Well, after many weeks of being slack, I am finally writing another blog entry! I don't really know where to start, but I think it's safe to say that I am now loving my room, and pretty much know my way around campus (or at least how to get to my classes), and am starting to work out my way around Toronto. I only have classes on 3 days, so I have plenty of time for exploration and adventures! There seems to be lots of little cultural areas in Toronto, my favourite definitely being Kensington Market, which described as 'bohemian', but is full of little stores of local designers, many of whom use all recycled materials or fair trade resources. And the best part is that there is a whole street dedicated to Vintage Clothing stores- so basically the best of op shops! So many amazing things, although it makes me miss my sewing machine, cause there are just so many fun projects there!
Having said that, I think I probably have enough projects happening at the moment... I've started my scrapbook of my travelling, got back into my knitting, and decided that it is time for me to work on my hand-sewing ability! Fortunately I don't seem to have a heavy load of work for my classes, but I am really enjoying the classes here, and the lecturers are all great. So that is all lots of lots of fun.
You'll be pleased to know that I've also finally found a spectator sport that I love- Baseball! So in the last week I've been twice, first to see the Toronto Blue Jays play the Red Sox, and then to see them play the Yankees! The first game I couldn't choose who to go for (how do i decide between Toronto and Boston?), but the Red Sox won in the last innings, and the I went for the Blue Jays and that was a great game because there were a lot more hits and getting on base (even a home run!) and the Bue Jays won 8-2! But now the season is over, so I'll go back to not watching sport...
Also joined up with a couple of christian groups on campus that I like- one being a bible study/ discussion group, and one a 'coffee house' designed especially for international students. The bible study is a really relaxed group, and we will be working our way through John, but I really like the setup of the group. We get given the reading and spend some time going through it individually, coming up with any questions or significant parts to it, and then discuss the questions as a group and see what we can come up with. Just nice, logical exploration and trying to find the meanings. The other group meets at a local church to have dinner together and have some more general guided discussion, which is nice but occasionally frustrating as many in the group have limited english, and so the discussions often switch between english and chinese, which prevents very deep discussion. They are having a camp over christmas however, which could be really good fun.
My really exciting news is that I am now definitely going back to Mexico in January, before I come home! How? Well it was kind of crazy, but when I was leaving the Amor office at the end of my last trip, I got introduced to someone in the office as 'The Australian', and she got all excited because because they were having a group coming from Australia at christmas! So I enquired if she knew who they were, and she mentioned that she thought they were a Uniting Church? So I asked where from, and she thought it was the overall office for the Sydney area (I'm like, yep, know who that would be), and that it might be called the Moderators trip? So I looked it up, and sure enough, NSW Synod had organised an all age trip! I contacted them and it's all just worked amazingly from there. Even though they had already filled all of there places, they've made adjustments to fit me in, which is sooo exciting! So that will be from the 29th of December to the 11th of January (which includes 5 days building in Tijuana, 2 days in Rosarita, 2 days in LA (Disneyland!) and attending church services in LA and Tijuana), leaving me with a week to fill in LA area before I head home!
It's been great having Arwyn here, having lots of awesome conversations with her about different things, and keeping ourselves entertained, so that's good. Going away with some of the other international students next weekend to a national park, which will also be good. It's great here- they don't just have christian holidays, but also Jewish and other holidays at Uni, which I think is awesome. And not just cause I get days off.
Anyway, hope everyone's doing well, missing you all and loving when I get calls or emails, so keep them coming!
Laura
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Finally at York!
Well, after a not so direct route that took 2 months, I have finally arrived at York University in Toronto, which is very exciting! I've now moved into my room and settled in, and am now capable of making it to a few key spots on campus without getting lost, and I believe I've found the shortest route. The challenge of finding classrooms starts tomorrow, so that will be a test!
My room is small but cosy, and I'm slowly making it change from a small white room with boring furniture to something that looks a little more me- esque, which has been lots of fun. My apartment is made up of 2 identical bedrooms, a bathroom, and a gigantic closet, but currently the other room is still empty, so I don't know if I will end up sharing or having it all to myself!
My building is largely made up of young families or couples, so I'm definately lacking in some of the social life that some of the other buildings have, but I can at least get to sleep without having to worry about whether there is a party in my building! Arwyn (my friend from uni) and I have had several shopping outing to different places around, have fallen in love with Walmart, started to explore the city, and begun to make friends. There have been (and will continue to be) several outings arranged for international students, which has helped us get to know other students going through the same problems as us, and also let there be a few familiar faces around campus, which has been good fun.It's definitely been a bit of a challenge changing pace as I settle in here. At first it was very hard to just spend an afternoon or an evening relaxing in my room, but I'm slowly getting used to the idea that I will be here more than 3 days and so I don't have to see it all straight away! The other thing that has been interesting is adjusting to being around the same people regularly, and knowing that I do actually need to make friends with these people! In the hostels, I was really kind of enjoying not having to worry about building substantial relationships, as one of us would most likely be leaving the next day! I'm sure that once we get to know each other more I will enjoy being around them much more, but the getting to know each other and awkward conversations are taking some getting used to! It's been great having Arwyn here though, to see someone who I know and be able to talk through some of the challenges of both my travels and settling in here!
It's good fun being on campus though, and being able to join up with different sports and groups (except there are so many! At least 8 different christian groups alone! eek!), so I'm really looking forward to them starting up and getting involved and meeting more people! Just in case people were wondering, I'm thinking I will continue to blog while I'm here, not just about what I'm doing here, but also some thoughts that I have as I try and work out what I think of my experiences so far, and where I may want to take them from here. I also have some phone numbers that people can (PLEASE) call me on, cause I'd love to chat to you all and it totally makes my day when someone calls cause I feel like I'm not forgotten yet! My room number (probably the best one to chat on cause it's cheaper for both of us and I'm more likely to be doing nothing) is 0011-1-416-650-4311, but if you really want to talk to me and I'm not picking up, call my mobile on 0011-1-647-377-4251! Just no 4 am calls please :P I'm 14 hours behind you!
Hope all are doing well, and I hope to be a little more contactable once I finally get my internet set up in my room!
Laura
Friday, August 22, 2008
My Last Day of Travelling
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
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 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
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
It's been a while....
Hello!
It's been quite some time since I've blogged, which is partly my fault and partly not! I did write up quite a lengthy summary but then it disappeared before I could post it and I wanted to go to bed and figured I would have a few days here in LA to blog without too much happening... woops! And then of course the computers in the hostel weren't working, and a lot happened, so now I have to try and get it all in before the money runs out!
Camp was overall a really positive experience, and it was really hard to leave! They had a great sense of community there, and even though all the staff had different backgrounds and were there for different reasons, they were all working to create an amazing week for the campers, and they did! The last week, with middle schoolers was challenging because the majority were boys and it bucketed rain nearly the whole week, but it meant that we had a chance to be creative in coming up with activities that they could do indoors which would keep them entertained. The week did make me miss my small group though- they are a lot less girly and a lot more grounded (and funny!) than the girls that I had in my cabin! They did call me during their small group though, which was very exciting! Overall, really positive, and I'd love to go back to the center some time, and will definately try to keep in touch with many of the staff!
The bus ride back to Boston was quite eventful- I met Santa! The man in front of me started talking to me- he was a proffesional Santa, and he had the beard to go with it. His only complaint was that he had brown eyes not blue- I think he really felt that that had held him back in his career! He was a funny man, and made up poetry for me all the way to Boston, and then showed me where to go when got into the city to find the Subway! Very entertaining man! Told me about how you can 'call santa' and he gets calls all year round- including ones like 'can you stop my dad hitting my mum?' I never really thought about any of that stuff, but it sounded kinda cool!
Boston was once again great, and this time I got to catch up with my friend Eva from when I lived in Boston. I had stayed with her parents last time, but she had been away. We still got on really well and went into Harvard Square for a day and found lots to talk about, which was really good. It's funny- some of my best conversations about God and what I'm doing have happened during times I thought would be a bit of a break for me!
It was also interesting at both the Horton Center and in Boston to notice that a lot of people really shy away from public displays of religion, through things like grace. It's almost like there are 2 kinds of christians that I've come accross- those who are really out there and sharing their faith every chance they get (and what can sometimes be the 'scary christians') and those who have been scared off by those people to the point that they don't want to display things like public graces, even though they work in a church soup kitchen weekly. And then there's a few standing in the middle looking at both sides like their crazy and have really changed what christianity was originally intended to be! (maybe Shane Clairborne?)
It's really interesting the amount of cultural differences that I really have started to notice here, and that have surprised me, given that I'm currently in the worlds superpower. Things like the number of homeless on the street, the condition of the roads, which are far below ours, the amount of panic and discussion that there is about petrol prices, and global warming. It's like they've suddenly hit the point when they've all realised that something needs to change, and it's all they can talk about. Particularly in coming here to LA, I've just notice that it's not that nice. In terms of a lot of the streets and buildings, I feel like I'm in an old country town. It doesn't really seem like I'm in one of the most culturally influential cities in the world!
I am really feeling a lot more confident with my travelling though- coming here I was quite relaxed and felt fine about taking a bus to the Hostel- which is good! Hopefully that will continue to build. The flight here was great- beautiful views the whole way and so I took lots of photos! Really pretty colours in a lot of the land.
Have had some more adventures since getting to LA, but will make you wait in suspense for them- I need some time to get my brain straight! It has been really fun and interesting though, so no need to worry!
Keep the calls and update emails coming, I appreciate them sooo much!
Laura
It's been quite some time since I've blogged, which is partly my fault and partly not! I did write up quite a lengthy summary but then it disappeared before I could post it and I wanted to go to bed and figured I would have a few days here in LA to blog without too much happening... woops! And then of course the computers in the hostel weren't working, and a lot happened, so now I have to try and get it all in before the money runs out!
Camp was overall a really positive experience, and it was really hard to leave! They had a great sense of community there, and even though all the staff had different backgrounds and were there for different reasons, they were all working to create an amazing week for the campers, and they did! The last week, with middle schoolers was challenging because the majority were boys and it bucketed rain nearly the whole week, but it meant that we had a chance to be creative in coming up with activities that they could do indoors which would keep them entertained. The week did make me miss my small group though- they are a lot less girly and a lot more grounded (and funny!) than the girls that I had in my cabin! They did call me during their small group though, which was very exciting! Overall, really positive, and I'd love to go back to the center some time, and will definately try to keep in touch with many of the staff!
The bus ride back to Boston was quite eventful- I met Santa! The man in front of me started talking to me- he was a proffesional Santa, and he had the beard to go with it. His only complaint was that he had brown eyes not blue- I think he really felt that that had held him back in his career! He was a funny man, and made up poetry for me all the way to Boston, and then showed me where to go when got into the city to find the Subway! Very entertaining man! Told me about how you can 'call santa' and he gets calls all year round- including ones like 'can you stop my dad hitting my mum?' I never really thought about any of that stuff, but it sounded kinda cool!
Boston was once again great, and this time I got to catch up with my friend Eva from when I lived in Boston. I had stayed with her parents last time, but she had been away. We still got on really well and went into Harvard Square for a day and found lots to talk about, which was really good. It's funny- some of my best conversations about God and what I'm doing have happened during times I thought would be a bit of a break for me!
It was also interesting at both the Horton Center and in Boston to notice that a lot of people really shy away from public displays of religion, through things like grace. It's almost like there are 2 kinds of christians that I've come accross- those who are really out there and sharing their faith every chance they get (and what can sometimes be the 'scary christians') and those who have been scared off by those people to the point that they don't want to display things like public graces, even though they work in a church soup kitchen weekly. And then there's a few standing in the middle looking at both sides like their crazy and have really changed what christianity was originally intended to be! (maybe Shane Clairborne?)
It's really interesting the amount of cultural differences that I really have started to notice here, and that have surprised me, given that I'm currently in the worlds superpower. Things like the number of homeless on the street, the condition of the roads, which are far below ours, the amount of panic and discussion that there is about petrol prices, and global warming. It's like they've suddenly hit the point when they've all realised that something needs to change, and it's all they can talk about. Particularly in coming here to LA, I've just notice that it's not that nice. In terms of a lot of the streets and buildings, I feel like I'm in an old country town. It doesn't really seem like I'm in one of the most culturally influential cities in the world!
I am really feeling a lot more confident with my travelling though- coming here I was quite relaxed and felt fine about taking a bus to the Hostel- which is good! Hopefully that will continue to build. The flight here was great- beautiful views the whole way and so I took lots of photos! Really pretty colours in a lot of the land.
Have had some more adventures since getting to LA, but will make you wait in suspense for them- I need some time to get my brain straight! It has been really fun and interesting though, so no need to worry!
Keep the calls and update emails coming, I appreciate them sooo much!
Laura
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)