So this title can probably be pretty confusing as the beginning to what I am about to say. But the real question I want to get at is... do we love God as much (or more) than we love our sin. Think about it, your sin is a culmination of a couple things: a) your desires and passions miscontrued or in excess so that it is unhealthy and takes away from God b) a rebellion against God and a selfish way of going about things c) temptation to indulge yourself in what you find pleasurable (OK, the temptation isn't actual sin, but it does lead to it).
Really what I am saying is that our sin tends to take up most of our lives. What we indulge in unhealthily especially in North American society tends to take up our time and effort. What WE want to do and where WE want to go is the only option. Our individualistic thinking gets us to do the things that we want to do, and shows us what we truly love. it is common knowledge that if you want to know what a man truly values, you look at where he spends his time. Yet, we tend to spend most of our time sitting in things that do not matter, or in sinful things. Most of our time is not spent in/or even with God. Or even with the knowledge that God is there! So how can we say that we love God more than we love our sinful indulgences, when we are more willing to give time to those indulgences than God? It seems like a tough thing to handle, and it definitely is, but I think until we can say that we are willing to give more time to God and less time to our sinful thoughts, attitudes, and actions I think it shows what we truly love more. I think that this can be a depressing thought, but it is not meant to be that way there is definitely hope.
Because you see God understands that, he understands that unless we have him our lives are ruled by sin. And he has given us a way out of that. Not so that we can feel okay about sinning, but because we now have the opportunity to love him more than we love our sin. We are not bound to our sin any longer because we have the option of ridding ourselves of that sin and choosing instead to love God. It is something that is not always easy. But I challenge whoever reads this, the next time your in a situation where you are tempted and feel like you are in a place where you are going to sin with something you are struggling with. Ask yourself the question, am I going to indulge myself and choose to love myself and this sin, or am I going to choose to love God in this moment and turn away from this. I think it is not always an easy thing to do but I think it can be rewarding. We need to be continually praying that we can find ways to love God, because there is so much we could do, but the more we do it I think the easier it is to turn from sin and choose to love God more than that sin in our lives.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Monday, January 31, 2011
PARAGUAY!!!!! - Part 3
So I lied in my last post, it is actually going to turn into a 4 part post, because I forgot that I had neglected to finish the journal for the last week of activity. so here is part three.
EASTERN PARAGUAY.
So what is is about eastern paraguay that is so special? Well nothing too much really, we went out to eastern paraguay (more central than anything) Paraguari and Escobar. WHile there we stayed at a place called ALMA which was intended to be a seminary but never really got going because it is literally in the middle of nowhere. It is in the bush and is just a little ways away from EScobar but right now it is just kind of sitting dormant, while the man there named Richard, works to keep it up and build more all on the Churches dime. Our group was quite frustrated with this, and it was quite interesting to see how some very nice facilities could be put to waste because of the lack of positioning, and the wrong purposes. OUr group also thought we had one hundred million better ideas of what to do with the place, some quite good. Yet, there it still sat when we left it dormant as ever.
WE arrived in Eastern Paraguay wet, and with quite the adventure and story to tell right off the bat. WE took the bus to Paraguari and got a truck to pick us up to take us to our residence. Yet, right when we were climbing in the back of the truck with the cover on, it started to rain. We tried to hole the cover down, but the rain just kept pelting us (some of us getting more wet than others). Me JOel and Bonnie were sitting closest to the front and of course we were just drenched as we tried to hold the tarp down so we did not get so wet. It still soaked us much to our enjoyment, and much laughter was had on this ride. We got to our destination and the rain had basically subsided and yet, we were drenched from head to toe. Almost right away we were ready to give the church there our program. We went to ALMA to get ready and eat some food and then we headed right to the church. The production went quite well and we really enjoyed the people of the Mennonite church there, they seemed to be quite into the program. Yet, we had a surprise waiting for us when we got back to our residences later that night. We were all tired from the 2 hour bus trip that going out to Eastern Paraguay gives us, and so we planned on heading to bed quite soon after our program but when we had gotten back to our residences, we noticed after stepping on the veranda that there were swarms of ants waiting for us. Turns out we were foolish to eat on the veranda and not clean up the crumbs after we were donje eating. So there we were in the dark, getting eaten ourselves by ants. So we gained some brooms and went to attacking ourselves, while some of the others went into the rooms and made sure there were none in the residences. Lucky for the guys there were none in our dorm. Unlucky for the girls the ants liked something in their room. There was a solid line of ants coming out of the girls room and it went on for quite some time. While all this was going on me and Alan took to sweeping the ants off the veranda for probably a good solid 20 minutes. Needless to say we never ate on that Veranda again. We headed to bed, and thus started our stint in Eastern Paraguay. O yea, and our pampered air conditioned, pillow ridden trip was about to be thwarted.
That night, was our first without pillows, and without air conditioning. I did not sleep well during this time. I came to realize how much more I love my pillow than actually the temperature of the room when I am sleeping. I tried almost every combination of clothes I had, along with almost all of them in the pillow case I had brought, but nothing could replace, and everything felt like rocks on my head. The only time I would come close to accomplishing any sort of comfort, and sustained sleep was when I rolled up some of my shorts into a U-shaped neck pillow and put the top of my head on that. This seemed to work, unfortunately, I only figured this out on our last night in Eastern Paraguay.
Sunday January 16th
We had another program at the same church this morning. We woke up ate breakfast, and were ready to go to the church to do what we knew how to do (or at least were learning how to do). We headed to the church and put on our program, this was the church that always had something for us as well. The night before they had put on a drama about two military men, one who went back for his friend despite orders not to. This morning their response to our program was a testimony from one of the guys that went to this church. He had been a Christian for 6 years, and he talked about how being a Christian was something that you worked for and that took hard work. It was not something that one could just get by on. THis was a good wake-up call, and a good thing to remember. We finished the service and had a barbecue with the people. We stuck around while some people played with the kids and some of us chatted and played guitar (I tried despite my lack of skill and actually got the guitar playing going surprise, surprise). Then after this meeting we said goodbye to the people, we would see some of them again the next Saturday at the wedding, and headed off to go for a swim. We went back to the residences (no ants this time) and got ourselves together. Then we headed for a swimming stream that was a couple kilometres away. We walked down the road and came to this house. A drunken man was there and Alan talked to him and we got permission to go swim in the stream that was a part of their property. It was a nice little wading stream that was a very nice refreshment from the heat of the day. We spent quite some time here and just enjoyed the cool water. We met some of the people from the church at this place, and some of the girls said hello. WE then went back to ALMA and hung around for a while. Steve enjoyed some tanning and got himself royally burnt (although only on his stomach, with a distinct white line on his back, and where his shorts were). WE ate supper and then we hung around and enjoyed the rest of the day.
Monday January 17th
Today was the day we were supposed to go and see the Campasino´s and what their lifestyle was like. However we got rained out, we basically spent the whole day just bumming around ALMA, and sleeping.
Tuesday January 18th
Today was one of the busier days on the trip. We headed out to Paraguari to go for a bit of a hike. We got to the church after picking up some of the local youth and headed out with about 15 of us and probably another 15 other people from Chile and the youth group in Paraguari. We basically rode the whole way standing on the back of the truck that we were in and enjoying the wind that was in our faces. We arrived at a house and from there we took off to tackle this mountain. It was quite an interesting climb, we were all of the sudden on sharp incline whereas jsut previously we had been walking through a farmers field. The rest of the hike was a combination fo barbed wire fence climb-overs and rock to rock climbing. There were some parts where some decent climbing was needed and one part the guides pulled out a rope that we used to traverse up some tree roots that were exposed. IT was actually quite enjoyable and surprisingly not too difficult. We got to the top and had such a wonderful view of the countryside and even of Paraguari. We climbed on the top of some of the rocks and looked out at the view, and some went to other peaks to look out over the countryside, when Adriana found a tarantula under a rock! We prodded it out from under the rock and trapped it in a sawed in two pop bottle, and watched it and took pictures of it. This was quite neat as we had not seen one up to date. We stayed up there for some time and then it was time to head back down. The climb down was definitely tougher than the climb up the mounatin but not too difficult we all got down in one piece. We joined at the same house and just relaxed and allowed the sun to beat down on us after a good hike. Dwight found some friends that were into the same metal music that he is into and they immediately connected naming off American bands that they both knew. This was quite enjoyable for everyone else as well. We travelled to Tropicana a Empanada place in Paraguari where we indulged in Empanada´s and pop for everybody. They were quite delicious, and we had our fill. We said goodbye to the friends we had made on our hike and headed back to the ALMA where we were staying. It had been a long day and we had to travel back to CEMTA the next day so we said goodbye.
WEdnesday January 19th.
This was a travelling day. We took the truck back to Paraguari (without rain this time) and took the bus back, and all of the sudden we were back at CEMTA (our home for the trip) . It was nice being in a place that we knew again and enjoying it. This time however we were anticipating not quite so comfortable a stay, as Alan told us they had no airconditioning, and such in the place we were at. This did not bother us too much we were just happy to be back at CEMTA. There was a German Mennonite convention going on that happens every eyar, and so 100 germans were in the CEMTA dorms, so they moved us to a house just off campus that they owned. To our surprise there was air-conditioning when we arrived, and to my delight a pillow so I could sleep through the night (which I had not really acheived a single night on the trip). Also before we hoped on the bus at Paraguari we purchased some Machete´s for the guys as souveniours and were mighty pleased with them. We also went back to Tropicana to have some more empanada´s before we left. WE woudl be coming back to Escobar for a wedding on Saturday, but only for the wedding not for anything else, and we would be going back to CEMTA that night as well. We enjoyed playing soccer with some of the Germans in the evening and enjoying a meal of roulcoocing and watermelon (a good mennonite meal) and slept in comfort that night. The girls did almsot experience some culture difference that they did not appreciate. They almost were not allowed to join in the soccer game, because they were girls and soccer was a physical sport, and they were not happy about it either. Yet, they got to play and everyone was happy.
Thursday January 20th
This was the day where we were touring and going to go shopping. And when we woke up it was raining. It seemed that many things had gotten cancelled already due to rain, and this time we did not want the rain to spoil our parade. We waited a little while longer than we had planned and then headed out in the rain to do what we could and see what we could. An hour busride later and we were in downtown Asuncion. We walked 15 minutes to the orphanage that was in Asuncion and saw the place where kids go to recieve schooling and get out of unhealthy family situations. It is run by Germans and many young adults come to help at the centre as internships and other volunteer opportunities. It was interesting to see this kind of program run by the germans, and to hear that they get 60 percent funding from churches of Paraguay and the other 40 percent they recieve on faith. This was quite the cool place to see how it was run, and was very interesting to be able to tour it. We kept going and saw the presidential palace, the pier, some monuments of the history of paraguay. Then we came to the Guarani shopping complex. It was just one street block of homemade shopping ornaments and things, that has been going on for many many years. It has been under the same roof for quite a while and so we did some shopping there and bought souvenirs for those at home. We then continued on to do some more shopping of soccer jerseys, and other paraphanelia. WE enjoyed a afternoon of looking in shops and buying things. I bought a soccer ball coincidentally at an Adidas outlet. The same store I bought a germany jersey previously in the trip. Yet, I still got deals on them, and so here we are at Cemta awaiting the next 6 days of things and then back home to the land of the free. Tomorrow is wedding planning. Saturday is the wedding. Sunday we are going to a church and then possibly going to barbecue (barbecue might be tuesday). Monday we are doing something I cannot remember. Tusday seems like a chill day before we leave. WEdnesday brings an early morning and another 24 time-span of flights and lay-overs. Homestretch, here we go!
EASTERN PARAGUAY.
So what is is about eastern paraguay that is so special? Well nothing too much really, we went out to eastern paraguay (more central than anything) Paraguari and Escobar. WHile there we stayed at a place called ALMA which was intended to be a seminary but never really got going because it is literally in the middle of nowhere. It is in the bush and is just a little ways away from EScobar but right now it is just kind of sitting dormant, while the man there named Richard, works to keep it up and build more all on the Churches dime. Our group was quite frustrated with this, and it was quite interesting to see how some very nice facilities could be put to waste because of the lack of positioning, and the wrong purposes. OUr group also thought we had one hundred million better ideas of what to do with the place, some quite good. Yet, there it still sat when we left it dormant as ever.
WE arrived in Eastern Paraguay wet, and with quite the adventure and story to tell right off the bat. WE took the bus to Paraguari and got a truck to pick us up to take us to our residence. Yet, right when we were climbing in the back of the truck with the cover on, it started to rain. We tried to hole the cover down, but the rain just kept pelting us (some of us getting more wet than others). Me JOel and Bonnie were sitting closest to the front and of course we were just drenched as we tried to hold the tarp down so we did not get so wet. It still soaked us much to our enjoyment, and much laughter was had on this ride. We got to our destination and the rain had basically subsided and yet, we were drenched from head to toe. Almost right away we were ready to give the church there our program. We went to ALMA to get ready and eat some food and then we headed right to the church. The production went quite well and we really enjoyed the people of the Mennonite church there, they seemed to be quite into the program. Yet, we had a surprise waiting for us when we got back to our residences later that night. We were all tired from the 2 hour bus trip that going out to Eastern Paraguay gives us, and so we planned on heading to bed quite soon after our program but when we had gotten back to our residences, we noticed after stepping on the veranda that there were swarms of ants waiting for us. Turns out we were foolish to eat on the veranda and not clean up the crumbs after we were donje eating. So there we were in the dark, getting eaten ourselves by ants. So we gained some brooms and went to attacking ourselves, while some of the others went into the rooms and made sure there were none in the residences. Lucky for the guys there were none in our dorm. Unlucky for the girls the ants liked something in their room. There was a solid line of ants coming out of the girls room and it went on for quite some time. While all this was going on me and Alan took to sweeping the ants off the veranda for probably a good solid 20 minutes. Needless to say we never ate on that Veranda again. We headed to bed, and thus started our stint in Eastern Paraguay. O yea, and our pampered air conditioned, pillow ridden trip was about to be thwarted.
That night, was our first without pillows, and without air conditioning. I did not sleep well during this time. I came to realize how much more I love my pillow than actually the temperature of the room when I am sleeping. I tried almost every combination of clothes I had, along with almost all of them in the pillow case I had brought, but nothing could replace, and everything felt like rocks on my head. The only time I would come close to accomplishing any sort of comfort, and sustained sleep was when I rolled up some of my shorts into a U-shaped neck pillow and put the top of my head on that. This seemed to work, unfortunately, I only figured this out on our last night in Eastern Paraguay.
Sunday January 16th
We had another program at the same church this morning. We woke up ate breakfast, and were ready to go to the church to do what we knew how to do (or at least were learning how to do). We headed to the church and put on our program, this was the church that always had something for us as well. The night before they had put on a drama about two military men, one who went back for his friend despite orders not to. This morning their response to our program was a testimony from one of the guys that went to this church. He had been a Christian for 6 years, and he talked about how being a Christian was something that you worked for and that took hard work. It was not something that one could just get by on. THis was a good wake-up call, and a good thing to remember. We finished the service and had a barbecue with the people. We stuck around while some people played with the kids and some of us chatted and played guitar (I tried despite my lack of skill and actually got the guitar playing going surprise, surprise). Then after this meeting we said goodbye to the people, we would see some of them again the next Saturday at the wedding, and headed off to go for a swim. We went back to the residences (no ants this time) and got ourselves together. Then we headed for a swimming stream that was a couple kilometres away. We walked down the road and came to this house. A drunken man was there and Alan talked to him and we got permission to go swim in the stream that was a part of their property. It was a nice little wading stream that was a very nice refreshment from the heat of the day. We spent quite some time here and just enjoyed the cool water. We met some of the people from the church at this place, and some of the girls said hello. WE then went back to ALMA and hung around for a while. Steve enjoyed some tanning and got himself royally burnt (although only on his stomach, with a distinct white line on his back, and where his shorts were). WE ate supper and then we hung around and enjoyed the rest of the day.
Monday January 17th
Today was the day we were supposed to go and see the Campasino´s and what their lifestyle was like. However we got rained out, we basically spent the whole day just bumming around ALMA, and sleeping.
Tuesday January 18th
Today was one of the busier days on the trip. We headed out to Paraguari to go for a bit of a hike. We got to the church after picking up some of the local youth and headed out with about 15 of us and probably another 15 other people from Chile and the youth group in Paraguari. We basically rode the whole way standing on the back of the truck that we were in and enjoying the wind that was in our faces. We arrived at a house and from there we took off to tackle this mountain. It was quite an interesting climb, we were all of the sudden on sharp incline whereas jsut previously we had been walking through a farmers field. The rest of the hike was a combination fo barbed wire fence climb-overs and rock to rock climbing. There were some parts where some decent climbing was needed and one part the guides pulled out a rope that we used to traverse up some tree roots that were exposed. IT was actually quite enjoyable and surprisingly not too difficult. We got to the top and had such a wonderful view of the countryside and even of Paraguari. We climbed on the top of some of the rocks and looked out at the view, and some went to other peaks to look out over the countryside, when Adriana found a tarantula under a rock! We prodded it out from under the rock and trapped it in a sawed in two pop bottle, and watched it and took pictures of it. This was quite neat as we had not seen one up to date. We stayed up there for some time and then it was time to head back down. The climb down was definitely tougher than the climb up the mounatin but not too difficult we all got down in one piece. We joined at the same house and just relaxed and allowed the sun to beat down on us after a good hike. Dwight found some friends that were into the same metal music that he is into and they immediately connected naming off American bands that they both knew. This was quite enjoyable for everyone else as well. We travelled to Tropicana a Empanada place in Paraguari where we indulged in Empanada´s and pop for everybody. They were quite delicious, and we had our fill. We said goodbye to the friends we had made on our hike and headed back to the ALMA where we were staying. It had been a long day and we had to travel back to CEMTA the next day so we said goodbye.
WEdnesday January 19th.
This was a travelling day. We took the truck back to Paraguari (without rain this time) and took the bus back, and all of the sudden we were back at CEMTA (our home for the trip) . It was nice being in a place that we knew again and enjoying it. This time however we were anticipating not quite so comfortable a stay, as Alan told us they had no airconditioning, and such in the place we were at. This did not bother us too much we were just happy to be back at CEMTA. There was a German Mennonite convention going on that happens every eyar, and so 100 germans were in the CEMTA dorms, so they moved us to a house just off campus that they owned. To our surprise there was air-conditioning when we arrived, and to my delight a pillow so I could sleep through the night (which I had not really acheived a single night on the trip). Also before we hoped on the bus at Paraguari we purchased some Machete´s for the guys as souveniours and were mighty pleased with them. We also went back to Tropicana to have some more empanada´s before we left. WE woudl be coming back to Escobar for a wedding on Saturday, but only for the wedding not for anything else, and we would be going back to CEMTA that night as well. We enjoyed playing soccer with some of the Germans in the evening and enjoying a meal of roulcoocing and watermelon (a good mennonite meal) and slept in comfort that night. The girls did almsot experience some culture difference that they did not appreciate. They almost were not allowed to join in the soccer game, because they were girls and soccer was a physical sport, and they were not happy about it either. Yet, they got to play and everyone was happy.
Thursday January 20th
This was the day where we were touring and going to go shopping. And when we woke up it was raining. It seemed that many things had gotten cancelled already due to rain, and this time we did not want the rain to spoil our parade. We waited a little while longer than we had planned and then headed out in the rain to do what we could and see what we could. An hour busride later and we were in downtown Asuncion. We walked 15 minutes to the orphanage that was in Asuncion and saw the place where kids go to recieve schooling and get out of unhealthy family situations. It is run by Germans and many young adults come to help at the centre as internships and other volunteer opportunities. It was interesting to see this kind of program run by the germans, and to hear that they get 60 percent funding from churches of Paraguay and the other 40 percent they recieve on faith. This was quite the cool place to see how it was run, and was very interesting to be able to tour it. We kept going and saw the presidential palace, the pier, some monuments of the history of paraguay. Then we came to the Guarani shopping complex. It was just one street block of homemade shopping ornaments and things, that has been going on for many many years. It has been under the same roof for quite a while and so we did some shopping there and bought souvenirs for those at home. We then continued on to do some more shopping of soccer jerseys, and other paraphanelia. WE enjoyed a afternoon of looking in shops and buying things. I bought a soccer ball coincidentally at an Adidas outlet. The same store I bought a germany jersey previously in the trip. Yet, I still got deals on them, and so here we are at Cemta awaiting the next 6 days of things and then back home to the land of the free. Tomorrow is wedding planning. Saturday is the wedding. Sunday we are going to a church and then possibly going to barbecue (barbecue might be tuesday). Monday we are doing something I cannot remember. Tusday seems like a chill day before we leave. WEdnesday brings an early morning and another 24 time-span of flights and lay-overs. Homestretch, here we go!
PARAGUAY!!!! - Part 2
This is a continuation of my three part paraguay journal...
WEdnesday January 12th.
Well as much as I want to say this day was very interesting it wasn´t. WE went toi filadelphia in the Chaco in order to catch our bus, and went to a museum. This showed some artifacts from German refugees and also some animals that had been taxidermeed that could be found in Paraguay. THis was fairly interesting but we were all pretty tired from the previous day. However we got onto the bus and to our surprise the whole trip was air conditioned! We had gotten lucky this far, as every place we had slept had been air conditioned. We knew our luck was going to run-out but not for at least another three days, as we were headed back to CEMTA to have some classes and have a day off.
Thursday Januy 13th.
This day was one of the most interesting as far as ideas go. We were in classes for close to six hours of the day and were being taught by a Argentinian professor named Diego. He talked about the problems the church was having among many other things to do with history and suich. I found it interesting that he explained that the church was just something everyone did. It was a ritual and the people did not really do it because of personal conviction. They had picked their leaders because of how well they could speak, not by what they were saying and the church was really full of people that were doing things that were not really for GOD. He explained that the missionaries in the history had brought a dead Christ to the land. They brought images of Jesus on the Cross and in doing so had brought Catholicism into the mix. People worship mary because that is the only way to speak to a dead God. Yet, the natives also worship mary yet behind mary is the God they were worshipping before the missionaries had brought Jesus and the gospel to people. They were merely worshipping this thing through Mary, as almost a decoy to the fact that they were worshipping something other than Mary. I FOUND IT INTERESTING THAT this problem seemed to be a lot like North America because there are people who just don´t want to believe in God because of whatever reason. Yet, there are people in South America who say they believe in God but have not reason behind it. They kind of fit together in one big mess. To reach both of these groups you have to meet them where they are at and be a part of their life. It is not about merely showing up and telling them something and expecting them to understand and follow it to the letter. It is not about a set of lists that people need to follow. It is really about discipleship and showing people and guiding them in the way that they are supposed to be going. He had many good points and it is hard to remember them all, I only wish I could. But there is enough here to brew over and try and understand. People in NORTh america might say they are christians and worship god just as a decoy to what they are really worshipping, just like South Americans, North Americans worship money, time, and many other things. When does that change, how does that change.
Friday January 14th.
We had a day off today. Found a German National Soccer jersey for 40 american bucks, or 180 000 GUARANI. steal of a deal; and its not even a fake: ´that´s about all for today so far. Now to east paraguay. Stay tuned for more.
WEdnesday January 12th.
Well as much as I want to say this day was very interesting it wasn´t. WE went toi filadelphia in the Chaco in order to catch our bus, and went to a museum. This showed some artifacts from German refugees and also some animals that had been taxidermeed that could be found in Paraguay. THis was fairly interesting but we were all pretty tired from the previous day. However we got onto the bus and to our surprise the whole trip was air conditioned! We had gotten lucky this far, as every place we had slept had been air conditioned. We knew our luck was going to run-out but not for at least another three days, as we were headed back to CEMTA to have some classes and have a day off.
Thursday Januy 13th.
This day was one of the most interesting as far as ideas go. We were in classes for close to six hours of the day and were being taught by a Argentinian professor named Diego. He talked about the problems the church was having among many other things to do with history and suich. I found it interesting that he explained that the church was just something everyone did. It was a ritual and the people did not really do it because of personal conviction. They had picked their leaders because of how well they could speak, not by what they were saying and the church was really full of people that were doing things that were not really for GOD. He explained that the missionaries in the history had brought a dead Christ to the land. They brought images of Jesus on the Cross and in doing so had brought Catholicism into the mix. People worship mary because that is the only way to speak to a dead God. Yet, the natives also worship mary yet behind mary is the God they were worshipping before the missionaries had brought Jesus and the gospel to people. They were merely worshipping this thing through Mary, as almost a decoy to the fact that they were worshipping something other than Mary. I FOUND IT INTERESTING THAT this problem seemed to be a lot like North America because there are people who just don´t want to believe in God because of whatever reason. Yet, there are people in South America who say they believe in God but have not reason behind it. They kind of fit together in one big mess. To reach both of these groups you have to meet them where they are at and be a part of their life. It is not about merely showing up and telling them something and expecting them to understand and follow it to the letter. It is not about a set of lists that people need to follow. It is really about discipleship and showing people and guiding them in the way that they are supposed to be going. He had many good points and it is hard to remember them all, I only wish I could. But there is enough here to brew over and try and understand. People in NORTh america might say they are christians and worship god just as a decoy to what they are really worshipping, just like South Americans, North Americans worship money, time, and many other things. When does that change, how does that change.
Friday January 14th.
We had a day off today. Found a German National Soccer jersey for 40 american bucks, or 180 000 GUARANI. steal of a deal; and its not even a fake: ´that´s about all for today so far. Now to east paraguay. Stay tuned for more.
PARAGUAY!!!!! - Part 1
So if you did not know, I went to Paraguay for three weeks with my third year class here at bethany. The following post is my journal of events that I kept while I was down there so I would remember. This is my chance to share some experiences and lessons that were learned down there with you.
We arrived in Paraguay on Friday January the 7th. From here we were picked up at the airport and driven to Cemta in San Lorenzo where we would make our ¨home base¨ for the next couple weeks. Saturday we were already up and at it. We headed to the Chaco by bus in order to get to Yalva Sanga. The bus trip was an interesting one as we spent 6 hours on it and fell asleep to nice cool air conditioning and woke up to hot humid heat. This was a unpleasant surprise but we did make it there eventually. We got to Yalva Sanga and were greeted by an ambulance. Not because anyone was injured but because that was the bus that would carry us around for the next 5 days.
Our host in Yalva Sanga, Rennvik Reimer showed us our places where we would be staying and we went to bed fairly quickly after the long day of travelling. Although we were already getting used to the idea of Tarade every day multiple times a day. Sunday we woke up with the expectation of presenting for the Inclet church, and so we woke up got ready and headed to this church. We had already bonded with Rennvik the night before and could tell he was going to be a fun guy. He is 24 and attended CEMTA and is working with the natives in the bible school in Yalva Sanga. We completed our first presentation and got ready to present again in the evening. THis time at a Evenclay church. Before this we went back to Rennvik´s house for lunch and some Siesta (which we were about to get used to in Paraguay). We also headed out to a dugout to do some swimming. While the water was not particularily clean it was a lot of fun having mud wars, and just sitting in the nice cold-warm water. We arrived at the Evenclay church and sat right up front at the stage. THis was interesting and kind of awkward as we were all pretty tired, yet we had no chance of zoning out at this service. The service went well and we were greeted with basically a recieving line of native people. We eneded up staying up and joking some more with Rennvik, while of course drinking tarade. While also enjoying a rain storm that came in and dropped 160 mm of rain in the next three- quarters of a day.
Monday January 10
Because of the rain we were not quite sure if we were going to be able to go to La Huerta (the agricultural school) because of the roads and other conditions. So in the morning we ended up walking around the streets of mud and touring the town of Yalva Sanga. Rennvik showed us the hospital and the school and explained to us that the native people are always split between guys and girls. There is marriage at a very early age, because they cannot really interact with one another unless they are married. and because of this the students at the bible school MUST be married. He also told us about how the students pay 80 dolllars a year to go to school and live at school, they get fed and a place to live. They can go home at Christmas and holidays and long weekends but many stay because the conditions of the school are better than their home conditions. We had a fun time walking through the mud and taking pictures. Eventually the day cleared up and we got to go to La Huerta. THIS IS an agricultural school for boys that takes boys in and teaches them how to work, basically. They come and learn how to build stools for milking and other projects and with it they can recieve their high school learning diploma as well as a college agriculture degree. The boys live on the farms and farm their own plots. THe school is run by four teachers and has a great amount of land. Among other things the boys do on the school is play soccer. THis was our first time playing soccer since we had arrived and we were sweating out of every part of our body but having fun doing it. THEY Were quite good little soccer players, even though they were all 14-18 years old. We did a program in the eveing and the boys seemed to really enjoy it despite our lack of spanish speaking abilities. It was interesting having to have everything translated and was hard to stay focused, but I WAS starting to pick up some words.
Tuesday January 11th
WE travelled to another part of the chaco. This tme we headed to Neueland. We arrived and the tour started. We arrived in this small town that seemed to be built around the ¨Co-op¨ and were in the middle of the German Hub of the Chaco. Our guide, Heinz, led us around tellling us about how the woman of the Chaco were the ones that helped it survive. They were the ones that did the farming and if it were not for them the Germans would not be in the Chaco doing all they are for that community to this day. We got to go to our billets for lunch, and me and Chris met our lovely billets named Kathy and Herman. She spoke broken English and was a very sweet lady. He spoke almost no English and so it was hard to communicate with him. We ended up drinking tarade on their porch me, chris, and herman and sitting in silence. Me and Chris did not know what to really say in our broken German, and I´m sure he was in the same boat but at first impression he seemed kind of grumpy. Later Kathy would tell us that he was suffering from heart failure. Their doctor had told him that his heart was at about 35% and he would not be able to do much else other than sit around all day. Which is hard for a cattle rancher and man who likes to work with his hands fixing everything he can lay his hands on. We went back to our tour of Neueland after lunch and went in for a presentation about what the Mennonites are doing in the Chaco area. They told us about their missional perspective and what they were already doing. THEY HAD partnered with the natives and were offering them jobs and places to live, and were doing what they could to provide but not just give things as a gift to the natives. They were working at initiatives that would allow the natives to provide for themselves without living in poverty. Yet, in fact the most natives around Paraguay have the basic essentials. They have food and water, and they normally like sleeping under the stars so even if you give them a house, unless it is rainging they will sleep outside anyway. We went to a museum and to Heinz´s house in the next part of the tour and he was a very nice good tour guide. WE then went back to our billet´s for supper before we wre to head off to the GERMAN YOUTH group that was meeting that evening. We went to our billet´s house and to our surprise Herman was woodworking. He was turning candle holders. He had learned wood turning and was doing it as a hobby. This was one of the few things he could do, and he did it a lot. Their house was full of things he had made big and small, and now all he could do was the small things. He could turn a candle holder or a guampa in 30 minutes to an hour, easily. The hard part was getting the wood to do it and from then on he would finish it in no time. One surprise we found while he was doing this that to finish off the product, he would use old jeans and run them along the turning product. This would create a nice smooth shine, and we were astonished. WE ate supper and headed out to youth group.
While at youth group we talked with the youth (through a translator) that they were having a tough time dealing with being lukewarm and not having to live like a Christian despite the fact that they were in a Christian group. They found it hard to be a light in a place where it did not seem that light was needed. I found it interesting that this was some of the same things that Christians in Canada deal with, and found that we need to keep supporting these people through prayer even if we are a couple continents apart. It was a good moment to see that these problems were not North american exclusive. We then got our second opportunity to play soccer although in a way nicer temperature because the sun had already gone down.
We arrived in Paraguay on Friday January the 7th. From here we were picked up at the airport and driven to Cemta in San Lorenzo where we would make our ¨home base¨ for the next couple weeks. Saturday we were already up and at it. We headed to the Chaco by bus in order to get to Yalva Sanga. The bus trip was an interesting one as we spent 6 hours on it and fell asleep to nice cool air conditioning and woke up to hot humid heat. This was a unpleasant surprise but we did make it there eventually. We got to Yalva Sanga and were greeted by an ambulance. Not because anyone was injured but because that was the bus that would carry us around for the next 5 days.
Our host in Yalva Sanga, Rennvik Reimer showed us our places where we would be staying and we went to bed fairly quickly after the long day of travelling. Although we were already getting used to the idea of Tarade every day multiple times a day. Sunday we woke up with the expectation of presenting for the Inclet church, and so we woke up got ready and headed to this church. We had already bonded with Rennvik the night before and could tell he was going to be a fun guy. He is 24 and attended CEMTA and is working with the natives in the bible school in Yalva Sanga. We completed our first presentation and got ready to present again in the evening. THis time at a Evenclay church. Before this we went back to Rennvik´s house for lunch and some Siesta (which we were about to get used to in Paraguay). We also headed out to a dugout to do some swimming. While the water was not particularily clean it was a lot of fun having mud wars, and just sitting in the nice cold-warm water. We arrived at the Evenclay church and sat right up front at the stage. THis was interesting and kind of awkward as we were all pretty tired, yet we had no chance of zoning out at this service. The service went well and we were greeted with basically a recieving line of native people. We eneded up staying up and joking some more with Rennvik, while of course drinking tarade. While also enjoying a rain storm that came in and dropped 160 mm of rain in the next three- quarters of a day.
Monday January 10
Because of the rain we were not quite sure if we were going to be able to go to La Huerta (the agricultural school) because of the roads and other conditions. So in the morning we ended up walking around the streets of mud and touring the town of Yalva Sanga. Rennvik showed us the hospital and the school and explained to us that the native people are always split between guys and girls. There is marriage at a very early age, because they cannot really interact with one another unless they are married. and because of this the students at the bible school MUST be married. He also told us about how the students pay 80 dolllars a year to go to school and live at school, they get fed and a place to live. They can go home at Christmas and holidays and long weekends but many stay because the conditions of the school are better than their home conditions. We had a fun time walking through the mud and taking pictures. Eventually the day cleared up and we got to go to La Huerta. THIS IS an agricultural school for boys that takes boys in and teaches them how to work, basically. They come and learn how to build stools for milking and other projects and with it they can recieve their high school learning diploma as well as a college agriculture degree. The boys live on the farms and farm their own plots. THe school is run by four teachers and has a great amount of land. Among other things the boys do on the school is play soccer. THis was our first time playing soccer since we had arrived and we were sweating out of every part of our body but having fun doing it. THEY Were quite good little soccer players, even though they were all 14-18 years old. We did a program in the eveing and the boys seemed to really enjoy it despite our lack of spanish speaking abilities. It was interesting having to have everything translated and was hard to stay focused, but I WAS starting to pick up some words.
Tuesday January 11th
WE travelled to another part of the chaco. This tme we headed to Neueland. We arrived and the tour started. We arrived in this small town that seemed to be built around the ¨Co-op¨ and were in the middle of the German Hub of the Chaco. Our guide, Heinz, led us around tellling us about how the woman of the Chaco were the ones that helped it survive. They were the ones that did the farming and if it were not for them the Germans would not be in the Chaco doing all they are for that community to this day. We got to go to our billets for lunch, and me and Chris met our lovely billets named Kathy and Herman. She spoke broken English and was a very sweet lady. He spoke almost no English and so it was hard to communicate with him. We ended up drinking tarade on their porch me, chris, and herman and sitting in silence. Me and Chris did not know what to really say in our broken German, and I´m sure he was in the same boat but at first impression he seemed kind of grumpy. Later Kathy would tell us that he was suffering from heart failure. Their doctor had told him that his heart was at about 35% and he would not be able to do much else other than sit around all day. Which is hard for a cattle rancher and man who likes to work with his hands fixing everything he can lay his hands on. We went back to our tour of Neueland after lunch and went in for a presentation about what the Mennonites are doing in the Chaco area. They told us about their missional perspective and what they were already doing. THEY HAD partnered with the natives and were offering them jobs and places to live, and were doing what they could to provide but not just give things as a gift to the natives. They were working at initiatives that would allow the natives to provide for themselves without living in poverty. Yet, in fact the most natives around Paraguay have the basic essentials. They have food and water, and they normally like sleeping under the stars so even if you give them a house, unless it is rainging they will sleep outside anyway. We went to a museum and to Heinz´s house in the next part of the tour and he was a very nice good tour guide. WE then went back to our billet´s for supper before we wre to head off to the GERMAN YOUTH group that was meeting that evening. We went to our billet´s house and to our surprise Herman was woodworking. He was turning candle holders. He had learned wood turning and was doing it as a hobby. This was one of the few things he could do, and he did it a lot. Their house was full of things he had made big and small, and now all he could do was the small things. He could turn a candle holder or a guampa in 30 minutes to an hour, easily. The hard part was getting the wood to do it and from then on he would finish it in no time. One surprise we found while he was doing this that to finish off the product, he would use old jeans and run them along the turning product. This would create a nice smooth shine, and we were astonished. WE ate supper and headed out to youth group.
While at youth group we talked with the youth (through a translator) that they were having a tough time dealing with being lukewarm and not having to live like a Christian despite the fact that they were in a Christian group. They found it hard to be a light in a place where it did not seem that light was needed. I found it interesting that this was some of the same things that Christians in Canada deal with, and found that we need to keep supporting these people through prayer even if we are a couple continents apart. It was a good moment to see that these problems were not North american exclusive. We then got our second opportunity to play soccer although in a way nicer temperature because the sun had already gone down.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
The Battle for Your Heart.
I recently read a book by one of my favorite authors. Yes, that is right for all of you who do not particularly like reading, I read a book. It was called Immanuel's Veins by Ted Dekker. Now I like Ted Dekker for many reasons but one of those many is the fact that he implements biblical principles and salvation in almost all of his books. There is a direct tie to the story of the Bible. Some books this is easier or harder to find, but it is almost always there. Anyway in the particular book I was caught up in how explicit this salvation message is, and I was mesmerized by the storyline itself. This particular one tended to seem odder than the others, because there seemed to be a link to vampires. I was a little disappointed Ted would jump on the Vampire bandwagon but i continued reading because the fact is, it was still enticing enough to let me continue.
I came to a point in this book where the main character comes to a realization. The battle between good and evil is so crucial because while they are in opposition to each other they are both in contest for the same thing. The hearts of people. Satan tries to win the hearts of people here on earth just as much as God does. While this may seem like a pretty basic realization, it gets more interesting. There are two different ways that each party goes about trying to win the hearts of those around them. The devil uses seduction and temptation to pull people in and believe that it is love. God uses something that seems really lame at first glance, but can really only be described with two words: true love. He uses true love and a genuine kind of love in order to woo us. These can easily look the same in the beginning stages, it may seem like something is enticing and true love when really it is just seduction but there are little markers that point us to seduction and others that point us to true love. If you are expecting me to lay out those markers, I am sorry to disappoint you, because I believe that they change. There are some that are pretty obvious, but I do not want to venture there here.
Yet, there is another part to this challenge. In this realization that there are two sides trying to woo our hearts, there comes a point where we have to choose. There are many little choices that lead to this choice and those choices are crucial. The choice remains in our hearts about what we really desire. At the core we desire, long, yearn for true love. (if it helps just imagine the priest from Princess' Bride). All humanity is aching for a chance to be loved genuinely. To be wanted in a way that no person is able to give. To be cherished for everything that they are and to be chosen by someone who loves them in this way. This is something that many would think is the job of a man to give to a woman. To make that choice about who they love, and that woman are mainly longing for that man to come and choose them. Yet, I think that men have that same longing. We long for this, and we also long for the ability to choose someone who we love unconditionally. We long for some kind of love that is pure and that knows no bounds. (Here is where I add my disclaimer, for many this may seem like marriage that i am talking about, but you would be wrong. I believe that marriage can give us some of this but it only hints at something greater). We long to be chosen by one who yearns for us so deeply that they would do anything for us. We have that person in God. A man named Jesus Christ did 'anything' for us by putting himself through the worst pain on the cross. He loves us deeply. This may seem like an old message to most people reading this.
So the question I have for us is, are we loving him back? He has chosen to love us unconditionally, to give us a love that we are craving!!! He wants to love us so deeply that we can not even grasp it, and yet we prostitute ourselves to the things of this world and give lip service to the fact that we love God. I do not want this to come across as a mopping that we do not love God. yet we say that we love God and we do things to express that love, and yet when did love become about simply doing things for the one you love? Last time I checked, it took a lot more than constantly doing things for the one you love. We need to come to a point as Christians where we continue to do things to express our love for Christ, but also need to continually realize this love, and keep choosing the love we have for Christ instead of the seduction that the devil is offering at every turn. It is a realization and a thing about the heart, and about the head. Whoever said love is blind was lying, because love sees and recognizes and chooses to love even more because of that realization. I want to develop a passionate love for god that is more than just action and lip service. I hope you want that too and are willing to join me in this.
Yours Truly,
Nick Poetker
I came to a point in this book where the main character comes to a realization. The battle between good and evil is so crucial because while they are in opposition to each other they are both in contest for the same thing. The hearts of people. Satan tries to win the hearts of people here on earth just as much as God does. While this may seem like a pretty basic realization, it gets more interesting. There are two different ways that each party goes about trying to win the hearts of those around them. The devil uses seduction and temptation to pull people in and believe that it is love. God uses something that seems really lame at first glance, but can really only be described with two words: true love. He uses true love and a genuine kind of love in order to woo us. These can easily look the same in the beginning stages, it may seem like something is enticing and true love when really it is just seduction but there are little markers that point us to seduction and others that point us to true love. If you are expecting me to lay out those markers, I am sorry to disappoint you, because I believe that they change. There are some that are pretty obvious, but I do not want to venture there here.
Yet, there is another part to this challenge. In this realization that there are two sides trying to woo our hearts, there comes a point where we have to choose. There are many little choices that lead to this choice and those choices are crucial. The choice remains in our hearts about what we really desire. At the core we desire, long, yearn for true love. (if it helps just imagine the priest from Princess' Bride). All humanity is aching for a chance to be loved genuinely. To be wanted in a way that no person is able to give. To be cherished for everything that they are and to be chosen by someone who loves them in this way. This is something that many would think is the job of a man to give to a woman. To make that choice about who they love, and that woman are mainly longing for that man to come and choose them. Yet, I think that men have that same longing. We long for this, and we also long for the ability to choose someone who we love unconditionally. We long for some kind of love that is pure and that knows no bounds. (Here is where I add my disclaimer, for many this may seem like marriage that i am talking about, but you would be wrong. I believe that marriage can give us some of this but it only hints at something greater). We long to be chosen by one who yearns for us so deeply that they would do anything for us. We have that person in God. A man named Jesus Christ did 'anything' for us by putting himself through the worst pain on the cross. He loves us deeply. This may seem like an old message to most people reading this.
So the question I have for us is, are we loving him back? He has chosen to love us unconditionally, to give us a love that we are craving!!! He wants to love us so deeply that we can not even grasp it, and yet we prostitute ourselves to the things of this world and give lip service to the fact that we love God. I do not want this to come across as a mopping that we do not love God. yet we say that we love God and we do things to express that love, and yet when did love become about simply doing things for the one you love? Last time I checked, it took a lot more than constantly doing things for the one you love. We need to come to a point as Christians where we continue to do things to express our love for Christ, but also need to continually realize this love, and keep choosing the love we have for Christ instead of the seduction that the devil is offering at every turn. It is a realization and a thing about the heart, and about the head. Whoever said love is blind was lying, because love sees and recognizes and chooses to love even more because of that realization. I want to develop a passionate love for god that is more than just action and lip service. I hope you want that too and are willing to join me in this.
Yours Truly,
Nick Poetker
I'm still here!
One year,
That is about how long it has been since I have posted anything. Is it because I have nothing to say? No. That is not it at all, it is just a lack of sharing on my part. The real challenge is I do not know if anyone is still even checking or will come back to read any of these. It is something that I have not committed to and you better believe I am coming back with a vengeance because I have things to say.
I could care less if anyone reads them, all it takes is for one person to read them, and find some truth in them that they can cling to and it would all be worth it. "It's worth it all if theirs just one that sees you, feels you". These are the lyrics about a disciple song called Worth It All. And they are powerful words. Something that is hard to believe sometimes. In a society so caught up in the numbers game, can we ever believe that one person is worth it all? What about everybody else out there that does not know the name of God. What about every other person out there that is hurting in some way, and we know the answer to their problems but they just won't listen? What about all the people out there that have bitterness and anger towards a God they barely even believe in, but find a way to put the blame on him anyway? Is it really worth it all for just one person when the people that I love and care about are rejecting God and in the process turning their back on the one thing that I know they are longing for but just have not been able to find in the confines of religion?
It is worth it all. If we truly serve a God that would send his son to die for just one person, that would come and die if I (or you) were the only person on earth, how can we not have the same attitude towards those around us? we work so hard to change three or four friends and get them to accept Christ, and we think about how many people we can influence with our lives, yet what about just trying to live your life for Christ, and in the process working on being that light, and praying that God would bring you one. You can't possibly expect to help this one person anyway. It is God's mission to save the world not yours. God calls us to take his message to the world, sure that it good, do that. But don't expect you to be the one to be able to walk with people and disciple many. Jesus chose twelve. Within those twelve were three close disciples. If this was Jesus style of discipleship should we not model it?
I challenge whoever may read this to work on helping two or three around you. Christian or non-christian, do not neglect the others that need to hear the message of God, but have a particular focus for two or three... see what happens.
Yours Truly,
Nick Poetker
That is about how long it has been since I have posted anything. Is it because I have nothing to say? No. That is not it at all, it is just a lack of sharing on my part. The real challenge is I do not know if anyone is still even checking or will come back to read any of these. It is something that I have not committed to and you better believe I am coming back with a vengeance because I have things to say.
I could care less if anyone reads them, all it takes is for one person to read them, and find some truth in them that they can cling to and it would all be worth it. "It's worth it all if theirs just one that sees you, feels you". These are the lyrics about a disciple song called Worth It All. And they are powerful words. Something that is hard to believe sometimes. In a society so caught up in the numbers game, can we ever believe that one person is worth it all? What about everybody else out there that does not know the name of God. What about every other person out there that is hurting in some way, and we know the answer to their problems but they just won't listen? What about all the people out there that have bitterness and anger towards a God they barely even believe in, but find a way to put the blame on him anyway? Is it really worth it all for just one person when the people that I love and care about are rejecting God and in the process turning their back on the one thing that I know they are longing for but just have not been able to find in the confines of religion?
It is worth it all. If we truly serve a God that would send his son to die for just one person, that would come and die if I (or you) were the only person on earth, how can we not have the same attitude towards those around us? we work so hard to change three or four friends and get them to accept Christ, and we think about how many people we can influence with our lives, yet what about just trying to live your life for Christ, and in the process working on being that light, and praying that God would bring you one. You can't possibly expect to help this one person anyway. It is God's mission to save the world not yours. God calls us to take his message to the world, sure that it good, do that. But don't expect you to be the one to be able to walk with people and disciple many. Jesus chose twelve. Within those twelve were three close disciples. If this was Jesus style of discipleship should we not model it?
I challenge whoever may read this to work on helping two or three around you. Christian or non-christian, do not neglect the others that need to hear the message of God, but have a particular focus for two or three... see what happens.
Yours Truly,
Nick Poetker
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Astonishment!!!!
Matthew 8:10 is one verse that has given me something to think about lately. "When Jesus heard him, he was amazed..." (NRSV). In the NIV it says Jesus was astonished! This may seem like a "yea so?" statement but I think there is something more to it. We as Christians put Jesus on this pedestal and rightfully so... but I know many times that I forget he was fully human. FULLY human. Now this seems like such a trivial thing when we are looking at the life of Jesus but I think it is more mind boggling than first glance. We think that Jesus was perfect, and he was, and I have tended to associate this with thinking he was a conservative, laid back, 'goody two shoes' type person, who did everything right. Now not saying all of this is wrong thinking, but I think that we forget the human form of him. Sure he was perfect and did everything according to his father's (GOD's) plan. Yet, Jesus was astonished. WE forget the emotion and the trivial things that go along with this. It could seem stupid to you, but this is a bigger deal than I think. Jesus walked this earth, he was a real being, even those who don't believe that God is real believe there was a man named Jesus who walked the earth. He had feelings like amazement, anger, sadness, depression?, hurt?, pain, joy, sorrow... I think you get the point. WE think that God understands what we go through, we believe this because he is GOd and he knows all. But I think we should also believe this because he knows what it feels like. He was human he has gone through the emotions and the trials and temptations of our human skin. He understands because he has encountered, and defeated! Not simply because he is God. He needed to eat to replenish his body. He needed to go to the washroom. He cheered on the Calgary Flames despite a 9 game losing streak (ok maybe not quite that far, but maybe). He understands humanity, he empathizes perfectly with humanity because he has felt all these things, he has been FULLY human, and understands ALL that comes with it.
Yes, Jesus came to earth as God in human form, but we also must remember that he was fully human as well and the implications that this means. Once we do I think that it gives us a whole new meaning to who God is. Plus the fact that it is amazing that the God who knows everything came down to earth and was "amazed".
Yes, Jesus came to earth as God in human form, but we also must remember that he was fully human as well and the implications that this means. Once we do I think that it gives us a whole new meaning to who God is. Plus the fact that it is amazing that the God who knows everything came down to earth and was "amazed".
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