It is nice to be home in the USA, but things sure are different now.
CHANGE in our Church!
Going to worship at our sending church was something I had so looked forward to doing. Wow! I didn’t feel like I knew very many people. So many of our friends that prayed with us and helped us launch our ministry over a couple decades ago are not there any longer. We enjoyed the new pastor’s service and hope he’ll have time for lunch soon so we can get to know him. Although we got used to not wearing suits in church while serving in the small village, it was a bit different to see pastor preach without even wearing a tie! A few people in the congregation even wore shorts!
There is no one on the mission committee that was in the church when we left. When we had lunch with the mission chairman, it was mostly getting to know one another for the first time and very little about our ministry or what we will do now that we’re back home for good. I don’t think they know what to do with us yet. He said he would “be in touch.”
The new building was nice. I liked the open and modern feel and it sure has comfortable seats. Yet I missed the creaky wooden floors and pews that reminded me of playing tag with my brothers and sisters after services. Now they are all grown up, moved away with new jobs and they don’t go to the church anymore either.
Change in our Neighborhood
Cars and traffic are faster than we remembered. The stop light cameras make me think of that book about Big Brother we read in junior high. It seems as if cameras and crime have popped up in the old neighborhood too. We drove by the house we sold as we prepared to go overseas. The neighborhood has changed a lot. The stick trees we planted are waiting for someone to build a tree house in them now. Neighbors seem to stay indoors and don’t connect along the mailboxes like we did when we were there.
Grocery stores and shopping was another thing we looked forward to as well. Finding shoes and clothes that were actually our size was a treat but the numbers of choices made our heads spin. So many brands, so many prices… yikes the prices! There were lots of sales and ads to make us want stuff. Driving into the shopping mall was a head spinner for us. Consumerism and materialism have gone to seed over here. Wonder what it will cost to go to the doctor or buy medicine?
Change is everywhere
TV and entertainment are another shock. I thought the internet was bad, but this is crazy.
What happened while we were away?
Where are we headed as a nation and a culture?
Sure have been a lot of changes since we went overseas.