Well, I'm back from my adventure south of the border. And now that I've had a full 24 hours to take a breath, take a shower and catch up on some sleep, it's time to give an initial report. There was WAAAAAAY too much that happened to give in one blog post, so I'll be breaking it up into various categories over the next week or so, but for now I'll just make a few statements.
- I have never before lead a trip that was entirely guys. I may never be allowed to again. We had the requisite mustache growing challenge (pics to come later), we have a number of stories that will probably never be shared with anyone else (for good reason), and since beans are a main staple of mexican cuisine I think they just might have to burn down our cabin. But all that said, I saw a group of 12 individuals become a strong team of brothers, and I couldn't be more proud of them.
- I saw a basketball team compete against teams that were bigger and stronger. I saw them win by playing as a team and supporting each other. I saw them get attacked (literally) and keep their heads and represent Christ in a situation that was not easy. I also saw Steven get a bear hug from a large angry black man for his birthday, which we all know is what he really wanted anyway.
- We helped improve two schools in Angahuan. As hard as those guys played, they worked even harder. Have I mentioned how proud I am of them?
- We got to spend time with some of my dear friends, the Stefflers and an Allen. Having met them previously I knew I'd enjoy my time with them, a real blessing for me was seeing the team click with them so well.
- And being the good sports we were, while we were able to defeat the villagers in basketball fairly easily, we were happy to get our butts whipped by them in soccer. Final them 6, us 3. However, it should have been 6-4, we are pretty sure they cheated us out of one goal, trust me. :D
- Ultimately, my favorite part of the trip was seeing God move in the team as a whole, and in each individual member. I got to know 11 young men in a way that can only be described as a God event. They each have my utmost respect and I consider them brothers. I have been blessed to spend a week with them.
Like I said, this is just the beginning. There will be much more to come later. God bless.
Yep, That is the World Series trophy.
I know... you're jealous. It's ok. Just repent of your sin and become a Cardinal fan.
My visitor map
Showing posts with label Mexico. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mexico. Show all posts
Monday, August 3, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
While I wait for my laundry to finish...
I figured I could take this time to share a little about why I am sitting here waiting for laundry at 10:40 pm on a Thursday. On Saturday I will be joining 10 other young men (that's right, I'm still claiming to be a young man... it's my blog, my right to be irrational) as we venture into southern Mexico to the Purepecha village, Angahuan. We will be meeting up with friends of our who are missionaries there. (For more on them check out their blogs: sharonsteffler.blogspot.com and missionmeseta.blogspot.com) There is one other guy meeting up with us in Mexico bringing our grand total to 12. Now I've done a number of trips with our fellowship and have experienced a number of different types of missions works, but this one is a first for pretty much everyone involved. We are going to play basketball. That's right our missions trip is to go play basketball. Well, technically our trip is for 9 of us to play, one of us to referree, one to take care of all the technical arrangements (me) and one of us to assist the leader.
Now I'm sure a few of you are wondering "How is playing basketball a missions trip? Will you be preaching too?" And the answer is no... well, not exaclty. You see we are going to an area of Mexico where open preaching of the gospel isn't a good idea. So for some time our friends, the Stefflers and the Allens, have been reaching out to the local people through acts of goodwill (i.e. teaching english, medical missions, fixing homes and fences, etc.) So we are going to show some more goodwill ourselves and hopefully increase the standing within the village of our friends and open more doors for the gospel to go forward. This approach goes right along with our stance in Adopt-A-Child. "People won't care what you believe until they believe you care." Here's a list of the things we intend to do while in Mexico. (I say intend because if you have ever been on a trip in Latin America, you know that plans simply mean this is what might or might not happen at any given moment. :D )
- We will playing basketball (and other things) with anyone who wants to play. Basically a "hey come play the white guys" basketball tour. Should be fun.
- We will be helping improve one or more basketball courts for a school/schools. We will be doing such things as putting up backboards, painting lines, mending fences, whatever.
- We will be going to a youth conference a week from Saturday and will hopefully have a chance to speak some.
- The newest development is we will be playing in a basketball tournament on Sunday (right after we arrive). This is a level one (high level) basketball tournament. Various towns in Mexico send teams to play and the winner gets 35,000 pesos (about $3000 american). We have been asked to play and represent the village of Angahuan. We have NO idea what the skill level of the other teams are, and we may get out butts whipped soundly. But either way we will represent the village and gain respect for the Stefflers and Allens with our willingness to play. And who knows, maybe we will win a game and give instant cred to the missionaries. Either way, it's like I told the guys, how often do you get to play in an international tournament and represent an entire village? So stinkin cool. (Oh and if you want to pray for a God-type blessing on our playing ability, we wouldn't be opposed. :D )
- We will be taking a horseback ride to the lava ruins near the village... one of my favorite places anywhere.
- We will be doing whatever else we can to be a blessing to the Stefflers and Allens, to be a witness to the villagers and have fun at the same time.
Our flight leaves O'Hare around 8 pm on Saturday and we will land on US soil again around 5:30 am Sunday Aug. 2. So if you want to pray for us while we are gone, please feel free. I'm certain I will have a TON of pictures to put on facebook when I get back, so you have that to look forward to as well. Until then, God bless.
Now I'm sure a few of you are wondering "How is playing basketball a missions trip? Will you be preaching too?" And the answer is no... well, not exaclty. You see we are going to an area of Mexico where open preaching of the gospel isn't a good idea. So for some time our friends, the Stefflers and the Allens, have been reaching out to the local people through acts of goodwill (i.e. teaching english, medical missions, fixing homes and fences, etc.) So we are going to show some more goodwill ourselves and hopefully increase the standing within the village of our friends and open more doors for the gospel to go forward. This approach goes right along with our stance in Adopt-A-Child. "People won't care what you believe until they believe you care." Here's a list of the things we intend to do while in Mexico. (I say intend because if you have ever been on a trip in Latin America, you know that plans simply mean this is what might or might not happen at any given moment. :D )
- We will playing basketball (and other things) with anyone who wants to play. Basically a "hey come play the white guys" basketball tour. Should be fun.
- We will be helping improve one or more basketball courts for a school/schools. We will be doing such things as putting up backboards, painting lines, mending fences, whatever.
- We will be going to a youth conference a week from Saturday and will hopefully have a chance to speak some.
- The newest development is we will be playing in a basketball tournament on Sunday (right after we arrive). This is a level one (high level) basketball tournament. Various towns in Mexico send teams to play and the winner gets 35,000 pesos (about $3000 american). We have been asked to play and represent the village of Angahuan. We have NO idea what the skill level of the other teams are, and we may get out butts whipped soundly. But either way we will represent the village and gain respect for the Stefflers and Allens with our willingness to play. And who knows, maybe we will win a game and give instant cred to the missionaries. Either way, it's like I told the guys, how often do you get to play in an international tournament and represent an entire village? So stinkin cool. (Oh and if you want to pray for a God-type blessing on our playing ability, we wouldn't be opposed. :D )
- We will be taking a horseback ride to the lava ruins near the village... one of my favorite places anywhere.
- We will be doing whatever else we can to be a blessing to the Stefflers and Allens, to be a witness to the villagers and have fun at the same time.
Our flight leaves O'Hare around 8 pm on Saturday and we will land on US soil again around 5:30 am Sunday Aug. 2. So if you want to pray for us while we are gone, please feel free. I'm certain I will have a TON of pictures to put on facebook when I get back, so you have that to look forward to as well. Until then, God bless.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Due to the economy I can no longer afford witty blog titles
I had planned on typing out a blog on a single topic, but this week there've been couple things bouncing around in the romper room that is my brain, so instead you will get another conglomerate of ideas. Enjoy.
- Arthur had our 4th of July Fireworks on Saturday night and I kinda struggled with it. As I've said in a previous blog, due to this missions journey God has taken us on, I'm kinda ruined for the American way of thinking. And as I sat waiting for the show to begin I felt a little torn. On one hand I know that the Arthur fireworks does a lot of good for bringing revenue into Arthur and supporting our local economy. But I couldn't help and think of the good that could be done in the world with the absurd amount of money spent on 45 minutes of instant gratification entertainment. The economy can sink, but if there's one thing we as americans will shell out cash for it's entertainment. We might not do it as frequently as before, but we will still pay for our movies/cable/sporting events/gaming systems/etc. Now, I'm not pointing fingers or taking a "holier than thou" stance, cause I'm just as guilty as the next guy... it just got me thinking. And to be honest I'm not sure how I feel about it all yet, but I'm certainly not as comfortable with it as I was before. Of course, as you well know, if I do sort it all out, you'll hear about it. :)
- And yes, that fireworks show is the one that apparently made national headlines. Yes, the 16 inch shell had a malfunction and didn't detonate until it hit the ground a couple hundred feet from the spectators. No, noone was seriously injured. Yes someone was taken away in the ambulance, but it was not a serious injury according to someone who would know. and Yes it was freakin awesome. I loved it. Kaylee loved it. No, I'm not talking about anyone who got burned in any way, but the effect of seeing a massive explosion and then seeing fire literally rain down upon me. I'm a bit of a pyro and adrenaline junkie, so that rush was just what I love. As for the people who are making all the "it was irresponsible" and "I'm never coming back" comments, when you go to a firework show and sit close, there is always a risk and you choose to take that risk. Was the malfunction intended? Of course not, but accidents happen, be glad noone got seriously hurt and move on. Thank you.
- My current favorite songs are "praise the father, praise the son" and "exalted" both by Chris Tomlin. Check em out.
- We are even deeper into "missions mode" since I will be in Mexico (along with 11 other guys) in less than a month. And Jennifer and I are working on sorting out a trip to Northern Ireland/Scotland in Sept. to attend a LWI/Adopt-A-Child conference. I've made the joke before that my life now has a category I call "APC" which means "After Paul's Call". I can still vividly remember the strange message on our answering machine from a guy I didn't know in an accent I couldn't understand. Since that call our lives have been full speed ahead and we're loving every minute of it. :D
- I saw the Transformers movie for the first time the other day (yeah I know I'm behind, but we're broke... I had to borrow it from a friend). I'll be honest I was disappointed at the language and the innuendo. I remember watching transformers as a kid (the cartoon) and loving it (side note... LOVED that they got the same guy to do Optimus Prime's voice.... SUCH a huge nostalgia thrill), but the innocence of that cartoon is lost in this movie. And I know a lot of young kids who wanted to see that movie because it's transformers, but I certainly wouldn't let Kaylee see it as a non-teenager. I've heard one argument from someone my age of "yeah I loved it as a kid, but I'm not a kid now, so I'd rather have a movie more my style". I've heard the same thing about "land of the lost" that recently came out, the Dukes of Hazzard movie and others. Basically, the original concepts have been pushed to the edge and lost it's innocence. The problem with this argument is it is totally and disgustingly selfish. Basically what the person is saying is that "I don't care about being able to share my nostalgia with kids today. That's not enjoyable for me. I'm past that, I want a movie for my enjoyment." And we wonder why american society is seen as self-serving and arrogant by the rest of the world. sigh.
- And finally on a fun note, you know how it's said some things are just lost in translation? One of my closest friends, Chuck, had a brilliant idea one day. He went to one of those translation sites on the web and entered John 3:16 from the King James Version "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life". Chuck then translated it into Japenese, copied it, and using the site translated it back into engligh. Here is the translated phrase:
"For God, his only son he was born, his love of life gave the world forever Please do not believe he killed anyone"
You gotta love it.
Hope you all have a great holiday weekend. God bless.
- Shrek
- Arthur had our 4th of July Fireworks on Saturday night and I kinda struggled with it. As I've said in a previous blog, due to this missions journey God has taken us on, I'm kinda ruined for the American way of thinking. And as I sat waiting for the show to begin I felt a little torn. On one hand I know that the Arthur fireworks does a lot of good for bringing revenue into Arthur and supporting our local economy. But I couldn't help and think of the good that could be done in the world with the absurd amount of money spent on 45 minutes of instant gratification entertainment. The economy can sink, but if there's one thing we as americans will shell out cash for it's entertainment. We might not do it as frequently as before, but we will still pay for our movies/cable/sporting events/gaming systems/etc. Now, I'm not pointing fingers or taking a "holier than thou" stance, cause I'm just as guilty as the next guy... it just got me thinking. And to be honest I'm not sure how I feel about it all yet, but I'm certainly not as comfortable with it as I was before. Of course, as you well know, if I do sort it all out, you'll hear about it. :)
- And yes, that fireworks show is the one that apparently made national headlines. Yes, the 16 inch shell had a malfunction and didn't detonate until it hit the ground a couple hundred feet from the spectators. No, noone was seriously injured. Yes someone was taken away in the ambulance, but it was not a serious injury according to someone who would know. and Yes it was freakin awesome. I loved it. Kaylee loved it. No, I'm not talking about anyone who got burned in any way, but the effect of seeing a massive explosion and then seeing fire literally rain down upon me. I'm a bit of a pyro and adrenaline junkie, so that rush was just what I love. As for the people who are making all the "it was irresponsible" and "I'm never coming back" comments, when you go to a firework show and sit close, there is always a risk and you choose to take that risk. Was the malfunction intended? Of course not, but accidents happen, be glad noone got seriously hurt and move on. Thank you.
- My current favorite songs are "praise the father, praise the son" and "exalted" both by Chris Tomlin. Check em out.
- We are even deeper into "missions mode" since I will be in Mexico (along with 11 other guys) in less than a month. And Jennifer and I are working on sorting out a trip to Northern Ireland/Scotland in Sept. to attend a LWI/Adopt-A-Child conference. I've made the joke before that my life now has a category I call "APC" which means "After Paul's Call". I can still vividly remember the strange message on our answering machine from a guy I didn't know in an accent I couldn't understand. Since that call our lives have been full speed ahead and we're loving every minute of it. :D
- I saw the Transformers movie for the first time the other day (yeah I know I'm behind, but we're broke... I had to borrow it from a friend). I'll be honest I was disappointed at the language and the innuendo. I remember watching transformers as a kid (the cartoon) and loving it (side note... LOVED that they got the same guy to do Optimus Prime's voice.... SUCH a huge nostalgia thrill), but the innocence of that cartoon is lost in this movie. And I know a lot of young kids who wanted to see that movie because it's transformers, but I certainly wouldn't let Kaylee see it as a non-teenager. I've heard one argument from someone my age of "yeah I loved it as a kid, but I'm not a kid now, so I'd rather have a movie more my style". I've heard the same thing about "land of the lost" that recently came out, the Dukes of Hazzard movie and others. Basically, the original concepts have been pushed to the edge and lost it's innocence. The problem with this argument is it is totally and disgustingly selfish. Basically what the person is saying is that "I don't care about being able to share my nostalgia with kids today. That's not enjoyable for me. I'm past that, I want a movie for my enjoyment." And we wonder why american society is seen as self-serving and arrogant by the rest of the world. sigh.
- And finally on a fun note, you know how it's said some things are just lost in translation? One of my closest friends, Chuck, had a brilliant idea one day. He went to one of those translation sites on the web and entered John 3:16 from the King James Version "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life". Chuck then translated it into Japenese, copied it, and using the site translated it back into engligh. Here is the translated phrase:
"For God, his only son he was born, his love of life gave the world forever Please do not believe he killed anyone"
You gotta love it.
Hope you all have a great holiday weekend. God bless.
- Shrek
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)