Europe
Friendly, Flexible and Full of Grace?
April/27/09 16:18
Ever locked your keys in the car?
Ever locked your keys in the car while it’s running?
Ever locked your keys in the car while it’s running and illegally parked, in a foreign country?
Ever locked your keys in the car while it’s running and illegally parked, in a foreign country, in front of a hospital because you’re picking up 5 day old newborn TWINS taking their inaugural trip from hospital to home?
I stood with my hand on the back door of Kristen and Johnny’s Hatchback CRV Honda, immobilized by the sound I had just heard. The doors had locked. I was parked on the street outside the hospital. The car was running and Johnny and Kristen were walking down the walkway from the hospital with two twin boys in their arms. I had hopped out just to get the baby seats in position and help them fasten them in, but for some crazy reason, the car had betrayed us.
What a sickening feeling! Thankfully, Kristen and Johnny kept their cool. Kristen and I returned to the lobby of the hospital while John kept watch over the illegally “parked” running car while he waited for ADAC to come and rescue us an hour and a half later.
We all have moments when things seem to take on a life of their own to create testing events. Living with the unexpected is a necessity for life, and a double necessity if you want to live life cross-culturally.
How well do you do? Are you friendly, flexible and full of grace?
Ever locked your keys in the car while it’s running?
Ever locked your keys in the car while it’s running and illegally parked, in a foreign country?
Ever locked your keys in the car while it’s running and illegally parked, in a foreign country, in front of a hospital because you’re picking up 5 day old newborn TWINS taking their inaugural trip from hospital to home?
I stood with my hand on the back door of Kristen and Johnny’s Hatchback CRV Honda, immobilized by the sound I had just heard. The doors had locked. I was parked on the street outside the hospital. The car was running and Johnny and Kristen were walking down the walkway from the hospital with two twin boys in their arms. I had hopped out just to get the baby seats in position and help them fasten them in, but for some crazy reason, the car had betrayed us.
What a sickening feeling! Thankfully, Kristen and Johnny kept their cool. Kristen and I returned to the lobby of the hospital while John kept watch over the illegally “parked” running car while he waited for ADAC to come and rescue us an hour and a half later.
We all have moments when things seem to take on a life of their own to create testing events. Living with the unexpected is a necessity for life, and a double necessity if you want to live life cross-culturally.
How well do you do? Are you friendly, flexible and full of grace?
Everybody wants to be Celtic
March/14/09 08:23
When I first starting bringing mission teams to Scotland I began to notice a reoccurring theme that came up in conversation among the American students I was working with. The phrase went something like this: “My great-great Aunt on my Mother’s side twice removed was Scottish. Our family has a castle in Scotland and I was wondering if we could look for it while we’re there?” In a country whose population is no bigger than Miami it started to make me wonder, “Are all our students decedents of William Wallace and his band of scary face-painted rebel rousers?” The simple answer, no. But there did seem to be this overwhelming fascination with all things Celtic. Outside ministry we visited castles and the students struck warrior poses for the camera. We walked on ancient battle grounds and picked thistles. We drank tea with the locals and talked for hours about how different our English was. It seemed like everybody wanted to be Scottish. Was it the romance of their warrior ways? The way they said ‘aye’ instead of ‘yes’? Tea with milk? Castles and fields of sheep? I still haven’t figured it out but I know one thing for sure: there is a large population of Americans that truly believe, deep deep down in their hearts, that their great-uncle was roommates with Robert the Bruce when they were both at Uni. So who’s to say….I know I’ve fallen in love with Scotland and it’s people and maybe if you were here you’d do the same. Because after you get over the romance of the Celts and stop pretending that you’re just ‘slipping into the Scottish accent’ you’ll learn that the Scots of today need God just as much as when they went into battle painted blue and wielding swords over their heads. Celtic fascination? Maybe at first. Heart of a missionary to reach the modern Scots even if life isn’t quite as romantic as you would have first believed? Most definitely. *Disclaimer: Sarah has lived in Scotland for 5 years and is married to a Scot named Rob. They are experiencing their first baby in March. Although she talks about the pitfalls of romanticizing a country she herself seems to have fallen pry to it…a least a little bit.
The Czech Repulic
February/26/09 18:20
So this week we are speaking at a student retreat in the Czech Republic. To arrive at the retreat we traveled on 5 different forms of transportation for 9 hours over two days ending with a 2 kilometers (1 ½ mile) hike from the last train station to the hotel.While slogging through the snow with our luggage I began wondering why I had packed 5 pair of pants for an 11-day trip and would have gladly settled for a fresh change of underwear each day. Especially once I realized that our cabin was another 500 meters further on – uphill - in the snow.
When we arrived on Saturday there was about a meter (3 ft.) of snow and Monday it snowed all night and day leaving another 30 cm or so. Our cabin is next to a tennis court and the snow is so deep it has covered the net. The snow is beautiful but if you step into a drift it can take some time to extricate yourself.
Each night we join with a group of Czech students to play games, worship and talk about God, the Bible and truth. These young people are the first generation of their country to grow up free of communist rule. As we get to know each other and laugh together at our attempts learn even a few words of the Czech language we have discovered that they have the same hopes, fears and challenges as students in every country. They even play some of the same games that we play at our retreats in Belgium.
This Saturday we will reverse our travel steps to make our way back to Brussels, but we pray that we can leave these students with a concrete and tangible guide for their lives. That would make it more than worth the trip!
Munich 1980
February/22/09 16:36
Hi! I remember when we landed in Munich January 31, 1980 with the assignment to learn German and then find a way to tell students about God's love....in German! That was enough to keep my wife, Anita awake all night flying from Chicago to Amsterdam on the second leg of our flight. Our first impression as we left the airport in Munich was a line of over 100 cream colored taxis, all Mercedes-Benz! That was the first of thousands of lessons in learning to live in a new culture. Where I came from in Wisconsin, one rarely ever saw such a car that was considered the status symbol of a physician or attorney, surely not purchased as a taxi! The years have gone by and countless lessons were learned and experience upon experience was stacked up like a tall skyscraper under construction. Yes, we eventually learned German mixed with many humorous and sometimes embarrasing attempts. So now I guess you could call us cross cultural people blessed with an amazing wealth of friends and many shared experiences. Some of those people have discovered God's love through His Son, Jesus.....while others have not.
The years have gone by so quickly, our four children have grown up and moved on to other parts of the world but the universities are still of full of fresh, young, hopeful faces. Most of them need to feel their first ever touch of God and others need to find you at their university and discover community. We would be happy if you would 'come over' and join us
Students for Christ Missionary Blog
January/11/09 19:42
Check this space for current blogs from Students for Christ missionaries across Europe.