Checking in from Asia

Our missions conference has ended, with many wonderful memories. This morning we're preparing to hop on aeroplanes again, this time we're headed "home" to Tokyo. This time we'll be able to unpack our suitcases and put stuff away. After the next 24 hrs, the only overnight travel we're doing in the next few months is for holidays: six nights next week and four nights camping at the end of July.

The last few weeks have been hectic and I'm paying for it now. I've had diarrhoea for the last 24 hrs (but not painful) and have struggled with headaches on and off over the last week too. The rest of the family is exhausted too. David's had a cold and the boys are also tired (making for some "messy" behaviour moments).

But it has been an amazing time of meeting with people from different parts of the world, some of whom we had no idea we would meet. I had lunch with an Asian lady we met in Indonesia in the early '90s. She had no idea David and I were married, let alone doing the work we do. She's also been on an amazing life journey.

Yesterday I met someone I last also knew in the early '90s, at my church when I was at uni. Except he was a little boy back then. He's now also working in Asia. He's the sixth young person I now know of from that church and era working in full-time cross-cultural ministry.

This is the largest missions conference we've ever been a part of. The kids programme alone included 100 teens and 260 younger children. The singing has been amazing. We know that we're not alone in the mission-work, but so often we work alone or in small groups. Indeed in the last year we've been the sole representatives of mission in most churches or groups we've visited, that can be discouraging. It's been exciting to be a part of an event this last week full of people who have a similar life experience as us, even if they're from different home countries to us and are working in hugely different situations and countries.

One special memory we'll take with us is the free-time activity we did on Saturday. We went up into the hills and did a 32 zip-line course. It was an amazing experience. Certainly an exercise in trust as we were totally reliant on our tour guides' and our harnesses as we glided among the tree-tops many metres above the ground. At times not even able to see the end of the cable we were flying along (one was 400m and the longest 600m).

But I have to admit I'm over this travel business. I want to settle in my own place and not see another airport for a good long time. Exciting adventures are nice in their place, but they are exhausting. So are goodbyes. I'm ready to say some hellos in Tokyo (although I'm not looking forward to the Tokyo heat).