Some Thoughts

Graduated!

2008-07-25T16:52:00.000-07:00

For those who don't know, I am officially graduated from the University of Washington with a bachelor's degree in Spanish and Economics. Yes!

Currently I'm looking for work in the Seattle area. I still don't know what God has for me long term, but my tentative vision is that I'll work in the secular market for a year or two before going into full-time ministry, possibly with Campus Crusade for Christ. I can use prayer as I pursue this decision.

I'm currently living at "The Shop," a house in the U-District with guys I know from Cru. I'll be here at least for the summer. My next post will hopefully let you know what job I ended up with!

School update

2008-02-08T22:21:00.000-08:00

So it's been a very long time since my last post, namely since I was in Venezuela! I think it's about time for an update.

I'm in my last year, second to last quarter at the University of Washington. I've finished my Spanish major and am working on a bachelor of arts in Economics. For the past several months I've been praying about, discussing, and checking out different options for after graduation. It's been sometimes frustrating because I don't seem to have a clear calling like when I was deciding to go to Venezuela. That decision seemed to be simply the natural next step. Now it's not so clear, possibly because there are many more options.

My options as I see them so far are doing another year of STINT in Venezuela, interning state-side with Campus Crusade, going on staff with Crusade, joining some other ministry, or getting a secular marketplace job. At this point I think I've decided I'm not going to do another year of STINT, and I'm leaning towards getting a secular job at least for a year or so to pay off student loans and just to check it out. People in the workplace need Jesus too!

Classes are going fine, including a guitar class that I have been enjoying a lot. You can expect my first hit-single album to release in the next couple months ;-).

I'm involved with Crusade campus ministry as a student again. We can definitely use prayer for an influx of Holy Spirit zeal to overtake us and give us all a heart to see God's mission accomplished in these last two quarters. Pray for me and classmates as we plan how to reach out and transform our dorm communities for Christ.

Signing off for now.

Some photos

2007-07-23T07:47:00.000-07:00

Carlos Durán makes beautiful arepas.

Bryon and Pat are very good buddies.

That statue's moving!!

1 strike and you're out in vocab baseball.

"Look-out tower" Greg scans the horizon at the zoo park.

Way too long since last post

2007-07-09T12:18:00.000-07:00

And this one isn't too long. Just wanted to let y'all know I'll be leaving Mérida on July 24th, will spend a couple days debreifing with Bryon and Emily in Margaritas, and will be back in Seattle at 9:20 pm on Saturday the 28th.

This last month ministry has mainly involved the summer project team. The past couple weeks I've been the jefe (boss) as Bryon and Emily were at CM2007 in Korea (they'll be back later today). I'll post some photos soon!

The congreso and the eyeball experience

2007-04-20T20:54:00.000-07:00

The national congreso (conference), Solo Uno, was held at a location replete with rainy weather and approximately 3 quadrillion flies (I knew we should have opted for the basic package). Despite this, the feedback I have heard from students has all been positive. Many are now ready to trust God with another step of faith and have decided to participate in missions whether on a short term summer project or doing STINT in the future. Pray that God will give them strength and faith to follow through on their commitments!

Today I got some contact lenses. The process was less involved than I thought it would be- even getting them in and out wasn't terrible (though I didn't put them in myself). It remains to be seen whether this will be a permanent eyewear change

Poetry analysis + yes I'm coming back

2007-04-01T15:25:00.000-07:00

An update on my decision for next year: after prayer and analysis I'm sticking to the plan of returning to study at UW until graduation (in a year or slightly longer). I'm definitely open to the possibility of coming back for another year of STINT however.

I came across an excerpt from this folk poem/song by Sidney Carter in "The Jesus I Never Knew" by Philip Yancey (recommended reading) and was intrigued enough to find the full text online:

It was on a Friday morning that they took me from the cell,
And I say they had a carpenter to crucify as well.
You can blame it on to Pilate, You can blame it on the Jews,
You can blame it on the devil, It's God I accuse.

CHORUS:
It's God they ought to crucify. instead of you and me.
I said to the carpenter, a-hanging on the tree.

You can blame it on to Adam, You can blame it on to Eve,
You can blame it on the apple, but that I can't believe.
It was God that make the devil, and the woman and the man,
And there wouldn't be an apple if it wasn't in the plan.

Now Barrabas was a killer, and they let Barrabas go.
But you are being crucified for nothing here below.
But God is up in heaven and he doesn't do a thing,
With a million angels watching, and they never move a wing.

To hell with Jehovah, to the Carpenter I said;
I wish that a carpenter had made this world instead.
Goodbye and good luck to you, our way will soon divide.
Remember me in heaven, the man you hung beside.

What sticks out to me is not the poem's accusation so much as the irony therein, especially in reference to the cross. The carpenter the narrator addresses is also, in fact, creator of the world. And it was in fact God who was crucified that day. In Yancey's words, "In an incomprehensible way, God personally experienced the cross."

The fact of "a million angels watching, and they never move a wing" is at that moment actually a miraculous display of mercy and restraint as they waited at the call of the carpenter to wreck havoc on the world and take Him off that cross. By that grace of Jesus' restraint God finished his work of redemption for the world in Christ's death in our place so we can stand justified before the Father.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,3604,1170682,00.html for more info on the author.

5-color cycle!

2007-03-09T16:58:00.000-08:00

As some of you may know, I'm very fond of a certain strategy card name. These are the results of profiling each team member as a card from the game.

Travel adventures

2007-02-10T08:24:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we had our national catalytic retreat, which I helped plan and run, in Barquisimeto. My first day of the retreat was Friday, and boy was that a day of adventure. This was one of those days where when people ask, "so, did anything crazy happen to you in Venezuela," I can say "yeah, there was this one day." So here it goes:

Friday morning I realized I had forgotten an extension cord from the office that I needed to bring. I didn't have time to catch a bus there and back before the Barquisimeto bus that I was planning on taking left, so I asked Bryon if I could borrow his moto. I got to the office, ran in, grabbed the cable, and couldn’t open the gate trying to leave. I fiddled with the lock for about 5 minutes before waking up Neptali, the student who lives at the office. After another couple minutes he was able to open the gate.

Heading out from the office I realized that Bryon’s moto, which had been having problems, seemed to be particularly bad now in that it was running at full throttle without actually even touching the throttle. Consequently, on the way home I found myself going downhill a little faster than was comfortable and coming up to a stop. I attempted to swerve around a car into the next lane but clipped the corner of the car and went down. Fortunately I suffered only minor scrapes and bruises, the car a busted blinker cover, and the moto required only minor repairs.

I coasted the rest of the way down and recommended to Bryon that he not try riding the moto that day. I got my stuff ready to leave for the retreat, slightly shaken and not really appreciating the day so far. I headed to the bus terminal to catch a 10 o’clock bus and waited patiently under the sign that clearly read “Barquisimeto.” At about 10:20 I started asking around only to find that in actuality the only buses to Barquisimeto left from the other side of the terminal.

I caught the next bus and was finally on my way. During the 9 hour ride I had time to reflect on the events of the day and thank God that He’s in control even when things seem out of control. This was good knowledge to have when I ended up missing the Barquisimeto stop and having to take a taxi back to finally arrive at the retreat.

The retreat itself was excellent. Students came from different cities around the country and they’re very excited about making an impact for Christ on their campuses. I’m excited to see what God does through them. Hopefully we will soon be making an outreach trip to one of the closer catalytic campuses with some students from Mérida. Pray that the visit will be encouraging for the students there and that students will come to know Christ during the outreach.

Looking Ahead

2007-01-15T15:47:00.000-08:00

Towards the beginning of July, God willing about 22 people, staff and students, will be heading to CM2007 (Campus Mission), a week-long conference in South Korea. From the website, this is: Campus Crusade for Christ’s first global missions conference. It will be a historic event with three primary themes: Christ Magnified, Connected Movements, and Completing the Mission.

We are excited to have 8 students who have applied and been accepted to go from Mérida, along with Amber, Bryon, and Emily from our team who also desire to go. I declined as I feel God has called me to Venezuela for the year and I want to focus all my time and attention here. However, all those going will need to raise about $3000 to go. Please pray with me for everyone that's going, both for their fund-raising and for God to prepare their hearts. If you would like to donate financially let me know as well. For more info on the conference visit: http://cm2007.net/

Also I will have to make a final decision in the next few months on whether to re-STINT and spend another year here in Venezuela. At this point I'm still planning to stay just this year and then return to the states to finish at UW before continuing with missions abroad. However I want to be open to the Lord's leading and the possibility of staying another year if this is where He wants me. Please pray for me that I could follow God's will in this decision.

Revving up ministry

2007-01-11T12:18:00.000-08:00

Break is officially over and we're getting back into ministry. It was a trial towards the end of last year. Student leaders have complained about not including worship, which we have been trying this year in order to make the meeting more of an outreach and less of a church service, or simply that the meetings are boring, though new students have been coming.

One of the things we want to focus on this year is developing in ourselves and our students a desperation for God that results in more of a desire for Him and a heart for the lost. To accomplish that we also want to focus on prayer. We had a prayer meeting this morning and several students, some 'clasicos' (longer time in the movement) and some newer, came and joined us. It was very encouraging to see them there and asking God to be at work in their own lives and in the movement. It was also cool to hear one of the students echo our own thoughts- he talked about how he desired to have more of a heart for calling on the Lord.

I'm looking forward to the rest of this year and I'm trusting God to move on campus. Please pray with me that God will really be transforming our lives and and the lives of those in the movement, motivating us to seek Him and to reach out to others in a big way.

Christmas time

2006-12-10T06:38:00.000-08:00

We hosted a Christmas party yesterday in our and the girls' apartments. We started off at the girls'- setting up and decorating the Christmas tree and the apartment and introducing some of the students to 'popcorn strings' decorations. Later we headed over to our apartment and decorated as well as baking sugar cookies and watching "The Polar Express." It was a lot of fun and a great time to hang out with students. I think we have really under-utilized our apartment space- we could use it for all kinds of stuff! God bless during finals week/the Christmas season!

Back from the tropics!

2006-12-06T15:05:00.000-08:00

We're back from Maracaibo and Aruba! All the Venezuela staff came together the first week and we shared what God has been doing in our respective cities/campuses- it was very encouraging to hear about the growth that is happening in other places in Venezuela! We also planned for this year's national congreso, "Solo Uno," and my team is planning a catalytic retreat as well- where students from non-staffed campuses can come be equipped for starting a movement for Christ in their university.

Aruba was excellent as well- snorkeling, beach volleyball, and ocean sunsets were included in our VISA renewal trip. We managed to suffer through it, but I don't know how well I'll be able to take our next VISA renewal trip :-) (location TBD).

We have only a week and a half left on campus this year before classes are out- and we can use prayer to not be thinking ahead to the break but to finish strong and trust God to see many more come to Christ. At this time of year, many are thinking of family and friends, and the birth of our Savior, but many also are not feeling very joyful, loved, or fullfilled. Pray that we would be able to show Christ's love to them and bring them new hope this Christmas season.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2006-11-24T11:10:00.000-08:00

I pray you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We had an awesome time here in Maracaibo- we had 37 people at the Onishi's (national director's) apartment and had a time of sharing what we're thankful for, enjoying turkey, stuffing, etc. and singing a couple patriotic US songs for the Venezuelans! May you have a lot to thank God for during this time!

Chavistas!

2006-11-19T11:55:00.000-08:00

Our team is practically Chavista now- Bryon and Emily both got t-shirts and Bryon's got a hat. Amber actually saw Chavez when he came to Mérida the other day. I'm still on the lookout for a free Chavez t-shirt myself (who doesn't like free t-shirts? Plus it would be a pretty sweet souvenir). I've never been to a presidential visit in the states, but it seems to be a pretty big deal here. The main avenue between the ULA and our apartments was blocked off so we had to walk about halfway back before we could catch a bus!

Tonight we're heading to Maracaibo for national staff meetings. We'll be planning this year's congreso- the national student retreat that will happen in the spring- as well as some vision planning for next year. I met the Maracaibo and San Cristobal staff a few weeks back when they came to Mérida, and I'm looking forward to seeing them again. Have to get packing now, will hopefully have a chance to do some updates in Maracaibo. Dios le bendiga!

Un Chiste

2006-11-16T19:05:00.000-08:00

Since I'm in Venezuela I figure it's all right to do at least one post in Spanish. This is a wordplay joke that doesn't really translate anyway:

Llegó un circo de Maracabio a Mérida, y en cartelera coloca "el pan que habla." Toda la gente decidió ir a ver al pan que habla, así que en la noche el circo estaba repleto, y sale el presentador y dice, esta noche no pudo llegar el pan que habla por problemas de panadería, pero mañana se lo tendremos. Al otro día lo mismo, y así varios días. A los días después el presentador sale y la gente gritando:¡Queremos al pan que habla! ¡queremos al pan que habla!Entonces el presentador dice:Hoy lo tenemos, pero necesitamos a un miembro del público.Y sale un maracucho, y traen un vaso de agua, y lo derramaron sobre el pan. Entonces, el presentador le dijo al maracucho 'toca el pan. ¿cómo está?
¡'tá blando...!

Our team is complete! and other news

2006-09-24T14:25:00.000-07:00

Angye and Claudia, two ladies from Maracaibo, Venezuela, have joined us here in Mérida. It is a blessing to have them on the team and to be able to get lessons in 'maracucho' spanish, which differs somewhat from the local dielect. Claudia loves Mad Gab, a game where you say words in a sequence that sound like some well-known phrase or name, 'My coal chore done' is 'Michael Jordan,' for instance.

This was my last week of class at the Iowa Institute, and it consisted solely of reading and discussion practice. I have been blessed with a Christian teacher who is excited about our work. She even offered to do some role-playing. She was a student on campus who knows that Jesus is supposed to be the son of God and that he died for sins, and I started from there sharing the gospel from my bilingual Bible.

We also went sharing on campus once this week- there weren’t a lot of students there yet but we still shared the gospel with several and a couple teammates saw 3 people (2 guys and a gal) accept Christ! I’m looking forward to meeting these new brothers and sister as we start full-time campus ministry this week.

We met with a group of student leaders this week with whom we will be working closely this semester and hopefully throughout the year. They are an awesome group and are dedicated to reaching their fellow students for Christ.

I’ve been driving my moto around a bit (I realized today that it costs about half the price of a bus ticket to fill up my gas tank- aka about 250 bolivares, aka 10 cents) and I’m getting used to the weaving around cars and honking my horn constantly to let people know I’m there. Anyway, it will be very convenient as it is faster than taking the bus and I can get to just about anywhere around the city on it.

Anecdotes

2006-09-06T10:43:00.000-07:00

A few very short stories:

Emily forgot her purse on the plane from Spokane to Seattle. Providentially, she was able to retrieve it from the gate because they found it in a cabin sweep.

My dad specifically prayed over me (over the phone at the Seattle airport while Emily was getting her purse) for the first time that I can remember- an awesome blessing.

Imported items are very expensive here- no more Hagen-Daz!

Mayo is the Venezuelan condiment of choice- and they choose to use it a lot!

Just when you think there is no more room on the bus, more people get on the bus.

My job is talking about Jesus. Wow.

Mérida's 'teleferico' is the longest and highest cable car ride in the world- I'll get pictures when I get a chance to go.

I'm on my way!

2006-08-30T11:10:00.001-07:00

I'm writing this from the Dallas airport. Monday the 28th I went to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho to meet with my team at Bryon's house. We had some team devotional time, some wonderful food courtesy of Bryon's mom, and some preparation to leave. I am currently short 155/month and $336 one-time, but Amber had enough excess to at least cover my expenses for now so that I could go! God has once again shown his faithfulness and his awesome provision just over the last few days. I am both relieved and excited to finally be going!

We had an awesome send-off from last year's Mérida STINT team, and despite some itinerary and almost missing item troubles (we had to reroute from Miami to Dallas because of the storms, and one of my teammates left a purse on the plane which was thankfully picked up and left at the gate rather than flown away), we will be in Caracas at around 8 pm (5 pm pacific coast time). We'll be heading to Mérida tomorrow at about 2 pm. Further updates and my first official newsletter will be coming within the week.

Quick Support update

2006-08-25T15:48:00.000-07:00

81.5%- 405/month and $936.91 one-time to go. Leaving on Monday, so I need to have it in by Sunday night

Colorado STINT briefing, prayer requests, support update

2006-08-19T13:57:00.000-07:00

Wow, I just read my last post and I am amazed by God's provision! In 11 days my support has gone from 38.5% to 70.9%, which is over $10,000. I have 9 days left, but I'm praying specifically that the remaining $510/month and $3007 will come in at least before next weekend, so that I will have that time to spend with friends and family before I leave.

I am currently at STINT briefing in Copper Mountain, Colorado. It has been an excellent week- I have met my 3 US teammates- Bryon, Emily, and Amber (Angye and Claudia are Venezuelan ladies who will be joining our team when we get there). We seem to have a diverse set of skills and personalities, which I know will be of great help in our ministry as a team this year.

After a seminar on spiritual warfare this morning, I ask your prayers specifically against spiritual attacks on the ladies on our team. STINTers, especially ladies, in the past have often suffered from nightmares and other troubles sleeping, depression, or other troubles. Also pray for excellent communication in our team, that the enemy will not be able to confuse or distort it.

I will be back in Ferndale either tomorrow or Monday, and Lord willing I will be sending my first official newsletter well before I leave, with lots of thanksgiving for God's provision.

Update/Birthday

2006-08-06T19:53:00.000-07:00

As of yesterday (Aug. 5) I have officially celebrated 22 complete orbits of the earth around the nearest star. I helped to commemorate both my birthday and my time at Lake Tahoe summer project last year by getting dinner at Applebee's, where I was working on that same day the previous year, though in California.

I am currently at 38.5% support and rising. I'm praying for myself, my teammates, and all the STINTers this week as we prepare for the final stretch before the briefing week. At this point I can do nothing but kneel before God and say "have your way in me." I can trust in Him alone to provide if I am to go to Venezuela in His name.

Support update

2006-07-31T16:10:00.000-07:00

32.8%. I have 6 ministry partner appointments this week but I'm striving for about 20. Thanks to everyone for prayer and support.

Support percentage

2006-07-22T16:59:00.000-07:00

This is not entirely accurate as I have some unknown ammounts of support coming in, but my best guess is:

30.2%

Still got a ways to go, but it's coming in.

Venezuela STINT

2006-06-27T16:46:00.000-07:00

I'm going on a short-term international (STINT) mission trip to Mérida, Venezuela starting in August. That's the big news. I hope to keep this blog current throughout my time there as well as during my time here in the states.

I am incredibly excited with this opportunity God has blessed me with. I never would have thought going into college about 3 years ago that God would have me take a year off of school to go share the gospel with students in Venezuela! Starting college I don't think I even seriously considered the possibility of sharing my faith in Christ with anyone! God has worked a lot of change in my life over my time in college- especially through the great Christian mentors I've met in my time with Campus Crusade for Christ, the student ministry I have been working with.

Right now my base of operations is at my home in Ferndale, Washington- just north of Bellingham. I plan to continue making financial and prayer partners up until August 1st, which is the deadline by which I need to raise my support to go to Venezuela.

Right now I am approximately at the 10% mark for my support overall. I need to cover both monthly support and one-time gift support. That works out to an average of about 2.65% a day that I need to raise in order to meet the deadline. I'm trusting God to meet my needs, but writing of this reminds me that I also need to be faithful in my ministry partner development, so I'm getting back to work!

2006-02-15T23:39:00.000-08:00

Do you have what it takes to join the Homestarmy? The guts? The determination? The five bucks? Join today!

First One

2006-02-15T23:31:00.000-08:00

So today I'm just starting this blog. Then I'm going to sleep. So..... good night.