Well, it is now my last night in a Hostel for some time, and it's both a positive and a negative thing. While I have absolutely loved the last 2 months, and have learnt so much, I'm also a little relieved that I will no longer have to try and sneak into the dorm in the dark and get ready for bed silently, share the room with people I don't know, start every conversation tentatively in case the other person doesn't speak english, or worry about half dressed girls I don't know in my dorm. I have to say, I am also over the squeezing everything into my pack every 3 or 4 days! So I'm really looking forward to setting up in my dorm at York, and being able to spread out a little and give the space a bit of Laura personality!
The last week has been great fun, exploring both Washington and New York. I have to say, it took me a while to find any life in the evenings (or even an open food selling place!), but I eventually worked out where things were a little and where I wanted to go or not go. The amount of homeless there was again shocking- not in the scary way that some of the neighbourhoods in San Fran or LA had, but in a more strategic way- it was impossible to enter any McDonalds without being asked for money by at least one person, and there were several homeless on each street, throughout the whole city, rather than condensed into some areas. I think the thing for me that was most challenging was that I didn't feel comfortable dealing with any of them on my own- I was a little concerned that if I gave money to one person, or bought them a meal, the 10 others that were watching would then come up to me also. I think the whole thing kind of accented the need for community and group work when dealing with these situations, because I just didn't feel that I could help, where as in LA, at the Dream Center, I was more comfortable in poorer areas because I was there as part of a team, and knew that there was support there with me. I didn't feel threatened in Washington, more frustrated that I felt unable to help.
Other than that, it was a fun place to be. I went and way lots of memorials, and big white stone buildings with pillars out the front that have important things in them, saw Dad (or Abe Lincoln) in lots of places- he was really popular! My fun activity there was going to the 'International Spy Museum'. A little silly, and could certainly make you very paranoid about anyone sitting on a park bench, carrying a suitcase or looking out the window, but lots of fun. They believed there were 10000 spies in Washington. There were lots of factual things in the museum, and Washington would definately be a good place to spy if you were going to spy, so you never know. Maybe it's better if we just don't think about those things!
New York has been lots of fun. Not so many homeless around, and I've generally felt much safer, but still the occasional person asking for money! One woman asked me for one dollar as I got $200 out of an ATM- almost all of which was so that I could check into the Hostel. Again it was one of those strategic asks, which made me feel terrible, but couldn't do much. It's been fun wandering around looking at all the different areas and seeing the different subcultures- and very difficult not letting myself start shopping for things I will need in Canada! Almost all of the unique areas are based around little (or big) areas of shops, and there has been a great range of little, unique shops as well as some of the larger chains. I still enjoy looking around at all the different brands, styles and types of products that are available here, so that's been fun. My highlight was definately when I managed to get student tickets (bought 2 hours before the show for a quarter of the price) with another girl from the hostel to the Broadway production of Zanadu, which had Whoopi Goldberg in it for only about a month, which was very exciting! It was a really fun musical, which made are really good night out!
I finally have an address for York, so all the birthday invites and letters and care packages I know you've all been dying to send can now come (hehe). Send them to:
Laura Morgan
Room 632, 90 Atkinson Road
4700 Keele Street
Toronto, ON M3J 2S5
Canada
Moving in on Sunday, helped by the Robinsons, which will be fun!
Missing you all lots, and hope people are haveing a great time at camp this weekend!
Laura
Friday, August 22, 2008
Friday, August 15, 2008
Dream Center and Beyond
Well, it has been a little while since I've blogged, and I have to admit that I have been procrastinating for several days now, but I am now determined to bring you all up to date!
The Dream Center, where I was from the 7th-10th, was a surprisingly positive experience. I went into it a little apprehensive, because I had heard some interesting stories (anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about, ask Alanee about the Dream Center) about the approaches that they took in attempts to bring people to christ- in short, what I like to call 'Bible Bashing'. I found though, that while their main focus was to get people to church and change their lives (which is after all the great commandment), they were also doing several other really positive things. I always feel a little conflicted in this area, because I'm really not sure that we should be going around convincing people to abandon their beliefs in other religions, telling them that their lives will be great if they just believe in God, and I have seen this approach take people further away from believing in God, yet the Bible pretty clearly tells us to tell everyone about God and make more followers. Hence me loving things such as the Kombi Krew, where we focus on creating positive relationships where people may feel comfortable considering new ideas. The Dream Center focused much more on telling people about God- praying for them, inviting them to church etc. While doing this however, they were handing out groceries in poorer neighbourhoods, giving out water and energy bars on Skid Row, or serving a hot lunch in a shelter. And most people didn't shy away from people bringing up god- in fact, many of them loved to share their experiences, or interpretations of the bible (some of which probably wouldn't be taught in Bible College), and were really keen to be prayed with and share their problems. It always amazes me what strong faith many homeless have, despite terrible things that happen to me. I met one woman who had just had her 83rd birthday, and when I tried to congratulate her, she refused, saying that it was thanks to God, she had done nothing. This woman was homeless, on her own and wearing a hard hat, and yet she still believed that God was so good.
One of the other focuses was to invite people to church. Because many people did not have transport, they sent out buses to a wide range of different areas in LA to pick people up and take them to church, and then gave them free pizza on the way home (is bribery a sin?). The services were quite flashy, and very much about how celebrating that we were save because of Jesus etc, but that was really what these people needed to hear. It was very different to many styles of worship, but it was well aimed at the people that needed it, and it engaged them and kept them interested, which seemed to me to be a positive thing. Overall, it was an interesting few days because it was so different to how I would think to do things, but at the same time what they were doing was really great, and they were really appreciated in the community. Someone said to me, the way to tell if a church is successful is to think that if it closed one day, would the neighbourhood notice? They really would have noticed if the Dream Center closed, because they were so visible in so many productive ways. Some people didn't want to know, but others recieved us really positively.
After that, I flew up to New York for 2 nights, and have spent the last 3 night in Philadelphia with my second cousin. I think one of the most amazing things about my trip has been the hospitality that I've recieved from people who barely know me, but are happy to look after me and show me around because they knew my parents or are related to me or got an email from a girl they had never heard of expressing interest in what they're doing. It's been really great to have these days in Philadelphia, to just really relax and get some energy back, as well as get shown around. I can't believe in just over a week I will be in Toronto and my travelling will be over for now! It's been absolutely amazing, but I am a little sick of packing and unpacking my bag every few days, and it will be good to settle in at York and make some longer term friends!
Hope you are all doing well, and I'm still working through the letters you all wrote, but I love reading them and it's a great way to feel loved when I need it! Thank you!
Laura
The Dream Center, where I was from the 7th-10th, was a surprisingly positive experience. I went into it a little apprehensive, because I had heard some interesting stories (anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about, ask Alanee about the Dream Center) about the approaches that they took in attempts to bring people to christ- in short, what I like to call 'Bible Bashing'. I found though, that while their main focus was to get people to church and change their lives (which is after all the great commandment), they were also doing several other really positive things. I always feel a little conflicted in this area, because I'm really not sure that we should be going around convincing people to abandon their beliefs in other religions, telling them that their lives will be great if they just believe in God, and I have seen this approach take people further away from believing in God, yet the Bible pretty clearly tells us to tell everyone about God and make more followers. Hence me loving things such as the Kombi Krew, where we focus on creating positive relationships where people may feel comfortable considering new ideas. The Dream Center focused much more on telling people about God- praying for them, inviting them to church etc. While doing this however, they were handing out groceries in poorer neighbourhoods, giving out water and energy bars on Skid Row, or serving a hot lunch in a shelter. And most people didn't shy away from people bringing up god- in fact, many of them loved to share their experiences, or interpretations of the bible (some of which probably wouldn't be taught in Bible College), and were really keen to be prayed with and share their problems. It always amazes me what strong faith many homeless have, despite terrible things that happen to me. I met one woman who had just had her 83rd birthday, and when I tried to congratulate her, she refused, saying that it was thanks to God, she had done nothing. This woman was homeless, on her own and wearing a hard hat, and yet she still believed that God was so good.
One of the other focuses was to invite people to church. Because many people did not have transport, they sent out buses to a wide range of different areas in LA to pick people up and take them to church, and then gave them free pizza on the way home (is bribery a sin?). The services were quite flashy, and very much about how celebrating that we were save because of Jesus etc, but that was really what these people needed to hear. It was very different to many styles of worship, but it was well aimed at the people that needed it, and it engaged them and kept them interested, which seemed to me to be a positive thing. Overall, it was an interesting few days because it was so different to how I would think to do things, but at the same time what they were doing was really great, and they were really appreciated in the community. Someone said to me, the way to tell if a church is successful is to think that if it closed one day, would the neighbourhood notice? They really would have noticed if the Dream Center closed, because they were so visible in so many productive ways. Some people didn't want to know, but others recieved us really positively.
After that, I flew up to New York for 2 nights, and have spent the last 3 night in Philadelphia with my second cousin. I think one of the most amazing things about my trip has been the hospitality that I've recieved from people who barely know me, but are happy to look after me and show me around because they knew my parents or are related to me or got an email from a girl they had never heard of expressing interest in what they're doing. It's been really great to have these days in Philadelphia, to just really relax and get some energy back, as well as get shown around. I can't believe in just over a week I will be in Toronto and my travelling will be over for now! It's been absolutely amazing, but I am a little sick of packing and unpacking my bag every few days, and it will be good to settle in at York and make some longer term friends!
Hope you are all doing well, and I'm still working through the letters you all wrote, but I love reading them and it's a great way to feel loved when I need it! Thank you!
Laura
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Mexico
Mexico was absolutely amazing. Definately my favourite visit so far. To start at the start, I got up early on the first day (Saturday) and went to Amor Ministeries, where 10 of us piled into 4WD's and drove about 45 minutes into Tijuana, Mexico. I was the youngest in the group except for a 10 year old daughter who came along too, and over the next 3 days we build the frame, wired and papered the walls, and then covered them with concrete, of a 2 room house for them to live in. The family consisted of the Grandmother, 2 parents (who had been married since she was 15 and he was 17), a 6 year old girl, 4 year old girl and a 2 year old son. The total weekly income for the family is $80, and they all sleep in one bed, in what was a leaking, insecure house. If that's not enough, the younger girl had a small tumor on her back, which required her to have 3 doctors, and took almost all of their income. Because of theft, they have barbed wire fences right around their property, and use a drop dunny which is not the cleanest I have ever seen! Drugs are also a big problem in this area, and most of the people around them were living in similar conditions.
Despite all of this, they were one of the happiest, most welcoming families that I have ever encountered, and there is something about their appreciation for what they have and the simplicity of there needs that was just beatiful, and I think can teach us a lot about what is important in our lives, and the values that we have. On the first day that we were there, the 2 girls went and put on their best dresses and danced around for us- and they were more proud of those dresses (which were lovely but would not be considered exceptional by western standards) than any child with and new toy. Because that was what they had to share with us- their favourite dresses- and they loved doing it.
The language barrier was a bit of a challenge for me, but there were moments when it just did not matter. Like when we first put the door in place, the older girl looked up and her face just lit up. There were no solid walls around the door, but there was now a door and she was so excited. It would have been great to be able to talk to the children, but it also made me a little more aware of how isolated people can feel when trying to communicate to people who don't speak their language.
Overall, it was a magical few days, and I loved the approach that Amor took. They did not choose the families themselves, but worked through local pastors who found families in need. This allowed them to reach out into the community, and one of the Pastors said that 60% of his congregation were there because they had had houses build for the by Amor. They were also not looking for praise or gratitude, but rather just said that this house was from God, and left it at that. We also had a dedication service for the family before we left, where we read the same prayer in Spanish and English, and then gave the family several gifts of things that would help them. Although the outside was complete, the inside was left fairly bare and needing work, as this encourages them to put in some work themselves and really take ownership of the house (although our family helped enthusiastically throughout the build). Overall, a wonderfull experience!
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Unexpected adventure in Santa Monica
Well, it feels like it's been a long time since I've blogged, even though I guess it's not really! I'm back in a hostel in San Diego after spending 3 days Mexico building a house, which I absolutely loved and didn't want to leave! Before I talk about that though I have to talk about the rest of my time in LA/ Santa Monica!
So as you may know, I had planned a couple of days break in Santa Monica before I headed down to Mexico, to get back a bit of energy, be a tourist, all that kind of stuff. Apparently not meant to be. On my first night in Santa Monica, I came across another mission group, and decided that I wanted to know what they were on about. Basically, they are a group that live together and work together and are working to offer education to christians about some alternative views and interpretations of the bible through a series of DVD lectures, followed by a discussion with one of the team members (each person usually stays with the same person throughout all of the lectures. They're also aiming to use the media to portray a more positive image of christianity, and finding and promoting common ideals and goals that christians share with other religions. The people that work there also live together in the same house (about 11 people). I spent 1 day in their office, and only got through 3 dvd lectures (I think because I kept going off topic and asking their opinions on other things during the discussion), but I'll list what I think they were trying to tell me.
- Evil is what stops us from fully commiting to christian life and dedicating all of our time to mission (eg work, other social priorities)
- To understand our purpose, we must first understand the nature of god, which allows us to understand our relationship with god, which allows us to understand our position in the universe, which helps us understand our purpose.
- A perfected being is one whose mind is focused on god and our body is acting that out. When this happens, our formation is complete.
- When we are alive, we are in both the spiritual world and the physical world. When we die, we leave the physical world and are only in the spiritual world. There, we do not have our bodies to hide behind and so everything is out in the open and we cannot hide who we truly are or what we think/ want.
- The original human fall was not a literal fruit, but a spiritual fruit, and the sin was actually Eve commiting an impure sexual act with the fallen angel Lucifer. Eve was striving to understand the power of the parental love that God has for us, and then understood that Adam was actually her intended partner and so went to him. Because of this, the reason that we have sin in our lives is because we are children of Satan, not God.
This lase one seemed to be their most important point, and they clearly wanted me to agree with it. However, they could not tell me who had come up with this theory, and when I read the passage later there were a few things that didn't make sense to me, but they were very passionate about it! Basically, they believed that Gods kingdom would come with perfected beings (centred on God) reached maturity and got married and had God centred families. That's apparently what God wants us to do.
It was interesting, and a lot of their basic views and ideals were really good, but some I disagreed with a bit. I did really like how they took the time to discuss each section with people after they watched the lecture, and they then offered mission opportunities to people after they had worked through all of the DVD's, which was cool. I think they thought I wasn't God centred though, because I wouldn't come back the next day because I wanted to at least get some touristing in while I was there! So I went and saw the Hollywood sign and the Chinese theatre and the hands in the ground, and the stars with peoples names (found John Howard and Bob Hawk!), and nearly saw Mariah Carey (they were setting up for her concert), and wandered around LA, saw Little Mexico, all that. It was a fun day, but to be honest I didn't think it was really worth all the hype that it gets being LA.
I was going to write about Mexico now, but I think I'll let this one have it's own write up and be back (hopefully tomorrow night!) with all my Mexico fun!
Laura
So as you may know, I had planned a couple of days break in Santa Monica before I headed down to Mexico, to get back a bit of energy, be a tourist, all that kind of stuff. Apparently not meant to be. On my first night in Santa Monica, I came across another mission group, and decided that I wanted to know what they were on about. Basically, they are a group that live together and work together and are working to offer education to christians about some alternative views and interpretations of the bible through a series of DVD lectures, followed by a discussion with one of the team members (each person usually stays with the same person throughout all of the lectures. They're also aiming to use the media to portray a more positive image of christianity, and finding and promoting common ideals and goals that christians share with other religions. The people that work there also live together in the same house (about 11 people). I spent 1 day in their office, and only got through 3 dvd lectures (I think because I kept going off topic and asking their opinions on other things during the discussion), but I'll list what I think they were trying to tell me.
- Evil is what stops us from fully commiting to christian life and dedicating all of our time to mission (eg work, other social priorities)
- To understand our purpose, we must first understand the nature of god, which allows us to understand our relationship with god, which allows us to understand our position in the universe, which helps us understand our purpose.
- A perfected being is one whose mind is focused on god and our body is acting that out. When this happens, our formation is complete.
- When we are alive, we are in both the spiritual world and the physical world. When we die, we leave the physical world and are only in the spiritual world. There, we do not have our bodies to hide behind and so everything is out in the open and we cannot hide who we truly are or what we think/ want.
- The original human fall was not a literal fruit, but a spiritual fruit, and the sin was actually Eve commiting an impure sexual act with the fallen angel Lucifer. Eve was striving to understand the power of the parental love that God has for us, and then understood that Adam was actually her intended partner and so went to him. Because of this, the reason that we have sin in our lives is because we are children of Satan, not God.
This lase one seemed to be their most important point, and they clearly wanted me to agree with it. However, they could not tell me who had come up with this theory, and when I read the passage later there were a few things that didn't make sense to me, but they were very passionate about it! Basically, they believed that Gods kingdom would come with perfected beings (centred on God) reached maturity and got married and had God centred families. That's apparently what God wants us to do.
It was interesting, and a lot of their basic views and ideals were really good, but some I disagreed with a bit. I did really like how they took the time to discuss each section with people after they watched the lecture, and they then offered mission opportunities to people after they had worked through all of the DVD's, which was cool. I think they thought I wasn't God centred though, because I wouldn't come back the next day because I wanted to at least get some touristing in while I was there! So I went and saw the Hollywood sign and the Chinese theatre and the hands in the ground, and the stars with peoples names (found John Howard and Bob Hawk!), and nearly saw Mariah Carey (they were setting up for her concert), and wandered around LA, saw Little Mexico, all that. It was a fun day, but to be honest I didn't think it was really worth all the hype that it gets being LA.
I was going to write about Mexico now, but I think I'll let this one have it's own write up and be back (hopefully tomorrow night!) with all my Mexico fun!
Laura
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