I wrote in that first blog entry how I was overwhelmed with God’s provision for us. And a year later, the Lord is still providing for our every need. He truly is a bountiful God, holding us after we jumped off the cliff of financial uncertainty. My last day of paid work was March 4, 2009, more than a year ago now. And yet we still are able to put food on our table and gas in our car. God has been so good, and I praise Him for that. Justin was blessed with some part-time photography work which has helped get us by.

Our work at the Hungry for Life office continues, slowly but surely forward. Days are often frustrating for me as I am seeing little progress over a long time instead of a lot of progress over a little bit of time. But we know it will get done. And we’re so thankful to be a part of the Hungry for Life team and doing this project together.

Anniversaries are always special occasions. So, on this momentous day, we want to extend our thanks to our faithful blog readers. Thanks to all the readers that check back often even when we’ve been inconsistent in posting, and for those that drop by the blog once in awhile and catch up. We really appreciate every person who has taken the effort to post comments on the blog, the feedback has been encouraging to us as we’ve travelled this Pockets of Change journey God has set before us.

Many people have sent us emails, phoned us up and told us in person how the stories we’ve shared have had an impact. To you, we also give a big thank you. It means so much to know that even before this project is finished, lives are being changed through the stories God blessed us to hear. We also want to thank those who have supported us by housing us, feeding us, and giving financially.

And most important of all, we thank you for your prayers. They mean more to us than anything, and we both firmly believe much of the reason Pockets of Change is a reality is because of prayer. We were safe in our travels because of prayer. Our marriage has stayed strong and grown stronger because of prayer. People shared their stories because of prayer. And prayer is what will bring this project to its completion.

Keep checking back to the blog as Justin is featuring a new amazing photo weekly and I will be posting some more stories from Sri Lanka, our final stop in the POC travel.

We invite you to continue with us as we work to completing the book. One day at a time, we are moving towards the end goal and would love to have you there with us right until the final i is dotted and the final t is crossed.

Until then, thanks for reading. Thanks for listening. Thanks for responding.

Thank you.

An early morning start, long bumpy drive, two planes and a five-hour layover in the middle: we were absolutely exhausted. We finally made it through, found our luggage intact an headed out into the throngs of Sri Lankans to meet with our final field partner, Reverend Ranjan Fernando.

At first glance, many things struck as the same, many different, compared to other countries we’ve been.

Similarities: in the airport a sea of people waiting outside barricades for loved ones to return home, and taxi drivers lobbying for your fare. A joyful similarity to most other airports was the clean ‘regular’ toilets. Other similarities included driving on the left side of the road, tropical trees, little vegetable stands where women sell their meagre offerings for cheap. There were crowds teeming in the streets, and twice as many vehicles, bikes and people on the width of the road than there should have been.

The biggest similarity to other countries we’ve traveled is that the people are just as foreign in their ways and customs to me as everywhere else we have been. It’s a whole new world to explore and experience. As soon as you get off a plane you’re immersed in it and there’s no way to just dip your toes. You’re in the deep end of a new country before you have the chance to rub the grogginess from your flight away.

Differences: Sri Lankan languages have their own alphabets. Signs often had a mix of Sri Lankan and English writing, making for a unique combination unlike in Kenya and Uganda where most writing found was in English. The people are brown instead of black; the accents are very different and I keep thinking I’ll see the Kwik-e-Mart around the next bend. Women are dressed in saris, some men in sarongs. Tuk tuks pass us by on the congested streets, spewing out a haze of black smoke.

A big difference here compared to other countries we traveled to for Pockets of Change on this final leg of travel is the heat. Colombo is hot, the wall of radiating heat hits you as soon as you step out the doors and into a blazing inferno. It is a wet, humid heat. It is unpleasant, to put it politely.

As we drove by the endless small shops on unmarked roads, I thought how it would be much easier to just be home now. To be surrounded by people more like me, to not be expected to observe and question and report, to not have to sleep in another strange bed in another strange house, to not have to eat unfamiliar food and jump cultural differences to connect with the people here.

But after some rest at our partner’s home where we were to stay while in Sri Lanka, I pondered my feelings. The beautiful thing to me about being a Christian is that while I sometimes don’t feel, I still know in my head the truths in my life. The truth: God is. And as long as I’m following in the path God has shown me, I know that wherever I am is where I’m supposed to be. I also reminded myself of the confirmation I’ve had again and again in different ways that Pockets of Change is a project God has called us to. So despite my feelings of exhaustion, of wariness to face a new country and people, of not having my own bed to sleep in each night and my own food to eat, I know we have been called here as we have to every other stop.

So crank up the heat, smother that rice in curry, bring on the heavy accents. Here’s to the last stop on our Pockets of Change travel.

Upon arriving at the home, we were now surrounded by close to two dozen children. After learning why we were there, this little girl ran out and started telling all her neighbours that we were her muzungus (white people). It was quite the humbling experience to be greeted with the traditional Ugandan greeting, shaking our hands while they kneel in front of us.

They had so much joy and pride just from our visit. We were fortunate enough to be able to bless them with a small care package. But we received so much more from them, just getting to meet them and seeing how God is working in their lives and knowing we will always be this little girl’s mzungus.

Pockets of Change | Numbers from Justin Keitch on Vimeo.

Life here on the river’s edge was so peaceful and simple, a tremendous contrast from the busyness of the market where your senses were assaulted from every direction. Two seemingly different worlds, only meters from each other.

As I sift through the thousands upon thousands of photos, I would like to take the time to share some of them with you. Some may make it in to the book and some may not. Some will stir at my heart some may just catch my attention that particular day. I have no set formula as to how I will select them but I hope in some way that they will speak to you.

Enjoy and as always, your feedback is welcome and appreciated.

This photo was taken during our time in Waveland, Mississippi, a small town situated on the Gulf of Mexico, which became ground zero for Hurricane Katrina. Five years after the storm hit, they are still rebuilding.

With God’s timing we were there at the same time as a team from New Jersey. A team that felt that the spiritual care for the people was as important as the physical rebuilding that they split up into two teams. The prayer team would go out in to the community to visit, listen, pray and to help this broken town heal.

I lust after the American dream. I want the house. I want the dog and the backyard and the barbecue parties and the hot tub. I want the crafts room and the rec room. I want the kitchen with the double-wide fridge and ice dispenser. I want the toaster on the counter, the nice clothes in the closet and the recreational gear stored neatly in the garage.

We traveled around the world, saw the poverty and the despair, met the people who give up the little they have to serve the Lord. So how is it possible that I come home and I still long for a life the Lord has not blessed me with right now?

I look at house listings online and want to cry. We don’t even know what our future will hold, there is nothing certain about life beyond Pockets of Change. I know this is a period in my life. This is the place, the time, the life God has set before me and most of the time I praise Him for it. But today, I just want to go back to an easy life of earning money and spending as I wish. Today, I feel more human, more fallible, more caught up in the world than in the Spirit.

I guess that’s the reality of being human. Sometimes we soar, sometimes we sink. But through it all, God’s promises are true. God’s love for me is real. And God’s desire for me is to be in relationship with Him, not with the world. So today, I will set aside my own desires and seek His. I will put my requests before Him and leave them there. Because God is God, and I am not. And His will is perfect for me, even on the days I don’t feel it.

I will seek wisdom instead of wealth. I will seek integrity instead of financial interest. I will seek justice instead of jewels.

For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds victory in store for the upright, He is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for He guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.

- Provers 2:6-8

We have a feature story on Sri Lanka published in the January 26th edition of the Chilliwack Progress.
Click on the image below to download a pdf of the article (1.7MB).

We drove past a woman washing her clothes in the stream, next to a colossal billboard advertising a washer / dryer combo. It read: ‘Who said washing clothes is hard work’?

While the woman and the advertisement were directly next to each other, the two could not have been further apart. It was such a dichotomy to see an ad that would not stand out in North America next to a scene that does not stand out in Africa. But placed together, the two images were worlds apart.

She has no more chance of ever owning a modern-day appliance than I have of winning the Ms. World pageant. Maybe that didn’t bother her. Maybe it bothered me because even after all this travel I still consider things like a washing machine more of a right than a luxury. And that’s after washing a lot of underwear and socks in bathroom sinks. What I consider my rights versus luxuries are so separated from what that woman would consider a right or a luxury.

Now that we’re back and in our normal lives here in Canada, there are things that I used to consider my rights that really stand out to me now as overwhelming luxuries. It’s tough to separate what I experienced in our travels with what I see back in Canada. I feel different: I look at the world differently, I look at my finances differently, I look at my heart differently. Yet I live in the same world I did before. The struggle now is what to do now with the changes that took place in me.

It’s a good reason that everyone should be involved in missions. You change, whether that’s what you’re after or not.