Wow, what a year. 

After spending 2020 and 2021 wondering when I’d be able to get back to Asia, I was able to visit all three Asia’s Hope countries in 2022. Not only that, I welcomed some of my dearest friends from Cambodia and Thailand to the U.S. for the month of October.

So before the ball drops and the curtain closes on this year, I thought I’d look back on some of the highlights. I’ll do a more comprehensive, official “Asia’s Hope Year-In-Review” in the coming weeks. This is more a best-of travelogue type of overview.

Cambodia

We originally planned to travel with four of us — me, Benjamin, Roxi and Carol — to both Cambodia and Thailand in January. But Covid restrictions and infections kept us kicking the can down the road. 

By the time we actually got on a plane, it was just me and Benjamin (Hiltner, our recently-hired Director of Media). Our original plan had us splitting our time between the two countries, but just a couple of days before we were scheduled to depart Cambodia, Covid finally caught me, bringing those plans to a halt. I spent about a week in quarantine in Phnom Penh, and then (literally, thanks to an ankle sprain) limped home.

Despite the setbacks, I have to consider that trip a success. Benjamin and I captured a ton of photos and video, much of which made it into the excellent Decades short film Benjamin produced. If you haven’t watched it yet, please make time to do so!

It was wonderful to get back to Cambodia, which has really become a home away from home over the past 20 years. And it was exciting to take Benjamin, who had never been to Asia before. It was a joy to see so many new kids, and to meet newly-hired staff, and to reunite with some of the young adults who graduated from Asia’s Hope, but returned to see us.

Thailand

In July and August, Benjamin and I packed up the camera gear and headed out to Thailand and India. And although he visited Cambodia earlier in the year, Benjamin was a first-timer to both of these places as well. 

I meet a lot of people — either frequent missions travelers or long-time missionaries — who are so jaded. The wonder has worn off. Many times they don’t even like the countries to which they’re deployed. They’re cynical and kind of miserable to hang out with. I’m thankful that God has somehow allowed me to maintain a child-like sense of wonder related to the places I’m blessed to serve. I still geek out at the traffic, the foods, the cultural differences.

One of the things that helps me keep a fresh perspective is bringing newbies along for the ride. I get to see the sights, taste the flavors for the time — vicariously at least. And Benjamin is a great travel partner. Up for anything, he powered through jet lag and culture shock and embraced every experience I could throw at him.

When we arrived in Thailand, we took a few days in Bangkok to soak in the culture and acclimate ourselves to the time change. We hired a street food guide for an epic culinary excursion in Chinatown, and over the three days we spent in the capital, we probably tried 40 different Thai dishes, a handful of them were new even to me.

But the real reason we came to Thailand lay further north, in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces, where Asia’s Hope has 10 family-style children’s homes. We visited all of the homes over a period of about three weeks, and we even got the chance spend a night in a Karen-tribe village, sleeping in a wooden house under mosquito nets, sampling local foods, including squirrels, which our host had caught especially for our dinner

We shared so many lovely family meals with our staff and kids. There’s just something special about sitting around a table, outside, on a warm summer night in Southeast Asia. As the sun goes down, you can linger over conversations serenaded by the creaks and croaks and cries of crickets, birds, lizards and frogs, while children sing and play in front of the nearby houses. Heaven will probably be exactly like that — minus the mosquitos.

India

Ah, India. 

Most people would forgive me if I recoiled from the idea of returning to India. I mean, aside from being an overwhelming, dizzying, mind-bendingly intense place to hang out, I’ve had my share of traumatic experiences there that some of you are already aware of.

But dang it, I just love India. 

To be fair, I’ve only seen a small portion of India — mostly New Delhi, Agra, Darjeeling and Kalimpong. But then again, even people who have spent their entire lives in the country have only seen a fraction of what the subcontinent has to offer. It’s as big as Europe, and at least as diverse. Dozens of official languages, countless sub-cultures; endless variety in culinary, musical, artistic and religious expression; topographical variation ranging from snow-capped mountains to tropical rainforests.

Delhi is more-or-less exactly what I grew up believing India to be: hot, crowded, chaotic, loud — a sensory overload 24/7. Kalimpong, however, is something like a South Asian version of the Swiss Alps — verdant fields and forests carpeting vast foothills. And when the weather is right, it all unfolds before a backdrop of the majestic snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas.

Alas, the weather on this trip was NOT right. In rainy season, the vistas are still breathtaking, but the distant mountains are shrouded in heavy, wet fog. In fact, it rained every single day of our trip. 

But that didn’t stop us from having an amazing trip. I so enjoyed spending time with our university students and some of our recent graduates. Binod and Tashi, two young men who grew up at our Kalimpong 1 home, just finished their training as chefs. They joined us on a couple of outings to the Haat Bazaar, a weekly farmer’s market in the town center. With their guidance, we found the best food stalls and sampled dumplings, flatbreads, chai, and fumbi — a weird but wonderful savory, gelatinous snack that can only be found in Kalimpong.

Every time I return to India, I’m overwhelmed with gratitude for what God has built — and preserved — here. There were years when I thought I’d never be able to return. And things there are challenging. But oh so worth it.

Ohio — and all the rest.

Aside from some trips to Chicago and Indy to visit colleges with my wife Kori and my daughter Xiudan, a few short jaunts to Florida, Indiana and Missouri to hang out with Asia’s Hope partners, and Oregon to attend the funeral of a dear friend and board member, John Campbell, I spent most of my Stateside year close to home in Ohio.

And for the entire month of October, we were joined by our Cambodia director Savorn Ou and his wife Sony, and by our Thailand director Tutu Abourmad. We hoped India directors Amber and Sunil and their wives Radha and Punam could join us, but they were unable to get a visa due to massive Covid-related backups at the American consulates in India. 

I posted a bunch of pictures from our directors’ trip here.

Looking forward to 2023

Now as I look forward to the next year, I’m ready to travel again! I’ll be heading to Cambodia in February with my dear friends — and pastors of my home church — Jeff and Adrienne Cannell. We’ll be dedicating the Battambang Student Center, which we purchased with funds from Jeff and A’s family foundation. 

And then in the summer, I hope to return to Cambodia and Thailand with Kori and Xiudan, stopping by South Korea to visit my son Pak, who is living in Seoul teaching English. I hope we can bring Roxi, our Director of Strategic Partnerships, who has worked for Asia’s Hope for more than three years, but has not yet been able to visit our projects overseas.

In the fall, I’ll head to India.

Throughout the year, I plan to get out to see a lot of Asia’s Hope friends and family across America. If I’m lucky and can make the details work, I’d love to visit our partnering churches in Montreal and Sydney. And I also hope to visit a few places I can’t name here to investigate potential projects in countries where we can’t work openly, but where orphaned kids desperately need assistance.

I’m thankful for all of you who make this work possible. I hope to see some of you in Cambodia, Thailand, India — or your town — some time in 2023. Happy New Years!