Pastor Jeremy Stephens

Category: Random Observations

  • My First Group Ride

    Last fall when we learned that we were expecting Molly, one of the things that concerned me was my expanding waistline.  I’ve managed to put on a lot of weight through the last few years and I decided that now was a good time to do something about it.  Most husbands gain weight through a…

  • Merry Christmas!

  • My Worst Fear

    The other day I met up with my dad for lunch at one of the ubiquitous chain restaurants in our area.  One of the joys of living near home again is that we can have conversations over hamburgers instead of on the phone! As we arrived, I needed to use the restroom. One of my…

  • Cambodia: day 5

    I’ve been thinking a lot today about the difference between poverty and wealth. We walked around the Russian Market today (which, as far as I can tell, has absolutely nothing to do with Russia) and I managed to find gifts for the last few people on my list. I kept finding gifts I wanted to…

  • Cambodia: day 4

    Today turned out to be a less stressful day than I thought. Hallelujah! This morning we visited a place called Rahab Crafts. We knew the place was a fair trade organization, but we didn’t know the whole story until we walked in. Rahab teaches people with physical handicaps a trade, then after creating their crafts…

  • Cambodia: day 3

    Today was all about relationships: old and new, broken and restored, created and completed. We started the day by visiting Hagar International. It is an NGO whose goal is to do whatever it takes, as long as it takes to restore broken people. They receive young women and boys who have been rescued by other…

  • Cambodia: day 2

    Today is a day that I will remember for a very long time. I’ve tried to process what I have seen today, but I am struggling. More on that in a minute. This morning started well. We explored the Russian Market for an hour, I helped some friends find good knock-off watches and I bought…

  • Cambodia: day 1

    Today was even more exhausting than yesterday. I believe that will be our pattern for the next few days. I awoke this morning at 4 am to the irregular ringing of the prayer bell at the Buddhist park in front of our hotel. Maybe thirty minutes later loudspeakers throughout the town began broadcasting and car/moped…

  • Vietnam: day 7

    I am currently sitting on the balcony of my hotel room where we are spending our final night in Vietnam. We’re in a small city on the Mekong river named Chau Doc. This is hotly contested land over the centuries. It’s placement on the river is valuable to both the vietnamese and the cambodians, but…

  • Vietnam: day 6

    This afternoon during some free time I sat with a few of my classmates in one of the many cafes here in town. We were asking ourselves that important and totally honest question: What are we doing here? We can barely communicate, and we are only here for a few days so there isn’t really…