Easter In Banska

I had an amazing idea for a post a week or so ago. I thought, "I'll put that up for Easter. People would enjoy it." Now for the life of me I can't remember what it was. So instead I'm just going to put my random thoughts on Easter this year up on the internet for all to see.

This is my first Easter not being at home. It is strange to think about actually.  Last year I missed Christmas but very deliberately was home for Easter. This year I miss both.  Hopefully I don't regret it, but at the very least it is going to be a different experience.

Being in Slovakia itself makes Easter seem different.  Two weeks ago a big tree was put up in the middle of the square and decorated with paper Easter eggs. Then all these booths selling different folk arts were set up on the square and a kind of spring festival appeared.  I enjoyed it when I was able to get to the square, but that wasn't very often.  One day I made a point of it and was able to catch a folk music and dance group performing. The dance was pretty lame (compared to the fast paced, competitive Ukrainian dance of my youth) but I really enjoyed taking pictures of their costumes.  They really intrigued me.  Now I'm even wondering if I should buy myself one of their traditional blouses as they are very pretty in my mind and would stand out against traditional Ukrainian clothing.

Someone's funny belt got loose!

There is one thing about Easter in Slovakia that I'm not very stoked about at all. It is their Easter Monday tradition of throwing water on girls and hitting them with willow sticks. It is meant to bring girls fertility or something but I think it was more of a spring flirting ritual as all the young guys are the ones going door to door dowsing people. Apparently Slovak girls even like it. So I am praying very hard for nice weather Monday so I'm not freezing when I'm wet! As for the willow sticks- we saw tons on sale in the square but Shay didn't buy one so I think I'm safe on that account. 

This Easter was the first time that I had ever prayed the Stations of the Cross. A Slovak Catholic friend took us and it was great!  I can't believe that I had never been exposed to this before. I think it was one of the moments that I realized that ecumenism is something that is important in Canada too. If I had been part of an ecumenical group in Canada, who knows how my relationship with God would have grown and matured? So even if you are Protestant, take some time to think about the death of Jesus.   You can find a prayer outline here that was made for youth, but I'm sure there are many more around. Really check it out!  

Have a Good Friday and Great Easter.  

He is Risen. He is Risen Indeed!

Week Four

No Way!  It definitely can't be week four already!  But it is!  We just finished our fourth week of teaching. And this surely is the tear jerker week.  Father heart of God. This is the week that you hang all the other information you learn at DTS upon!  This isn't just another book, it is the bookcase where you put all the books. It is the tree you hang everything else on. It is the lens with which you look through at everything else.

Our teacher is a amazing and humble man who currently lives in Belgium. And he teaches this week so well, because he has so much revelation on this topic and because of his own fatherly qualities. It was so nice to see him again as he taught last year as well and really impacted me.   But instead of giving a real cliff notes overview of this teaching, I'm going to write down some of the great one liners that he said that made me think.

Only God is up to date on someone's life. If they have confessed and been forgiven by God, who am I to not forgive them?

Mercy is getting what you don't deserve and not getting what you do deserve. (then why do I always want justice for others, and mercy for myself?)

Sin didn't change God. It changed us.

Everything outside the love of God will not fulfill you. 


No one has been rejected into wholeness. (I can't bring someone to health and wholeness by rejecting them. It is through acceptance and honour that they can find change.)

The greatness of God is like trying to explain the size of the milky way to a six year old. Even if you talk about light years and distances, they still only relate it to the two day journey to Grandma's house.  We have no concept to understand the greatness.

God's ability and desire to speak to you is greater than your ability to hear. (He will tell you again if you miss it the first time, or second, or third)

You cannot become like Jesus by focusing on what Jesus did. (How may people just gasped? Be honest....  The reason is that we don't want to be just a mimic of Jesus. We want to draw from the same source that he did in order to do the same. In order to do that, we need to realize that we also are adopted as sons or daughters of God. That identity is the most important thing in becoming like Jesus. There is much more to that, but I already explained enough)

To be touched by God is not to have a relationship with him (the ten lepers).  Touching is from one side. Relationship is from both sides.

Love is to reveal the beauty of another person to themselves.

For love to unconditional, it depends on the character and nature of the giver and not on the behaviour of the recipient.

If I do not fell God's love daily, I'm living on less than I am created to.

Time does not heal the heart, it just gives us time to get used to the pain.

The main point of the whole week was: God is our perfect Father. We cannot look at him through the lens of our earthly father, because that isn't who he is. And when we don't believe that he loves us unconditionally, we don't want to come to him.

SUCH A GOOD WEEK!

This is Life!

Do you ever get a song stuck in your head? And it stays there for days? Sometimes I think that God makes that happen. I heard a guy speak on how if God puts a song in his heart in the morning, he sings it instead of trying to drown it out with something else. So for the last two days or so God has been drilling this into my heart. Repetition is one way that truths sink into my heart, and singing the chorus of this song over and over definitely was reminding me that God was with me. But the rest of the song has such deep truth in it too (I might go into it more in my next post). Such a nice way to learn. I hope it blesses you like it has me.

This is Life

Eyes can't see the way you hold me

 Or how I'm hidden in your heart 

 Minds don't know all you've told me 

 Or how I ache for where you are 

 It's invisible to the world 

 Incredible to the nations 

 Not since Eden, have they seen this sight 

 Everlasting Life! 

You are all over, 

You are around,

You are inside, 

This is Life, this is Life (repeat) 

Come in empty, I leave filled 

 Bring my sickness, I leave healed 

 Brokenhearted, You mend every piece 

 Come in captive, but I leave free!

You are all over, 

You are around,

You are inside, 

This is Life, this is Life (repeat) 

Back in Slovakia

We went skiing our first week back in Slovakia, but unfortunately, the only snow we had was the stuff they made on the hill. You can see the beautiful fall scenery in the valley. 

But our last day skiing we had maybe half an inch of new snow which made it more interesting. And my skiing definitely got better over the three days.  I hadn't skied in two years. 

Many more exciting things to happen in the next few weeks! 

 And I'll be home for easter. That is my number one question I get asked lately. 

Bali is Beautiful

Do I really need to use words?  Can't I just use pictures?

Funny Morning

What is that last thing I would do in Indonesia?  Teach kids to dance!

But God just so happens to remember that I have that skill, that I learned that skill once upon a time, that I had my own great dance instructors that I can very easily use the tricks of... and he put it all to use today!

We are spending time teaching English at a school here, which is super fun. They have between 20 and 40 kids in a class (three teachers to a class when there are so many kids) and their english is actually really good. All the teachers can have a full conversation with us, and with some prompting all the older kids can hold a conversation. Usually we just go teach vocabulary in whatever class they have that day. Last time I did the human body with one of those take-apart people (Gloria- this one was very definitely a girl).  The other group did the solar system. But today was culture. They asked us to teach them our "traditional dance". First of all I don't think Canadians have a traditional dance. And I definitely don't know where to start with Ukrainian. So what was our best option?

Yes you guessed it. Line Dancing. That is very North American right?
So there are 30 some kids who went home today being able to do the Cadillac Ranch!
I used all my dance experience, and dance teaching experience today to help it along, but these kids picked it up faster than I expected. I actually don't have the song Cadillac Ranch on my ipod so some Garth Brooks and Cotton Eye Jo had to make do. But they definitely had fun, and I learned that every skill can be used on a trip like this!

They start off good!

To the right, to the left, And backwards!

Picture Update

Long Awaited Update

February 6, 2011

I have been horrible at blogging. And I know I have been, so I apologize if there is anyone back in Canada longing to hear about Indonesia and being disappointed.  So I will try to summarize a month in one post.

First an outline:

Two weeks spent at one orphanage that actually takes in senior citizens as well that don’t have support

Two weeks in a much larger orphanage in a bigger city

Three days in Singapore

Back to our original home base in Indonesia for the first three weeks of February

The first orphanage was really cool. They had half boys, half girls and they were aged 10 to 20’s.  They actually had four kids attending university, including one adorable girl who was going to be a midwife. We were amazed to see that they had a beautiful garden with a fish pond, so we enjoyed having our quiet times there. We got to visit the kids’ school and help teach English. Never in my life had I tried to teach English before, and I’m actually not very good at it. But I’m a native speaker and sometimes that is all they want. Alex and I had the same conversation 10 times over while the kids answered questions.  But we also played language/vocabulary games with them, and shared about our cultures.  We had a few more opportunities to help there, including cleaning out our host’s kitchen.  It was pretty gross, including a mouse/rat living under a cupboard. Not so nice. But we got it all done!

I think my favourite visit to the community was visiting the families of soldiers who had been deployed.  The men can be gone for up to two years, and the women are all but held captive by the army who doesn’t want them to be unfaithful or get into trouble.  The catch is that often the men are unfaithful.  Thankfully these women have each other for support, but it is not easy.  It was really nice to be able to encourage them.  My heart really is for women’s ministry so I really enjoyed that.

It was sad to leave that orphanage, but we didn’t know what was waiting for us.

I was overwhelmed by the number of kids at the next orphanage. I never thought I would learn all their names. But amazingly I think I had most everyone, excluding some of the boys because they weren’t really my responsibility while we were there.

This orphanage was really cool because they had wifi. And internet connection on the base is something amazing for Indonesia.  We were very blessed in our time at this orphanage, even though they had the earliest wake up time: 4:30 quiet time with kids, 6:30 everyone else gets up.  Michal had his birthday there, and he had something like 4 birthday cakes over the course of the day, and he had to be dunked himself in the fish pool there. It was tradition, so he submitted to it. We also went for an Indonesian massage for his birthday, which wasn’t so relaxing because it was pretty strong, but our bodies felt pretty good afterwards.  We only visited the school there once, because we had so many opportunities at the orphanage. We sanded and painted rusty bunk bed frames that had been donated.  And Michal actually raised money to buy them mattresses and a fridge, so it was pretty cool to see them receiving material things they really needed as well.

We spent three days in Singapore after that. But what seemed like three days actually ended up being only one day.  We arrived at 6pm on Friday and left at one or two on Sunday.  So really, all we had was Saturday.

We fit in almost a full day of sight seeing. We took the metro to a district filled with malls and hotels to see the largest fountain in the world. Dissapointing! It was barely turned on! But while we were there we realized that the pan pacific hotel has great elevators. And we wanted to see if we could get in to ride one. We definitely succeeded. All the way to the top! That was a really cool view.

Then we went to the Singapore flyer, worlds largest observation wheel. Didn't go on it but ate lunch there. And Art loves formula 1 racing and he had to see the race track/ pit building for the Singapore race. And amazingly you could just walk up to it. I walked across the finish line Janka did a cartwheel across.

Then we went to see the thing I most wanted to see: a fancy bridge built as a double helix to support it. The internet says it is the only curved bridge in the world. (maybe it was the first when it was built?) Then across the bridge we went to a new mall, hotel, theatre, casino complex. It was super cool. We kinda snuck in there too. But we didn't get very high. I think it was worth walking to though.

Then we checked out the church we wanted to go to the next day. And I got to be in an English Christian bookstore... Such a treat! Then home for a couple hours to rest. Then back out to see the fountain show... That was definitely more disappointing than seeing it the first time. Did not live up to the pictures at all!

But we had supper and walked to the bay to see the lights... But it started pouring rain. Everyone was drenched except Alex and I had jackets so our tops were dry. My backpack was soaked! But I think everyone enjoyed being soaked, at least until we entered the air conditioned metro. Art wasn’t happy with being soaked in a cold train.

Sunday morning we went to church. A very famous church led by Joseph Prince. New creation church. Something like 20000 people attend a service every Sunday. It is huge. And broadcast all across the world. So I went in expecting one thing and found completely another. This guy is pretty great. He knows his stuff. Some might argue about his emphasis, but I think if his church is so big he definitely is making a difference in lives. So that was an amazing experience.  He actually broadcasts all over the world as well.

By the end of the service we needed to go straight to the airport to catch our flight. When I look at the list it looks like so little that we did but it seemed like a lot.

The boys watching the construction of a new art gallery against the Singapore skyline (photo taken on the super cool bridge)

Now we are back at our home base and having a great time. Its awesome because we already know the kids. And they have found new opportunities for us here which are really exciting. So we have 20 days left in Indonesia. A week of them will be in Bali. It is so close, yet I want to enjoy every day we have left.  

So that is my update… sorry it has been so long in coming. And there is still time to give money for the building that is being restored. My mom tells me people are giving, but I don’t know how much is still needed.  I would give more information on the building and its use but I’m unsure how much is safe to talk about via internet. Not that we are doing anything wrong, but better safe than sorry.  I am very excited about it though, and can’t wait to talk about it when I get home and to share pictures after they have done all the repairs!

Building in Need of Repair

This building could be completely repaired for 400 Canadian Dollars. 

And would be put to very good use. 

Talk to me or my parents if you want to help.

You would be blessing these Indonesians.

Fast Update

It is impossible to update this blog, that is why I'm barely trying!  We do so much every day, I barely remember at the end of the day what I did at the beginning.  It has been really cool to be here. We have visited many churches and groups and spent time with kids which has been really fun.  I feel bad, but I always have a favorite, and my favorite here is adorable!  First Grecian nose I've seen on an Indonesian.  Honestly.
But we are all really enjoying it here. There is almost exactly a month left of our time here, but less of ministry.  Our last week is meant to be a bit of a vacation, and hopefully I can get a tan then because it isn't going very good.

But all you really need to know is that I love it here right? No change when it comes to that.

Wordless... Tuesday?

Volcano

I really should post on significant things that we do, but it is so hard to think about how to be cryptic!  So instead you get to hear about my perfectly normal experience with a volcano.

So this morning, we left at 00:00 to drive to a volcano near by. Well, if two and a half hours is near... So we got to the city at 2:30am, waited for an hour and a half for a jeep to take us most of the way up the mountain, then it was to walk. In flip flops. In the dark. In ash? maybe sand?  It actually wasn't that far to the the top, but halfway up the cloud rolled in. Everyone else continued at the top, but i figured that I'd stay were I was and hope that I would see a sunrise and not just cloud... Unfortunately I don't think anyone saw a sunrise. However, once the cloud lifted a bit, around 6am, we got to see the actual volcano which is active, and emitting ash. It was quite the sight. And what did I do? Forget my camera. Yep. So everyone else's pictures will have to do for me, but I'm still upset about that.

But I've seen a volcano. I looked up some info on it on wiki so I understand what I saw much better than I did this morning, and I think I can cross it off my bucket list if I wanted too... but I think being on the actual volcano is still required. :)

Church

Don't you love it when you go to church, and even though you must have the sermon translated for you, a very thought provoking analogy actually comes across?

That happened today.

Jesus is the light right?  And we say that Christians are walking in the light, and everyone is walking in darkness.  But, somehow public opinion still seems to be that the people who are in the darkness can do more things while those in the light don't do those things.  So public opinion is that Christians aren't having any fun.  (in very general terms)

However, if we think of people who literally live in the dark: people who are blind, they are reliant on others to help them make decisions.  They only know about what people tell them or what they can feel or otherwise know are there through senses other than sight. They often make decisions without all the information.  They might eat only potatoes and gravy all night (which tastes good) because they don't realize there is another table with dessert on it. They might settle for something because they don't realize that there is better.  But people who can perceive the light can see all the options.  They can see the better.

In the darkness, people think that sports, entertainment, tv, music, whatever... that is as good as it gets.  And if that isn't making them happy anymore, they might move to drugs, alcohol, short term relationships, etc.  But Christians realize that although hockey is good, and the big bang theory is funny, and michael buble can sing, they aren't the best we can hope for.  God loves us, wants a relationship with us, and has a life of adventure prepared for us.

Obviously, there is a lot more to say in this illustration, but I'll keep it simple.  Please feel free to expand it and use it in conversation when desired.

Unreached People Group.

This week our speaker is here to teach us about the prophetic and gifts of the spirit, but I find his actual ministry just as interesting. He is an evangelist to the Jewish people in Europe.  He travels all over Europe, mostly eastern Europe to reach Jews.  Did you ever think that Jews also need to hear the gospel?  I totally don't think about it.  But it is really cool!  Who could be a better convert than someone who has already been waiting for the messiah to come?

So part of his team with us this week is a Hungarian couple who are Messianic Jews.  And I love being with them. Worshipping with them. Being ministered to by them. And learning about their history and traditions and how they incorporate into their faith.  It is amazing. 

And it makes me so sad that I have so few Messianic Jewish friends at home.  One actually.  And I'm so sad I didn't ask her more questions and appreciate her more. 

He is excited for you to wake up...

We have been talking about the character of God during these entire two months (today is exactly two months since our first day of DTS).  And last week someone said something that really caught me off guard:

God waits for you to wake up in the morning, and he is excited for you to wake up!

So if you think about analogies in our lives for that there are a couple ways of looking at it.  Some people might think that is kinda creepy, with God standing at the foot of your bed watching you sleep.  I think those people should watch less horror films.

But maybe you think about a really excited little kid, who really really wants to play with you.  That might be closer.  Because I do think that God is excited for you to wake up, but he also is patient.  And he won't wake you up prematurely (although he may wake you up in some circumstances... which is a sign of his love I think).  So the excitement of a child probably is a good way of seeing it.

But the analogy that I really like, I'm expecting many people to think is kinda dumb.  I think that Twilight actually illustrates this perfectly.  (I admit I have read/watched Twilight, and I acknowledge its many flaws and negative impact on girls and society in general. But listen to my point even if you don't like the overall concept).  In Twilight there is a immortal being who is in love with a mortal being.  I think that may be comparable on a very base level of how God loves us. This immoral being does not need to sleep. But what does it do when the mortal needs to sleep?  He stays. His presence remains with her, even though she cannot relate with him. She cannot give anything to him while she sleeps.  In the same way, God doesn't leave us while we sleep to go do something more "productive" (never mind because he is omnipresent and doesn't need to).  His presence stays with us as we sleep, and he waits out of love and patience for us to wake up.  Then he can begin to commune with us again.

Now I realize that this is not a perfect analogy, and I know that some of you are ready to throw me out as a heretic, so I plead for grace. If you don't like the idea that God loves you so much that he is excited when you wake up, then please don't feel required to believe that God loves you like that.  But if that resonates with your heart, ask him to reveal to you its truth.

Outreach Update

I've been putting off updating anyone on our outreach for one reason: lack of information!  Until very recently we have had no confirmation of where we are going.  However, we have had direction from God.  

A month or so ago we received very clear direction that God wanted us to go to Indonesia for our outreach.   We had been praying for direction so that we could go where God wanted us to be.  And for a long time all we had was the word from God.  We had no contacts in Indonesia. We had no idea what we would do there.  However, in the last weeks we have received six emails from YWAM contacts in Indonesia saying that we were very welcome to come.  So now it is only up to God to tell us which one to say yes too.  

In my mind that is close enough to an actual plan.  So I'm okay telling everyone about it!  The plan is that we will leave for Indonesia at the beginning of December and be there for three months... but we don't know where exactly we will go and what exactly we will do. And we don't exactly have money for all the flights yet.  

The good news is that our God is a God who provides.  He has directed all of us to Slovakia. He has given us the direction to go to Indonesia.  And we believe he will provide the material means to do all of that too.  He actually has miraculously paid all the school fees for one of the other students.  She came the first day of DTS with no money for her "tuition".  But God has paid her way through some miraculous channels. 

I have been blessed enough to be able to pay all my tuition without asking people to support me.  And my church was beautifully generous with money for my airfare to get to outreach and back. However, not everyone else in our school has been so lucky.  Slovakia and the Czech Republic are not as wealthy, so people don't have as much that they can give.  There also seems to be a barrier against individuals giving money to these young adults.  We have three people from Slovakia and the Czech Republic coming with us on outreach.  So I very humbly ask you to pray and ask God if this is something he wants you to give to.  Please don't give out of guilt or obligation or anything like that.  But perhaps God wants to bless you with the opportunity to be generous to people you don't know. I'm not sure what he will speak into your heart.  I do know that if I don't tell you about the need, you cannot be blessed by filling it.  So now you know.  If you do feel led to give, please just shoot me an email. Or if you need more information, please email me for that too. I'd love to tell you more, so you can know where your money will be going.

And I'm going to INDONESIA!  CRAZY!

ps. Do not be confused. We are not going to both Jordan and Indonesia. We no longer plan on going to Jordan at all.  Instead of a nice Christmas in the desert, it's going to be a humid Christmas on an island. I still need to wrap my mind around that one. 

Heritage Tour: Prague

Our last city on our tour.
All I can really say is WOW.  Prague is definitely a tourist destination.  Apparently people call it the city of 100 towers because there are so many towers and churches.  And it is beautiful.  Very beautiful.

The reason Prague was important to us was Jan Hus.   (John Goose in English)  He was a preacher, an academic (he was the rector of the university in Prague by the time he was 24), and a reformer.  He preached in Bethlehem chapel in Prague.

He preached that the entire congregation could drink of the cup at Eucharist (in the Catholic church only the priest would take of the cup) and the chalice became a symbol of his followers and theology.  He also condemned indulgences. So the Catholic church didn't really like him.  And he ended up being imprisoned, put on trial and charged with heresy.   He was burned at the stake July 6, 1415 and there is a national holiday in the Czech republic to commemorate his death. Interestingly, that just so happens to be my birthday as well.  However, there is a silver lining, the Catholic church has apologized for killing Hus, and has undone his excommunication.  Isn't that an act of reconciliation? Why don't people appreciate that?  Instead of hating on the catholic church for killing people, why can't they forgive?  I think that the Catholic church is to be commended for apologizing. And reconciliation can flow when the protestants no longer allow themselves to be bitter.  (sorry, that is my little mini sermon for the day).  

So Prague was amazing. We really enjoyed it, even though it rained at the very end of our stay. But I think it was God's way of telling us that we needed to go home now.   And we did.  

Heritage Tour: Switzerland

Switzerland was interesting for so many different reasons!  The first YWAM base is in Switzerland, so we were lucky enough to go and visit that base. It was beautiful!

And it is amazing to think about how many lives have been changed in the base. And how many more lives were changed because those people went out into the world.  That is the cool thing about YWAM, it doesn't stop with the students.  I know someone who received direction from God to go to Albania while it was still a closed country at this base. I know another couple who received a prophetic word about their relationship here at this base.  So many "lifer" YWAMers have gone through this base, and moved onto starting other bases, and other ministries like Mercy Ships. WOW. God obviously has given this building and organization an anointing of his direction.

We visited other significant places like this former hotel where reconciliation talks happened after world war two.  It was led by Christian groups by my understanding, and I think it was French Christians and Germans.  But don't quote me on that one.

One other amazing story from Switzerland is from the time of the Roman Empire.  There were some rebels making an issue in Switzerland, so the Emperor dispatched a legion of troops from Egypt to go deal with the problem. He figured that they could handle it best because they are so far removed that they wouldn't take the rebels side. However, this group of soldiers were Coptic Christians. And when they got to Switzerland, they realized that these rebels were Christians too. So they refused to put down the uprising. They wouldn't kill the Christians rebels.  So to get them to comply, the emperor ordered that every tenth soldier be killed. The group was "decimated"... now you know what that word means.  That happened, but they still wouldn't comply.  So they did it again, and again, and again.... until all 6000 men were dead.   You can read more on wikipedia.

Some people think that there is continued grace over Switzerland because of the blood of those martyrs.  It is a pretty amazing story. (However, we didn't go to the church dedicated to St. Maurice, their leader).

However, we did spend time in Geneva learning about the Protestant Reformation.  And to tell you the truth, all the reformation stuff was the least interesting to me on the tour.  I do find Luther interesting, and I obviously am a protestant, but somehow the way that they went about it isn't as inspiring to me as other stories.  But that didn't stop me from wanting to have my picture taken with four famous reformers!

These are (left to right) Farel, Calvin, Beze, and Knox.  

It was strange in Switzerland to walk into big beautiful Cathedrals built by the Catholic church that are now used as protestant churches.  We found it very strange, and it actually felt different in the space. It was really sad to see how much less respect these churches get than Catholic churches that are still consecrated.  

Although the churches have beautiful organs in Switzerland.

Lastly, we also went to the UN and talked about how we as Christians are called to influence the world and bring God's Kingdom to earth. That it isn't enough to just make sure everyone is saved, God also wants us to reform our societies so they abide by his principles and can actually function better because of it.  And interestingly there was a protest going on when we arrived, so that was quite an experience as well. It was a group that wants sovereignty from Ethiopia I think... 

So from Geneva we drove into southern Germany, and it was very sad that most of the way it was dark so I didn't see nearly enough of the alps. But Germany was quite the adventure...

Heritage Tour: Rome

Rome is impossible to blog about and do justice. So I'm not even going to try and say what we did. Instead, I'm going to tell you about the significance of Rome on our tour.  Because our tour was about Christian history, Rome is a pretty obvious place.  The whole Pope thing is important.  And both Peter and Paul ended up in Rome.  But Rome also was the center of the Roman empire.  So we have both emperors and popes in Rome's history.  And I was actually in charge of planning where we would go in Rome, what we would see, what order we would do it all, and what part of history we would talk about.  That was an impossible task!  So we essentially broke it into two halves:  Early Church and Vatican.

So in case you didn't know, it wasn't always cool to be a Christian, especially in the Roman Empire.  A lot of Christians were persecuted.  So we talked about persecution and martyrs.  Nero (an emperor) actually crucified Christians along major roads and then lit them on fire so they lit the road.  Others died in the Colosseum when they were eaten by lions and tigers. Some were simply beheaded.

But the stories of martyrs are absolutely inspiring. That they would give their lives rather than renounce Christ...wow.  One guy said that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. That by killing Christians, the church actually grew.  And it makes sense. Wouldn't you want to know these people's secret that they are willing to be put to death, and are not scared of death?  A whole Colosseum full of people would see people die while singing hymns.  Don't you think God might stir up a little curiosity in those people?  I think it would in me!

We went to a church dedicated to St. Susanna in Rome for English language mass (it actually is an American congregation, some even work in things like Vatican radio).  And her story is pretty cool.  She was the niece of the pope or something like that.  She was beheaded, and her father was starved to death.  So there was a church in their home, and it has remained as a church on that spot for a long time, the current church is beautiful, and depicts her whole story (including where an angel helps her refuse a suitor which is a funny kind of thing to remember don't you think?)  But anyway, the church is beautiful and it was really cool to go to English mass and understand after going to Slovakian mass with Janka and having no clue what is going on.

As for the Vatican, we went to both the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's Basilica.  And it was really cool to see the Sistine Chapel. I appreciated our guide book alot because I actually understood what the ceiling is depicting, and what is on the alter piece.  And the story of the sistine chapel ceiling is really cool (we watched a movie on that too).  That Michaelangelo actually didn't originally want to paint the ceiling is crazy, because it is huge, and beautiful.

(the Sistine Chapel is a no picture place.... but this is from a poster out in the courtyard used by group tours)

The Vatican Museum is beautiful.  You could spend an entire day in there. I highly recommend not taking a tour, because there is no way that you can experience everything you will want to see.  Get a good Rome tour book, and you will understand enough to enjoy it more than being rushed through the entire museum.

They also have a super cool staircase in the Vatican:  Spirals anyone?

So then we went over to St. Peter's. WOW.  That is one amazing place.  Pictures don't do any justice at all. This is the central area, but there is a huge aisle on either side too with side alters.

And as we walked out of the church, God had set up the coolest sunset behind it.  It was pretty amazing!

But my definite favorite part of that day was sitting on the cobblestones in the middle of the square and just talking as a group and praying.  It was so very nice. 

There are so many more things we saw in Rome, and so many more stories of faithful Christians, but this will have to do for now. 

New Week

So although I haven't posted all the amazing things I learned on my trip yet, I want to post on things we learned in the last twenty four hours here!  Today was our first day back in lecture after the tour, and the transition was seamless. But I think its all because God got us ready for it.

Last night three of us went out for hot chocolate (which is different here. Its like drinking chocolate but not that either... Like warm/hot chocolate pudding?  That sounds gross but it is SOOO good) and we talked about how we are feeling. What God is convicting us of, what God is teaching us, how our spirits feel.  And we felt like we needed to repent for not being more focused on Jesus during our tour. How we didn't have enough quiet time and didn't listen to what he was saying and didn't pay attention to what he wanted us to do in each city.  Maybe we did sometimes. But we feel as though we were distracted from that goal.

So when we got home, they went upstairs and started praying and seeking God. I had a skype date with my parents so I joined them after that. And we just prayed. And sang. And soaked in God's presence.

And this morning we had amazing spontaneous worship.  Then our speaker began.  We are talking about the Holy Spirit. And this guy is so amazingly filled.  I feel like I'm just experiencing what living completely surrendered to the spirit is rather than just learning the theory.  I'm just watching him live his life and saying "I want that".  So this week should be good.   Actually, I know that it is going to be amazing. I'm sad that it is already 1/5 done!