dispatches from here

The tanks are full; the boat is loaded; Im ready to dive. Our boat speeds to the base of a nearby volcano for a day of scuba diving

Everyone comes out to the Friday market in Amman. The market is usually busy; on Fridays its complete chaos. Everyone has the day off and comes out to buy and eat and drink.

Mosques litter the landscape as the call to prayer is heard from all directions all at once.

This lionfish is cruising around looking for lunch. Its also one of the most venomous fish in the sea with dorsal spikes and a powerful neurotoxin that can be fatal.

Despite working in unwelcoming rooms with aging equipment obstetricians can provide care for pregnant women at the church. Assyrian (Iraqi Christian) refugees in Jaramanah Refugee camp in Syria. Photoessay at http://www.projecttransient.com

There is no green. No trees. No grass. No fields. No flowers. Jaramana is grey and brown. Muddy and dusty. With nowhere else to play the neighborhood kids find moments in the street between passing cars. Assyrian (Iraqi Christian) refugees in Jaramanah Refugee camp in Syria. Photoessay at http://www.projecttransient.com

Making that much satay takes a team sitting around for hours and telling stories as they go. Bali.

All of the skewers for the satay are lovingly hand carved one by one. Makes me feel guilty for the 15 pieces of satay I quickly polished off. Bali.

Climbing Mt Kinabalu at 3am and 12000 feet. The sky is amazing with a full moon guiding the hand over hand climb up the side of the mountain. The downside of climbing up a mountain at 3 in the morning? Even with a full moon, its REALLY dark. The headlamp only lights up a short distance ahead of you as you climb patiently and painfully into the dark. Borneo.

Angry waves bring the tides ever closer at Sunset Beach. Nusa Lembongan. Bali.

Watching the world go by from her front door, this woman probably knows all of the gossip.

To get to the top of a volcano for sunrise you have to climb it in the dark. Coming up the mountain was incredibly eerie. Without my head lamp it was dark despite the moonlight shrouded in mist coming down the mountain at me. On a volcano behind me I could hear a raging thunderstorm with intermittent lightning lighting up my climb.

Overlooking a typical intersection in Old Amman. Its impossible to get any sleep at first. Below my window was pirated music shop which blasted Middle Eastern pop hits until 4am. And right above me was a muezzin blasting the call to prayer five times a day.

A group of boys plays soccer in a plaza facing the memorial to the USS Maine in Havana; Cuba.

Overlooking Central Havana; Cuba. Beautiful Spanish colonial architecture, red roofs, and absolutely no greenery

South Peak. Situated below Low's Peak at the top of Mt. Kinabalu in Borneo

A little pagoda poking out in this quiet little bay in eastern Bali

In additional to spiritual and liturgical work responsibilities have grown to include helping refugees find homes, and filling out refugee paperwork and aid applications. Assyrian (Iraqi Christian) refugees in Jaramanah Refugee camp in Syria. Photoessay at http://www.projecttransient.com

This school of jack is so dense it blocks out the sun and leaves a shadow under it wherever it goes. In Sipidan off of Borneo

Springtime along the coast of Lebanon just within Beirut's city limits.