(Previous versions of this post had an incorrect YouTube link.) We abandoned a respectable sense of propriety yesterday during a five-hour delay stopover at China’s Guangzhou International Airport. Had you been one of the hundreds of innocent civilians on their way to a flight to...

We abandoned a respectable sense of propriety yesterday during a five-hour delay stopover at China’s Guangzhou International Airport. Had you been one of the hundreds of innocent civilians on their way to a flight to somewhere … you would have seen three boys … and their...

Socialist Republic of Vietnam Forever! President Ho Chi Minh’s greatness lives on in our career! These are the phrases printed on giant banners that flank Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum in Hanoi, translated to English with Google Translate. Similar phrases — about the people, the...

We’ve just returned from two-plus Glorious days in Vietnam’s Ha Long Bay. The area’s name in English is “Descending Dragons,” referring to the near-infinite limestone islands that fill the bay. Various myths explain how the panorama views of those giant humps look...

This will come as no surprise to serious students of the Vietnamese language … but there is a vast subtlety to various words that convey entirely different meanings. Take ba, ba, and ba. Depending on how you pronounce the words, they could mean: three, father, or...

A week from Tuesday, Vietnam marks the anniversary of the day North Vietnamese troops took over Saigon in 1975, a moment that “re-unified” the country. In America’s history classes, the conflict that ended in 1975 is called the Vietnam War. In Vietnam, we’ve learned...

It is Grace to be clear-headed during a rainstorm. I woke up this morning thinking about a mistake I’d made weeks ago – something trivial, regarding an email … and to whom it was and was not sent. Why do I wake up that way? I lingered on that question. I shared it with S during...

April 17, 3:07pm A minty, antiseptic smell has just overtaken the sour cigarette odor in our Vietnamese train car (we splurged for the Soft Seat Air-Con tickets).  The mounted TV serenades us with Vietnamese soft-rock favorites sung by 20-something darlings in sparkly evening gowns in front...

S has a rule in our family: no making fun of moms. So I will not draw your attention to the hand sanitizer strapped to the front of my mom’s fanny pack during a tour of Bangkok’s Grand Palace. Instead, I will mention that I was astonished to learn over dinner recently that my Mom...

We have mastered a talent on this journey of arriving in cities and communities when NO ONE else typically travels to those places. We specialize in off seasons and boarded up restaurants. Our last few days in Bangkok have been the exception. This is the time people come to this city from all...

This is what it looks like to receive world-class medical care from a world-class medical facility in a sprawling Asian metropolis during a two-hour wait for tests on W’s blood. Sweet. A Dr. Phanida waited for W and his two parents today in Room 9 of the pediatric ward at...

I learned this evening that I was painfully afraid of bats as a little boy. The item was one of the stories my mom shared with our table over dinner, about how I used to be scared of walking in the dark because a bat might attack. S chimed in that one of our sons used to be quite fearful of...

On the eve of Grammy’s time with us in Thailand and Cambodia, one of our boys said he was looking forward to “Grammy’s nighttime lullabies”: “She gives great back rubs while she sings us to sleep.” We’re so grateful that Grammy is with us for a few...

  What is the saying about fish and visitors? That they both stink after three days? Somehow Mark and Melinda missed out on that message — try hosting a family of five for nearly three weeks! We had the extreme pleasure and privilege of being welcomed into their Chiang Mai home,...

Happy Birthday, S! She got a lot of love today from a wide range of animals in the animal...

Years ago, a young man named Allan courted a young woman named Joan. He was in the US Army, a veteran of the Korean War. She was on stage on Broadway, and claimed a cameo role in a “Lone Ranger” episode. They married … then moved to Thailand for full time Faith work. Decades...

A pastor’s wife met us during our border journey, on the way to a refugee camp inside Burma. Her family set out two boxes of ice cream on long tables in the shade, along with fresh watermelon, soft drinks, and water. Then S asked her for her name. “I was born at night,” she...

Our sons became actors of international renown on our recent trip along the Thailand-Burma border. Our traveling group of a dozen performed the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedenego three times — once in church, and twice in refugee camps. E, H, and W played the part of the heroes...

Tonight, S and I began the process of thinking through how this trip might affect our lives when we return to Northern Virginia. Our current hosts graciously offered to keep our kids for a night … so here we are at an awesome resort … just the two of us … saying things like...

Reverend Simon leads a Bible college inside Thailand’s largest refugee camp. A walkable mountain and plain separates the campus from  war. Most of his ethnic minority students leave their homes inside Burma’s controversial regions to spend a year or two or three studying...