Orlando: The World of Nations

These paragraphs chronicles my journey with my wife, Lisa, to Asia. We started in Orlando (which is not Asia). Then, we flew directly to the oasis in the desert, Dubai. After a few days, hop a plane to Kathmandu, Nepal, the home of Mount Everest. We only stayed a moment there, before hitching a ride on Buddha Air to Chitwan, Nepal, which have wild rhinos (a teaser). We will finish our adventure back in Kathmandu. After returning home, we would have traveled 21,632 miles (34,820 kilometers). To put that distance in context, we have traveled nearly 87% of the total distance around the earth.

Destination 1: Orlando, Florida

I’m almost embarrassed to include this in my journal, but I feel compelled to share a curious experience that led us to Disney World just before our journey to Asia. I’ve always loved Epcot, and recently, while playing with a Chinese drum at home, the sound instantly transported me back to the China Pavilion. The feeling was so strong that I told Lisa—our family’s Disney superfan—and, unsurprisingly, she fully supported a spontaneous trip. It also helped that we discovered a direct evening flight from Orlando to Dubai on Emirates, making the plan surprisingly reasonable.

We left on a Thursday and stayed with my cousin’s family, enjoying dinner together—though the Greek food sadly included dry yellow rice, which I consider an unforgivable offense. The next day, we park-hopped between Magic Kingdom and Epcot. We rode Tron and the newly reimagined Splash Mountain, then traveled the world at Epcot. A Beatles cover band in England and the Ratatouille ride in France were unexpected highlights. But I couldn’t forget the Moroccan belly dancer—an odd and memorable moment, even for a self-proclaimed globalist like me.

Epcot prepared my heart for what lay ahead. That evening, we flew to Dubai, settling in for the 14-hour journey with a quiet seatmate who surprised me at the end by gifting a bag to the stewardess as a gesture of gratitude. We exchanged a few kind words, and I silently prayed for him as we headed to passport control.

Waiting for us was Brian Parks, a pastor supported by Central Church and the reason for our visit. We were the first to visit from our church in years. Exhausted but eager, we arrived at our hotel ready to discover the wonder of this supercity in the desert—and meet the gospel workers faithfully laboring in its midst.