has done anything for me it has certainly given me an itch to travel and see what the rest of the world has to offer.

Cari
I find it hard to believe the adventure is over!! We are back home and grateful for the safe travel and very grateful for our own beds. Our final count had us sleeping in 45 different beds during our 4 months of travel so sleeping on our own beds is a treat!!

We were blessed with a warm welcome from friends and family who left us with loads of food, welcome signs, balloons plus some other fun “surprises” for us to discover.

Trying how to write a wrap up of the trip was difficult and I will not be able to do all the amazing experiences justice in writing about it so I am going to write about the emotions of the trip. Those of you who know me well will be surprised at this theme as emotional is not usually an adjective you might use to describe me but I am going to take a stab at it nonetheless.

Excitement- number one emotion of the trip. Every new country, town, village, place was just plain exciting to me. A new place to explore, new people to watch, new customs, dress, food, language, smells I could go on and on...it was an overload to the senses in each new spot we were at.

Amazement at the natural wonders we saw. The Mekong river, picture perfect waterfalls in Laos, the beaches and fish in Thailand, the amazing Masai Mara and the animals we saw, the hippos and leopard in Zambia, Victoria falls, everything about Greece and the peaceful green countryside of Ireland. God has truly created an amazingly beautiful world for us to live in!

Gratefulness over and over we would find ourselves just so grateful for the people and the hospitality that were shown to us along our trip. All the people that hosted our family, guided our family, feed our family helped us with our plans, showed us around, strangers that visited me in the hospital. All the World Concern staff in Asia and Africa for taking the time to show us their important work. The Quesenberry’s and the Davy’s for hosting us in Thailand and Laos. The Moyers in Zambia for hosting our family for 4 weeks and for all the amazing fun times we had with them. The Allens in Lusaka that hosted strangers and our gratefulness at finding new friends in them. And all our friends and family back home that covered us in prayers for safety and well being. Gratefulness for my co-workers at CRISTA that stepped in to cover my job so well so I could take this trip and to Kurt’s business partners that supported this idea so we could go. Gratefulness to God that we could be so blessed to have this adventure in the first place and for his protection all along the way. Gratefulness that I could have this adventure with my kids and for the awesome family time and memories we made!

Anger this may seem like an odd emotion to describe and not one I usually have but many times throughout the trip I found myself being angry with what I heard or saw. Listening to the real life descriptions of the lives that young girls in Thailand had to endure while they were being abused; anger at the reality of a young boy dying over lack of $10 for proper malaria treatment and drugs in Laos, anger at governments in Kenya that allow its people to languish in refuge camps without enough proper water, food or plan for returning them to their homes, anger at the choices individuals make that bring the devastation of AIDS to their home and to their children and spouses. Anger at visiting an orphanage and seeing bare food cupboards due to a shortage of funds. And most of all anger at the hugeness of the problems and the frustration of feeling that the needs are so huge.

Hope for these people and problems that does exist. It was shown to us over and over in the people that God has called to the far ends of the earth to help in his name. The hope that you see when a community receives an accessible well of clean safe water. Schools being built in areas where children didn’t have a school. Homes and boarding schools that are run by Godly men and women in Thailand to minister to young girls that have been forgotten by society. Missionaries that are working hard in Africa to equip and raise up local pastors and leaders in their communities to reach those who need hope. Teachers that are committed to education whether it be on a mat in Cambodia or a one room school house with the barest of supplies in Kenya. Time and time again we saw needs on this trip, big needs that were being responded to in the best way possible by organizations and amazing individuals that are being faithful to God and committed in their serving of all the people on this earth.

So now that we are home we will sort out what God would have us do with our experiences, our memories,our new relationships and our emotions from this trip and hopefully not move back into “life as normal” Thanks again for all the prayers and support!

Kurt

Considering that all along the way I have been blogging many of my thoughts and experiences I will keep my comments now short.

What I have taken away from this journey personally is that God loves us and our greatest calling is to love others. This was shown through His amazing creation and through the people along the way we witnessed living their lives for others. Today more than ever I believe God's kingdom is now and that we will find our joy in sharing life together with others. My hope is that our lives will be changed forever.

Were Back

We made it back home safe and tired Saturday night. Now its time to get back to our daily lives. This simple blog post is simply to say "thank you all for your prayers and encouragement". We promise to write a final post soon regarding an overview of our experiences and add the last of our pictures from Ireland.
-Kurt

Finding the Abundant Life

It has been 109 days, 7 countries, and a thousand new experiences since our family began our travels we have titled ‘Campbell’s World Tour’. We have had the adventure of a lifetime and have seen and partook of so many different experiences that it will take years to revisit most of these memories.
We had set out on this journey to see how the other half of the world’s population lives and to witness what God’s children are up to in these third world countries. From the get go we took an attitude that we would learn from others in hopes of broadening our perspectives. So what have we learned? RELATIONSHIPS MATTER! If there is one thing people in poverty excel at it is the ability to be in community and that has really opened our eyes in how we view life.
At the end of a day our family will often discuss and give thanks to the Lord for what we thought were the highlights of that day. Time and time again it was the people we engaged life together with. These people, whether they be new or old friends have paved our way throughout this trip with their time, homes and prayers. Our family has witnessed what it is to be ‘Christian’ and we have received with thanksgiving the generosity of so many. Without a doubt the greatest gift Jesus has passed down to us while we live this life is the gift of being in relationship. It is through relationships that we have the opportunity to really enjoy an abundant life.
My prayer is that those who have followed our adventure will grow in their love for Jesus and will express that love by the way in which they care for others.
-Kurt

Greece So Far…

We have seen our share of ancient ruins, visited several museums, and walked on the original Olympic Games field. We have driven hundreds of miles over breathtaking mountain passes and valleys filled with olive trees. We have walked through the monasteries of the sky (my personal favorite) and hiked to the cave of Nestor. We have enjoyed it all, and now we find ourselves happy to be in the same place for an entire week near the town of Pilos in the S.W. corner of the Peloponnese. This means we can enjoy breakfasts from our deck overlooking the spectacular bay and enjoy time at the pool without any need to hurry here or there. We have already taken some great hikes and day trips to nearby attractions including a 19 acre fort from the 1800’s we were able to walk the walls of.

Time is moving on and Meghan turning 13 tomorrow reminds us just how fast the clock is turning. With less than 3 weeks remaining I can say that I look forward to embracing family and friends and working once again alongside my co-workers.

-Kurt