Baja
So, the Monday after graduation I boarded a plain with my parents and headed to Baja to visit my Uncle and Aunt in Buena Vista (about half way between Cabo and La Paz). It’s been good to spend time with family, even if we didn’t catch any fish. Seeing the dolphins more than made up for that, as did snorkeling. So, that was my first vacation in about 7 years, and after 8 day of relaxing, I think I’m set for at least another 7 years.
Hair
So, I finally did it. I sold my hair for $1000. That will pay about 1/3 of the cost of my trip this summer. So here are some before and after pictures, for those of you who have been bugging me, wanting to know what I look like without hair. And incidently, the fact that I’m wearing the same shirt in both pictures is purely coincidental.
Art and Missions
It’s been a while since I’ve written here, but it’s time for a general life update. God is opening doors for me. So the a large part of the reason I became an art major is because I’m interested in missions. I know that’s a little counter intuitive, but God works in strange ways sometimes. Well, now I’m about to graduate, and I’m planning on going to Bulgaria and Romania this summer. In Bulgaria, just outside of Sofia, from June 23rd to 29th, I will be attending an internation Christian artist’s conference. I hope to be able to network and make connections there. I want a better idea of what is happening in the arts on a global level, and I’m also looking for any open doors, or maybe internship opportunities for myself or any of my friends at Biola who are interested in going over seas.
After that, I will have a few days in Sofia, in which I will tenatively be helping a small branch of A Rocha, and Christian conservation organization. Not only is creation care something I’m very interested in, but I also look forward to the opportunity to work along side and get to know Christians in Bulgaria, even if only for a couple days.
Then I will be catching a train to Bucharest, Romania, where I am planning on joining a team with OM (Operation Mobilization) for four weeks. In that four weeks, I will get to do a little bit of everything, as far as ministry. The first week will be urban ministry, cleaning the streets, caring for the homeless, that sort of thing. The second week will be working with children. On the third week, we will go out to a village and help with church planting. The fourth and final week will then be arts ministry, pulling together some sort of art project with orphans. I could not have asked for a better itinerary, as far as being able to try my hand as various types of ministry, and then ending off the time will art.
Then, I will probably catch a train and return to Sofia, Bulgaria. I may spend a few days there before flying back home, depending on time and money.
So if you would keep my in your prayers this summer, that would be hightly apprecited. This trip has come together so quickly and suddenly in a lot of ways, and I’m excited to see God working, but a lot of this will be all new for me too. Pray that God gives me strength and an extra measure of cross-cultural social abilities, and pray for my protection wherever I go, both physically and spiritually.
Filed under Uncategorized | Comment (0)Care
“Do you care? Do you really care?”
These were words spoken to Floyd McClung by a mentor of his when he was young. And these words struck me as I read them. I want to serve, and give, and help people, but how can I do any of that if I don’t first care? I say I have a heart for Europe, a heart for youth, a heart for Neo-Pagans even, but when I actually meet any of these people face to face, do I really care about them? Do I care enough to get involved - involved in their lives and in their pain and brokeness?
Today these thoughts and questions came back to me again as I read from “Out of Solitude” by Henri Nouwen.
“Real care is not ambiguous. Real care excludes indifference and is the opposite of apathy. The word care finds its roots in the Gothic Kara, which means lament. The basic meaning of care is “to grieve, to experience sorrow, to cry out with.” I am very much struck by this background of the word care because we tend to look at caring as an attitude of the strong toward the week, of the powerful toward the powerless, of the have’s toward the have-not’s. And, in fact, we feel quite uncomfortable with an invitation to enter into someone’s pain before doing something about it.”
“Why is it that we keep that great gift of care so deeply hidden? Why is it that we keep giving dimes without daring to look into the face of the beggar? Why is it that we do not join the lonely eater in the dining hall but look for those we know so well? Why is it that we so seldom knock on a door or grab a phone, just to say hello, just to show that we have been thinking about each other? Why are smiles still hard to get and words of comfort so difficult to come by? Why is it so hard to express thanks to a teacher, admiration to a student, and appreciation to the men and women who cook, clean, and garden? Why do we keep bypassing each other always on the way to something or someone more important?”
So, do I really care? I have to be honest, sometimes yes, sometimes no. But I follow a God who has taught me so much thus far, and I am confident that He will also teacher me to care so deeply for the people He sends me to.
Filed under Uncategorized | Comment (0)Mysterious Sovereign
The more I study and understand world history, the more it becomes real to me that we, as humans, are basically the same. Not much has truly changed from ancient times up to the present. All are sinners, all are wicked, looking for their own fulfillment or pleasure, seeking it by their own power. As I see pagan influences and beliefs being renewed and spread in Europe and America, I see that we live in a world not that much different than the time or Noah, or Abraham, or the prophets. At seeing people, both past and present, seek out and worship money, nature, their own inner spirit, how can we not grieve at this wickedness? What is this we have done? What destruction have we brought on ourselves?
Yet seeing, amidst all this, seeing God working, from the very beginning up until now, and even through to the end. He works through history, through corrupted flesh, continually working out His plan, moving things slowly but carefully and continually toward His ultimate goal. How beautiful is His mercy to us! It is sweater than honey and nourishment to our souls.
God, move among Your people. Break us, cleans us, heal us. Savior, come quickly and redeem Your creation, to the praise of Your glory. Amen.
Filed under Uncategorized | Comments OffMissions
I recently read Revolution in World Missions by K.P. Yohannan. It’s an excellent book and I would recommend it to anyone. Not that I full agree with everything he says, but he brings up some serious issues that the western church needs to stop ignoring and face head on.
K.P. begins the forth chapter:
As I changed planes for Dallas at JFK International in New York, I was overcome at the sights and sounds around me. Those of us who grow up in Europe and and Asia hear stories about the affluence and prosperity of America, but until you see it with you own eyes, the stories seem like fairy tales.
Americans are more than just unaware of their affluence — they almost seem to despise it at times. Finding a lounge chair, I stared in amazement at how they treated their beautiful clothes and shoes. The richness of the fabrics and colors was beyond anything I had ever seen. As I would discover again and again, this nation routinely takes its astonishing wealth for granted.
As I would do many times–almost daily–in the weeks ahead, I compared their clothing to that of the native missionary evangelists whom I had left only a few weeks before. Many of them walk barefoot between villages or work in flimsy sandals. Their threadbare cotton garments would not be acceptable as cleaning rags in the United States. Then I discovered most Americans have closets full of clothing they wear only occasionally–and I remembered the years I traveled and worked with only the clothes on my back. And I had lived the normal lifestyle of most village evangelist.
He’s goes on to say more and to talk about how this affluence has effected the church as well. The basic point being this: God has blessed us with incredible wealth, but are we being wise stewards of that? We waste what God has given us on temporary luxuries, and have little thought to saving up eternal riches. Why are we living the same as the world? The point is not that we should all sell everything and live in poverty, but the more I look at it, the more I realize how wasteful we are with what we have. I think anyone familiar with environmentalism would vouch for that. What if we were to change our life style, find a way to conserve our resources, then use those resources to aid our needy brothers and sisters around the world.
I have more to say about this book, but it is on a different topic so I’ll save it for a different blog.
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