“We all need help…I need help”

This past week, during the Thursday night campfire service, I taught (or whatever you wanna call it) about God’s love for the campers. To be honest, I didn’t feel as prepared as I would have liked to have felt. I also don’t think that I portrayed God’s love in a totally accurate fashion.

But how can we? I understand semi-completely that I am inadequate to fully teach on (or even understand) any characteristic of God.

I walked away from that chapel service believing I had gone around in circles only to confuse and lose the interest of the campers. Then God had to sit me down and tell me, once again, that He would do the work and I just had to be willing to obey him.

That’s nice to know! =)

Everywhere in the world right now are people who seriously believe with everything they can muster that there is no one on earth or above that gives any shred of care for them. Who is going to knock on their door and show them love? Tell them of love? Tell them of the most perfect, thirst quenching, undeniable love that exists in the universe?

Hollywood?

America?

The increasingly growing population of Muslims?

Or the faithful to Christ?

If we don’t, someone else will. If someone else does, then the lost and lonely hook on to whatever shimmer of hope anyone (and everyone) else will offer…only to find themselves just as lonely after realizing that what everyone has to offer breaks and crumbles.

Lets go folks. You don’t have to stand on the sidewalk and face the crowds, yelling loudly that God is love and only His love will suffice (a true statement). But you can tell your friends, family and those who collide with on a daily basis in little or big ways.

Just pass on the message: God loves you and wants you to know Him for who He really is, the one and only God. And I love you too, I care about you.

Another go-round

On this Thursday night, after a run to Wal-Mart with the guys and now waiting for the washing machine to finish and I can transfer the clothes to the dryer, I find myself once again in Kingsport, Tennessee.

I am the activity director….guy…person…wannabe.

Unexpectedly, I’m back at Bancroft Bible Camp. Partly because I need the money and a job…but also because God has called me back here and for a reason, that I’m sure.

I’ve been down here for three days now though it feels like weeks. Haven’t seen any campers yet, just preparing for teen week next week. After a near emotional break down on Tuesday night, I’ve gathered strength from my brothers here and from prayer time with God.

Lesson learned: my plans are insufficient – they do not lead to happiness, fulfillment, or contribute glory to God. Yet His plans give me everything as well as challenge and stretch me. I’m nervous about what will happen the ten weeks of camp that I have to get activities together for…but also anticipating serving God and glorifying Him and looking back on this time in the future to see God’s blessing and grace.

Long live the King.

10:45 pm May 28, 2009

Still strolling and whistling in the rain

Since last time....

Went to Gorizia, Italy with a group of people two weeks ago on Saturday. Gorizia is a small northern town with not much to see except for a magnificent castle. It was so awesome to climb up the hill that led to the castle and look over the city and landscape. Gorizia also extends into Slovenia. So we walked across the border and stopped for some good ole Slovenian coffee. 

Last week we had our first Bryan professor come. Dr. Legg taught the New Testament Literature and Interpretation class. The class was similar to a survey of the New Testament only crammed into one week. It was a really great class and the research papers were interesting. The topic of my paper was the varioius theories on Revelation 2 and 3 - were the letters to the churches literal or were they meant for the furture universal church? Or perhaps are the letters a timeline of the church and its progress/degression? I answered that question...only not really.

=)

This past Saturday Lauren and I went on a shopping date to the Udine mall. That mall is MASSIVE! =O It is like it ate three other malls and a super Wal-mart! We browesed a LOT of shops...and we walked out of there with one english (inglese) to italian (italiano) dictionary, one postcard and a cup of gellato. 

This week for class we are in Intro to Fine Arts. And art is not really my thing...but we've looked at some ancient history which I like so that has made yesterday managable. The rest of the week could get long and complicated.

Either way...next week we travel to see some of the things we've discussed in class - in Florence, Rome and Venice! ROAD TRIP!

Venice and Carnival = fun for the whole family...until the sun goes down then its time for all good people to go home!

Facebook now has picture of both the Verona trip and the Venice trip from yesterday.

It was a lot of fun to don my mask on for a bit and walk around looking at everyone else who had a mask on (or a full on custom).

Just like a mime skit we're going to do, I wonder how many people used those masks to cover who they really are. Acting happy and joyful, bouncing around and posing for the cameras...eating up the pictures being taken but really they feel so lonely.

anyways, just a thought.

Minsitry week starts tomorrow. Training for mimes and other stuff, like chalk talks and stories to tell kids. Then we'll start handing out tracts tues-fri and performing and evangelizing. It'll be fun but also a bit intimidating.

But I have to keep reminding myself that my job is to give the good news and present the Gospel but the decision to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior is between the person and God, not my ability to persuade them.

Please pray as we gear up for this and other going ons happening here in Italy and at the school.

Quite simply an update =)

Ciao e buongiorno!

Last Saturday the students here at Saints Bible Institute went to Verona. It was Valentine's Day, in case you missed it, and the city was decked out with hearts and people in Carnival costumes. The city is quite lovely and I liked it better than Venice...Verona is less touristy.

While there we got to see Juliet's house. Pretty cool I think. That's the balcony and the courtyard.

We got to go up a clock tower and see a great view of the city!














The rest of the day we walked around and took pictures of the city and each other. Over all it was a fun day and I wouldn't mind going back and seeing some more of the "sights" like Juliet's grave and Romeo's spots and I think there is a museum, also the coliseum.

This past week has been Missions class which in reality has been church planting class. So this past week we split into groups and have come up with a fictional church that we have planted in a city in Italy. In our paper we had to come up with all the documents normally thought of for a new church: doctrine, constitution, leadership training and basically everything.

I am kinda disappointed that the class wasn't a class on broad study of missions I think it turned out alright.

My curiosity has been sparked to see if we could actually start our church and how it would unfold. Maybe that lays in my future? We'll see where God leads.

Tomorrow some of us are going back to Venice because it is Carnival - where people dress up and where masks. A lot of us got masks but I dunno if we'll wear them. We'll see! =)

And I'm looking forward to sleeping in this weekend when I can before next week when we start ministry week.

As the name may imply, a week of ministry in Udine and other local towns/cities.

Italia

Its over.

The first exam is done and the first class is over.

But that isn't really the most exciting news I suppose. I've been in Italy for a week and a half. Since I've been here I've taken a class on evangelism, washed laundry at a local laundrymat, eaten Italian pizza at an Italian pizzaria, eaten gelato twice, been to Venice for a day and went on a gondola ride. I have also been lost in the Italian country side after walking from one town and trying to find another (not really lost but it felt like it) and have experienced the drastic changes in northern Italian weather: really warm and sunny to cold and rainy.

And there was snow a couple times also.

and we may have a pretty amazing view from the class room:

To see all the pictures I've taken, look at facebook. There are a bunch there (i think, if not there will be).

For now, that is all. Going to Verona on Saturday.

Ciao.

Camp is now over

Alright all, camp has now ended. Friday was the very last day of camp. The last week went really well and surprisingly quick. We tried to mix up all the games and do some new stuff so that on the last week of camp it didn't feel like we were just trying to fill in game times with old games we've played before or those games that are so lame that no one really likes to play. We made boats out of aluminum foil and raced them (pushing them with our breath) and throwing pennies at the other cabin's foil boats to see who's boats could stay afloat while being attacked by a barrage of copper!

We also had a paper airplane flying contest on one of the rainy afternoons. Its amazing how many of the kids had never made a paper airplane! The activity director and I quickly realized that these kids today do not play the same games that we did when we were kids. Hide-and-go-seek is boring to them, tag takes to much energy and it is to hot to play outside, no idea how to fold aluminum foil to make a boat-like shape, and paper airplanes were a new concept to them. 

It really is sad how lazy we Americans have come to be. And its no longer just the older adults...the children have now adopted the lazy, passive mindset that has engulfed our culture.

In chapel this past week the campers learned about Noah and the Flood. They learned how all of mankind had become wicked and separated from God, that Noah was a  preacher of righteousness and that people laughed at him as he built the ark - and yet Noah continued to do what God wanted him to do despite being mocked and ridiculed. Keith Walsworth, the camp bible teacher, explained that the ark was not a cute little boat where all the animals were sticking out of the ark because it was too small but rather that it was huge enough to fit all the animals without their heads popping out side the boat.

Camp this summer has been great! It was such an awesome experience and I'm glad I got to share it with the staff at Bancroft Bible Camp. The camp is already looking for counselors for next year, so all you highschool graduates and college students who are interested in serving God at a biblically solid ministry, please check out Bancroft. On the website is contact information or you can contact me and I will set you  up with contact information for the camp director. 

Thank you all for your prayers, support and encouragement this summer!