Here you will find our interactions and reactions to a world of new experiences. Together, we journeyed through western Canada, down into Haiti and Mexico, across to the Ukraine and Africa in search of stories of life change. From the depths of our frustration to the heights of our joy, this blog documents the journey.

You can read the stories posted throughout the journey in reverse chronological order by browsing through the archive of every blog post below.

Alternatively, you can view posts by country or by post type by clicking on these links:
Countries: Canada, Ecuador, Haiti, Kenya, Mexico, Peru, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Ukraine, USA
Post type: Culture, Lessons, People, Photos, Prayer, Projects, Teams, Travel, Video

It’s been six months since we last stepped off an airplane on to Canadian soil. I am relieved and excited to let you all know that, finally, big things are happening. We’re at a point where we can start to see progress from all our hard work and I’m happy to be able to share it with you.

Next week we will be re-launching the Pockets of Change website. We will be bringing the book to the forefront and giving you a glimpse of what it may actually look like.

In the past the blog has been the driving force behind the site. We feel it has now served its purpose and it will be put aside, but not forgotten. You will still be able to look back through our entries from our travels to Hungry For Life project sites around the world.

Another exciting change that we’d like to announce is that alongside the new website, we will be launching a photo store where you can purchase prints of the photos from our travels.

Thanks for being so patient with us. As we pour ourselves into the book and the project, we sometimes neglect the blog and forget to keep everyone updated on what’s going on. As the blog becomes a secondary focus on the website, this adds more challenges. In the future we will be utilizing Facebook and Twitter more to post updates. We will also be notifying people about the book launch through email, so make sure to sign up if you haven’t already. Thanks for your interest, your prayers and your encouragement as we continue forward with this project.

]]> http://www.pocketsofchange.org/2010/07/big-changes-and-new-additions/feed/ 0 http://www.pocketsofchange.org/2010/06/yup-were-still-working/ http://www.pocketsofchange.org/2010/06/yup-were-still-working/#comments Mon, 21 Jun 2010 17:53:23 +0000 Lorene http://www.pocketsofchange.org/?p=634 Oh my goodness, it’s been awhile since we’ve posted anything! My apologies to those of you still checking on a regular basis, hopefully we haven’t lost your support as our blog posts have slowed to a trickle.

To answer the question on everyone’s minds – yes, we’re still working on the book. While a Spring completion would have been lovely, it seems this was not possible. We’re still working steadily and, at least five days a week, Pockets of Change is still our life.

Justin is persevering with the design of the book on top of the multitude of other details grabbing for his attention related to launching some new features on the POC website, dealing with the publishing end of things, and earning some income on the side to cover our rent.

On that note, we are still feeling blessed by God in the area of finances. We seem to have just enough to scrape by, though our savings have taken a serious nosedive through this project. Luckily, we know that God provides for us and if we run even lower on money it only means we must rely on God even more.

I am currently finishing up a couple challenging stories for Peru and Ecuador, then I only have a handful of countries to write up before tackling the Canada interviews. Please pray for me as I need to persevere on the writing. I find it mentally exhausting each day to try and come up with the best words, the ideal sentences, the best phrasing, to convey what I’m trying to get across.

And a deep underlying fear permeates all I do: am I getting across through these stories the goal we set out? Am I showing a world transformed and, in doing so, providing hope to people who think that change is a hopeless goal? Am I showing the movement of compassion and justice sweeping North American’s hearts as they work to transform people and communities around the world? It’s a fear I swallow in the back of my throat with each final period placed, with each proofread completed. It’s a fear I constantly give back to God. It’s the same fear each of us face as we go about our lives, trying to live this Christian life the best we can isn’t it? I urge you too, as you face your fears this day and this week and this month, to take comfort in Matthew 11:28: Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

How do you find creativity and inspiration every day? How do you get over your own words and try and get inside the head of the subject? I look at my interview notes, I browse through photos of the person I’m trying to write about, I think about that person and try to come up with a way to describe them and their situation accurately. I want people to care, but I don’t know what words and stories will move people’s hearts to action.

Our desire in this project is to help individuals realize their own potential to effect global change. But today, I can’t even convince myself of that.

On days like today, I cling to the truths found in the Bible and pray that, once again, God gives me the strength to continue down a road that is narrow and long and rocky.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.  Galatians 6:9

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Saviour and my God. – Psalm 42:5-6a

Please pray for us. We are so far behind where we’d like to be at this point and some days I fear I will be here until Christ returns or our baby comes. We both need to find gainful employment in the very near future, especially me as I need a set  number of hours of paid employment in order to collect maternity benefits. Thank you for your prayers, we covet them.

Pockets of Change | Quotes from Justin Keitch on Vimeo.

This audio clip is from Pastor Mikahail’s church in the Ukraine:

Mikahail’s church in Ukraine singing

He woke up every day and ran a marathon. I bet he was tired. I bet some days he woke up and just wanted to roll over and go back to sleep. I bet sometimes he’d rather go to McDonalds, have a big breakfast, catch a movie and maybe read a good book. I bet he was sore and worn out and tired of the rain and the beating sun.

But Terry Fox just kept running.

I realize it’s no real comparison. But I literally feel like I’m running a marathon every day. Each story feels about 42.2 kilometres long and I’m in no shape to run that far every day.

The process is painful. It starts with going through all the notes, remembering details, recalling everything of significance. Then I dump everything that seems relevant onto my blank text document, like setting up a track. I put all the elements in there, but disjointed.

Then I loop around and around and around and around the track, trying to find a sense of the story somewhere in the journey. What is the most important element of this person’s tale? What makes their story unique? What will best represent who they are to the world? What will pull at people’s hearts? I run around, lugging these thoughts like heavy weights on my ankles.

But after hours or days or weeks, each story starts to form. Sometimes it comes quickly; an obvious introduction presents itself or a theme to the story presents itself. Often it’s just one comment, one answered question or one afterthought by a person that becomes the focal point. I find it’s often when people don’t think they’re saying much that they’re saying the most about themselves. It’s those words that tumble out while pouring the coffee or watching the children play outside that a person reveals who they really are.

Then comes the revising and shaping and molding, the cutting away of everything that takes away from that person’s story, even if it’s their history or their present life or their surroundings. Every single detail about a person doesn’t add to the story, it detracts.

Then I run the track around and around a few more times, I read the story aloud as I run, I cut off more weights from my ankles as questions are answered, I move elements around so it flows more quickly, so the pace is as it should be. Finally I have something that resembles a story.

Then I set it aside. After all, this is just the first draft. The story is now ready for multiple revisions, hopefully by more people than just myself as it gets refined again and again.

And I move on to the next story, another stretch of 42.2 kilometres of pain and hope, of searching and finding the nuggets that make up that person’s story, that will hopefully encourage people to run the race God has set before us.

… let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

- Hebrews 12: 1b-3

Interactions like this were common during our time in Ukraine and are a large part of what makes this country so special. The people are so open and approachable. If you are willing to listen Ukrainians are willing to share. You learn of their lives, their passions and their prayers. We might not remember his name but we’ll never forget the man who took his goat for a walk one cool fall morning in the Ukraine.