I keep telling people that I just got back to the States a few weeks ago from this missions trip, but then I think a little about the calender and realize its been over two months.
I have to admit, its been great being with my family while I was transitioning back to places that were familiar. I spent a lot of time in my room, by myself, which was great for me, just relaxing from all of the commotion that can go on when you cram 27 people into a small building for several consecutive months. Its really not as bad as I make it sound, but variety is the spice of life, eh?
So, in the past two months, Aside from being somewhat inactive, I was at home for December, and spent the holidays with my family. I had a chance to see my grandmas, and some other relatives that I had grown up with. I was somewhat involved with the church I grew up in, and got to play a few basketball games with the old church team. I was able to catch up with some of my old friends from Michigan, and Chicago. December kind of reminded me of Thanksgiving, you always get invited to too many meals, haha, but I had a really great time.
In January, I moved to Chicago, where I am now living for a while. I haven't decided how long I'll stay, but I am just enjoying the company for the moment. The tenants are very nice (old friends) and I get to hang out with some of my college friends. Other then that, I am working a few different jobs, finishing my undergrad degree and paying off some college debt. This summer, there is an opportunity for me to help out with a basketball camp directed towards teenagers in the city. By The Hand Kids Club has already decided to sponser the camp. Im very excited about that opportunity and pray for God's will in that.
Finally, I hate to keep asking for your money, but Im still a little short on the support from the race. If I don't recieve money, I will pay from the money I make while I'm in Chicago, which is not my first choice, but I feel it is important to honor that commitment. If you would like to donate, you could click on the "Support me!" link to the left, or call Adventures in Missions at 1 (800) 881-2461. This missions trip was great for me, I really learned alot, and I thank you all for your prayers and encouragement along the way.
Quote, "This (WR) was like the Chicago Marathon on steriods." I kind of remember saying that. That last week in debrief was a blur, and this first week back home has been too. Trying to think about everything that has happened on this trip, I don't think I will ever put it all together. There were so many injustices that I saw, (poor, oppressed) and I don't really know what to do with them. I keep blaming the tension inside of me on the injustices that I saw on this trip, but Im not so sure that is the whole story. I guess the harder part is that now I have to change the way I have lived, and that is really difficult after living one way for 22 years, and then trusting that this new way is actually rooted in truth, but I do believe that there is something very important that I have gained from this trip. I have different emotions, I pay attention to different things, I am constantly fighting guilt, and finally, the most difficult one, the world doesn't depend on me.
My little sister told me to check out the snow flakes, they are huge. Its really a joy just being back home with my brothers and sisters. Just being back the last week or so, I have laughed really hard sometimes with my family.
I know that God is watching over me, and my future is so uncertain. Im just trying to make the best of what I have at the moment, and be faithful in the small things. I guess that is really all that we can do, knowing how much bigger the world and its struggles are then my aspirations.
Im still about $1200 short, I really want to thank everyone who has supported me on the trip, its been amazing to see how much God has provided, My expectations for support were much smaller then this. If you have any money left after spending all of it on your family for Christmas, consider helping me with the rest of the money, AIM is a good ministry.
Mark! what a great guy, I wish I would have realized this sooner.
I met Mark in training camp, and we talked a little. The first thing I noticed about him at training camp was his laugh. We just talked about him selling his house and transitioning. I honestly thought he was a little nutty for giving up his job and his life to travel the world for a year.
So fast forward a few months and I found myself on the same team as Mark. I really tried to be intentional with Mark the first three months. I remember a few times in South America where we were just walking the streets chatting, or sitting in a restaurant drinking Inka (maybe Coca) Cola. I really started to apreciate, and I think I took him for granted.
Throughout Africa, we were on our own as a small group, and our team really came together in Nelspruit. We were always eating meals together and there didn't seem to be much tension. In Swaziland, our team, especially me and my relationship with the team was challenged. I remember there was a point in Swazi where I didn't feel comfortable around Mark. I just remember Mark standing up to me. He very politely asked me to coffee, and Im thankful for the way that Mark restored me.
Mark, its been a great year, and Im really glad that we were on the same team this year. I just see someone who is patient, has a lot of maturity, but also humility, and really wants to see the kingdom grow, even if its at your own expense. I feel like God is going to give you back your old life it you want it, but I think that you will accomplish whatever is put before you. I love you, and I hope that God will bless you.
Tammy and I met on the bus going to training camp, we were both from the same part of Michigan, and I knew we were going to be good friends. A few months later, I found out that we were on the same team, and I was really excited because I knew that we would have a great time.
When we were in Chincha, I saw that Tammy was a great leader. She always had good ideas and was always thinking ahead with different situations. She is kind first of all, then intelligent and wise, always looking for other people that she could help out. She doesn't hesitate to give out advice when she feels the spirit is moving in the situation.
I remember back to chincha, we were all still trying to grow closer to each other, and I decided to ask Tammy why she is a christian. I think I kind of caught her off gaurd a little, and she kind of laughed. Then she said something like, "don't you think you should build up to a question that is deep like that?" Ummm, yeah, good point. I really apreciate the time that she has spent building the kingdom of God in my life.
We also had a lot of little jokes here and there. There was a missionary in Swaziland that was always saying, "I don't know" in a distinct tone. We asked the missionary, "who says, I don't know" (in the same dinstinct tone). The missionary paused for a second, and then said, "I don't know" (in that same distinct tone). We still use that phrase sometimes.
Tammy, it was really good to be on the same team this year. I'll be praying for you in the next path you take, have a great birthday!
I had the pleasure of getting to know Rubie this year, and it was a privelage.
I just want to start off by saying that I don't think that Rubie has a mean bone in her. She is very innocent
Rubie was already doing ministy in Peru when we got there in January. The first week that we were in Chincha, she joined our team, and she almost always seemed to be smiling. I never really got a chance to sit down and talk with Rubie until we had a break in ministry during our first month debrief. We just talked and I gave my testimony. I really felt like family.
Later on in India, hot hot India, we were making dinner as a team for the squad. At this point, we had been together as a squad, and I felt distant from the whole team that I had spent the past three months with in Africa. I just remember her asking questions about my family, how many brothers and sisters I had, all of that. I know that that stuff is what is important to her.
Rubie's sense of humor is really funny. I've already told her this, but she just has a way of putting sentences into conversation that...I can't really explain it, you should just get to know her and you will probably understand.
She is always level headed and standing for truth. I just feel comfortable knowing that she isn't judging me, and that she is thinking fairly of me, taking into account everything that is involved in the situation, including the fact that I (Steve) may not be right, and then she honestly, and politely gives her opinion.
Hey everyone! Im just about finished with this trip, so I thought I would write about the people on my team. They have helped me through some tough times, and Im definitely going to miss them. So, I want to remember the people on my team by just writing a few things about them, and the reasons why I have pushed through during hard times, and not given up on them, and am greatful that they didn't give up on me.
I remember training camp on the flight back was the first time that I actually got to talk with Laura. The whole training camp we didn't even say anything, then all of the sudden I found out the night before that we were on the same plane. We had funtalking, and then I come to find out that we get to spend the next 11 months together on the same team, who would have thought that?
Laura is always having bad luck with her bags and souvenirs and stuff. I just read her last blog about DHL, then remembered how the robbers stole her clothes! they stole her clothes? go figure, wierd. Besides that, the first plane ride she had, the plane company couldn't find her pack, and she had to file for insurance. There's other stories that she can tell also.
I feel like I didn't really get to know who Laura was until Durbin (Sixth month). All I really knew was that she was always hanging out with Tammy, that her father was a Pastor, and that she has a steel trap for a mind, she really can remember almost anything. We had some great times together as a team in Durban, I'll never forget the weekends at the mall (we needed weekends those days), and the coffee shop talks, great times.
After Durban, we really hit some tough times as a squad and a team. We were robbed at gun point, and lots of other little nicks, and all of the sudden, we were looking at the fact that a few people might have to go home just because of how much had happened. I remember those times, dark and difficult, and I wasn't sure how our team was going to look after that, but Laura stuck it out, and I was impressed with her spirit in India, and how she really pulled through, just through friends and prayer and journaling and turning to the Bible.
Laura has really been through a lot this year, and I feel like she chose to run to the right people when she needed them in difficult times. I really think that she's going to be a great encouragement to the young women that she surrounds herself with when she comes back. I just wanted to thank you for being patient with me, we've had some great times!
I was just thinking the other day of iquitos, and it instantly brought back a flood of feelings. So many things were going on back then, i was in such a different state of mind. Its hard to believe that i have been away for 10 months now. Back in Iquitos i couldn't see the end of the trip. At the time i was sick, and a lot happened that month. This was the month where the bus got attacked by an angry mob, and we went to the Amazon river and stayed on a boat. I'm pretty sure I had a few dreams in Peru, where I was in a tunnel, and the light kept disappearing from my sight, it was really depressing, but at the same time, God was doing a lot with me, and he has really changed me.
Skip forward a few months, and now we only have a little over a month left before we get on our planes and go back to the States. I can't wait for this month to start, the community here is really amazing. I have so many friends here that I feel like I can connect with, and mostly what we talk about has to do with things that are really interesting to me. I feel so safe a protected, and everyone's problems are somewhat known, and we are all looking out for each other. I know I'm going to have a lot of fun this next month.
So I still haven't spoken in tongues, don't know if I ever will, but at the same time, I feel comfortable in the community, so that wasn't the issue. The issue must have been something else, maybe my apprehension?
Im currently listening to the new coldplay cd, so that might affect the contents of this blog a little.
I was just thinking about the fickleness of this world in general. I keep trying to think what I can put my foundation on, and I know it is God and his kingdom, but how do we find that kingdom, and then when we think we have found the kingdom, is it really the true kingdom? I don't know, probably not. Pastor Mike says we will always be adjusting, which is going to be tough just thinking about the change that I have been through this year. But every time I have been put through a change, whether it's environment, social dynamics, whatever, it seems that I've see some dark parts in my life that I hadn't seen before, and on the other hand I also have a few moments where I recieve joy because things seem right.
Just thinking a little bit about fame vs the kingdom of God, and I think there is a direct correlation between the two. God wants unity, the other wants power, but at the same time, fame and personal power seem to bring me sadness and sin, while serving and thinking of others only brings me joy and peace. Who wouldn't want that, right? and we see in Romans 1 that God gives people over to their desires because he loves us so much, so therefore, what you want might not always be good for you, and what you get could be harmful. That's a scary thought. But I want to choose peace and joy over power, and be a part of something bigger. I have some friends that see this kingdom, and I don't really see that yet, but I want to.
Im still $1800 short, please pray about giving me more money, so that I can finish out this trip. We have less then 40 days left, I'm trying my best to finish strong.
I finally got away with a laptop, which doesn't happen very much, so I decided to take advantage of it while I have the chance.
I guess what is on my mind at the moment is religion. I've been reading a cynical book towards Christianity that is giving me a check of a few things to watch out for. This guy is intelligent and hard to follow, not always sane, but very convicting and truthful at times.
I have seen a lot of the effects of bad religion/theology in the past months I guess through looking at colonization, and I had heard plenty of stories in school through my history classes. It seems like a few people get a platform and introduce a few revolutionary ideas, and the ideas gain a little too much momentum and gets out of control. Maybe they say words when their adrenaline is going that they don't necessarily mean, and bad events follow. I know I can get sucked into this. Maybe it is because I lose focus on the kingdom of God and see how I can start building my own kingdom. Sounds selfish, and it is, but it is very dangerous and I just praise God for his grace in renewing my mind this time in canchamamaburi. It seems to me like a cloud starts to come, maybe you start to have doubts and worries. You start to plot a little, plan ahead for the future.
Just the other day I was reading through the ten plagues and realizing how much bigger God's kingdom is. I could imagine Moses holding up his staff in front of Pharoah and his audience. Maybe he was wondering what to do, then thought he should lift up his staff. Anyways, then the plagues happened and the Israelites were set free. The plagues were big time too. Anything that Moses tried to do on his own to build his own kingdom wouldn't have turned the water to blood or sent locust.
The clouds starting coming to me, then I thought, maybe I will read my bible. I couldn't concentrate on it, gave up a few times and started again, finally I could concentrate and read through the plagues, and it brought me a lot of joy and out of the trap of religion for that day.
I still need another $1800 to finish this trip. please think about supporting me.
Actually, we are getting ready to leave Thailand tomarrow. There is a lot of work that happened in the last couple of weeks since traveling from India. Thailand is a beautiful country, and Christianity seems to be growing. At the moment, this country is 95% buddhist, and only 1% Christian. So, you can probably guess what the need was here, building churches, which is what we did. It was a lot of hard work, and a lot of fun.
We stayed with a nice couple and their parents for the three weeks. They already had a few large tree houses built, which is where us guys stayed in tents. Everyday, we would wake up early and go to work, doing manual labor of some type. The land was cleared, but we had to dig and set the foundation, and the last week we got to see the roof and the rafters go up.
I will definitely write more this next month. It sounds like we will have regular access to computers, so I will write about last month in Thailand, and try and keep everyone updated about Vietnam. I'm still behind on my support. I need another 1800 to finish this trip. If God moves you to give, click on the support me link on the left. Thanks for everything.
PS. my camera is floating around somewhere in Swaziland at the moment, something to do with a soccer game. Anyways, I can't take any pictures, but Mark has a lot of team pictures that I am in, Kelton is posting a few videos of ministry this month, and I think Nate is planning on posting some pictures of last months ministry. Check out those guys blogs, lots of solid people on this trip!
