so there has not been too much going on out of the ordinary here in Venez.
we guys have moved into a new apartment which has been nice to have some space.tying up davids hammock made for an interesting adventure and im sure an interesting nights sleep for him as we both eagerly waited to see if my jumble lump of knots would hold his weight. thankfully, he has made it the last few nights without incident and without the hammock crashing to the somewhat cold, hard, tile floor below.
...i probably would not have trusted it myself.
our water is currently being rationed because of either a drought or a waterline break, ive heard stories of both. but this is the second time it's happened since ive been here(the time before this was the first 2 days that i was in the country). it hasnt been the worst thing ever, you cant drink the tap water here anyway but it does make bathing(which i often feel is a necessity in a place that is much hotter and sunnier than Ohio) and going to the bathroom a planned event in your day.
i was on my way down in the elevator with david this morning and we were talking about the fac that the water is out. i made some ignorant comment about it not being fun to not have running water (thank God for friends and people to put perspective into my life) and so in response david says something to the effect of 'alot of places in the world dont have water at all' sorry if i misquoted you david. but it was something like that, you ge tthe idea. and of course i know this full well, but it jsut makes me realize a few things.
how overly(for lack of a better word) pampered, protected, sheltered i am as an american. and how this effects my view of the world, even as i am living in a place where things like not having running water every single day of my life happen(lets be honest... for the the great majority of North American life that is unheard of). and by no means is how i live in here in Valencia anywhere near the bottom rung of the ladder. i still lead a very comfortable, cushioned life. and by no means is not having consist running water for about 3 days some terrible travesty that i have to endure. combined with some other things like university strikes because of professors not begin paid, it jsut serves as a reminder that i know i too often have forgotten. the rest of the world does not live like i do. the things i see and dont see on the news everyday or read about in magazines are real. there are real people living in poverty or looking for ways to find clean water or food every day. and even when i do return to the states, it is still the reality of life for millions of people.
***granted there are many many many people in the united states and else where who have a much bigger view of the world than i do, which is good. i suppose i am jsut more sheltered than i origanly thought***
it was not so much that i didnt know that issues like these existed in the world, i am just making the point that in my life i can have a bad case of tunnel vision and sometimes it just takes a small thing or some words from a friend for me to begin to look beyond my own circumstances, and for a split second stop beign so inwardly focused.
and once again it helps me to realize the weight that the Gospel carries and the hope that it brings. by no means can i relate to what most of the world wakes up to everyday, but i cant help but think how some people long for something so much better than what this world has to offer. i mean i feel that way often enough and once again i am very very very very blessed to have all that i do. but yeah. its funny how small things, like flushing my toilet, can make the Gospel come alive in my life.
on a side note, there are some other fun things im discovering abotu life in venezuela...
-most things are topped with either ham, corn, or both. 99% or hamburgers and pizzas that i have seen have ham on them. they put corn on pizza and hotdogs(which also come with ham)...which are so totally different form the hot dogs you may think of in the states.
-public transportation happens through privately owned buses . drivers own their own bus, which they give a custom paint job. they just kinda pick a route and drive it, they put alittle sign in their window which tells you where they are going. these buses are often too small for someone my height to stand comfortably in. a good number of them are blaring regatone music and are often packed with people so that there are usually people hanging out the door.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
building
these past few weeks have been packed and the next few will be busy. planning, sharing, meeting students. but it should be great.
2 weeks ago was our first full week on campus(is that confusing enough?)
and it was a pretty great one if i do say so.
there are few things that i have found since i've been here that are bigger than any kind of language barrier. one of them has been sports. i had the chance to play some pick up futbol last sunday night at a local park. it was great. there was alittle difficulty getting posisoned at first, but other than that it was nothing afew hand gestures and an push in the right direction couldn't fix. i dunno, there is just something about playing, joking around with other men/boys on a field. you know what the point in the game is, to win and to have some fun along the way. when someone scores a goal, no matter what language you speak, everyone still goes crazy and when some gringo (me)makes a fool out of himself you can still all have a good laugh about it and the game goes on. it was one of the first times i have felt really comfortable around people i dont know here.
another is the Gospel. Love. Hope.
one day i was out with a student, moises, on campus. he speaks a bit of english and i speak almost no spanish. for awhile we talked about our lives and jsut tried to get to know eachother. after that we went out looking to engage other students in conversation about their lives and their thoughts/beliefs about God, Jesus and things like that.
after awhile of walking around, we ran into three students who were sitting outside of a class room, there names(for the sake of telling this story) were vicky, danielle, and jesus.
we walked up and introduced ourselves....they looked at me with smiles and i could instantly tell that none of them spoke any english. for the rest of the conversation i had to talk through Moises and let him do his thing.
we asked them to to talk with us about lives and asked them if we could use a picture survey to talk about it because i just thought it would help me better understand how they were feeling.
we asked them to pic pictures that described their lives and described God to them. after about 10 minutes it was obivous that God had been searching for them and moving in their lives.
one of the students said she had been searching for more, searching for God even, but didn't know how to reach him or if he would even he wanted to know her(which was completely not true, God knows and loves every person in this world and wants to be in a relationship with you). Jesus had mentioned and picked pictures that talked about his family situation, how he felt he didnt belong and wasn't wanted there and didn't feel like he could fit in anywhere. Danielle talked about how she wanted to achieve more and more in life but just felt like it was never good enough and she was never going to be satisfied no matter what she achieved.
after sharing these things moises began talking to them...for a long while. although i could not understand much of what he was saying, i could tell from the look in his eyes that he was speaking from his heart. he was talking of God's love and mercy in his life and how he had experienced it.
after watching him for awhile i couldnt help but look over at the faces of the three young students. tears ha begun to run down one of the girls cheeks while the other had them welling up in her eyes.
after afew more minutes of moises talking with them(and occasionally asking me questions like "they want to know if you think God is real" or things like that) they had said that they wanted this kind relationship with God that was so real and so obviously influenced our lives.
there is something about that kind of conversation that i jsut can't explain. i wish i was better with words so i could tell you all how i felt and feel when i think back to that conversation.
God's love changes lives, and he uses those changed lives to change others lives. Once again i wish i could explain this as clearly as i saw it that day but i just can't. I cant explain how a real, living perfect God uses broken people and the crap of their lives to change others lives forever. Or how Hope that changes peoples lives will eventually change a campus and a city and a country. and this isnt just happening here in Valencia. this kind of Hope is turning this world inside out.
the rest of the week we were on campus meeting students and talking with them about these same things, and this was only the first week.
last week we had the chance to grow together as a team with some team building exercise in Caracas. after that we took another long bus ride up some winding mountains to a place called Colonia Tovar, a german colony in the mountains of venezuela. go figure.
while the ride up was alittle dizzying and frustrating at times, it was beautiful(and cooler, which was awesome...alittle taste of fall for our team)... although as we went up the mountain and saw the places where people lived along the road, it looked like tiny bits of the cities had just been planted in the mountains. it was the same smells and graffiti and broken down cars and buildings. it was interesting, i guess you have to see it for yourself.
once we got to tovar, we spent the next 2 and a half days hanging out with eachother, sharing our life stories, and walking up and down some of the steepest roads i've ever walked on. it was a bonding experience and i think our team will greatly benefit from this past week of togetherness.
now we are preparing for the next few weeks of ministry before we have to leave the country. we are so excited to see how God will use this time. there is alot of work to do.
there has been alot more going on that i didnt mention here and stint life has provided me with other interesting tidbits that im sure i will get on here(maybe even some pictures if i become savvy enough with this website) in the near future.
matt
2 weeks ago was our first full week on campus(is that confusing enough?)
and it was a pretty great one if i do say so.
there are few things that i have found since i've been here that are bigger than any kind of language barrier. one of them has been sports. i had the chance to play some pick up futbol last sunday night at a local park. it was great. there was alittle difficulty getting posisoned at first, but other than that it was nothing afew hand gestures and an push in the right direction couldn't fix. i dunno, there is just something about playing, joking around with other men/boys on a field. you know what the point in the game is, to win and to have some fun along the way. when someone scores a goal, no matter what language you speak, everyone still goes crazy and when some gringo (me)makes a fool out of himself you can still all have a good laugh about it and the game goes on. it was one of the first times i have felt really comfortable around people i dont know here.
another is the Gospel. Love. Hope.
one day i was out with a student, moises, on campus. he speaks a bit of english and i speak almost no spanish. for awhile we talked about our lives and jsut tried to get to know eachother. after that we went out looking to engage other students in conversation about their lives and their thoughts/beliefs about God, Jesus and things like that.
after awhile of walking around, we ran into three students who were sitting outside of a class room, there names(for the sake of telling this story) were vicky, danielle, and jesus.
we walked up and introduced ourselves....they looked at me with smiles and i could instantly tell that none of them spoke any english. for the rest of the conversation i had to talk through Moises and let him do his thing.
we asked them to to talk with us about lives and asked them if we could use a picture survey to talk about it because i just thought it would help me better understand how they were feeling.
we asked them to pic pictures that described their lives and described God to them. after about 10 minutes it was obivous that God had been searching for them and moving in their lives.
one of the students said she had been searching for more, searching for God even, but didn't know how to reach him or if he would even he wanted to know her(which was completely not true, God knows and loves every person in this world and wants to be in a relationship with you). Jesus had mentioned and picked pictures that talked about his family situation, how he felt he didnt belong and wasn't wanted there and didn't feel like he could fit in anywhere. Danielle talked about how she wanted to achieve more and more in life but just felt like it was never good enough and she was never going to be satisfied no matter what she achieved.
after sharing these things moises began talking to them...for a long while. although i could not understand much of what he was saying, i could tell from the look in his eyes that he was speaking from his heart. he was talking of God's love and mercy in his life and how he had experienced it.
after watching him for awhile i couldnt help but look over at the faces of the three young students. tears ha begun to run down one of the girls cheeks while the other had them welling up in her eyes.
after afew more minutes of moises talking with them(and occasionally asking me questions like "they want to know if you think God is real" or things like that) they had said that they wanted this kind relationship with God that was so real and so obviously influenced our lives.
there is something about that kind of conversation that i jsut can't explain. i wish i was better with words so i could tell you all how i felt and feel when i think back to that conversation.
God's love changes lives, and he uses those changed lives to change others lives. Once again i wish i could explain this as clearly as i saw it that day but i just can't. I cant explain how a real, living perfect God uses broken people and the crap of their lives to change others lives forever. Or how Hope that changes peoples lives will eventually change a campus and a city and a country. and this isnt just happening here in Valencia. this kind of Hope is turning this world inside out.
the rest of the week we were on campus meeting students and talking with them about these same things, and this was only the first week.
last week we had the chance to grow together as a team with some team building exercise in Caracas. after that we took another long bus ride up some winding mountains to a place called Colonia Tovar, a german colony in the mountains of venezuela. go figure.
while the ride up was alittle dizzying and frustrating at times, it was beautiful(and cooler, which was awesome...alittle taste of fall for our team)... although as we went up the mountain and saw the places where people lived along the road, it looked like tiny bits of the cities had just been planted in the mountains. it was the same smells and graffiti and broken down cars and buildings. it was interesting, i guess you have to see it for yourself.
once we got to tovar, we spent the next 2 and a half days hanging out with eachother, sharing our life stories, and walking up and down some of the steepest roads i've ever walked on. it was a bonding experience and i think our team will greatly benefit from this past week of togetherness.
now we are preparing for the next few weeks of ministry before we have to leave the country. we are so excited to see how God will use this time. there is alot of work to do.
there has been alot more going on that i didnt mention here and stint life has provided me with other interesting tidbits that im sure i will get on here(maybe even some pictures if i become savvy enough with this website) in the near future.
matt
Friday, October 9, 2009
ready or not.
it's been awhile and there has been alot that happened in the past month.
so i finally made it to Venezuela!!! I've been here alittle over a week at this point and it's ben a good time so far. i've seen alot of things that i'd never dreamed i'd see, ive been alot of places i have never thought i would ever be.
packing was interesting. it was similar to alot of other things i did this summer to prepare, and after i was done i really didnt feel any more ready. there were many things that i forgot that i wanted or needed and there alot of things that i thought i would need or want but don't. it's funny how that happens when youre trying to stuff the stuff, or in some cases memories, that you will have with you for an entire year into 2 suitecases that cna only weigh about 50lbs.
i drove down to columbus with my mom and grandpa on a tuesday afternoon, ate dinner with some of my favoirte people, hung out with some cool folks, then on about 45 minutes of sleep i got up to go get a donut and then head to the airport around 530am.
i had never flown over the ocean before so it was pretty neat to see, even if i could barly see it from the aisle seat.
we finally ge tout of the craziness that is the airport and into the craziness that is Caracas. we took a taxi on what seemed like the second longest ride of my life, it was only abotu 3 hours, but when we started the sun seemed to be pretty high in the sky. by the time we got to Valencia it was very dark. and it seemed to happen in a blink, mostly because the sun here sets at like 7ish which i am still getting used to.
the drive to valencia was interesting. there are no real rules to the road. i couldnt read the graffiti or understand the radio when it was on. street lights seemed to be scattered spuraticaly on the road whenever they felt like appearing, even on the dark mountain sides that we were driving down.
it was cool at times to see the mountains and the ocean at points, sad at other times to see the poverty that exists intermingled in clutter of the city and that covers the side of large mountains is what look like abandon shanties.
it is almost unrealistic to think that the Gospel can change that. that the Gospel will change that one day. it seems far, far away. especially when i have not even seen the worst of it here in Valencia. but the Lord has. and one day it will be changed for good.
Valencia is a large city with a large university that we will be working at. ive had the chance to meet afew of the students that we will be working with this year and im excited here. the peopel here have been so kind and welcoming. the students have been great, thought our conversations are very limited, im excited to get to knwo them more share life with them over the next year.
unfortunatly the part of campus that we will be most active on will nto start classes until november because fo a strike that took place over the summer. we have ahd the past week and the next few to plan and prepare and to get to know the team which i am looking forwward to. but i know we are all anxious to get started meetign students and starting ministry.
i'm going to try to post more often to so that i do not have to recount a months worth of events in one post and so i can include some of the cool details of life here in VZ(like the iguanas that take the place of squirrels in parks nd on campus) and the awesome stories in ministry and day to day life that happen(like not beign able to order fast food by myself or being attacked by a giant grasshopper in our apartment)
it's going to be cool to see what God has in store for this year.
"Do not fear what they fearb]">; do not be frightened."c]"> But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord."
this is form 1peter 3:14&15. God has used it already and i feel like it will continue to be recycled in my life this year.
look forward to sharing more with you soon.
matt.
so i finally made it to Venezuela!!! I've been here alittle over a week at this point and it's ben a good time so far. i've seen alot of things that i'd never dreamed i'd see, ive been alot of places i have never thought i would ever be.
packing was interesting. it was similar to alot of other things i did this summer to prepare, and after i was done i really didnt feel any more ready. there were many things that i forgot that i wanted or needed and there alot of things that i thought i would need or want but don't. it's funny how that happens when youre trying to stuff the stuff, or in some cases memories, that you will have with you for an entire year into 2 suitecases that cna only weigh about 50lbs.
i drove down to columbus with my mom and grandpa on a tuesday afternoon, ate dinner with some of my favoirte people, hung out with some cool folks, then on about 45 minutes of sleep i got up to go get a donut and then head to the airport around 530am.
i had never flown over the ocean before so it was pretty neat to see, even if i could barly see it from the aisle seat.
we finally ge tout of the craziness that is the airport and into the craziness that is Caracas. we took a taxi on what seemed like the second longest ride of my life, it was only abotu 3 hours, but when we started the sun seemed to be pretty high in the sky. by the time we got to Valencia it was very dark. and it seemed to happen in a blink, mostly because the sun here sets at like 7ish which i am still getting used to.
the drive to valencia was interesting. there are no real rules to the road. i couldnt read the graffiti or understand the radio when it was on. street lights seemed to be scattered spuraticaly on the road whenever they felt like appearing, even on the dark mountain sides that we were driving down.
it was cool at times to see the mountains and the ocean at points, sad at other times to see the poverty that exists intermingled in clutter of the city and that covers the side of large mountains is what look like abandon shanties.
it is almost unrealistic to think that the Gospel can change that. that the Gospel will change that one day. it seems far, far away. especially when i have not even seen the worst of it here in Valencia. but the Lord has. and one day it will be changed for good.
Valencia is a large city with a large university that we will be working at. ive had the chance to meet afew of the students that we will be working with this year and im excited here. the peopel here have been so kind and welcoming. the students have been great, thought our conversations are very limited, im excited to get to knwo them more share life with them over the next year.
unfortunatly the part of campus that we will be most active on will nto start classes until november because fo a strike that took place over the summer. we have ahd the past week and the next few to plan and prepare and to get to know the team which i am looking forwward to. but i know we are all anxious to get started meetign students and starting ministry.
i'm going to try to post more often to so that i do not have to recount a months worth of events in one post and so i can include some of the cool details of life here in VZ(like the iguanas that take the place of squirrels in parks nd on campus) and the awesome stories in ministry and day to day life that happen(like not beign able to order fast food by myself or being attacked by a giant grasshopper in our apartment)
it's going to be cool to see what God has in store for this year.
"Do not fear what they fearb]">; do not be frightened."c]"> But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord."
this is form 1peter 3:14&15. God has used it already and i feel like it will continue to be recycled in my life this year.
look forward to sharing more with you soon.
matt.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
From humble beginnings...
Since this is my first post it will probably be a little longer than average. You have a lot to catch up on.
If you're reading this you probably already know what's up, but if not then keep reading . It'll be an adventure. There is a lot of lingo, words like STINT and such, and backstory that I may or may not explain. it will also be riddled with grammer and spelling errors. im not very good at this writting thing so just bear with me.
Here we go-
Some time ago during my junior year at Ohio State, Go Bucks, a friend of mine(we'll call him Jon because that's his name) started talking to me about going on STINT( a short term international missions trip with Campus Crusade for Christ...we'll get detailed later on about what exactly will be going down) to Valencia, Venezuela. Long story short, at first i was not too thrilled with this idea, I had plans. I'm not quite sure what those plans were, but I had them. But, and this is a big but, God apparently had something different in mind for me, we'll talk about how and why He made this clear soon enough, hang in there. It's been about a year and a hald now(it is currently September 9, 2009) since Jon and God started plugging STINT in my life and Lord willing that is where i will be in a week.
Why go? What a fantastic question, im so glad you asked!
There are several reasons.
-We are called to take the Gospel to the nations(Matt 28:19)
-There is a need(luke 10:2)...especialy for men. think about it guys.
- I have a year between now and going to grad school(maybe), so why not?
- Venezuela is a unique country with many opportunities to send their own to places we can not go.
-It's gunna be real sweet.
With that said here's what's goin on:
It all started back in the spring. The Great Lakes Region schools (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and some other state) went to a kickoff weekend in Indianapolis. There were 6 of us from OSU(4 STINT, 2 intern). To save you all the gory details, the weekend was all about paper work, forms, and developing a team of ministry partners to help get us to our assignments(some of you may even be part of my or others teams! whoo hoo!). I don't remember a whole lot to be honest...just that they made a big deal about a black and white picture in a book they gave us....just kidding. People made it alot of fun. We had good times together.
Anyway, aside from that we also received our official assignment. did i mention that we really didnt know if there would be a team going to Valencia or not?yeah, we could have ended up anywhere in the world, seriously. just a bit unnerving. but there were our names on the board under Valencia VZ.
i was stoked.
For two of my OSU friends, their plans changed quite a bit . but thats another story for another day. Getting my assignment also meant that I got to find out who i would be spending the next year of my life with, kind of a big deal. They are sweet, you might even knwo some of them.
Lisa-The Ohio State University
Allison-The Ohio State University(2nd year)
Sarah-Ball State University(2nd year)
David- Duke University
Matt(me)-The Ohio State University
David, Allison and Sarah were not there that weekend, but we would all be together at STINT briefing.
with that i was headed back to columbus to blaze the support raising trail and to graduate in june. both of those things happened(i am a proud graduate of The Ohio Sate University, class of 2009)
that was long so ill shorten the rest of the summer...
shortly after kickoff weekend i was given a call and i was given the opportunity to lead the team this year. i really didnt know what that meant, but after being given a whole 24 hours to think and pray about it i agreed. conseqentaly, afew months, a diploma, and a number of great weddings later i arrived in Ft.Collins, CO for team leader training with about 45 or so other really awesome men and women that would be leading thier teams around the world, including my co-leader allison. they would be going all over the world.from east asia to africa, germany to south america and everywhere in between. Good times were had by all and i saw God do alot of work in my life and in my heart in a very short time, much of which revolved around the 4 L's that they talk about for all STINTers. Love the Lord, Love your team, Launch a movement, Learn a new culture.
this, in essence, is what this coming year will be all about.
about a month later i was again in colorado for STINT briefing. my team as well as about 200 other young people who were going all over the world. this was the first time that our entire team had been together. we speant the week in the beautiful rocky mountains, revisiting the four L's, spending time with God and the team. each day we visited an aspect of STINT life, heard from past stinters and staff about what some of of our years would hold.....i also got to spend some time with my sister, her husband, and my 1 year old niece for afew days after this. it was great!
i still dont feel adequatley prepared to go to VZ, let alone do ministry or lead a team (i think ive said afew times that ive never felt less prepared for anything in my life). this is a scary, but good thing. hopefully i will get out of my own way this year and be in a place where i have no other choice but to follow and lean on the Lord.
this summer, specifically the week of leader training, breifing, and the few weeks after breifing until now(i think stint breifing was Aug 12-19) have been some of the most challenging in recent memory. in my entire memory for that matter.
we should be leaving around the 17th hopefully. about 8 days from now.
it'll be good. im sure a lot of it will be fun. some of it will be hard. and it should be an adventure.
matt
Romans 1:16
If you're reading this you probably already know what's up, but if not then keep reading . It'll be an adventure. There is a lot of lingo, words like STINT and such, and backstory that I may or may not explain. it will also be riddled with grammer and spelling errors. im not very good at this writting thing so just bear with me.
Here we go-
Some time ago during my junior year at Ohio State, Go Bucks, a friend of mine(we'll call him Jon because that's his name) started talking to me about going on STINT( a short term international missions trip with Campus Crusade for Christ...we'll get detailed later on about what exactly will be going down) to Valencia, Venezuela. Long story short, at first i was not too thrilled with this idea, I had plans. I'm not quite sure what those plans were, but I had them. But, and this is a big but, God apparently had something different in mind for me, we'll talk about how and why He made this clear soon enough, hang in there. It's been about a year and a hald now(it is currently September 9, 2009) since Jon and God started plugging STINT in my life and Lord willing that is where i will be in a week.
Why go? What a fantastic question, im so glad you asked!
There are several reasons.
-We are called to take the Gospel to the nations(Matt 28:19)
-There is a need(luke 10:2)...especialy for men. think about it guys.
- I have a year between now and going to grad school(maybe), so why not?
- Venezuela is a unique country with many opportunities to send their own to places we can not go.
-It's gunna be real sweet.
With that said here's what's goin on:
It all started back in the spring. The Great Lakes Region schools (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and some other state) went to a kickoff weekend in Indianapolis. There were 6 of us from OSU(4 STINT, 2 intern). To save you all the gory details, the weekend was all about paper work, forms, and developing a team of ministry partners to help get us to our assignments(some of you may even be part of my or others teams! whoo hoo!). I don't remember a whole lot to be honest...just that they made a big deal about a black and white picture in a book they gave us....just kidding. People made it alot of fun. We had good times together.
Anyway, aside from that we also received our official assignment. did i mention that we really didnt know if there would be a team going to Valencia or not?yeah, we could have ended up anywhere in the world, seriously. just a bit unnerving. but there were our names on the board under Valencia VZ.
i was stoked.
For two of my OSU friends, their plans changed quite a bit . but thats another story for another day. Getting my assignment also meant that I got to find out who i would be spending the next year of my life with, kind of a big deal. They are sweet, you might even knwo some of them.
Lisa-The Ohio State University
Allison-The Ohio State University(2nd year)
Sarah-Ball State University(2nd year)
David- Duke University
Matt(me)-The Ohio State University
David, Allison and Sarah were not there that weekend, but we would all be together at STINT briefing.
with that i was headed back to columbus to blaze the support raising trail and to graduate in june. both of those things happened(i am a proud graduate of The Ohio Sate University, class of 2009)
that was long so ill shorten the rest of the summer...
shortly after kickoff weekend i was given a call and i was given the opportunity to lead the team this year. i really didnt know what that meant, but after being given a whole 24 hours to think and pray about it i agreed. conseqentaly, afew months, a diploma, and a number of great weddings later i arrived in Ft.Collins, CO for team leader training with about 45 or so other really awesome men and women that would be leading thier teams around the world, including my co-leader allison. they would be going all over the world.from east asia to africa, germany to south america and everywhere in between. Good times were had by all and i saw God do alot of work in my life and in my heart in a very short time, much of which revolved around the 4 L's that they talk about for all STINTers. Love the Lord, Love your team, Launch a movement, Learn a new culture.
this, in essence, is what this coming year will be all about.
about a month later i was again in colorado for STINT briefing. my team as well as about 200 other young people who were going all over the world. this was the first time that our entire team had been together. we speant the week in the beautiful rocky mountains, revisiting the four L's, spending time with God and the team. each day we visited an aspect of STINT life, heard from past stinters and staff about what some of of our years would hold.....i also got to spend some time with my sister, her husband, and my 1 year old niece for afew days after this. it was great!
i still dont feel adequatley prepared to go to VZ, let alone do ministry or lead a team (i think ive said afew times that ive never felt less prepared for anything in my life). this is a scary, but good thing. hopefully i will get out of my own way this year and be in a place where i have no other choice but to follow and lean on the Lord.
this summer, specifically the week of leader training, breifing, and the few weeks after breifing until now(i think stint breifing was Aug 12-19) have been some of the most challenging in recent memory. in my entire memory for that matter.
we should be leaving around the 17th hopefully. about 8 days from now.
it'll be good. im sure a lot of it will be fun. some of it will be hard. and it should be an adventure.
matt
Romans 1:16
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