Last two weeks

With only 11 days left and time winding down my emotions are mixed. Yes, I am excited to be home and see my family and friends but I know I am going to miss everything and everyone here so much. Leaving here is much more difficult that it was to leave home because I don’t know when or if I will ever come back. Our going away parties are starting now; with our American friends, my coworkers, my ex-coworkers, the youth group and maybe one with just my host family. This means I might put on a little weight before I get home!

When I think about coming home there is one thing I dread. The question “how was your year?” I think it will be difficult to explain a year of cross culture experience in the few sentences that people are going to want to hear. I guess I should start thinking about the standard response that I am going to give now.

In a way, to me, that question is similar to blogging. How can I share what is really going on in my life and give the people reading this an accurate depiction with what I am doing with just a few paragraphs every few weeks. I guess I will just have to wait to get home to tell my stories and show my pictures and those that are interested can listen.

In my last few days I plan to try to do all of the little things that I haven’t been able to do yet (which isn’t much) and buy the souvenirs that I have wanted to (which is a lot of things)

I am looking forward to seeing you all within the next month! Keep my in your prayers as my team and I go through this transition process

Running out of Time

I have been staying extremely busy these last few weeks. One weekend I went to Volendam, a Mennonite colony with some friends and a coworker. We also made it out to Cuidad del Este the weekend before last to see Itiapu Dam, unfortunately it was closed to tourists because it was a holiday, we seem to have bad luck when it comes to holidays.

My week days stay pretty busy as well, Mondays Daniel, Rose and I teach English and the church and Wednesdays Rose, Ruth and I have Spanish lessons. The rest of the week just seems to fall into place as it goes along.

This last Tuesday I went with my uncle and cousin to a large Catholic church for mass. It was a very pretty service and the message was about how people of different religions need to look at what they have in common, instead of pointing out their differences. This seems to be a fairly large problem in this area, much more than it was where I live at home, so I was very pleased to hear what he was saying.

This week seems to be coming to a rapid end and next week holds the possibility of going to Bolivia… we will have to see.

Climbing Mountains

As I look over my shoulder at the past eight months I note that the number of experiences I have each week has declined as I have become accustomed to life here and obviously, experienced new things. However, this past Saturday I did 2 things which were new to me.

The setting...
Who: My host sisters, Celeste, Janette and my host father.
What: Christian Festival
Where: Ñembu Paraguay
When: Saturday evening April 18
Why: My sister works with the organization the runs the show.

Because we arrived at the festival several hours before it started, we were provided with the opportunity to climb/hike a cerro, which is something I have wanted to do since I arrived in Paraguay. A cerro is a little mountain or very large hill with steep slopes that just kinda pops out of the ground (about 200 yards high on average I would say). I dont know why they are here or how they were formed because they seem to be scattered around the country. We followed a trail crisscrossing through the woods and then up “stairs” made of stone. At the top there was a place to pray with a large cross and I little building. It was nice to get some exercise and the view from the top was very beautiful.

The second new experience took place near the end of the night. Janette and I were sitting down and watching the speaker when my other sister called and said that they needed more volunteers. Five minutes later I found myself in front of a group of 4000 making myself available to people that wanted to accept Jesus. The first guy that I talked to wasn’t too interested but the second man was. He was a weathered man and ready. Luckily, we were given little books to read through with them, which I did after apologizing if I mispronounced any words. When we got to the end of the little book that explained what being a Christian meant I asked the man if this is what he wanted. He said "si" with a full sureness. I read the sinners prayer a few words at a time and he repeated after me. Afterwards I hugged him as my brother and we went our separate ways. I never would have thought that the first time I prayed that prayer with someone would be in spanish, but it was a beautiful experience.

After a long, eventful and fulfilling night, I realized how fast my time here is really going. I am excited to be home but am also very sad to leave all of this behind. I’ll try to drag as much of it back home with my in my heart as I can…

Worship

When I googled (I think ¨google¨ is considered a verb now) an online dictionary and typed in ¨worship¨, the first definition that it gave me was ¨reverent honor and homage paid to God or a sacred personage, or to any object regarded as sacred.¨ A very wide and inclusive definition. Growing up in the Mennonite church I have worshiped the same way practically every Sunday for the entirety of my life. I am comfortable and accustomed to my style of worship. I enjoy having a bulletin and singing hymns.

I am learning that my style of worship was narrow. I have always known that various churches and congregations greatly differ in the way that they worship and conduct their services. What I did not know was how difficult it would be to make a connection with God in a different environment.

My church, ¨La Amistad¨, which means (Friendship) is only about a minute walk from my house. It is a daughter church to the larger German Mennonite church named ¨Concordia.¨ The weekends are always busy with youth group Saturday evening, small group Sunday morning and the worship service Sunday night. For the size of the church the number of youth that participate in the youth group is outstanding. Sometimes Saturday nights an upward of forty people between the ages of 15 and about 21 show up for several hours of worship.

The challenging time for me is worship. At times, definitely not every meeting, but every now and then the mood becomes very… desperate. Thunderous music plays, the pastor speaks very loudly, often repeats a sentence or a word over and over, and people are in every which position. There is yelling, wailing and uncontrollable sobbing. It´s different.

Even though I have been attending this church for almost five months, I´m not exactly sure what to think. The first few times I participated in one of these services was rather intimidating and scary (it still is a little) because I had never been in such a ¨heavy¨ worship. This is never how I worshipped at home or connected with God. This is my problem, I don’t feel like I can connect with God very well in this atmosphere. I have also thought that maybe these kids around me know something that I don’t know; why cant I scream for God?

As time has passed I have become more accustomed to the environment and have become more comfortable. With the increased security that I feel I think my ability to worship in other capacities has expanded. I still have roughly another five months to worship God in this church, I´m hoping to be able to find Him in a different setting because I am pretty sure God doesn’t just come to Leetonia Mennonite MYF worship. The point isn’t in how I worship, the point is where my heart is and what my heart is doing during worship. I need to learn to be able to Love God with all I am in different ways.

This is very much a learning process and I am thankful for the way I am being challenged. It will be interesting to see where God leads my thoughts and my heart in the next few months. Maybe I really do need to be more desperate for God, maybe my faith really needs to be expanded... I may just end up the most radical worshipper that Leetonia Mennonite has ever seen!

How exciting discovering God can be!! And scary...

Birthday

A week ago today was my first birthday in South America. It made me happy and I felt very appreciated.

I woke up around 6:00 as usual and was out in the kitchen by about 6:25. I guess my family wanted to give me my presents quickly before work started so they all wished me a happy birthday and did the double kiss thing, except my dad, because guys dont kiss guys here, which is nice. Then I opened my presents.

The week before my birthday my sister asked me what gifts I wanted for my birthday and what I wanted to do. I just said that I wanted a Paraguayan birthday with Paraguayan gifts, and that is exactly what I got. I received two very nice shirts with references to Paraguay and Tereré, which I cant wait to wear around when I get home, a water bottle type thing that is made from unborn calf hide (if I understood correctly) and a very nice tereré thermos, which is one thing that I wasn't going to leave Paraguay without first buying. I really enjoy the thermos, especially since it has my name and "Paraguay" burned into the leather on the top.

At work, during lunch, we also had a little party with a cake and everything. When I got home from work the rest of "team paraguay" was waiting for me (my second birthday in a row with a surprise party!). With time more and more people started coming until there were about 20 people at my house. Several of them gave me gifts and all of them made sure to wish me a happy birthday and do the double kiss or handshake deal.

It was very nice to have my closest friends and family with me on the day of my nineteenth birthday. I felt very appreciated and was surprised that so many people ended up coming to my party. I hope that from every birthday from here on out I will always be able to remember my birthday in Paraguay. I wonder if this will be my last birthday in South America...

On a side note, Tuesday was my sisters birthday and I was awakened at about 1:30 in the morning to a mariachi band playing outside of her window that my sister had hired. Very fun!

Sena de Gala

Last week our Radical Journey team attended the CONEMPAR Mennonite youth camp. Much of our time was spent doing four things, eating, playing games, drinking terere and worship. Overall, it was a very fun camp and I had the opportunity to meet many new people. I also like to think that my Spanish progressed a decent amount.

For Daniel and myself the highlight of the camp was probably the last evening, the “Sena de Gala” During the duration of this event Daniel and I could barely look at each other without laughing. The situation was very similar to High school Prom, except much more corny.

The series of events went as followed... First, Daniel and I went to the local concession stand to buy our “special” 2 liters of Coca Cola, which was a necessity because we had both decided to reserve tables for only ourselves and our dates and we couldn’t be seen drinking the common juice like everyone else (everyone that had reserved a special table was supposed to buy Coke). Next we found our dates, took a few pictures and waited in line for the announcer to announce or names so we could enter the brightly decorated dining hall. Once inside we spent the evening eating our dinner and watching a slideshow of pictures from that week, while listening to very “high school graduation” type songs.

After the slideshow my date and I, as well as several other couples, had to get up and walk around in order to be judged for best looking couple.... or something like that. I didn’t really understand what was going on, all I knew is that people were clapping and that it was a contest of some sort. In the end my date and I got second place, not exactly sure what for, but I received many congratulations after the dinner.

After the long week I was very exhausted and happy to finally get home. It was a great experience and one that I will not soon forget.

Iguazu Falls

Just before Christmas my team and I had to renew our visas for the first time. So we (meaning Daniel) planned our trip and headed to Argentina. While we were there we had several various problems including; issues at customs, finding functional ATM´s, retrieving locked luggage and a 12 hour bus delay before heading back to Asuncion.

Even though some things didn’t go as planned, we still had the opportunity to see some extremely beautiful things. Iquazu Falls, one of South America’s largest tourist attractions, was incredible. The place looked just like paradise and in my opinion isn’t even comparable to Niagra Falls. The pictures I took will never be able to describe the pure beauty that I felt there. We also spent A LOT of time looking in shops and hanging around the local tourist town.

All of the excitement of getting out of my normal routine in Asuncion renewed my excitement to get out and explore my surroundings. Hopefully, now that we have settled into our new lives and that the holidays have passed, as a team we will be to get out and do a few more weekend trips in the near future.

Looking back at the trip, what really made it special was being able to share it with my friends. I’m sure I would have loved Iquazu Falls no matter what, because God made it beautiful, but being able to share and experience that splendor with others made the beauty real.

Peligroso Paraguay

Last Friday night I was on the bus going to Ruth’s house after work. I hopped on the 34 bus (after skipping the 23 Limpio because it was very full) and there wasn’t any room so I put my feet inside the door and then used the handles on the outside of the bus to hang on. After awhile people got off the bus in the back and more people got on in the front so I eventually ended up in the middle of the bus with no room to move. I wasn’t exactly sure where I was supposed to get off and I could only see about 20 ft out of the bus because I was standing and the windows were low. So at this time I am trying to find room to duck down every now and then to see if I can recognize where I am and where to get off.

As we approach where I think I’m supposed to get off I try to move close to the back of the bus since that’s the only place I can push the button to tell the driver that I need off. Well, there is a very large man trying very hard to go down the isle to the back of the bus so I figured it would be easier to let him pass me and then follow him to the back of the bus and get off rather then me having to be the one to push through everyone. He was a large man, probably about 230 lbs and took up a lot of room. So I leaned as far as I could over the lady sitting down next to me in order to give the man more space since the bus incredibly packed. He struggled through all of the people right in front me and it took him between 5 to 8 seconds to pass me. After passing I was relieved because now I had room to stand up straight rather than lean over the elderly lady sitting down next to me. I could now check to see where exactly I was and how soon I needed to get off the bus.

Here comes the climax of the story.... It was about this time, probably no more than 15 seconds after the man had passed that I realized that my right pocket felt more empty than normal and sure enough empty it was. I checked my right pocked to make sure that I hadn’t put my phone and my wallet in the same pocket, I hadn’t. I had my wallet but not my phone. I instantly knew who it was but nun the less I turned to the guy next to me and said ¨¨tienes mi telefono¨ (for you non Spanish speakers) ¨do you have my phone¨ and he said no. Then I said ¨donde esta el hombre grande¨ (where is the big man) The guy responded really fast and I didn’t understand so I asked him if the big man was close, which obviously he must have been and the man said that he was ¨cerca¨ so everyone moved out of my way and (stupidly) I hopped off the bus to look for this large man. (this really was probably not the best decision considering he had 100 lbs on me and it is Paraguay) so I ran to where the bus stopped last but the man wasn’t gone, which in retrospect was probably good.

After realizing my phone was lost I looked around and realized that I was almost exactly where I wanted to be so I walked a minute or so to where Ruth was waiting and told her what happened. This is the first time I have ever really had anything stolen from me and it kind of hurts my pride that it was taken out of my front pocket, but its an experience. I’m also thankful that he took my phone rather than my wallet, which was in my other pocket, which would have been more difficult to steal. I also had mp3 player and camera on me, so out of everything I had the phone was the cheapest.

Since then I have purchased a new phone but am still working on getting the chip for it, which has been a complicated process. Explaining what happened to everyone in Spanish has been a little difficult, but I have learned several new words out of the experience. My family and friends have been understanding since this happens fairly frequently, it wasn’t nearly as big of a deal as it would have been in the States. My sister had her phone stolen a month before I got here and Ruth was alerted about a man with his hand in her purse.

All in all this process has been a little stressful and embarrassing, but it’s an experience and that’s one of the reasons why I’m here. I didn’t get hurt either which is good since I have heard several stories about people getting harmed over something as little as a phone.

On a positive note, this coming Sunday night my team and I will be leaving for Argentina to renew our Visa’s. We are also going to Iquazu falls and I am very stoked to get out of Asuncion. We will return Wednesday afternoon, hopefully with many beautiful pictures.

Family and friends, I hope you are doing well and that you have a merry Christmas with your loved ones. Thank you for your continued support and prayers, I can really feel them affecting my life.

A Forgotten Blog

After reading my team members blogs I realize that maybe they did take me seriously when I said "I call blogging about this" since I dont think anyone else did. November 17th, yes almost a month ago, so the details may be a little shaky, my team here had our first "real" outing that wasn't just our normal lunch together every two weeks.

Around 17:45 we all met in front of the local supermarcado, ready and excited for the Hillsong United concert as well as for speaking english with each other. We hopped on a crowded linea 55 bus along with some local German volunteers that Naomi knows. While on the bus we also met a few more intersting people, one in particular was a boy about my age that was an aspiring song writer that was able to communicate in english. He asked a lot of questions about the U.S. and talked about how he would absolutely love to go there some day. He was also very concerned about my relationship with Christ in a very genuine way. I've thought about him several times since we talked so his enthusiasm with his faith must have left an impact on me.

After the relatively short bus ride and walk we arrived at the mega church where the concert was being held. The church was very large with two balconies, but was nothing in comparison to Willow Creek in Chicago. It was almost 7:00 so we grabbed a quick bite to eat and found our section in the top balcony. A few minutes before the opening band started an anouncement was made that everyone in the top balcony had the opportunity to move to the floor level but had to stand all the way in the back. As a team we were fairly tired and liked the idea of being able to sit, but eventually concluded that hey we payed six dollars for these tickets (that were origianlly 10 but they lowered the price because no one was buying them) so we might as well get our moneys worth and suck up the fatigue (talk about true Mennonites).

We migrated to the back of the bottom floor where there was ample space for us to talk and catch up with each other as the opening band was playing. It was about this time that a young man came up to us and in english, but with an australian accent said "just you five?" a little shocked that english was being spoken to us Daniel replied "yes" The other man responded "oh good you speak you english... ok we'll I think we are going to move you guys to the front, just be quiet and follow me". We all looked at each other, smiled and followed him to a taped off section front and center of the band, the best seats in the house.

A little before 8:00 Hillsong finally came on stage to begin their performance. After the long wait the excitment of the crowds anticipation broke loose in applause and screaming. For the next two hours Hillsong played most of their songs in spanish but also had several in english. I appreciated having the words in spanish projected on the wall as well as the english translation, that way I could understand what they were singing about as well as try my best to sing/scream along with the people around me in spanish. I also enjoyed the english songs because just like I probably sounded funny to the people in my proximity, it was enjoyable to hear people trying so hard to sing along in english with strong spanish accents. Language difference or not we were all there to worship together and praise the lord and that was powerfull.

Exhausted, at about 10:30 we finally left the church and each went our own way to try to find a way home since the buses were no longer running by the church. Rose and I ended up walking a good half hour and then taking a bus with a few other people from our church. I finally fell into bed a little after midnight and fell asleep still fully dressed in clothes still a little damp from all of the jumping and screaming at the concernt.

Even though Hillsong isn't exactly my favorite christian band and I didn't always understand the words that were being said, I could understand the expressions and tears that I saw in the peoples eyes around me during the concert. It's beautiful to be able to look into somebody's eyes and see how much they love God. Worshipping together, as a body of Christ, has so much power. Language limitations or not Gods love transcends all the barriers of this world.

Castrating Bulls

Monday I had the opportunity to go to Erpar, one of MEDA’s projects in San Pedro, with one of my co-workers. Erpar is a large area of land where sugar cane and mandioca is grown that will later be turned into starch and ethanol. They also have a young stock of cattle. It was a two and a half hour drive and we left a little after five in the morning. I was pretty nervous for what we were going to be doing, but looking forward to it.

Shortly after arriving at Erpar we started with the castrating. We had about fifteen bulls that needed to have their ability to reproduce taken away from them. Using lariats me and two of the workers lassoed the bulls at their heads and feet and then held them down while my co-worker used his knife to castrate the bulls.

At times I was pretty scared because the bulls didn’t really appreciate what we were doing and often kicked angrily, sometimes getting a little close for my comfort. By the time all of the toro’s were finished my hands were pretty raw from the rope sliding through my hands quickly and had quite a few splinters. Overall, it was a very fun and experience filled day, especially because I had never worked with animals in such a personal way.

After lunch, to end a good day at Erpar, I was able to go on a horseback ride. I was given the property boundaries and set free to ride where I wanted. It was very nice to have some time to explore and admire the beauty of the Paraguay countryside. The land was green as far as I could see and there were tall billowing clouds above. It was also interesting to watch all of the workers cut down the sugarcane with their machetes and load the stalks into ox drawn carts.

It took a little longer to get home because during one of the frequent stops by the police they asked to see my identification. The police man gave us a bit of a hard time since I wasn’t carrying my original passport with me, only a bank stamped copy, but eventually he let us pass. When I finally walked into my house at nine o’clock that night I was very exhausted but happy that I got to spend a little time out of the office and get my hands a little dirty.

My Work

Last week was my first full week of work. I am working in the projects department at MEDA Paraguay (Mennonite Economic Development Associates). Basically, MEDA provides microloans to small business's and famers that need a small loan. Because it is not viewed as profitable the banks here do not provide these loans to the people that need it to help boost their business.

From what I have read MEDA has a very rich history here in Paraguay and has been here for over fifty years. During this time MEDA has brought thousands of people jobs and greatly helped the Paraguain economy. Each day I learn a little more about MEDA and the many projects have they going on all through out Paraguay.

Although the hours are long (7 am to 6 pm) I am really glad to be working here. I feel as if I actually helping the organization and in effect giving people the opportunity to escape poverty. Much of my time here (at least so far) has been working with data bases. More recently I have begun translating spanish to english. MEDA North America and MEDA Paraguay often have dificulties in their communication because no one that works here is fluent in English. So I have been taking project ideas and outlines that were written in spanish, using Google Translate to get a rough idea of what the project is about and then rewriting it so that it is coherient in English. This way MEDA North America, will have a better understanding as to what MEDA PY is doing.

I feel as if doing this really is a big help and everyone here appreciates me for assisting in this communication process. I am learning spanish quickly by being here and also learning a lot of business and ethics.

Learning to count

I know I touched on this a little in my last entry but... it is incredible how my presence in society has changed so drastically since arriving in Paraguay. Qualities and talents that I had in America, especially high school, I no longer possess. I am doing a lot of relearning in a sense.

I think most of my friends and peers in high school would have called me a leader. I was active and ¨successful¨ as president of two school clubs and active in many others. A lot of time was spent organizing events for myself and other students that would take place some time in the future. I also spent time every day tutoring other kids and explaining things that I had previously learned. Throughout the year I gave several speaches in front of the student body and parents.

My new world is a little different....

Instead of running two clubs for school, I have two friends (besides my paraguay team and family here) that I can kind of communicate with. I no longer organize events for other people and very rarely do I know what I am going to be doing in ten minutes. Teaching, would be very difficult right now as I am constantly listening to people talk to me, which is very exhausting and strenuous (although I do occasionally help my little sister with her math). Speaches in front of an audience have now turned into a phrase here or there that is often corrected by an 8 year old.

To say the least this is a great experience.

I am learning so much more than I ever did in high school.. well at least different. Instead of trying to be a good leader, I am trying to be a good follower. I am more dependent on other people that I have been in many years. I am learning an entirely new culture and way of life.

What I love most is how humbling living here has been. I am like a two year old in my ways. My speach is ¨no so good¨ and I am learning a new culture full of different ¨do´s¨and ¨dont´s¨. My best teacher here is probably my little eight year old sister named Tamara. I spend a lot of time following her around as she shows me how to do things. She always laughs at how I talk and then corrects me over and over. She loves helping me with whatever I am doing. She always seems to be giving to me. Even though she may think that she is just being helpful, Tamara genuinely cares about me and has been an amazing example of how radiant serving with love can look.

Yes, I am learning Spanish but it´s the little things God teaches me everyday that makes me love getting up in the morning.

A Whole New World

After a brief look around I notice that I am no longer in the United States (sometimes it just hits me like that). Early Sunday morning my team and I left Chicago and flew to Orlando where we had a seven hour layover. From Orlando we flew through the night to Sao Paulo, Brazil where we almost immediately flew to Asuncion, Paraguay. It was a long two days and it was nice to finally get here. At the airport customs was a breeze. The man only checked my passport and a paper that I filled out (definately incorrectly) on the plane. It took him less than twenty seconds to accept me into his country. After customs we were met by a very excited and warm welcoming party that had made a large sign with all of our names on it in bright colors, it was a good site to see.

After just a few hours in Paraguay I noticed a few things that are different than in the United States. The first is that barely anyone speaks english, the driving is absolutely crazy and there are animals, especially dogs, everywhere. It´s a little different, but I have already grown quite used to it. The people here are also very very friendly and willing to help out in any way possible. They also (normally) speak slowly so that I can better understand what they are saying.

My host family is great. My parents have two daughters and a son, all of whom are fluent in German and Spanish and know a little bit of English. They are very patient and often laugh with me about my poor spanish. I always feel comfortble and welcome in their home which is a very good feeling.

During the day I normally have spanish/Paraguain culture lessons. Even though I have been here for less than a week, I am pleased with the rate at which I am learning spanish. I can normally stumble my way through basic conversations and am learning many new words and expressions every day. At times it can be pretty frusturating having a general idea what somone is saying to you, but having no real idea about the details or specifics. I have become very good at using my hands to talk, a skill that I have never had. I also had a good laugh at myself today when I realized that I was having difficulty counting to 100 when just three months ago I recieved an A in my college level calculus class... it was just a little ironic. Today we were also introduced to the city and how to use the buses, which is a crazy experience.

It´s wierd to me to see how different my life is than just a few months ago. A lot of things have changed, mostly for the better and I am very excited for this next year. Please keep me in your prayers.

Preparing for take off

I have three full days left until my team leaves for Paraguay. I write this with a sense of enormous excitement as the anticipation has been building for almost a half a year. I am also incredibly nervous. These next few days could quite possibly be the most stretching days of my life so far.

My greatest fear is the language. I have been working on a few phrases here and there but I wouldnt say that I "hablo espanol". But people have told me many times that it will come fairly quickly and that communication is much deeper than just the words I say. I'm going to do my best and hope that my host family appreciates that. Another one of my worries is that I am going to offend someone because I dont completely understand the culture, but I think that people down there will be patient with me.

I plan on spending the next few days collecting myself and spending time with everyone that I have grown close to over the past month. I have had an incredible time in Chicago, but I am ready to move on and see what God has planned for my life. Thank you for all of the prayers and I miss you all very much.

An Epic Challenge

On monday we were given the task of spending the day trying to provide hospitality. I really embraced the idea since it is a topic that is incredibly important in the world and I believe its something that can always be improved. It turns out that it's sometimes difficult to go out and look to give hospitality.

The first real difficulty I had was that I have always thought that hospitality involves inviting someone into your own space. Since I am new to the Chicago community and I really dont have any of my "own" space here I felt unable to provide hospitality by my own definition.

But none the less, in order to make a sincere effort, Constance and I headed to Millenium Park where we offered to take pictures of families in front of the "big bean" so everyone could get in the picture. In doing this I felt that I was being nice, but I also felt as if I was going into someone elses space by approaching them and asking if they wanted their picture taken. It just didn't seem like hospitality. After discussing the situation Constance and I decided to walk around down town; where we bought a doughnut and coffee for a man and picked up several dozen magazines that had spilled out all over the sidewalk. After about four hours and miles of walking we headed home.

At the end of the day I felt as if I had done a lot of "nice" things but didn't feel as if I had accomplished my goal of being hospitable. To me it seemed a difficult task and during that time I often thought that hospitality may not be one of those things to go looking to give, the opportunity may just come to you. At the same time maybe I just need to think about or come up with a better understanding of what hospitality really is.

This morning I attended a mega church called Willow Creek Community Church. It was a little different than the church I am used to back home. It seated several thousand and had two balconies. They also had two bookstores, a gym with three full sized basketball courts and eight places you could buy food. The building was about as big as convention center and I felt as if I could easily get lost. At first I wasnt sure what to think but I tried to keep a very open mind.

The service and message was very good. I felt touched by what the pastor said and felt as if his message really applied to my life right now. I am going through many changes and transformations in many parts of my life right now, which is very challenging and stressful. Today I was encouraged to reach new heights in my walk with God and given some advice as to how to become stronger.

The first point of advice was too surround myself with others that have the same beliefs in order to support me. I feel like I am pretty much forced to do this one since I live with 17 other christians in a very confined space and spend a large portion of my day with my neighbors at Jesus People. I have also been very lucky to have a close group of christian guy friends for most of my life. The second bit of advice was to spend time each day in prayer and devotion. This time can be spent as a group, but also should be done alone consistently. This is definately something that I need to work on. I spent my first two weeks in Chicago caught up in the excitment and opportunities of the city, but it is really time to relax and spend more time with God. I feel confident that this area of my christian walk is going to start to pick up soon with the help of my friends. The last point the pastor made was that growth normally occurs when you are stretched in some way. I feel like I have been stretched more in the past week than I have during most years of my life. Not being at home with everything that is familiar to me is hard. Losing contact with a majority of my friends and family has been the hard.

This morning was a new experience and even though I am struggling with many things right now I feel encouraged. I have started to feel God moving in me the last few days and I am starting to understand and look for God in different ways than I have before.

Getting Down to Business

I have had many challenges in my life. Looking back at these experiences I realize that it is my personality to solve these issues by making a multi-step plan. This is the same plan that I have used for as long as I can remember, for school work, sports and even my spiritual walk with God. This process normally works well and has brought me a decent amount of sucess in the past. However, I am discovering that this may not be the best approach toward getting closer to God. Reaching God is not a step by step process and trying to build steps toward God is not going to get me very far. The process of reading my Bible and praying are good and do bring me closer to God, but these ways are the ones I have been taught since sunday school and may not be the best for me spiritually at this point in my life.

Now that I have discovered that the step process has become stagnant in my life, I am looking toward new solutions and feel that I need to try things that I never have before. Although trying new things may put me out of my comfort zone, maybe that is the perfect place I need to be to find a better understanding of God. Instead of having planned steps to find God, maybe I should look to tear down things in my life that are keeping God at a distance. As I explore new ideas and possibilities I hope to discover more about who I am and how I can best relate to God.

First week ends

After today I will have been in Chicago for an entire week. Much of the past few days has been spent exploring and discovering the city and everything that goes along with it. At times the busses and trains can be a little confusing and overwhelming compared to what I am used to at home, but I have had plenty of practice lately and it isn't nearly as difficult as it was on the first day.

We have also had a lot more free time lately to spend with each other. People are always out exploring the area and doing interesting things. Sometimes in the evenings we go to a coffee shop or maybe a book store and then come back and play basketball under the lights. We have a TV in our flat, but it rarely gets used, occasionaly for a movie. It's nice that as a group we can spend a lot of time talking or playing games rather than being focussed on technology.

It's really amazing to be able to look back on my first week with a smile on my face. The people around me have been very welcoming and friendly. Many of my friends here have already taught me or inspired me in ways that they dont realize. Chicago has also been incredible to explore. The diversity and different types of people here has opened the door to experiences that I never could have had at home. I am very thankfull for the opportunity I have had to come here and am looking forward to seeing what next week has in store. Thanks for all of your prayers

Orientation Begins

Dear Friends and Family. I am only half way through my first week of orientation and it feels as if I have been here much longer (which is a good thing). The environment is a lot different than that of home since Chicago is a very large city. We have spent some time exploring, especially today during a city wide scavenger hunt. The people here are very friendly and willing to help out. I am also really enjoying the company of my team and everyone else in Radical Journey. I have already heard it said many times that it feels like we have known each other longer than just a few days.

The atmosphere is also very different than what I am used to at home. Instead of having my own room and seeing my friends for about half of the day, I share my small room with three other boys and the rest of our flat is shared between seventeen other people. The quarters are a little closer than I am used to, but so far it has been pretty nice.

We have also spent much of the last three days with a lot of discussion, at least several hours a day on average. This communication has helped us learn more about each other and bring our group closer together. My paraguay team in particular has grown very close to each other as we talk about paraguay and for what is to come. We also try to spend about forty five minutes a day working on our spanish. Today we were the Curious George in Spanish and are working on memorizing simple nouns.

These past few days have been very encouraging to me and I have greatly enjoyed them. The people are all amazing and the whole situation is exciting. I look forward to getting to know everyone better as we prepare for our coming year. Thanks for all of your prayers and support

Paraguay Prep.

It's really amazing looking back on the past few years of my life at all of the major decisions I have made to lead me here. In a little over a month I will be stepping into new territory, physically, emotionally and mentally. I have been faced with challenges in life and the anticipation of what I may find in South America is endless. I enjoy exploring and I know that this is going to be the biggest adventure I have ever had.

The support I have received from my church family has been outstanding. It is always encouraging to know all of the people that stand behind me in my year of service. It's now up to me to use my gifts and talents to the best of my ability and to work with my team, together, to help others and become better people ourselves.

I have no idea what challenges I will face in the future, but for every obstacle that I overcome I know that I will grow more and more in my faith. I'm looking to the future with optimism and excitement.