Midyear conference is a conference for all the STINT teams in Asia that takes place during the end of January. It’s a chance to get rested and refreshed during your campus’ winter break, as well as a time to share with other teams how the year has gone and to be encouraged by the speakers.
Midyear took place this year in Thailand. It was more than a bit strange to be getting on a plane to leave for our midyear when we had only been on campus for about a week, but Cru felt it was important for us to be encouraged by the other East Asia STINTers, and to get the full experience of what it meant to be an international missionary with Cru.
It was a long way to get there: a flight from Hilo to Honolulu, then to Seoul, then to Bangkok, and then a three hour bus ride to Cha-am. Overall our travel time there was about 28 hours.
But what a sight for sore eyes when we finally arrived at our hotel! Even though we didn’t arrive til 2 AM, our teammate Kimiyo (who had been in Japan this whole time) waited up for us to arrive. It was the first time our full team was reunited since August. We were stoked.
Midyear was a place of challenge and of focus. We spent each of the four days we were at the conference focusing on one of the four “L’s” of STINT: Love the Lord, Love your team, Launch a movement and Learn a new world. Matt Mikalatos, a Christian author who is both a hilarious storyteller and a powerful speaker, came to share with us over the course of the week. (Check out Matt Mikalatos’ blog here—I read and enjoyed both Imaginary Jesus and Night of the Living Dead Christian.)
During the evenings, we got to explore Cha-am…which is cool because it’s Thailand, but very touristy. I had green curry and red snapper and ordered garlic bread on the side. We also went to a night market to get souvenirs, and I managed to learn how to say “thank you” well enough from hearing it so frequently from the vendors that I managed to say it to my waiter the next day. He laughed and corrected me, but at least he got what I was saying.
One of the strangest things about exploring Thailand for me was not being able to read anything. I have been to France, to Japan, and to China, all places where my reading ability was extremely limited. But French uses the Latin alphabet, I’ve studied Japanese, and Chinese and Japanese characters have enough overlap to be recognizable. (I can read the word “fish” in all three languages!) But the Thai language made me completely illiterate, unable to read, write, or even pronounce anything I saw. It was rather disarming, to say the least.
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| Yup, that's a three-headed elephant. Won't see that in Hawaii. |
It was a cool chance to explore another culture, but more than anything else, Midyear was an important time to refocus and keep my eyes on the mission again. I had been waiting around for a visa for months, and after arriving in Hilo we spent most of our time before arriving on campus trying to arrange housing and figure out how to get around town. We got to spend time hearing about how ministry was going in other countries and how the work being done by our friends around the world is changing campuses and changing lives. It was great to remember the vision of why we are in Hilo.
As a special bonus, on the way back from Thailand we had a 14 hour layover in Seoul. A couple from the Japan mission trip I went on in the summer of ’09 are living in Seoul teaching English. Kyle and Jess were welcoming and warm-hearted, a definite contrast to the weather outside. Cha-am, Thailand, is near the equator, so we had packed for humid weather at the beach. The high in Korea on the day we were there was 26 degrees Fahrenheit. We had a frigid walk over to the royal palace, then headed to a restaurant for some bibimbap, a bowl of rice mixed with sautéed vegetables, chili paste, meat, and a raw egg. Not my favorite, I’ll admit, but it was a delight to see how my friends had grown over the course of the past couple years. Their faith continues to define their lives in their goals and in their career paths, and they are seeking to know more of God in their everyday lives. It was so encouraging to meet up with them again.
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| Kyle, Kylan, me, Kimiyo, and Jess at a train station in Seoul |
We got to re-enter Hilo with new eyes and a new focus for our work. Right after we got over jet-lag.
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