Hello Blog world,
Please forgive my absence. To say the least, a lot has happened since my last post, I may struggle as where I am to begin.
I finished my term at L'Abri in Switzerland with joy to complete another chapter in my life, as well as anxiety for what laid ahead and sadness for leaving a place and people for whom I grew to love.
After L'Abri I trained back down to Rome to meet up with my parents, we spent about two and a half weeks training through Italy, Switzerland, Germany, And ended up in Paris, where they caught there flight home. While I continued down to Barcelona, and Madrid, where I caught my flight back to the States. It was a great time, and we were able to see a lot of really great places. I was relieved to be done with traveling to tell you the truth. Although after the rest now, I am eager to continue on my next adventure, of which I have no idea when or where it will be.
When I got home, I was planning on getting a job or two, and trying to work until January, when I was then hoping to come up to Chicago to finish up a degree at Moody Bible Institute. Five days after I got home though, I received a call from my cousin (Laura) who lives in Park Ridge (30 minutes from downtown Chicago), inviting me to live with her until January. Well, as soon as I got off the phone I knew I would be coming up. So I started right away looking at flights and other methods for a safe arrival to Chicago.
Rachel Staab, a very amazing girl, who God has graciously put into my life, decided that she would make the venture with me and agreed to drive me up. So we got to Chicago, and I found a job rather quickly at Starbucks, and have another job at a catering company that is pending. Rachel was also able to find a job and a nice apartment about 3 miles south of downtown.
In other news: concerning Moody. It looks like I will be attending the Moody Bible Institute starting in January. I have already bought one correspondence course, and am planning on working on it over the next month(s), until completion. I am looking at double majoring in both Applied Linguistics, and Biblical Languages. We will see though what the future holds.
I have way to many photos to try and post here, so I will try and make a photo album some time and post them up for your viewing pleasure.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
New Begennings
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Le Argentine
Thursday, about ten of us who are studying here at L'Abri took a long hike called Le Argentine, no I am not back in Argentina, but it is called that for some reason, it was probably one of the most beautiful hikes I have ever been on. Funny, I think I say that every time I take go on a new hike here. We left just after 9:30 and got back about five minutes before dinner started at 7:00.
If I could choose one word that would sum up the hike, it would probably be diverse. Diverse because of how different the landscape and mountains changed, We walked through high mountains, then down through daisy filled valley's, then through green lush forests, covered by a canopy of huge trees and mild rapids/rivers which we took a dive into. Yeah, that was probably the coldest water I have ever jumped into. So, I will leave a slideshow of a few of my favorite photos I took along the way:
Friday, June 8, 2007
L'Abri update
L’Abri, Huemoz, Switzerland
I would generally be writing this in a journal by hand, but I thought it would be good to do some on the computer, this will at the same time help my poor spelling skills by using Spellcheck. I met with my counselor today for the first time, his name is Richard, from Canada. There are many Canadians here as well as a few Australians. He is an intellectual, with a bright mind. He is finishing a Doctorate in Philosophy now, he was thus chosen to be my counselor, because I said this is what I would like for one of my focuses to be while I am here. Indeed it is, I am introducing myself to the love of knowledge, which is what the Greeks began to do many many years ago. It is an interesting subject, and one (I believe) worth the time to look at. At least as far as faith,and truth, and God goes, it is important. While Apologetics is the defense of the Christian faith against different types of accusations, Philosophy gives us a reason, and helps us understand the faith that we have, and why we have it. I have been introduced to Epistemology, which is the study of knowledge, and deals with the questions, How do we know? How much can we know? And, How do we know what we know is true? So these are relevant questions, that we can formulate answers from. Some of the reasons are through memory, but mostly what we know is transferred to us through other people telling us, i,e the Apostles, Historians, etc.
Life at L’Abri is hard to explain, I will attempt to do so, and hopefully better explain this place once I have lived here for a little longer. The people here are diverse and all have a unique outlook on life, there are people who claim Christ, and yet live as if he has never affected their lives. There are also people who do not claim Christ, and live in the same way. Also, there are people who claim Christ, are in pursuit of him, and are letting Him affect and change their daily lives. Among these diversities, there is no feel at all of spirituality. Christianity, I don’t know yet? If it is Christianity, it is one that I am not used to. There are no real rules here, there is a schedule, but no set rules. So people here do what they want, which plays out in various ways. The rules policy is a good thing, because everyone is able to get along very well, while all living under a single roof, in Chalet Bellevue. We have three hours of work a day and it is either in the morning, or the afternoon, on top of that, we have to help clean the dishes once a day which takes about half an hour. We have as well a study time of about three hours in the afternoon or in the morning. This consists of the student spending the alloted time in Farel House, listening to various lectures on tape and reading the books that pertain to the subject he is studying. There are recorded tapes from lecturer’s who have come here in the past, and they range widely in topic. Also the library is quite impressive, I don’t think it is impressive because of the number of books as much as the wide range of books there is to choose from. I think I could be happy for about three years just reading all the books and listening to all the lectures. On Wednesday and Friday mornings we have a lecture, and every afternoon for lunch we go to a different L’Abri worker’s home. But this isn’t a normal lunch, this is a formal setting where we the students have to come up with something to talk about, whether it be sex, drugs, and rock and roll, or Epistemology, or the North American Church, or whatever it may be that is bothering us at the time. It usually lasts for about an hour to hour and a half, this is a good time at which we can openly talk about whatever is on our minds, and not feel judged if it is a touchy topic. The L’Abri worker usually tries to head up the conversation, but generally lets the students interact with one another.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
L’Abri, Huemoz, Switzerland
Today was our day off, so we decided to go to Montreux, it is a city nearby. We headed out at about 1:30 P.M. And decided to hitch hike, now hitch hiking is totally different in Switzerland that in the US. First of all people here actually care about other people, so they are willing to help other people in need on the side of the road. So we waited for about five minutes and were picked up by a Lady who was not headed to Montreux, but Aigle, So we decided to hop on. Once in Aigle we could grab the train to Montreux, it ended up only being an 8 minute train ride. Aigle is the town in the valley where the nearest train station is, Huemoz, where L’Abri is about 1000 meters up the mountain. We arrive to Montreux, go to the tourist information booth and figure out that there is not much to do in there, but there is a 13th century castle with mosaic paintings all throughout. We didn’t end up going, but had an enjoyable time just walking around the city. We had already bought our return ticket to Aigle, and were waiting by the tracks to catch the train, accept we got on a train that was 6 minutes early, and figured out shortly after we got on that we were headed the wrong way. So we get off on the next stop and ask around, some of the group decide to take a bus back, while three of us decide to hitch it back. We got picked up about 10 minutes of sticking out the thumb, and the guy was real nice and dropped us off at the train station. We get off and stick out the thumb again, and were shortly after picked up again. These guys were in a brand new Honda, when they pulled up we asked if they were going to Huemoz, and they acted confused, then we said Villars, which is the town a little north of Huemoz, and after a few moments of bewilderment and conversing in French with one another, they chuckled, and said “Get in”. So we decided to go for it, and we were off, speeding up through the mountain curves at very high speeds, passing buses, and anything else that was in our way. We arrive to Huemoz, and they say “Huemoz” to which we get out and shock them with our French speaking abilities by saying “Merci”. The funny thing is when we got out, they simply turned around the car and speed off down the mountain, they were never even going to come up the mountain, they simply wanted to help us out. That was amazing to me, because I think of America, and how often this would ever happen there, and the answer is never. I think for numerous reasons, one because Americans think that if a person is by the side of the road with a sign in their hands it means they are bad people, that can bring me not good, and want to hurt me. This I believe is a misconception, in some cases. Some people yes, are scary, but really though, why can’t we be more willing to help more people out who are in need, when we are perfectly able to do so. It almost seems as if people here feel as if it is their duty to help others out, each time we got a lift today, they had to move all their stuff around and re situate things in the car to accommodate us, but it was so normal, an average everyday thing to do.
God is in the Alps!
L’Abri, Huemoz, Switzerland
I have been here now for three days in the mountains of Switzerland more or less on a journey of finding myself,but also finding why I was existed, for what purpose, you know the big questions in life. I have been puzzled by Philosophy since arriving, and will attempt to focus my studies on this wide topic that is so necessary to any one who is not satisfied with the norm, to any one who is not comfortable with accepting religion or a set of beliefs just because it was taught them from childhood, but to really search out those deep questions in life, like does God exist, and if he does, what role do I play in this fabulous story that is unfolding before me as I live my daily life.
I started reading a book today called “Philosophical thinking, An Introduction” I have to admit I am quite puzzled but yet intriguingly enough find myself at the same time drawn to the complexity of the book, it is because I have never studied such a topic as Philosophy, and I find some of the ideas misleading and difficult to grasp the concepts of, I find myself at the same time not able to get enough of it. I want to continue to delve deeply into this, and begin to start thinking philosophically, I want to put my mind in gear, engage myself intellectually, and stretch the limits that I so often put on myself. There is no sense if I am a true follower of Christ, to relax my intellect and be satisfied with the normal life, the life that does not seem to have any worries at all about certain issues that are not quite clear or completely understandable about the Bible, or Christianity, or the way I relate and interact with it. Indeed it would be foolish to be satisfied with the normal, hum-drum way of life, that is satisfied with being a Christian and that is it, no probing, asking, wondering, pondering, thinking, loving, meditating, questioning the things that we have come to know as true. I am not saying at all that we need to question the deity of Christ, or that he came to earth in the form of man, while being fully God, and satisfied the wrath of God by dying for the sins of the world. Nor am I saying we should in any way question our Salvation or our identity in Christ. Instead, what I am saying is I think we should have reasons for the faith we have, and not be arrogant when sharing our faith, but simply state the facts of Christianity in love, and then explain why we do believe this to be true and truer indeed than any other human endeavor’s through religion.
Indeed L’Abri which simply means (The Shelter) in French, does have a unique atmosphere to it. I have not known many Christians like I have known here, I am beginning to enjoy every moment I have in this place, and I have been here such a short time. Christians here don’t seem to care about a whole lot, some curse, drink beer and smoke, which in themselves are not bad things at all, they are just a little abnormal for my way of thinking a Christian should act, which is a good thing that I am here. In a sense I am here because I want to meet Christians like that, who don’t have it altogether, and are living in a certain way as in a sense is how they want to, but also in a way that they think is pleasing to God. I believe this is a place for change in many peoples lives, and I believe that this is the case with some of the Christians that are here now, they are searching, looking for answers to life’s biggest questions: Who am I? What is my purpose in life? Does God exist, and if so, what does he want with me? Indeed I am blessed to be a part of this group, to be a part of life at L’Abri for a chapter in my life, one of which I will hopefully look back upon in years to come as a time of growth in many different ways.
Boat ride to Greece!
I have been on this boat for about 15 hours now, and am quite comfortable. It is much like a cruise, there are bars, gift shops, restaurants, snack shops, wireless Internet, pool, jacuzzi, and private hotel rooms as well. This is truly luxury on water. I chose the deck which is the cheapest of tickets. It is basically just an airplane type seat, and I get to sleep on the floor, which is fine with me, I have a sleeping bag. I left Greece last night at midnight, and am on my way back to Venice, I was able to spend five days in Greece, and see some interesting stuff.
I met some Spaniards on the boat, they didn’t know exactly where they were going but knew they wanted to get to Athens that night. So, I was in the same boat, so when we arrived to Patra we got off the boat and began looking for the bus station, someone pointed us in the right direction and we were off. We got to Athens around midnight, and found a taxi to take us to the center of the city where there was a hostel, so we got there checked in, and got a decent night’s sleep. The next day, they went to the port to buy a ticket for Crete, while I went to the Acropolis, but when I arrived I noticed that I could not get in, for there was a protest, there were about one hundred people blocking the entrance, and one of them had a megaphone screaming something in Greek, I didn’t understand anything he said, so I decided to try and get in any way, I casually made my way up to the mob, and acted as if I was part of them, and made my way through the crowd and closer to the entrance, but some one spotted me and began to push me back, so I decided to try to enter through the exit gate, then make my way back to the entrance to pay my way in, but they were there also, and saw me approaching and began getting angry at me, and pushing me back. Well, I was quite angry at this point, because I wanted to see the Acropolis, so I just started walking around it, and noticed two guys jumping over the fence to get in, and I decided to follow them, but once again I was caught, but this time, it was a worker, and he pointed me in the right direction to enter, so I got to the other entrance where there were no mobs, and was able to get in for free because of my student ID card. The Acropolis was very impressive.
I met back up with the Espanoles, and we walked around the city for about three more hours, then we split ways and I went to the port, and bought a ticket for Santorini (Thira), one of the Greek islands, I slept one more night in Athens, and the next morning was off at 07:00 A.M. For Santorini, we arrived at )3:00 P.M. And this place was gorgeous, very touristy which kind of stunk, but beautiful let alone.
I booked a hostel the night before, so they were there at the port to pick me up, it was a nice place and very cheap. I had a full 24 hours on the island, and was trying to figure out how to use it wisely. I decided to rent a 50cc motor scooter, it only cost 12 Euros for 24 hours, this truly was they best way to see the island, because buses are expensive and inconvenient, and the motor scooter is fun! So I decided to ride to this one village called Oia (pronounced ee-a), which supposedly has amazing sunsets, it was about a 45 minute ride on the bike, so I left around 06:00 P.M. And accidentally went around the island the long way, but it turned out to be a beautiful drive, I get to Oia and have a nice meal and watch the sunset.
The next day I went to this beautiful secluded beach called “Red Beach”, and I found out why it was called that when I arrived, it was just how it is named. The sand was red, white, and black, all mixed together, it was amazing.
I returned to Athens after this and slept one more night there, then went off to my next destination which was a pretty little Venetian town called Nafplio:
This was a nice place to just relax for a half day and sleep. The next day on my way to Corinth, I stopped at some more ruins called Mycenae.
At Corinth I was pressed for time, because I had to get to Patra for my boat was leaving at midnight, so I had little time, I wanted to see Ancient Corinth, but decided against it at the last minute, but I did get to see the Corinth Canal.
An interesting thing happened to me in Corinth, the bus I got on from Mycenae, had a final destination of Athens, but was stopping in Corinth, when I bought the ticket, the man told me to make sure I got of at the isthmus, so upon arriving to Corinth, we made one stop and I asked the guy behind me if this was the isthmus, to which he replied, “no, later”. So I thought, okay, well we get going, and I notice we drive over the canal, and then get on the highway with signs marked “to Athens”. I turned around and asked the guy if we were leaving Corinth, to which he replied, “now we go Athens”. I was like, are you kidding me, so I told the bus driver to let me off because I missed my stop, and he got mad at me and said “why you no speak me isthmus?” So, I guess it was my fault for not telling the bus driver, but he let me off on the highway by a toll booth, so I had to walk back to the isthmus, which was about 10 kilometers, I crossed the highway, climbed over the railing, and headed back, there were no taxi’s in sight because it was a back road with nothing on it, so I started walking, and ended up walking the whole way back. However, when I was about to arrive, I was so tired, and sweating like a dog, (I had both my back backs on, one weighing 50 pounds) I had to stop at a gas station to get something to drink. I believe the man who works there saw me coming from a distance and showed me grace, because as soon as I dropped my bags and sat down in one of the chairs, he came and gave me a glass of cold water, I was very grateful. Then he gave me a two liter bottle of purified water, and two big oranges, I was astounded. I was very humbled and thankful, because earlier when I was walking, I wasn’t very happy and complaining and not very comfortable, but this man showed me grace, because he saw that I was in need. So, that helped me out a lot, I need to be like that with people.
After I was refreshed with orange and water, I crossed the canal and made my way over to the bus station, bought my ticket for Patra, and waited for the bus. I got on the boat okay, and here I am now, looking forward to my time in Switzerland, which I should arrive tomorrow evening.
(This was written on the 7th of May, I have already arrived to L’Abri, and will post more soon.)
Italy is great, Life is good
I feel like I need to write something, since I believe in journaling, and keeping people updated on the events that take place in this life. I was just reading something I wrote while I was in Brazil, and all the memories of people, things said, stuff done, and emotions experienced flooded back from that place and what a wonderful experience it was.
So, Italy has been a great experience, one of which I feel will always be with me in one way or another. All the things learned, places visited, people met, and books read. It is one thing to know that God is good, but another to experience his goodness. I have been experiencing his goodness in many different ways. God allowed the hard drive on my mac to crash and I have been computer-less now for about three weeks, I was upset at first but then realized it was for my good, because it had become to much of a distraction to me, I was on it all the time. Now, I have been able to focus more on studies and on relationships, which are more important. I am trying to get my computer fixed now, I took it to a shop in a little town called Valvasone about two miles from here, so it should be fixed soon hopefully.
There is only one week left of school, and then I am off. Lord willing, on the 30th of this month I will embark from Venice to visit Greece for about six days. I plan on visiting Corinth, Athens, and a few greek islands. After this I will make my way back up through Italy to Switzerland, and hopefully spend about two months at L’Abri. I am excited about living life, and looking forward to all that God has in store for me. I am grateful and thankful that He has given me such amazing opportunities, and continues to expand my vision, and increase my faith as I stay obedient to what he is telling me to do.
I have been accepted into Moody Bible Institute, but am on the waiting list, which basically means I am not fully accepted until they have room for me. I may have to wait until Spring of 08 to enter, or even later than that. I am going to talk with a few other schools as well to see how many WOL credits will transfer, because Moody will not accept very many. I don’t really like the idea that I could be in college for four more years just to get an undergraduate degree, but we will see, while I may plan and have ideas, it is God who will ultimately give an answer as to where I will go.
Prayer Requests:
1. Safe travels.
2. Computer to be fixed.
3. Last week of school, to be focused on the task at hand.
4. Wisdom and discernment on where God is leading as far as which college to attend.
5. A renewed sense of what God is calling me to do.