A Month. WOW!

Well, It's been a month since I've posted last, and much has happened since.

I spent a week in Orange at Sudbury Baptist Church in Jamaica with a great team including my sister, Leigh, and other familiar faces from Topeka Bible Church. Then I had the opportunity to go back to Minnesota and volunteer at Trout Lake Camps and spend time with Greg. Before returning to Jamaica, I was reenergized at home in the Cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul area) with some (not as many as I would've liked!) friends and the fam. On July 31st, I flew into Kingston, Jamaica to prepare for another week. That Saturday, another group arrived from Minnesota, Texas, and Canada. We traveled to Saint Ann's Bay and had a busy week of serving. Currently, I am up on the outskirts of the Jamaican Blue Mountains in a tiny town called Kellits. Our team consists of individual participants from New Jersey, New York, and Virginia, and a group from Minnesota. I am savoring these last few days in Jamaica, as I fly home this Friday, the 15th, though I am ready to be home.

Here are a few experiences I've had since I've written last:

JULY 26-31

Blessed to be a Blessing

Between scheduled ministries, there was a 30 minute break or so before the next activity. A few of us walked down the road to a small shack that sells snacks, cold drinks, and other various odds and ends. Maria, one of the student participants from Topeka, told me about a woman who was there the day before that had asked them to pray for her blind and sick grandmother. They didn't end up having time that day, so Maria asked if we could do it then. We found a local woman who knew where she lived, and she led us a little ways through the palm and mango trees to her house. As we approached, the woman told us to go on in. We walked hesitantly through the open door into a room of 5 Jamaican people who barely acknowleged our presence. We were quiet. They were engrossed in prayer. We bowed our heads and as we listened, we realized they were praying for us. Tears came to my closed eyes as I was humbled by such a blessing. We had come to pray for them, and they were already praying for us!

These Jamaican brothers and sisters happen to meet every Tuesday to pray together. It was an honor to join them that one.

Jason

One of our Jamaican cooks at Sudbury Baptist has a son named Jason. We could not have gotten through the week very well without him. He was a security guard, child controller, food server, cleaner, keeper of the locks, and friend. He arrived around 5:00AM most mornings and didn't leave until all of us were in bed safe and sound and he had locked the doors. Throughout the day, he jumped in wherever needed. He was everywhere. If there was any potential problem or issue, we would find him, and he was usually already on top of it. He is one of the hardest workers I've been around. He is an amazing servant with incredible character. He loves the Lord.

He is 18 years old.

I teased him one day about being superman, and he said humbly that he just serves where it's needed. I told him that he has to make sure to get what he needs, too, rest and not get burnt out. He said that he knows that if he works hard for the Lord, God will meet his needs and give him strength.

Jason is rare. He is rare by general standards of 18 year old males, and he is especially rare in Jamaica.

The first week I was here, at Burchell Baptist Church, there was an attendance board on the back wall. It read, "Females: 108. Males: 30."

Male leadership is lacking.

The churches in Jamaica are organized in circuits. This means that 1 reverend is in charge of anywhere from 3 to 8 churches. He preaches at a different one of these churches every Sunday. Generally, the women lead, because no one else will. There aren't enough pastors.

In Jamaica, around 1 in 10 households have a male father-figure living there. 80% of children are born out of wedlock.

During dinnertime one day, a little girl named Ebony snuck up next to me and was eying my plate of food. I asked her if she was hungry. She said yes. I asked her when she eats dinner. She said, "When my mom gets home from work, she feeds us." I asked what time that was, and she said, "between 11:00 and midnight." I asked her when the last time she ate was, and she said, "When my mom gets home." I thought she had misunderstood me, so I rephrased the question; "When do you eat during the day?" She replied matter-of-factly, "I don't eat during the day." I asked her more questions and discovered that after a 15 hour shift each day, Ebony's mother comes home and then prepares the one meal of the day for her children. I gave Ebony some food.

Children such as Ebony are common in Jamaica and make VBS interesting. Kids show up whenever they want to. It's hard to send them home when it's time, because not many are picked up by an adult. I have spent a lot of my time helping with vacation Bible schools with a baby on my hip that I took from the arms of an older sibling as young as 4 that was in charge of babysitting all day while their single mom has to be at work.

Daycare isn't affordable or available for many people in Jamaica. During the summer, neighborhood kids raise each other. During the school year, teachers do.

Jason wants to be a teacher.

He did a training program for a school year, and loved it. All he has to do now is go to college and get licensed, but he doesn't have the funds. In the meantime, he is working a little, spending a lot of time at the church, and being the male role model for many of the kids in his community.

I am praying for the Lord to continue to work through, equip, and encourage Jason. I am also praying about finding a way to fundraise or contribute in some way to Jason's college fund. If you think about it, pray for Jason, Ebony, and male leadership. If it's on your heart to do even more, let me know.

AUGUST 2-8

Jessica

During VBS the first day, I was making the rounds, doing the usual, making sure everything was going fairly smooth, and filling in where needed. The team for this church hadn't expected teenagers to show up to VBS, so I decided to go check on how that class was going. Jeff, the youth pastor, and one female student, Jessica, were surrounded by almost 30 Jamaican teenagers. They were listening intently as Jessica shared her testimony.

Jessica and her younger sister, who was also on the trip, had grown up in a non-Christian household. Their life was fairly normal. This went on until Jessica was about 13. Then one day her dad dragged her into the kitchen by her ankles and beat her repeatedly until her sister got their mom. Jessica lost all respect and trust she had for her dad and decided she hated him. This hatred increased the next few years as her dad continued to beat her regularly until he couldn't any longer.

He couldn't any longer because of two degenerative diseases in the frontal lobe of his brain and in his muscles.

While her dad was suffering from these diseases, her sister started going to youth group with a friend. Then her mom started going to church, gave her life to the Lord, and decided to be baptized.

Jessica was furious. How could her mom, a strong, independent woman, go to some figment 'thing' to lean on? Even if God was real, how could she turn to someone who had allowed such horrific things to happen? Jessica was thinking of pursuing a degree in evolution studies someday, and didn't understand her family.

She went to church for her mom's baptism, only because it was important to her mom for her to be there. She was surprised that Christians could be normal and the initial barrier between Jessica and church attendance was broken. She began going to youth group with her sister. Through time, she was softened. A conversation with a Christian teacher from school prompted her to give her life to the Lord.

As I sat there, listening, I was blessed to hear of such a dramatic transformation. Jeff opened it up to the group and asked if they had any testimonies they'd like to share. Nobody shared. He asked if there was anything God had done in their lives that they'd like to share. Nothing. He tried to rephrase the question for even broader answers, but it was like pulling teeth. Desperate, he finally decided to split up guys and girls. He took the guys, and left Jessica and I with the girls.

We opened it up for questions.

One girl asked Jessica if she was able to forgive her dad yet. she explained that it was very hard, but God allowed her to.......2 weeks ago--the day before her dad died!!!

Many other heavy questions followed, such as, 'How do we know God created the world?' or, 'If God is good, why does He let bad things happen?,' 'How do we know the Bible is true?,' and 'How can we hear God's voice?' It led to a pretty good discussion, and later, Jessica helped lead one of the girls to Christ!

I was encouraged. My encouragement was accompanied by amazement when I discovered that Jessica had given her life to the Lord only 3 weeks or so prior to coming on the trip!!!

I was telling Bethany, Jeff's wife, about how it went, and she was so blessed that Jessica was able to answer some of the very questions that she herself was asking only weeks before!

Jessica was on fire. She decided to be baptized in the ocean off the shores of Ocho Rios, Jamaica on Thursday. It was beautiful. I was honored to witness it. I cried. She laughed as she splashed up fresh from the bright water. God is good.

Tidbits

The last 3 weeks have been crazy, so I haven't had much time to write. I apologize. I have SOOO much that's happened, but I'll just touch on a few highlights. If you're interested in more, I'll tell you later. Here are some tidbits of my time in Jamaica since I wrote last.

WEEK 2: June 21-27

During week 2 of my adventures in Jamaica, I was not in Kingston, as the schedule says. The staff was supposed to include 2 female staff and 1 male. Because of how dangerous Kingston is, they switched me out with a guy who was scheduled to be in Falmouth, an old shipping port. So I worked in Falmouth with a team that consisted of participants from 4 different churches from California, Minnesota, Ohio, and Arizona.

Ex-Rasta Leroy

During VBS at one of 3 the churches in the William Nibbs circuit we were serving with, there were around 100 kids. Vacation Bible School is generally pretty casual in Jamaica. Kids continue to join throughout the afternoon, coming in and out and joining classes that are not their age group, much to the confusion of our American participants that are trying to be somewhat organized. Parents, church members, curious neighbors and random strangers come to help out or just observe these foreigners spend time with the children in the community.

One such stranger, Leroy, entered the church grounds while the chaos of happy children and maybe frazzled Americans surrounded. In spite of us running around, trying to do what we needed to do to run this VBS, Leroy managed to have a conversation, however short, with almost everyone from our group there. I was included.

With wild dreadlocks, scraggly teeth, and an unshowered smell, he introduced himself as Rasta Leroy. I was cautious, and tempted to write him off as a creep asking for drug money or taking advantage of an opportunity to talk to a girl. He asked me if I was a Christian. I said yes. He asked about my tattoo. He asked if he could go to my church. I thought he was ignorant and explained that I go to church far away and said that if he went to America, he'd be welcome. I encouraged him to go to the church we were standing in. Then he said that he didn't have nice shoes and asked if they would let him in without nice shoes. I said that they should. He asked about churches' expectations, the Bible, love, and how it all fit. He asked very pointed questions.

As the night went on, he continued to ask such questions to each of us, seeing how we all answered.

By the end of the night, one of these conversations evolved from involving 2 people asking questions to 10 people standing in a circle, holding hands, praying with Leroy to commit his life to Christ.

We gave him the phone number of Reverend Nugent, the pastor we were working with, and assured him that he wouldn't kick him out if he didn't have nice shoes for church. He was still skeptical, and said he didn't want a pastor "like this" as he furrowed his brow and firmly crossed his arms closed. One of the women there said "don't worry, he's more like this" as she pulled out her camera that happened to have a picture of the friendly reverend with arms spread open wide.

The next day, with scraggly teeth in a mouth not forming questions but a smile, dreadlocks not wild, but shorn, and still smelly but now clean, I was greeted by not Rasta Leroy, but Leroy.

God taught and reminded me of a few things through that experience, but one of them is that He is the one that's worthy. We planned for a VBS during that time. We planned to minister to kids. God had His own plans. A stranger wandered in and, praise the Lord, we ministered to him without fully knowing it at first. Nothing we planned for involved Leroy. We can't take any credit. God gets all the glory.

Listening

Every night during this week, we had a worship service at one of the churches in the circuit that we worked with all week. One of these nights, I was holding two squirrely 4-year-old girls on my lap. They were wiggly and chattering away. Because the worship music drowned them out, I wasn't too strict with them, but every once in a while I'd have to whisper in their ears to settle down.

During one of the lively songs, I noticed they had been chattering for a little too long, and though with the loud music, I may have been the only one who could hear them, I leaned down to tell them to be quiet. Something stopped me. I paused and looked.

I looked down through two little heads to see the girls showing off their bracelettes they had made at our VBS earlier that day. They were the classic beaded salvation bracelettes.

Then I listened.

The chattering little 4-year-old voices I heard went through each bead, explaining what each color meant; our dirty black sin separates us from God, but Jesus shed His red blood for us to make us clean and white, so that we could grow close to Him like green plants, and be in heaven with Him on the golden streets.


WEEK 3: June 28-July 4

This particular week we were on the other side of the Jamaican mountains in Savannah-La-Mar (pronounced: "Sovvlommar"). There were participants from Utah, Indianna, Missouri, and North Carolina. We happened to have 8 staff that week, when normally there are 3 or 4, so we thought the week would be a breeze. Satan had other things in mind. The entire week involved flights being delayed for half a day, lost luggage (including bedding) for two days, bus drivers refusing to drive, a group leader's wife being put in a mental hospital right before they came, running out of food, miscommunication on many levels, getting yelled at by group leaders, bus drivers not showing up at all to pick people up to take to the airport, group leaders demanding to talk to our president and CEO, unrealistic expectations of participants, and other little stuff.

However, we were in CONSTANT prayer and God is the strongest.

The groups who had unrealistic expectations and did not handle things in a good way apologized profusely, learned a lot, and thanked us for a great week.

One of the groups had a leader who was very compassionate and supportive. She prayed for us and with us and worked with others to try and help them deal with anything uncomfortable during the week. She was constantly encouraging and building up.

The group whose flight was delayed for half a day got off the bus without any luggage and said, "Let's make lemonade. God is in charge." They continued that trusting, positive attitude the entire week, even when their luggage didn't show up for two more days and they almost missed their flight home because the bus driver didn't show up. They expressed that they were honored to be there, laughed the entire week, and were thankful and rejoicing in every little thing.

At the end of the week, we said goodbye to tear-streaked faces. God had worked in them and they were impacted. God worked through them and Jamaican kids were discipled and saved and the churches in Savannah La Mar were encouraged.

Two Red Balloons go By

One day at VBS, the main lesson was about kindness. One of our participants tried desperately to try and get around 100 kids to listen to her as she gave the lesson. After every little attention-getting trick you could think of to get the kids to calm down and pay attention, she pushed through, yelling into the mic over the energetic, noisy kids, not knowing if anyone heard the lesson.

Later, after VBS, when kids were still running around playing and yelling and such before getting shooed home, I was standing with a group of little girls. We'd given all the kids balloons and the girls were showing each other what they'd gotten. An ornery boy ran by with a safety pin and popped one girl's balloon. The girl stood empty-handed, in shock and disappointed. We went on a mission to find another balloon for her.

I asked if there were extra balloons, and found out they'd all been used and given away.

Some kids had multiple balloons, so I asked some of them if they would give her one. They all refused and went on playing.

We finally found a wrinkly, half deflated red balloon that had been rejected to the ground. We started trying to see if the kids who had 2 or 3 balloons would trade just one for it. They all took one look at it, made a disgusted face, then ran on.

The little girl looked up at me helplessly.


Ishaani, my little 9-year old friend who'd been on this balloon mission with us, looked down at her sole, big, shiny, red balloon and then at the wrinkly one in my hand. She grabbed it from me and placed the beautiful red balloon in the hands of the formerly balloonless girl.

The girl smiled.

Ishaani smiled as well and proceeded to initiate a game of catch with me and the red, wrinkly, reject balloon that insisted on falling straight to the ground when we tried to bounce it to each other. We laughed and had fun anyway.

Ishaani heard about kindness and practiced it that day.

WEEK 4: July 5-11

This past week was pretty much too good to be true. There were 3 of us staff leading a youth group of 39 participants from Iowa. Logistically, relationally, and spiritually, it was a nice, easy week.
Anthony and Alicia

The kids in the youth group fell in love with a little boy, Anthony, and his younger sister, Alicia, the first night they were here. The two kids have a baby sister and another one on the way. Their mom is single and 23. They are too poor to be fed as much as they need and their mom doesn't have much time for them. They hang out at the church often, the caretakers feed them most of the food that they get pretty much every day, and the church buys clothes for them.

Many of us got kind of a negative impression of their mom. Then, one of the last nights we were there, she attended a Bible study at the church. One of the group leaders talked with her, and later informed us at our nightly meeting of a kidney condition that Alicia has that requires regular treatment. There is not sufficient healthcare for many here in Jamaica, and when their family is poor as it is, Alicia's treatment takes most of their funds. A surgery would fix everything, but their mother talked about it as though it were not even an option.

As the group took in this information, they got excited. They resolved to talk with the Reverend Jackson of Jamaica and the pastor at their own church to try to raise money for Alicia's surgery. It was a wonderful moment.

The kids left today with tears in their eyes, sad to leave behind the making of memories that impacted them so much. They also left with a resolve to continue the mission at home.

~~~~~~~

Tomorrow and through next week, the mission here continues. I am excited to greet my sister Leigh at the airport! She is arriving with the youth group from Topeka Bible Church, where she is an intern. I am so excited to not only see her after a few months apart and to do ministry with her, but also to spend her birthday with her! She turns 21 on July 12.

Please pray hard for this week. We have diverse groups coming, all of which had bumps in the road during planning for this trip. We had our own bumps in the road as well, and they are still getting smoothed out. Please pray that our staff will get along well and work together well; it is my first week without Brittney as the team leader. Pray for selflessness, flexibility, needs to be met, blessings to be poured out, safety, positive attitudes, trust, for our eyes to be on Him, victory, love strength and energy. Thank you so much. I love you guys and miss you! keep in touch and let me know how to pray for you!

Week 1

The 1st group arrived Saturday, the 14th, worn from travel, hot because they were in Jamaica, but curious, excited, and ready for the time ahead. There were 24 of them; 10 from Galatia Presbyterian Church of Fayetteville, NC, and 14 from Gospel Baptist Church of Greensboro, NC. The majority of the group was over 40 years old, a good chunk was between the ages of 11 and 16, and a handful were in their early 20s.

The plan for the first night was to get them settled in at Burchell Baptist Church, take them to see Canterbury, where they would do a service project, have dinner, do our orientation meeting, then hang out and go to bed. Not long after the group got there, Brittany pulled Josh, a fellow leader, and I aside and informed us that there had just been a shooting in Canterbury and it wasn't a good time to take the group.

Canterbury is a community in a valley-like location made up of tiny homes and shacks lived in by the poor and governed by the drug dealers. No roads go there. There is a bridge over a drain that leads to stairs down to broken walls that read, "Leave us alone" among other explicit threats written in graffiti along the small entrance to Canterbury. Rough-looking men who incessantly have lit joints on their lips stand by with arms crossed firmly, watching who comes in and who goes out. The dirt ground is littered with trash. Canterbury has been on CNN numerous times for crimes, murders, and gunfights. It is known Jamaica-wide as a place NOT to go.

Reverend Thomas, of Burchell Baptist Church, has already been showing God's love to Canterbury for a while now. He has wanted others of his congregation to join him in reaching out to this community, but many have been too afraid. If he couldn't count on people in his own congregation, he took advantage of our group.

So 2 days after a shooting, 28 Americans walked into Canterbury and started repairing an old community center that had suffered neglect, food damage, and termites. As we unloaded the supplies, some of the roughest looking guys of Canterbury jumped in to help. Not everyone was needed there, so a few of us walked around with Dottie, a member of Burchell and resident of Canterbury, and invited people to VBS, visited and prayed for the elderly, and picked up trash.

We found out about a man named Keri (alias: "Toupac") who had been shot through the chest a while back and was alive but paralyzed from the waist down. His house (shack, really) had been set on fire by some guys who had issues with him, and it was in need of repair. Those of us that couldn't be of much help at the community center helped him. Many of us got a chance to talk with him. He is full of bitterness because of his life; his dad's throat was slit in his sleep when Keri was a baby and his mom died of aids when he was 15.

Every other person we met had a family member or close friend that had been shot or stabbed to death. Children walked around in bare feet on ground littered with broken liquor bottles. Most of the men walking around among us were drinking or smoking; it wasn't cigarettes or cigars.

But as we showed people that our expectation of and reaction to them didn't call for fear or judgement, we saw hearts soften. The rough-looking men with smoke constantly masking their faces worked alongside us. During the last day, these men weren't smoking as much and even tried to be discreet about it; we could see their faces better and they had more smiles. They still stood by and watched who came in and who went out, but they told us it was to protect us and show support for us; they appreciated what we were doing. They told us that our women could walk around by ourselves if we wanted to and be safe--they'd make sure of it. Many of the kids came to VBS. Keri said he didn't understand why we were helping him and didn't "have words" to thank us. On Sunday he attended the service at Burchell Baptist Church.

Last week, there was talk of a blockade being put up for Canterbury to be separated further from its surroundings. That's not being talked about anymore.

While the hearts of those at Canterbury were softened, our hearts were broken. Normally, we have 3 full days of intentional service ministry, then our group has a free day to debrief, go to the beach, and just explore the country they've been serving in. Our group wanted to go back to Canterbury, put the finishing touches on the community center, and spend a few more hours with the people there for their free day. The 11 through 16 year-olds were moved to pool all of their spending money together and buy food for the people of Canterbury. All of the comments and processing we heard was beautiful. God does so much in the willing heart.

He is doing so much in my heart as well.

I have so much more I want to write about, but I have SUCH limited internet access and TIME. Week 2 is almost over and I barely touched on week 1. I will do my best to encourage you and share the experiences of God's power and love that I've had here. I hope all is well. Keep in touch and let me know what I can pray for.


Things that would be great to have prayer for on my end includes wrapping up this week, preparing for the next, having wisdom in leadership decisions, maintaining energy, a sense of wonder, and more motivation to invest in and love others.

I'm Here!

After my plane came to a stop, the flight attendants asked everyone to shut their window shades and turn on their air vents as high as they could go so that the plane wouldn't get hot before the plane left again. It's hot in Jamaica.

As I walked through towards immigration, I saw a lizard outside the window.

The man in the uniform at customs asked me all the official questions that are policy for security, then said, "Thanks, mon." as he handed me my passport and I walked through.

I got my bags and walked outside to find Brittany, my team leader. The heat hit me hard, but I was already sweating. I found her and we walked to the car. I put my bags in the back, then Brittany said, "I'll drive." I expected so, and was confused at this statement, especially as she walked to the...right side...of the car. They drive British-style here. Didn't know that.

As we attempted to leave the airport, reggae music bumpin' on the radio, the parking lot didn't take US dollars, so Brittany had to go buy something where they took US and get change back in Jamaican so we could leave the parking lot. She brought me back a Jamaican patty, which is basically ground meat and sauce inside a pocket of flaky, pastry-like stuff. It was good.

We dropped my stuff off at Toby's Hotel, where we'll stay at the next couple nights before our groups come and we stay in Burchell Baptist Church.

To prepare for an upcoming trip, we drove to a meeting at a small conference center up in the hills. It was so fun to take everything in as Brittany and I chatted. I love her. We have a lot in common and she is so comfortable to be around. She is the team leader I'll be working with the most over the summer, and I'm excited about it.

Driving around, I saw touristy shops, restaurants, hotels, etc. among shack-like structures, crumbling cement walls, and grass hut-things. Everything is colorful. I've seen lots of dreadlocks, too. The people seem super laid-back and friendly. Strangers talk to each other.

Brittany and I met with an elderly American lady who's been a missionary at the Baptist Conference Center here for about a year. We figured out meals for a trip that's coming up in a few weeks, talked for a while, then went to find someplace to eat.

We ate at an outdoor beach-side restaurant at sunset. It was gorgeous. I ordered curried goat, but they were all out. I had fish that I'm pretty sure was taken from the ocean straight to the fryer. It still had fins and eyeballs. It was accompanied by bammy sticks, which is cassaba, some sort of root. It's a bready circular thing. My meal was very good. I'm hoping to get some curried goat tonight.

Speaking of goats, there are wild goats and stray dogs and cats everywhere. I love it. They say there's actually more goats than people here in Jamaica.

Today we have run some errands, picked up Tito, an assistant leader, from the airport, then met with Reverend Thomas, who we'll work with this week. He showed us the community we'll work with, and there are definitely needs. The area really is slums, and as you walk down a hill into the neighborhood, there's a crumbling wall with murals of young people who have died in the community.

Soon we'll pick up Josh, the last member of our team for this trip, talk a little about delegations for this week, then relax before working hard tomorrow to prepare for our groups coming in.

I'm feeling excited, but a little nervous as I need to remember a lot of directions, places, names, times, and I may also be called upon to help lead worship. My guitar-playing skills lack practice and confidence. Please pray for the groups that are coming on Saturday and for the people we'll serve while we're here. I hope all is well at home. I miss you and love you. Let me know how I can pray for you.

"For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it. For you will go out with joy and be led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thorn bush the cypress will come up, and instead of the nettle the myrtle will come up, and it will be a memorial to the Lord, for an everlasting sign which will not be cut off."

~Isaiah 55:10-13 

I'm back to MN this Monday, the 18th, at 3:10pm!!! Whooo!

France

~I went to St. Paul, France
~swam in the English Channel
~laid on the ground underneath the Eiffel Tower
~was offered complimentary cigars with our check at an Indian restaurant in Paris
~jumped around at the Louvre
~went to the beach 8 times in one day
~rented a vespa for a day and drove along the cliffs and sea line of Nice for hours
~snuck into a yacht club
~salsa danced with a refined Parisian man
~Chase ripped my only pair of jeans
~I stood two feet from a beached baby humpback whale on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea
and was splashed by it as it flopped off and swam away
~bought a coat
~saw a few male apendages exposed on the beaches of Nice
~went on the metro of Paris more times than I can count
~was briefly on the news in Nice for being by the baby whale
~saw elderly female body parts exposed on the beaches of Nice
~laughed as dozens of birds ate bread from my hands in front of the Notre Dame
~watched an absolutely amazing pianist play a random piano in the middle of the street for
money in Nice
~ate pigs feet
~danced on the beaches of both Normandy and Nice
~while in a citrus fruit fight, I ran into a pole in a dark park in Nice, laughing in spite of a sore
nose and an open wound
~was led most of the way back to our hotel by a young Parisian family that didn't speak much
English because most of the main metro lines were down due to an accident
~was made fun of by a bunch of Asian tourists for screaming and jumping out of excitement for
the Mediterrenean Sea
~got pink eye in Paris, therefore had to wear my glasses and recieve the nickname: Specs
~went to the castle in Monaco that Disney's Little Mermaid's was designed after

hmmm

I spent the weekend in Venice.
Three of us, Tara, Chase and I, decided to spend our long weekend in Venice, Italy. We hopped a train and embarked on the adventure.
There is much I could write about pertaining to this event, but of the vast variety of crazy fun that we observed/experienced this weekend, when asked what my favorite part was, my answer is this:

sitting by the sea.

For a few hours in the middle of a sunny, sparkling day, we just sat by the water and looked out. The three of us were together, but separate as we each listened to music on our own ipods and didn't talk. It was such an amazing God time.

All I felt was sheer joy.

With thousands of tourists behind me walking around, the silhouhette of cathedrals on the shore's horizon on either side of me, everything from giant cruise ships to lots of little gondolas on the dazzling, endless, open blue in front of me, seagulls and pigeons around me, I felt fully that the world is so big. And I realized, as I drank in all else, that these are the moments I feel the most joy...

...when I feel smallest.

The world, Satan, our own human flesh, tells us that happiness and success comes from being known--being big and famous and having positive things attributed to us by other people--and the more the better. Everything is about personal gain--making yourself bigger.

so as I sat and thought about how huge God is as I felt so small and insignificant in this speck on the map of His creation, I worshipped God for the mystery of what I was feeling. I was feeling the ultimate joy and awe one can feel, and it was in being aware that I am nothing.

God doesn't need me--He can do whatever He wants without me--but yet He's blessing me with the purest joy for simply realizing that.

And though He doesn't need me, I love Him so much for that and can't help but want to be used by Him.

Though He doesn't need me, I am here, however small.

yes

so, since the last post the following is just some of what I've experienced:

~I have accumulated the nicknames, "Dr. Quinn," "Gypsy," and "Lady Smirnoff"
~I have given even more haircuts than are worth listing an exact number
~I watched a documentary on the Schindler's List on my birthday
~went to Venice for a weekend
~swung on swings in a playground beneath the Charles Bridge in Prague
~got off a bus before my "friends" decided we would get off at the next stop and by the time
they realized I'd already gotten off, the bus drove away, leaving me alone on a random street
on theoutskirts of Venice next to a dumptser and a bunch of trashy-looking Italian guys
~died both Chase's and my hair black (well, not ALL of mine is black) and the box didn't come
with gloves, so now my hands are black
~saw a movie in a theatre in Prague that was in English with Czech subtitles
~heard the most beautiful cello player in a square in Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic
~skipped rocks in a river
~a pigeon walked on my foot
~had a lot of dumplings
~my camera kind of works sometimes
~a little, 8 year-old girl named Emily, here at the Schloss, found out I lost my Bible and gave me
a pocket New Testament with a little note in it...the Bible is in German
~people wrote poems for me on my birthday
~when in Prague at an extremely fancy restaurant, I happened to be the only girl at my table,
so after I took a bathroom break, the boys all stood up in my honor as a reentered the room
and my chair was pulled out for me and a napkin laid on my lap. Who says chivalry isn't dead?
~Kyle deliberately threw water on my lap from across the table...at the same, fancy meal.
Chivalry is dead. But so is Kyle.
~at 5AM at a random, empty train station in Italy, this lone Italian man played the harmonica
or us and told us his life story-which is intense
~ate good kababs in Krakow
~slept on the balcony of the castle
~saw fire dancers in the best square in the world in Krakow, Poland
~Tara and I recieved roses from Chase that he bought from a random street vendor walking on
the streets of Venice
~ate a meal in Cesky Krumlov while being serenaded by gypsies

The concentration camp in Auschwitz, Poland was hard to grasp.

We went there and saw belongings of victims of hate during WWII--their brushes, glasses, shoes, ...hair. We stood in the rooms where hundreds of people had to live. We saw the pictures of skeletal faces--women with shaven heads, children who were murdered a few weeks after the picture was taken. We saw footage of true corpses that used to be where we stood. We stood in gas chambers where thousands of people perished.

As atrocity after atrocity was communicated to us,
it was very hard to grasp that they happened right where we existed at that moment.
I kept telling myself the facts of the significance, but it was too mind-boggling to feel.

There were two main moments that I felt.

When we walked into the display of prisoners' personal belongings, I felt like it would be the most insignificant part. They are just materials--just things, objects. Then I was surprised by the display of luggage. It may not seem that big a deal, but every one of the hundreds of suitcases viewed had names written on them. I read every name I could as I walked by with a recognition of how incredibly personal one's name is.

The second most significant was after we came out of the gas chamber--yeah, not as much while we were in there as after we were out; the guide informed us that after the corpses went through the crematory (furnace), the ashes were just dumped out or used to make fertilizer or roads...the ground we had been walking on for the past few hours, building to building, is the cremated remains of hundreds of thousands of people.

Yet in spite of the remembrance of this tragedy--this evil--there is since some beauty there.

In the ditches that were dug by prisoners to hold waste and dead bodies, is now wildfowers growing among the greenest grass I've ever seen.
There was a group of youth--probably high schoolers--who were from Israel. They all were wearing white and carrying their flag. And they seemed solemn, but joyful.
This place truly was liberated and is now free.

Throughout the long day, I recognized all the importance of remembering this lack of God. As the day ended and I watched this group from Israel on the green grass, I was joyful that I am free.

Ok, I gotta have another random list. At the Schloss in Austria , in Italy , and a spontaneous weekend in Munich , Germany , all of the random following were experienced:

*I did cartwheels in the middle of a plaza in Florence

*had wine for the first time (I thought I had a sip at a wedding once, but figured out after trying real wine that it had been champagne—I kinda like champagne better)

*decided last Friday afternoon with 5 others that we could hop on a bus to a train that would take us to Munich just ‘cause we felt like it

*sat on the roof of our hotel in Assisi overlooking the city and talked with a friend ‘til

3AM

*danced on the tables of our classroom

*total haircut count: 14

*was called a gypsy by a snobby old Austrian woman because I was wearing sandals (this woman was a little loopy—she said some other really awful things to me, specifically that didn’t make sense—it wasn’t a cultural thing—we laugh about it because it was so ridiculous)

*pet a cow

*slept in a train station in Munich

*lost my Bible : ( now the group sings a song for me when they think of it, “Lindsey Wible lost her Bible”

*watched it snow on two of the peaks across the valley, while all the others are green

*played house…yes, house with 20-something year-olds. (Chase was the dad, Erica was the mom, Tara was the 15-year old, and the rest of us were all children under 11…yeah, weird…we thought so too…we get kinda stir crazy in this castle sometimes)

*climbed on a fountain

*arm wrestled
*In Florence, Italy, stood on the sidewalk and watched a slightly overweight man with a mustache and unibrow who looked as though he could either own a pizzeria or be part of the mob—or both—drive by on a moped with a ridiculous helmet on while yelling into his cell phone in Italian…yes, while driving his moped. It was probably a main highlight of Italy .

*played lots of card games
*helped repierce Chase's ear
*probably a lot more I'm not thinking of

Italy

So I haven’t posted in a while and it’s about time.

Italy was incredible. We spent a while in Florence and then went to Assisi .

Florence is a great place. We mostly studied Renaissance Art. It was quite a change after being in the UK and learning about Celtic Christianity and how they value nature so much—the cliffs are their walls and the heavens are the dome of their cathedral. Then we see Jesus after Jesus after Jesus in elaborate display after display after display. Much of it was beautiful—don’t get me, as a former art major, wrong—I truly and thoroughly was touched by seeing David by Michelangelo and mesmerized especially by Adoration of the Magi by Leonardo da Vinci; it’s just interesting how many different ways the stories in the Bible can be represented—each one more elaborate than the next.

There are lots of tourists/foreigners in Florence , which is kinda annoying but fun at the same time. Some guys in our group randomly met on the street a friend of one of the girls in our group who’s studying there. The first restaurant we went to I heard Americans from 4 different tables. I bought Mexican earrings from an Ecuadorian man in a plaza and got to speak Spanish with him (he didn’t know any English—and Leigh, you would be proud; I found out he’s lived in Italy for two years and loves it and I told him we were studying, where, and how many of us there are and more). Tara, who is becoming one of my closest friends on the trip, bought a cd from a band of Romanian gypsies. There are quite a few Africans that sell fake designer bags on the street.

We did experience Italy , though.

Italians are loud and say what they think. There is great food and we had gelato every day. Cobblestone streets are filled with pedestrians who instinctively move onto the sidewalk if there’s a car coming—I’d hate to drive in Italy . The men are very forward—that’s all I’m gonna say about that. Customer service to the Italian means that the customer serves the retailer. Wine. Ancient stone buildings. Music and street performers everywhere.

Assisi was a little different. It wasn’t quite as touristy and had quite a different aura about it. We learned a lot about Saint Francis. I was inspired by his sold out response to Christ and how on purpose he was. He truly was a living sacrifice. Though we were in this place that he lived, dwelled, and served, I was touched as much by the places as I was the story of his life. Many of the spots are held to SUCH a sacred standard that’s it’s near blasphemy. This man spent his life trying to stress the importance of humility and the unimportance of THINGS and they build him a massive cathedral and a fancy tomb that thousands of people visit and some pray to. You cannot go into one store without there being something that has to do with Saint Francis.

I did like Assisi better than Florence , though. It is older and more beautiful. The entire city is like an enormous castle on a hill. The streets are tiny and everything is connected. My favorite spot was a walkway on one of the highest parts of the city where on one side there is a very small, enclosed vineyard, and on the other there’s a place in the side wall that turns to fence that allows one to see for miles and miles and miles.

Italy was great.

FYI

The Schedule

-Oct. 7: Schloss Mittersil
A-5730 Mittersil
Austria
phone: (43)6562-4523

Oct. 7-10: Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic
(contact through Schloss)

Oct. 11-16: Krakow, Poland
(contact through Schloss)

Oct. 16-21: Prague, Czech Republic
Kampa Hotel
Praha 1
11800 Czech REpublic
phone: (42)257-530-473

Oct. 21-Nov. 3: Schloss Mittersil (weekend of Oct. 27-30, I will be wherever I want to go-tba)
(same as above)

Nov. 3-6: Brussels, Belgium
Hotel Metropole
31 Place DeBrouckere
1000 Brussels
Belgium
phone: (32)2-217-23-00

Nov. 6-13: Normandy, France
Jaques LeFevre Institute
Caen, France

Nov. 14-20: Nice, France
Comfort Hotel Roosevelt
16 Rue Marechal Joffree
06000 Nice, France
phone: (33) 4-93-87-94-71

Nov. 20-26: Paris, France
Hotel de la Tulipe
33 Rue Malar
75007 Paris, France
phone: (33)1-45-51-67-21

Nov. 27-Dec. 7: Schloss Mittersil
(still same as above)

Dec. 7-16: Independent Study/Travel Week-tba

Dec. 16-18: Vienna, Austria
AM Schottenpoint
Wahningerstrasse 22
A-1090 Wien
Austria
phone: (43)1-310-87-87

Dec. 18: Departure: NW 8206 9:50 AM for Amsterdam
Arrival: 11:55 AM

Departure: NW 45 12:55 PM for MSSP
Arrival: 3:10 PM

Random

Yes, I am posting twice in one day. I want to, every once in a while, confess to my loved ones some of the crazy, random happenings that I have experienced. I may or may not have been inspired by Kaylee Sheehans such emails from Turkey and Greece. Here I go:

*I have had haggis (sheep remains-who knows what. A Scottish normalcy)
*I have had caviar
*I have chased sheep on a Scottish hillside by the ocean
*I responded to a stranger walking past me on the street who greeted me in Gaelic-in Gaelic. (I
was so excited, Sarah, you don't even know! My Bethel peeps who ere with me were in
shock-hilarious!)
*Given 4 haircuts in one night
*seen seals in the wild and waded in the water with them
*had hookah for the first time
*sat in a cafe that is actually a tomb in the bottom of an ancient cathedral (it actually made me
kinda mad they disrespected the tomb by turning into a cafe, but whatever-it's wierd)
*climbed a tree
*gotten lost in the airport, boarded the plane by myself 'cause I didn't know what else to do,
wondering where the rest of the group was when it was almost time for the plane to take off,
when where they were was looking for me all over the airport. Oops. It's a LONG story.
*I've laughed multiple times at a picture that my friend took of Professor Pelham's face when
she was told that I was missing. It wasn't funny then, but it is now.
*sat on the roof of a castle and watched the sun set over the alps.
*peed outside in every country we've been to (there are several of us girls in on it) oh, and yes,
even in London
*stepped in a cow pie
*climbed a mountain
*almost been hit by a bus
*befriended two little girls here at the Schloss who tell me that yes, "Wible" means "little
woman" in German, and that "boys are like bees; if you don't bother them, they won't bother
you"
*died some of my hair black
*had by first beer
*gotten the same sickness as 20-some other people all at the same time
*tried not to step on a crack on the cobblestone streets of London
*ridden a train for the first time-oh! have I ridden the train!
*paid to get into the bathroom
*I was in a Scottish newspaper

When I think of more, I'll let you know

So now I am at the Schloss (castle) in Mittersil, Austria.

We arrived at night several days ago, and I felt a peace as soon as we got here, almost like we were home-I know it's the presence of Christ.
It is probably one of the most gorgeous places on earth. I will post pictures as soon as I have an opportune moment. Basically, I am on top of a mountain surrounded by more of the Alps. They look different every moment. I saw the most spectacular sunset last night from the roof of the castle (we're not REALLY supposed to go up there, but if I'd fallen off, I'd land on a balcony below that's not THAT far). I feel so blessed the I get to watch the sunset behind the Alps from the roof of a castle.

It's not just any castle, either.
The Schloss was originally built in the 1100's! There was a fire about 100 years later, so much of it had to be rebuilt. Through the centuries, it was owned by wealthy nobles. It was eventually bought by some rich guy in the 20th century who turned it into a hunting and skiing club for the rich and famous--pay a flat fee of some thousand dollars, and you're in for life. The Prince and Princess of Norway were regulars, Bob Hope still sent Christmas cards up until a few years ago, and Clark Gable's golf clubs are sitting in the storage closet. Eventually, the guy who owned the club divorced his wife, who's husband before him started Avon, so he became broke and had to sell the castle to a guy looking for a place for a Christian retreat center.
Since then, the Schloss has become a place for Christians from all over the world to come together in fellowship to learn and network and such.
There are some fun workers here from Germany, Sweden (two couples named Simon and Sara and Simon and Sara! HA!), Spain, England, Canada, Poland, Wales, the U.S., and I know in the past they've had people from so many random places.

Also, there is a dark side to the castle-oooooh!

There is a torture chamber/dungeon that was used in witch hunts/issues. It actually made me very sad to hear the details of such happenings, and stand in the room where incredibly evil things went on. The caretaker of the Schloss admitted that for a while there was something just not right about the room, but it has been prayed over and worshipped in, and since redeemed.

Also, the Schloss was used some in WWII by the Nazis-12 Polish women were held prisoner here, but no one knows what happened to them-their records end here.

There are also stories of one of the noble's wives ordering that three rooms be locked and boarded up for some traumatic reason, but we don't know why and the rooms have never been opened.

Dun dun dun!

As far as what I've been doing the last few days, we've had real class this week. Other than that, just hangin' out and doing homework.

And God has been good. I am trying to memorize Isaiah 43:1-7.

Please continue praying and letting me know what's been going on in your lives. I love you all so much and miss you.

Adventure

This trip so far has definitely been an adventure.

Though, it was hard to grasp the concept at first. When I left, many dear to me know that it was very hard for me. God allowed me to love my friends in a way I never have right before I left. Part of the appeal of going on Europe Term, to me, was that I was comfortable being uncomfortable--I wanted to escape and be kind of a loner--to just wander and adventure.

God has a sense of humor.

I now know that it is even better that I have gone because I became comfortable.

~~~~~~~

This trip has been a whirlwind--yet, I feel as though I am in the eye.

To get on a plane and be thrown into a different civilization is hard to grasp. I still hardly grasp that I am sitting in the hotel parlor in London, hearing the clerk say "cheers" to the distinguished looking woman speaking something of tea...I'm not making this up-that's seriously what I just heard. Anyway, when I arrived in Scotland, I had trouble being completely aware of the fact partly because I was not enjoying it with people close to my heart. I kept thinking that so and so would LOVE this, or that if so and so were here, we would so do that right now right there.

But I HAVE grasped it, and it has been great.

Part of my grasping has been due to the fact that I have been blessed with more dear ones that are close to my heart. I am sharing this experience with 27 others who are incredible. It really is quite hilarious how different we all are and how we all interact and get along. The dynamics are fun. Though I've been getting really close to a few people, knowing that these are the beginnings of some very real, special relationships, I've begun to think of our group as a family. Not everyone can understand or relate perfectly with each other, but we stick together. Sometimes too much.
To figure out what we're to do at night, when we have some free time, is ridiculous. People are afraid of leaving people out or being left out, so we end up walking through the narrow streets of Britain as a group of 15-20 a lot of times. But we're learning how to balance.
Another wonderful thing I love about being in this group is experiencing 10 guys trying to protect and keep track of 18 fun, outgoing--and I've got to say pretty--girls on this trip. I'm very proud of how they've pretended to be many a girl's boyfriend as we experience the lively culture of pubs and such (which, by the way are pretty much the only thing open past 10:00 in Scotland). They also have made sure that none of the girls are alone ever-or even in a small group. If they are having fun and want to stay someplace, but a few of the girls want to leave the rest of the group, they are willing to make a sacrifice and walk them back to the hotel.

That's another subject--walking! We walk EVERYWHERE. I can honestly and seriously say I have averaged about two hours of walking a day at least. My legs constatnly have that good sore feeling and my abs are rock hard...in places. But my feet and lower back hurt oh well.

So we experienced the city, urban-ish part of Scotland in Edinbourgh, and the gorgeous highlands of the country in the far north of Scotland in the depressed, run-down fisherman town of Wick.

Though, we spent much of our time with a world-reknown author, Murray Watts, in his home, Freswick CASTLE, which dates back to the time of the Vikings-yeah!
He is an amazingly inspiring man with amazing faith. He described Freswick Castle as a "thin" place--a place where what is between heaven and earth is a very thin veil.
So Scotland was a whirlwind of site-seeing, lectures on the history of Celtic Christianity (yeah! my celtic girls! yeah!), pondering and deciphering the ethical dilemas of beverages to consume while enjoying the Scottish night life (that's a WHOLE other issue), danced in a genuine Ceilidh (pronounced like "Kaylee!), and getting to know amazing people.
And London has been mostly fun--we've shopped and seen stuff and danced and hung out and gone to a modern church in an ancient cathedral, and had a grand time. I really love London. Dana, I just have to say, everyone in London is "scene." It's so fun.

OH, and I finally have dyed my hair black underneath with streaks throughout.

God has been teaching me a lot, as well. I knew that He would teach me things between Him and I on this trip, and random Europeans I might however briefly come into contact with and show love to in ministry, but something that is quite prominant in what He's been teaching me lately is how I can love people within our group. For some reason, I've been told by several people that they respect me and look up to me. I'm not saying this as something to take pride in, I'm saying it in surprise--because if these amazing people look up to ME and see ME as something, they must really be hurting and struggling in certain areas. How frail and weak are we, as humans? I know I can just really love people in this group.
As far as prayer requests go, our group has been divided into different teams according to different needed duties to be accomplished while we travel together, and I am on the spiritual development team--I help plan devotions and worship and group prayer and such. Please pray for that. Also, I need to make time for one-on-one time with the Lord. It's MUCH harder than I thought it would be--there's at least one of 28 people around ALL the time. Also, just pray in general for safety, health (almost all of us are or are getting over being sick right now-sore throat type of stuff), and getting along and growing in Christ. Thank you!

Ok, so now that I have finally updated people for the most part through writing a freaking novel, I want to hear from you all-some of you have written to me and such informing me of what's going on, but I want to know what's goin' on over there and what to pray for. So write me. I love you all and miss you dearly.