Rick Beeman

Night with the Filipinas.... What an amazing amazing day.  Wow...  We went first to the school.  We are videotaping their school production.  Its not much money...but this is the most expensive school on the Island.  St. Christopher's has all the ex-patriate (what they call foreigners) go there.  So we are trying to make in roads with this clientele since this is where the money is.  Next...i had the great pleasure of telling Julie and Jerilynn they were getting raises.  That is always fun.  Now keep in mind how little these talented girls make.  Jerilynn, is a mother in her late 20's/early 30's with an 11 year old son at home with her husband.  She hasn't seen her son or husband in two years.  She's here to work.  Lets put this in context.  Jerilyn makes only $22 a day.  And she is happy with that.  She is here because in the Phillipines, she would only be making about $2-3 a day.  Her husband is a taxi driver...when he works, which is about half the time, he makes...

Interesting day... Im not getting a lot of sleep lately which is a good thing i think.  I have lots of activity so im rarely bored.  i found myself getting home at night, and writing in this blog, or responding to emails.  Again, im amazed at how many people write encouragements to me. Its so valued and appreciated.   I have two in particular that i'll share.  One married friend from college told me today that he never ever thought about divorce as he is happily married but my story is a sobering reminder to him that it could happen to anyone.  It reminded him to hug his wife more and to show more appreciation for his family.  I'm thrllled that God might consider me worthy enough to inspire people through my pain.  Another friend who went through something similar in divorce told me that his divorce was the best seminary that he ever could have attended.  That so rang true with me.  God sends adversity our way to build us up and to rely upon him.  My intimacy and reliance upon ...

Dear Diary.....lol... OK God is pretty amazing.  If you walk according to his ways he will guide you.  Im a firm believer that "Everything works together for good for those who believe and are called according to his purpose."  Romans 8:28 so i take as if you walk according to God's ways...you are in a no lose situation.  Whatever you choose will be in God's will...unless God has very specific other ideas for you.  Then he gives you road blocks and then detours you to a destination where he wants you to go.  It has happened in my life so many times.  But let me give you three examples.  In 2002, all work had stopped for me...and all the doors closed, but one door remained open...Taiwan.  It was God's way of showing our family that he wanted us to go.  Do you really think I would move to the Far East if i had a good job and comfortable future.  God knew my heart and he knew i needed a little push, ok...a giant kick in the butt push, and it was absolutely the right ...

Making People Cry Wow...what a mixed bag of emotions today.  Its kind of like the good news bad news thing, so i'll start with the bad news.  My children do not want to visit me in Bahrain.  I'm rather sad about that.  I know they would have a tremendous time here.  It's like paradise in the desert. (local legend has it that this place was the Garden of Eden)  The Arabs love families, they are very very very dear to the culture.  They usually spare no expense in throwing the amazingly lavish wedding and birthday parties.  The family is the bedrock in which this culture has been established.  They do a lot things right here, and America could stand to learn a thing or two...as they could also learn a thing or two about us.  And that is the great opportunity of me being here.  Trying to bridge the cultural gap, both by understanding and helping to understand.   Every culture, even every church thinks their way is the absolute best and only way.  Think about it, First Assembly...

OK, I tried skipping for the night, and I couldn't.  Its nice to know that there is a little bit of an audience for this.  I hope im not letting you down.  One of my callings over here is to break down the mis-conceptions of the Middle East, and this is just the start.  I hope to continue to expand this.  So if you enjoy the blog, please let a friend know.  It would be nice to have a positive influence with as many as possible.   It was such an amazing weekend, i feel a little let down for just a normal day lol.  But even the normal day was great.  I got to the office early, and the Jordanian sales guy, didn't show up.  So I guess he quit.  Several staffers asked if I was planning on calling him to convince him to come back to work umm.....no...   I don't need to coddle the employees.  He was still in his probationary period, and i was having to micro-manage him.  He was the only sales person so that's going to sting, but the productivity wasn't that great, there wa...

Missionary Dating (kind of like dead man walking, Right?) I have asked myself...am I a missionary here?  I mean my idea of missionaries are people preaching in huts in Africa.  Previously being a missionary, i have worked with some amazing people that do not know how they are survive from month to month...but God always provided for them.  I guess I can't classify myself as a missionary in that respect since I am making a comfortable living, live in a nice place (see pics below) and my primary job is not preaching.  So if i offend anyone with stating my calling, i apologize.  What I do know...is that I am called to be here in this foreign country, God is blessing me tremendously, and i am trying to help spread his Gospel through my lifestyle and words.  Christ commanded us to go out and preach the gospel to all the world.  That is the great commission.  I think we are called to be missionaries, no matter where we might live.  Im blessed because of my previous "official" m...

Coolest job in the world...(new pics below) OK...so im officially addicted to writing in this blog.  I now go through the day thinking...oh...i need to remember this, it would be a good addition to the blog.  Its a healthy way of journaling as well.  I am so encouraged by the many positive emails that i get regarding this.  Its nice to know im making a small impact.  Thank you for all of your encouraging words...they really mean a lot.  I know i sometimes bemoan my divorce.  I think coming overseas was a way of me healing.  I know moving from TX to CA was certainly instrumental in the healing process...it was almost as if moving away was providing emotional finality for me.  People tell me...its time to move on...get over her.  But that is the tough thing as most divorced people will tell you...way easier said than done.  i loved my wife and my family probably more than any man ever loved his family...Therein lies the problem.  i loved too much...my wife..or ex wife became my God.  Thu...

Rough Day... The day started out with such promise.  I had three interviews scheduled.  There was a special opening day ceremony at the Formula 1 race track I was supposed to be at, but i had to cancel because of the schedule.  Then Tanya, Khalifa's daughter invited me to lunch with her and her sister, at her sister's house...i had to decline.   One thing about Tanya.  She is a beautiful girl with a low self esteem in regards to her business savvy.  Her husband Raymond is a great guy.  From Denmark, he is also in the banking industry.  She works at KSDI part time as an office manager to fill in the blanks because its a family business.  She is woefully underappreciated (in my opinion) by her family.  She gives her heart and soul to the company, then leaves at 1 or 2 to pick her kids up from school and then she is a mom.  Her kids are beautiful too, very well behaved.  She told me once, she just started working so she could have pocket change to give her kids a treat every once ...

Morning with a Royal I went for breakfast at this small little hole in the wall next to the office.  We've ordered breakfast for the staff there before..its cheap and its good.  This place would have flunked any cleanliness grading by the Restaurant association.  i walked in and there was a cockroach running over the counter...ah...when in rome...i ordered my egg sandwich with cheese anyway...it was delicious...and only 0.75.  It reminded me of the story my grandfather used to tell.  When he was growing up in Oklahoma round the time of the depression...he went for breakfast one time when he was out sharecropping cotton and on his way back he got hungry.  For five cents he could have all you could eat pancakes with syrup.  For an extra five cents you could have syrup without ants in it.  Taiwan was bad too when it came to sanitary things...Oh that reminds me.  Another small reason why America is the greatest country in the world yet its citizens don't really appreciate it.    In...

I couldn't enjoy my upgraded hotel too much because we had an early flight.  Well when I say early it was 10:00a and we were only 2 miles from the airport.  Still this is a foreign country and I wanted to give myself extra time.  The day before, we thought it would be wise to find the hotel before the gig so we wouldn't have any problems returning.  Finding the hotel was horrible.  It took us an hour and a half...traffic is so bad in Dubai.  Everything is marked in English...but its not marked very well.  So even though we scouted out the hotel ahead of time, on our return we got lost and drove around for an extra hour.  So i thought we'd leave early for the airport just in case.  It took the receptionist 20 min. to check us out of our hotel.  Already im getting a bit antsy.    Nowhere on the ticket did it say which terminal we were flying out of...and i forgot to check.  I do remember the guy in a very thick hard to understand accent tell me to return the car to A-2.  So I...

The day started off really early 4 am.  I wanted to make sure I gave myself extra time just in case.  We were flying to Abu Dhabi (which is in the U.A.E. second largest city next to Dubai.)  The crew had never flown for work before and we were checking in a lot of equipment.  Loading in Bahrain went without a hitch.  The problems started when we got to Dubai.  Im not sure why...but the guys Manoj and Saji didn't have their visas.  I thought they had stamped in their passport but apparently someone screwed up.  Since the buck stops with me...ultimately its my responsibility.  A wave of panic went up for just a moment.  The guys might be stuck in the airport for two days while I had to hoof the equipment and operate two cameras and conduct interviews myself.  Its something I could do and have done before, but its not very impressive to an important new client you are trying to win over.  I put my American passport and salesmanship in action.  Its amazing how much power/crediblity, my...

Food glorious food Ok the depression of yesterday had worn off a bit. I stayed up really late. I have the daily long talks with Adnan, my new Bahraini friend. The only place i can get wifi is the motel lobby and at work. So Im a bit of a regular. We have these long chats. I don't think he has any American friends so perhaps Im a bit of amusement to him. I'm really interested in him and his culture and i think he is in mine. The more I can show who I am to him...the more I think I show Christ. We haven't gotten to a point of religion and politics yet, so i'll have to tread carefully when we get there. Even though Bahrain is amazingly more open, (I take my Bible everywhere) still i have to be careful since he is in the service of the Royal family here. We spoke again tonight, and he said we would go to an Arabic restaurant and eat lamb next week enshala (God willing) They say enshala about everything. So i stayed up late watched "Seven" with Brad Pit...

Tough Day--this is freakin' long...so feel free to skip.... Woke up this morning and finally found a good place for a fast food breakfast...Dairy Queen. Its my ritual in the morning that i do my Bible reading over hashbrowns and Diet Coke. Speaking of Bible reading since i don't have a lot friends here yet, i take my Bible everywhere i go so i never have to eat alone. Fortunately Im in 1 Samuel right now...the story and David and Saul reads more like a novel...im just glad i made it through Leviticus unscathed lol.... Today (Friday) is the weekend in Bahrain..at least Fri-Sat. Most of the Middle East observes the weekend-Days off on Thu-Fri. That is weird to get adjusted to. Bahrain recently switched because it is such an international banking country, Thu-Fri only gives you 3 working days with the rest of the business world so the extra day helps. I wanted to go with the crew to cover an event today. I wanted to see them in action so i could evaluate their talent. The...