From Belize to St Louis

Vacations. Adventures. Things we look forward to. Whatever it may be, it is so tempting to idealize them. Like a sailboat trips through the Caribbean to the Belize coral reef. Sounds idyllic. The night before the bus ride to the coast I got sick—bad. Twice I buckled to the sidewalk in pain. Nathan had just arrived and was wondering what in the world happened to me—“what’s in the water down here?” he must have thought as I was on the verge of passing out.

We reached the coast to reunite with some friends and embark on our perfect journey to paradise. But why was it raining? That wasn’t part of the plan. It’ll let up in a hour or so. An hour or so later—it’ll let up by tonight. That night—no worries, it’ll fine by tomorrow. Tomorrow—certainly it’ll clear up soon. Soon—nope!

We hunkered down in belly of the ship playing Texas Hold ‘em as the captain and crew braved the bad weather and pounding rain. It wasn’t the most perfect situation, but it actually worked out well as I got to know the other passengers quite quickly: a fun couple from England, two in peace corps, one dude from DC, two affectionate girls from Sweden, my two Oregonian friends, a Kentucky, and Nathan. We sailed across the lake to a river winding its way through the jungle with steep, densely vegetated walls rising out of the water on either side.

The rain lasted two days before it cleared up. We were anchored right on top of the Belize coral reef, less than 100 meters from the continental shelf which is a wall dropping strait off 2200+ meters. I snorkeled and scuba dived in the clear Caribbean water. And for the first time, skinny me could actually float! We fished off the side of the boat and all our food was caught the day of---usually the hour of; now that’s fresh seafood!

A highlight: I saw my first live shark, actually two of them, and my response was much different than I anticipated. Sharks are large animals with big teeth. These sharks were about 2 meters long. So what was my reflex when I looked off the edge of the boat to see those vicious animals? The same thing anyone would do: I quickly grabbed my snorkel, fins, and underwater camera and jumped in after them!! True story.

Upon my return, we stayed in a small hostel cloistered in the jungle growth. In fact, it was only accessible by small boat. As we motored down the lake heading directly toward the shore, I turned to Nate asking where he thought we were going. Shortly later, we saw a small river inlet heading into the jungle. We squeezed the boat up the river, sleeking through the jungle past a turtle and up to the hostel. Needless to say, it pretty much rocked.

After dropping Nate off at the airport, I headed north with five friends to the relaxing paradise of Semuc Champe. It was a full day of travel ending with about an hour along a bumpy dirt road to this secluded hideaway. We enjoyed our first day tubing down another jungle river hoping that weird animals weren’t lurking beneath the surface.

Then came one of the most adventurous days of my life. It’s hard to describe. Perhaps you should just go. We took a bus from our hostel, El Ritiro, (which by the way has great vegetarian food) to the caves of Semuc. Here we slipped into swimsuits, strapped on our sandals, grabbed a candle, and hiked up to the caves. It is here where a small river weaves its way under the mountains. So we lit our candles, climbed into the water, and swam upriver through the caves. I can’t tell you how amazing it looked to see twenty or so people swimming through underwater canyons seeing only a trail of small flickering flames silently echo off the steep walls rising to nowhere. It was surreal. We swam and waded, climbed ladders and slid through waterfalls.

A personal highlight was about half way into the caves when I was the sole person holding a lit candle since everyone else had extinguished theirs in one way or another. We came to a waterfall where we needed to pass through it and around the back side to get across the river. I handed the candle to a buddy and yelled to him over the loud rush of the water “don’t let it go out!” When I reached the other side, I signaled for him to throw it to me, convinced that it would never make it alive. The candle soared in slow motion precariously through the fall’s mist as the flame shrank down to hug the wick. I reached my wet hand out, snatched the candle, and quickly cradled it under my body absolutely stupefied that it was actually still lit. The group gave a quick and (admittedly) well-deserved round of applause and then continued.

When we finished, I couldn’t believe what I had just done. I mean, I never even dreamed of doing something like this. I didn’t even know it existed. We proceeded to a rope swing that launched us into the water and then stepped it up to jump from a bridge (which I willfully observed).

We continued to the beautiful pools of Semuc Champe. These blue-green pools sat in a pristine jungle valley surrounded by no one and nothing. That was the beauty of it. Sure there were a couple tourists, but not many. No big luxury tour busses packed to the max with retirees taking pictures of everything and paying way too much money for everything else.

The main part of the river forcefully plummets into an underground cavern for about a quarter mile or so before plunging back on the surface. It is truly an awesome sight to see the river’s power as it surges into an abyss of blackness. People had fallen in, but no one ever survived. On top of that cavern rests the calm pools of Semuc Champe filled by some streams that meander down the steep valley walls. Each pool gently cascades into the next, silently resting to invite passersby, like myself, to take a relaxing swim. So I did. In fact, I took the most relaxing and enjoyable swim of my life. I felt like a little kid again when we had to leave. “I don’t want to…. You can’t make me…. Just one more dive mom…..no, one more….”

The minibus was waiting to take us home and it was nice to sit shotgun for the rare legroom offered in Guatemala. “This day was unforgettable” I though to myself. We soon rounded a corner to find a huge truck struggling to make it up the steep hill directly in front of us. Upon further investigation, Guatemala decided to do some repaving that afternoon on that hill. So, everyone had to drive on the dirt—no, the muddy shoulder. So the big rig was stuck, even with about twenty small Guatemalans trying to push it. We tried to get our minibus up the steep, but got stuck as well. After a half hour of watching, laughing, and pushing, we started our walk. They said it was somewhere between 5-10 miles back to town, but they are chronic under-estimators. The first half was all up hill, the second all downhill. After about an hour and a half of walking on a dirt road at night through the jungle, we finished the up hill and started making our decent to our hostel. Of course, it was then when our minibus caught up to us to bring us back home. I was grateful, but wished I could have ridden the bus uphill, and walked the downhill!

After four flight changes, I made back home safely but my bags didn’t. I enjoyed my short stay in Seattle with my folks. Thankfully I made it back to Seattle to go to my dear friend Heidi’s beautiful wedding. It was a blessing to see her again. Now I am in St Louis where I spent Christmas and where I will be until Tim’s wedding. I’m looking forward to the birth of my nephiece (it’ll be a surprise). This next month holds many decisions, particularly as to if I’ll be going to seminary and back to Alaska. Thanks for reading.

A Christmas note

"One reason that faith is the way God saves us is that faith gives glory to God. That is, faith calls attention to and magnifies the glory of God. Faith puts us in the position of weak and dependent and puts God in the position of strong and independent and merciful. I'm the needy one, He's the rich one. I'm the foolish one, He's the wise one. I'm the hungry one, He's got the bread. I'm the thirsty one, He's got the water. Faith is empty. And He is full--that's why He did it this way! It's the best news in all the world that we only need to be empty to be saved. You just have to admit it and marvel---just fall down. Can anyone fall down? Who cannot fall down? Who cannot be weak? Who cannot be empty?It is not hard to be saved. Unless, you want to be God: Full, strong, self-sufficient. Oh, the way of salvation through faith by grace is so beautiful if you are willing to let God be God." ~John Piper

How simply marvelous is this news. And this is what I celebrate, not family, friends, or food; not kindness, goodness, or even love. But that I only know these things because of His grace, and how much greater do I know them when I am empty and when this world fails to captivate my heart and yearnings. Oh that we might be delivered from the deep craving of materialism that has sadly become so inherent with Christmas, distracting our hearts and robbing our faith from its fullness in Christ. Have a merry Christmas because Christ so loves and fills the empty.

Off to Belize

I'm sitting in a small cafe on the east coast of Guatemala, relaxing with some friends and preparing to hop onto a big catamaran sailboat to cruise out to the Belize coral reef for the next week. This is my present for finishing school strong and I think it's a great idea. Hopefully, it will be a time of relaxation as I read a book or two, enjoy the company of friends, and snorkel and scuba dive with sharks. And to those who Nathan Mesaros, he says hi from Belize as well!

One of my favorite days

Today I thought I'd be in Guatemala City. It's funny how plans so change down here. Instead, I ended up in a very small village in the hills replacing a roof on someone's house. It feels good to be dirty again and to have spent energy and sweat to help others.

The family we helped live in a very small house (if you can call it that). They have 10 children. We gave them a roof for free. They offered to make us dinner, but we knew that'd break the bank for them. We declined. They did buy me a fine bottle of water to say thank you. It was some of the finest water I've ever had.

I wasn't sure what I'd do for lunch. My construction partner looked at me. "My wife made us some sandwiches." And for anyone who knows me, there's really one thing that I don't eat because of allergies. "Do you like cheese?" he said with a smile. That was it. "I love it!" I gratefully smiled back. "Good, cause that's what we got."

Tomorrow, I'm returning to hopefully finish reconstructing the sides of this house. It's kinda fun. These aren't super professional homes. This one was built out of corn stalks! It brings me back to my childhood since it's more like building a fort or tree house. Yet, these are people's homes for life.

Today I walked through a community of very poor people. Homes built from mud or corn stalks. Average family size of somewhere around 8 kids. Only one or two beds for all of them. Kids flying plastic bags tied to a string. Such poverty and such sadness. And yet somehow, they held such joy. They live on the edge of coffee plantations where parents pick coffee beans for next to nothing. Those beans are the very same beans that we buy for exorbitant amounts of money from Starbucks. I love these people. They are beautiful. I will be back tomorrow and hopefully more. It is so rewarding to spend my time and money helping these lovely sons and daughters of God.

Please pray

So tomorrow I will be heading into the slums of Guatemala to help the poorest of the poor. Pray for opportunities to share the love of Jesus with these people. Pray that I may have a willing and humble heart, eager and bold to serve. There are many gangs making it a very dangerous place, yet the missionaries I will be with have been welcomed in these communities. Nevertheless, pray for safety. And above all, pray that He will be made big, I made little.

For His Glory Alone!

Last week of school

School is coming to an end and this time I don't have a final exam (yay!). In many ways Antigua has grown on me as I have learned the ins and outs of the town and am familiar with many of the locals. Yet I am excited to leave and move on to other things. Although I have learned a great deal of Spanish while here, I haven't learned as much as I hoped to due to the enormous amount of tourists who make their way through this quaint town. Already I am contemplating returning, but probably not to Antigua....

This next week (Monday -Wednesday) I will most likely be working in the slums of Guatemala City. Please pray for me. I will be in two of the most dangerous parts of the City, but these are the people who need help and who need to receive the love of Jesus. I will be going with two missionaries who have been working there for a few years and have seen great fruit come from it. This is bound to be a paradigm shifting experience as I am exposed to yet another culture that exists in poverty.

After that I will make a dramatic change by heading to Belize for a week on a boat for snorkeling, relaxing, scuba diving, fishing, etc. out on the barrier reef. My good friend Nathan Mesaros is going to stop by Guatemala for the week which is bound to be a ton of fun. This has served like a motivational trip as I have studied.

After that I'll head to a place called Semuc Champe for a couple days before I fly home to Seattle for Christmas.

Thanksgiving and another Volcano

Thanksgiving just isn't the same in Guatemala. First off, they don't celebrate it. Second, it's not really with my family. And third, for the first time in my life I spent Thanksgiving in school! Lame.

No, in all actuality I had a decent Thanksgiving dinner with about 100 other Americans. It was a fine replacement, but it's nothing like mom's Thanksgiving cookin'. I caught a couple of the football games which was nice, but it lacked the male bonding coming through the annual soccer and basketball games. To make up for it, I climbed a volcano.


Standing about 12,500 ft in the background of Antigua, it is quite spectacular and had been calling my name to come climb it ever since I laid eyes on it. So I did.

Our guide picked us up at 6 in the morning to make our way to the trail head. He was short, but he was fast. Really fast. He grew up at the base of the mountain and he had climbed it at least a thousand times! The hike was hard especially when the elevation started to take our oxygen away, and our guides fast pace made it even harder. I was a bit surprised to find out that he's been up all night bar tending, yet he had more energy than all of us. That is, until his hangover kicked in. Somewhere in the elevation he started puking. Lame! So we left him and continued up ourselves. From the summit I looked around to the surrounding volcanos. And then, boom. Picaye blew! What sight. It didn't completely erupt but a burp was enough. I laid down in the sun looking at Volcan de Fuego. This thing is like Old Faithful. It blows about every half hour. And just after it let out a little puff, I faded into a wonderful nap.

It was fun to conquer the mountain, but I'll be sore for a few days I'm sure.

Utila: A place I hope to return

Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras. Let's just say that if one of my friends didn't have a flight to Jamaica, I'd still be scuba diving in Utila!


The 15 hour bus ride from Antigua to the coast was a bit long, especially the first half as we had 12 people sardined in a minivan. I bet I'd still remember my sore back as well as my frustration after missing our connecting bus if it wasn't for that connecting bus being so amazing. As I sat down in my large reclining chair, sedated by the air conditioning, the steward came by with some snacks and drinks just before the movie started---now that's the kind of bus I can handle!

When we arrived in La Ceiba the Wendy's was a very welcome sight. Now I don't really care for fast food, but we only brought bread (ie. banana bread, zucchini bread, bagels, whole wheat bread...) and after a day of pure bread, a Wendy's hamburger was heavenly! We were able to shack up in a pastor's mom's house who was out of town for a few months---a bit of a bizarre situation, but we didn't complain about a free night's stay.

The next morning we hopped on the morning ferry to Utila. The warm salt water gently spayed up against my face as the excitement grew within me. "I'm actually in the Caribbean!"

Utila is a backpacker's dreamland and a diver's paradise. Pretty much everyone on the island is there to dive, and they do. In fact, most people I spoke with who live there originally intended to stay only for about a week and now, it's been 5 or 6 months and they're still in Utila diving! I heard that story over and over and over again. As we walked around the island searching for what would soon be "our dive shop", we quickly discovered it's addicting appeal. It's realy just a dive-bum town. There aren't really any cars on the island, although some drive motorbikes. Most choose either to walk, ride a bike, or drive a golf cart. The restaurants are quaint and cheep (as is everything on the island). In fact, one of the coolest restaurants I've been to was on this island.

After checking out a couple schools, we decided on a school who gave us an under-the-table deal to give us free lodging and a couple extra dives once we gained our certificate. We started class that afternoon.

I've always dreamed of going to outer-space and being free of this thing called gravity. I don't think that'll ever happen. However, I did escape gravity underwater! It is surreal to be able to control my weight with my breath. Breathe in, go up. Breathe out, sink down. Breathe shallow, float! There is nothing within the atmosphere quite like scuba diving. Floating in mid-water; swimming with countless fish; breathing in a place I've never been able to breathe. It is truly amazing.

Outside of diving, the people were a lot of fun to. In fact, one of the divemasters would fire-dance at night! I remember walking down the road to leave the island and everyone we had met came out to say goodbye to us, shake our hand, kiss our cheeks, and tell us we really shouldn't leave. And we almost didn't. In fact, one of the guys I met told me his flight home to Barcelona Spain left that very day. When I asked him what he was doing he smiled as turned away and said, "I'm going diving!"

On the trip back we were all a bit disheartened. We just had one of the best experiences of our lives, but leaving it was a bit depressing. Back to Antigua. Again. One thing I wont forget is sitting in La Ceiba trying to find a place to stay the night (hoping that it would be free), and what better place to waste time than at the mall, in particular, Applebees. After at least three hours at our table, I'm convinced the waitress hated us. We were delirious, a bit obnoxious, but having a lot of fun. It was here where I, a very white Norwegian, easily reasoned my friend Jacque to believe that my dad was black! Oh what fun can be had on little sleep....

My time in Honduras was absolutely amazing. I couldn't have asked for anything better. The weather was perfect, the water about 80 or 85 degrees, the scuba diving was unreal, the fish were everywhere, the food was delicious, the people were a ton of fun, oh and did I mention the scuba diving was amazing? So if you're ever down in this direction, be sure you check out the Bay Islands. There's nothing like it.

Time for a break.....

After a month and half of studying Spanish and overwhelming my brain with a countless amount of information, I decided it's time for a spring break (it's kinda nice when I can just pick when I want my spring break.....). So, tomorrow morning I pack up and make my way to Honduras on a 13 hour bus ride before heading out to Utila in the Caribbean for a week of scuba diving!


It's a rough life--I know.

A note from Oswald Chambers

The circumstances of a saint's life are ordained of God. In the life of a saint there is no such thing as chance. God by His providence brings you into circumstances that you can't understand at all, but the Spirit of God understands. God brings you to places, among people, and into certain conditions to accomplish a definite purpose through the intercession of the Spirit in you. Never put yourself in front of your circumstances and say, "I'm going to be my own providence here; I will watch this closely, or protect myself from that." All your circumstances are in the hand of God, and therefore you don't ever have to think they are unnatural or unique. Your part in intercessory prayer is not to agonize over how to intercede, but to use the everyday circumstances and people God puts around you by His providence to bring them before His throne, and to allow the Spirit in you the opportunity to intercede for them. In this way God is going to touch the whole world with His saints.

~Oswald Chambers

Who is sufficient to be the Aroma of Christ?

Paul gives us five tests in II Cor 2:17 to help us know whether we are "sufficient" to be "the fragrance of Christ" to the world. I will turn them into questions for you to answer:

1) Do you treasure Christ enough so that you do not peddle his word? Paul says, “For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word.” That is, these peddlers don’t love Christ. They love money and use Christ. So the first test is: Do you love Christ more than money?

Strictly, the next four phrases in verse 17 all modify the word speak. Literally: we speak 2) from sincerity, 3) from God, 4) before God, 5) in Christ. So I ask you:

2) Will you speak from sincerity? Will you be real? Will you mean what you say? Will you renounce all pretense and hypocrisy?

3) Will you speak as from God? That is, will you take not only your commission from God, but your words and your authority from God. Will you speak his words and not your own. Will you speak in his authority and not your own? Will you draw your strength and guidance from his power and wisdom, not your own?

4) Will you speak as before God? That is, will you reckon him to be your judge and no man? Will you care more about his assessment of your words and not be deterred by human criticism?

5) Will you speak as in Christ? That is, will you get your identity and your assurance and your confidence and your hope and your courage from your union with Christ?


There are no perfect missionaries. The answer to these questions should be: O yes, Lord, as much as I know my heart, that is what I intend to be. Help me. To love you more than money. To be real and sincere. To speak your word. To fear no man. To get all I need from Christ.

from John Piper

I'm going to be a TV star!

That's right. Guatemalan Television has a new image and it's called called Pablo! Well, not exactly, but I will be on TV tomorrow night on Guatemala's biggest TV station. I am staring in a TV show that airs on Wednesday night and this Wednesday is my debut! Well, that's not entirely true either. But I will be on TV! You see, it all happened on an adventure to the Mayan ruins of Tikal.....

After a 14 hour bus ride with many stops along the way, including awakening to some people authoritatively instructing us to get off the bus. I thought for sure that I was being mugged, but I was so tired that I didn't care! " Take the stuff, just make it fast so I can get back to sleep" was all I thought. Apparently they were fruit inspectors and only took some tangerines from a buddy. We arrived at the island town of Flores where life seemed absolutely dead---this due to the fact that we arrived at 6am and everyone was still slumbering. After finding a small hotel we jumped into a minibus for another hour or so to head up to Tikal.

Tikal is pretty much amazing. It is the massive Mayan ruins located in the northern jungles of Guatemala and is as humid as can be with all the heat to match it. Now when I say jungle, it's not like the jungle, it is the jungle. I realized this after seeing a bunch of toucans fly by, a ton of monkeys try to poop on me, and couple other creatures like Juan the tarantula and a snake we named Pablo. The pyramids are enormous and give quite a stunning view over the jungle canopy.

After tooling around on the pyramids and sweating about 14 gallons of sweat, we headed back to our island paradise of Flores for a nice cool and clean shower. It wasn't until we returned to Antigua that we discovered all the water used on the island was pumped strait out of the lake! No wonder why one of us got sick! But I'm getting off track. Back to TV....

So our final night there we went a restaurant on the water---literally on the water! It rested on top of two long docks tied together, and with a chill band playing in the background, it made quite the location. I enjoyed a glass of wine while gazing at the beautiful stars overheard and playing a card game. It was just about then when a bus pulled up and out jumped a trendy dressed woman and a TV crew. She asked us if we wanted to go to a party on a boat with free food and drinks while she filmed a scene for an upcoming show. We quickly agreed and headed to the boat. However, the "boat" was merely the end of the dock with a 15 horse motor strapped onto it! We all got on, they untied the dock, and gave it a shove. Immediately back half of the boat sunk about three feet plunging the motor entirely under water! After redistributing the weight, we continued on our entirely free, hour-long party boat touring around the lake as we simply kicked it for the cameras. Small dingys circled the boat with camera crews getting the 360 degree matrix shot while other cameras took care of the rest.

And that's how I became a Guatemalan star.....

Climbing the Volcano and Vacation at the Lago

I feel as though I am acclimatizing to Guatemalan culture. Antigua is a very international town with students, travelers, and residence from around the world taking advantage of this beautiful land. All around the town are farms, most notably those harvesting that legal drug called coffee. Not only that, be Antigua is where Starbucks gets most of their coffee beans. Needless to say, the coffee aint too shabby!

On Wednesday, myself and some other gringos hopped on a late night bus taking us from Antigua to Volcan Picaya: one of the active volcanoes in the area. Why climb it in the night? Well, because the lava is brighter--and that was exactly our goal: to see lava. (A note to my parents: you may not want to read the next couple paragraphs---it may worry you.....). And so we rode in van through Guatemala City up into the hills of Picaya. Supposedly it was "safe," but we all knew it could be a little dangerous. A few days later I met a man who was beat up and robbed on the same trail. As we rode through the dusty roads, I looked next to our guide and noticed a long metal shaft lying on the ground next to him. With a grin I whispered to the lady next to me, "...it almost looks like a gun." Sure enough, when we arrived at the trail head our guide pulled out the shiniest shotgun I've ever seen. Apparently he'd been up this trail before....

We climbed for two hours up the side of this mountain slowly watching the sky melt from black to orange as we crept closer and closer to summit. One of the guides picked up some rocks from the ground and handed the to me; they were still roasting hot so I quickly handed them to a friend to hold... We made our way onto the warm lava rocks and soon noticed spots of bright orange buried beneath our feet every here and there. Another fifteen minutes brought us over a hill where we could see the lava. Not only was there some lava, but it was a huge river, about 50 feet wide slowly making its decent from the crater! We walked closer and closer until we stood about 20 feet from this glorious sight. It felt as though we were in a sauna. We watched the "river bank" crumble away every now and again allowing some lava to cascade toward us. I don't know how to explain how marvelous it is to watch huge boulders melt into liquid as they floated by. I've never seen a rock float before! When we first arrived, the lava moved ever so slowly, but by the time we left it was moving pretty good (and by that, I mean perhaps two miles per hour!). Just before we were ready to head back our guides shouted from the distance, "Venga, venga" so we all jumped to our feet to see what they discovered. They found a "safe" path to get within 3 feet of the lava. I was the second person to get there. I climbed the embankment and gazed at the liquid heat roll by so close I could touch it. In fact, it so close that we couldn't look at it for any longer than 10 seconds since the heat was so intense. I admit, I was so carried away by the excitement that I failed to notice that the embankment I had been watching erode was now the very one I was standing next to. I thank the Lord that I made it away safely with an amazing experience, but it was one of the more foolish things I've ever done!

Classes got old fast! Not to say that I dislike studying or even my classes, but they took up my entire day (8-4). I dropped down to an easier schedule (8-1) which allows me to have more time to study and have fun (and to update my blog a bit). I'm looking forward to classes this week, especially because I have a new professora who I get along with great!

This past weekend I went to a beautiful lake called Lago Atitlan. We took off Friday afternoon right after class and were the only three people in our van! After the 3 hour bus ride to the lake we caught the last boat of the night to take us to our hotel. We squeezed into the boat with about 20 Guatemalans packed in like sardines. About 20 minutes later and way to much intimate contact with absolute strangers we arrived at our hotel: Casa Del Mundo. Although in the states we couldn't rent out the cheapest motel room, for the same money we found ourselves at a luxurious and quaint resort perched on the side of the cliffs and surrounded by deep tropical vegetation. I awoke in one of the most pristine places I've ever been. Would looked off our balcony across the lake to the three massive volcanoes and the 12 villages resting on the lake (named after the 12 disciples). After a morning swim, we headed to four towns. San Marcos: the "religious community" of Atitlan. We expected to see many churches and perhaps a monastery or mission in this village, but instead we found only one small church and a plethora of message therapists. San Pedro: the "hippy community." Within 30 seconds of arriving we were offered weed---that's right, the good old marijuana! I thought about buying some just to say that I had, but the druggies we befriended beat me to it. Santiago: the "idol worshipping community." Virtually this entire town worships a small statue of a little dude smoking a cigarette! Absolutely hilarious and pathetic. From their we made our way to the city: Panajachel. However, en route it started a torrential down-pour. I loved it. Apparently we aren't quite out of rainy season yet so it can dump every day at 1:30. We jumped out of the boat and in the 45 seconds it to us to find a restaurant, we were soaked. We thought it'd let up. We hoped it would. They said it would. But it didn't. Kinda like they said the last boat of the day was at 6. Apparently that wasn't true either. So we had to rent a private boat to take us to our secluded hotel. We made our way across the lake as the rains poured and the lightening lit up the sky. I didn't think it was too safe, but it was the only option. And our captain said it would be fine. I didn't believe him. I prayed God's mercy would guide us there safely, and He did.

Now I am sitting in a small Y-WAM coffee shop putting off my studies and waiting for the rain to stop. This upcoming weekend I have three days off so we might head down to the beach or to the Mayan ruins in Tikal or perhaps to El Salvador. Who knows. My stomach is feeling a little funny right now for the first time since being here. Not bad, eh?

The Christian community is a conglomerate of believers from all over the world and all different backgrounds. It is refreshing to see believers in coming together in unity. We want to. We have to. There is no other way. This is a rather dark place with so many evils. And socially, there are so many orphans. I heard someone say that about 75% of the population is children. I don't know if that is exactly accurate, but it does demonstrate the sad situation here.

That's all for now. Ciao!

So far, SOOOOO good!

It all began Sunday--the start of yet another adventure. My mother dropped me off at the airport early in the morning, and as I walked to my gate with a backpack containing my few possessions, a grin once again crept over my face. Like a pirate finding a hidden treasure chest but unsure of its contents, I was also ready to score some pirate booty. This situation is becoming familiar to me yet the peculiar excitement and thrill still caries my ambition. For some reason, I love stepping into situations where I know no one and no one knows me. And my time here thus far is proving this true yet again. 

 

Before I go on, the highlight of the flight was definitely landing in Guatemala as we made our way strait through a lightning storm! It was awesome!

 

Two flights and 12 hours later I was walking through customs in Guatemala City (which by the way very well may have been the easiest customs to ever go through). It was only as I was exiting the airport when I realized I was a bit ill prepared: I knew I was suppose to go to Antigua but I had no clue where that was, where my host family lived, what their names were, what their phone number was, and what my school´s number was. All I knew was that I was suppose to meet some guy holding a sign with my name on it.

 

I quickly spotted my name on a sign and the man brought me to his van and proceeded to drive me through the back streets of Guatemala city. Oh how the memories flooded my mind. All the trash beside the streets, the cement houses with massive steel bars on all the windows, the stray dogs, the crazy drivers, and of course, the unforgetable aroma.

 

An hour later, I arrived in Antigua. My driver shook my hand, rang the bell and left me standing on the street on one side of a huge concrete wall. I had no clue who would greet me in a few moments, but I knew I was stuck with whoever it was and wherever they lived. Was this going to be a mud hut? Was I going to share my room with some strange person or animal?... Perhaps this was all a bad idea; perhaps I shouldn´t have come at all. The door opened and I stepped in to the other side of the massive wall. A kind woman greeted me in Spanish and I started digging deep into that abyss somewhere in the extremities of my cranium where my limited Spanish is stored. `Hola, me llamo Pablo`---it had begun!

 

She kindly brought me into her home and it was as though I stepped out of the third world country I just entered and into some paradise. The beautifully tiled floor, the 25 ft vaulted ceilings, the electricity---this wasn´t going to be so bad! A little golden retriever named Dulce welcomed me in as I met the whole family: a boy and three adorable little girls.

 

My room was a surprise too. A good size room with those vaulted ceilings, a beautiful view with flowers growing right outside my window, a large bed I almost fit in, and cable TV (in both English and Spanish). I am ashamed to confess that I went through ALL the channels three times trying to find ABC in hopes that I could catch Lost on Wednesday......pathetic, I know.

 

This morning after breakfast I made the half mile walk to school where I began my first day! I met my professora who is wonderful and who I will be studying with for the rest of the week. I spoke Spanish with her for six hours today and needless to say my brain is fried! The school has a great courtyard where we study and it´s very nice to study outside in the sunshine---speaking of which, it is actually warm here. Perhaps I should mention that my past five months in Alaska yielded only 19 days of sunshine and thus, this direct sunlight is a much welcomed sight. I was starting to doubt whether it even existed anymore.....

 

Well, I must head off to la cena. Thanks for reading. Hopefully my thoughts will be more coherent next time.....ciao!

Off to Guatemala

So I guess I polished off another summer working in Alaska and am now preparing to take off to Anigua Guatemala for a few months to hopfully pick up some of that Spanish stuff. I'm looking forward to being in a new place where I know almost no one (hello Catherine and Bethany). When I get home, I'll be chillin in St Louis with my broseph until the little nephew/niece pops out. Needless to say, I probably wont be seeing you too much in the near future, but perhaps I'll see you at Tim Grassley's wedding (props to Tim and Jenny!). Peace.

The Trek to Alaska

It all started on Saturday night. I was in Spokane organizing the Global Night Commute for Invisible Children. Cale was at a wedding in Seattle. Cale drove through the night with Jer-dogg and I stayed up through the night on the streets of Spokane with the 700 people who showed up in support of the GNC.

That's me in the bright green t-shirt on the left. Needless to say, Cale and I were in prime condition to depart Sunday morning on our 2000 mile trek to Alaska.

Our 8am departure turned into a 10am departure as we worked on MapQuest to find the optimal route. We opted for the slightly longer path taking us to Banff and Jasper national park. We filled up on gas and headed north. This is my buddy Cale:

And this is me:

It all started a couple hours into Canada.... my good friend was driving (name withheld, but he's the only other guy I was with). We just finished lunch when I decided to take a nap to catch up on sleep from the previous night entrusting the navigation to the pilot. I woke up a couple hours later and pulled out the map. "So where we at Cale?" "Um, let's see what this sign says......: Lethbridge, 186 km." I glanced down to study the map. Strange....I didn't even see Lethbridge on the map....oh, but then I did....."Cale, we aren't on the right road..." "No, we are....what do you mean." "We're heading East!" "Paul, don't mess with me." "You've driven almost a hundred miles in the complete opposite direction!" "Oh crap." And then the most appropriate movie quote came to mind--so I said it: "You drove a sixth of the way across the country in the wrong direction!" Thank you Dumb and Dumber. Well, Cale felt pretty dumb, but I tried not to make him feel any dumber.

We made it to Banff that evening and decided that we need some good sleep. And since it had just snowed, we booked the cheapest room we could. Early the next morning, we continued along the 21 hours we had left to drive. Highlights along the way included visiting Lake Louise which is perhaps the most beautiful lake in the world. Cale and I took a short detour to visit (because I boasted about how green it is). However, forgot one important detail until we crested the hill and our eyes fell upon Lake Louise: it was frozen! I felt like such a schmo!

Another highlight was this haybale.

And of course there were tons of deer and elk (we lost count after about 50). There were so many deer jumping in front of us at night that we had to pull over for a couple hours until it was light. And there were moose and a big ol' grizzly bear that came about 20 ft from our car! We finally made it to Alaska Tuesday morning at 11am.


Now I'm working on the WP&YR railway and it's white hot. And the weather is just turning into summer!


So that's it! Come visit me!

The Next Year of My Life--Pure Adventure!

As time passes and I bump into old friends, the stereotypical question arises of what is next in my life. I, being a visionary and dreamer, tend to enjoy this question. But for those who do not have opportunity to ask me face to face, I'll let you in on the plans for this upcoming year.

This week I head up to Alaska with my friend Cale to work in Skagway on the White Pass & Yukon Route Railway as a tour guide. I worked their last summer and am looking forward to my return. Half way through the summer I will be heading to Norway with my family for a highly awaited and anticipated family vacation to my homeland! We will visit relatives, view the gorgeous landscape, and of course, relax. Once I'm through with Alaska I am planning to live in Guatemala for three months, attending a language school there designed specifically for missionary training.

After Guatemala, I will return home for Christmas to see the family, allow for my gut heal from parasites, and eat more lutefisk than a person should. At the beginning of the new year I hope to head to Uganda for two months. What I will do is still up in the air, but I have many contacts there. Opportunities include working with the local church, evangelism, helping at an orphanage, and assisting Invisible Children.

If these travels aren't enough, I came up with some more.....From Uganda, I hope to fly to Moscow and take the trans-Siberian railroad to Shanghai China, with many stops along the way. Once in Shanghai, I'm not sure exactly what I will do, but I hope to be there for at least a month to then possibly return to Alaska. Perhaps I may stay there longer, but I wont know until I get there.

If you want to stay posted on my life as well as pray for me along the way, subscribe to this blog and I'll be sure to write about my latest adventures and post photos whenever I can.

Coronary Christians - A thought from John Piper

Coronary Christians are like the heart in the causes they serve. Adrenal Christians are like adrenaline—a spurt of energy, and then fatigue. What the church and the world need today is marathoners, not just sprinters. People who find the pace to finish the lifelong race.

Oh, for coronary Christians! Christians committed to great causes, not great comforts. I plead with you to dream a dream that is bigger than you and your families and your churches. Un-deify the American family, and say boldly that our children are not our cause; they are given to us to train for a cause. They are given to us for a short season so that we can train them for the great causes of truth and mercy and justice in a a prejudiced, pain-filled, and perishing world.

Alaska to Alaska--The Past Seven Months

The past 7 months or so have been quite eventful to say the least. I believe it all began with a road trip to traumatized New Orleans. The five of us (Caleb, Mike, Lindsey, John, and myself) took off on a journey to the unknown. John Piper’s conference was good preparation as we heard great teaching about the sovereignty of God amidst suffering, although some of us were a bit tired from the 25 hour, sleep-deprived, through-the-night drive which got us there in the nick of time.

We bounced our way to Chicago to visit Sarah Gaither, then to St. Louis for the night at my brother’s place, finally making our way to Baton Rouge. After some work there, we continued to New Orleans where things were much much worse. We all were flabbergasted by the unimaginable destruction we witnessed. Perhaps more shocking than the destruction, was driving. For mile after mile after mile it didn’t get better. The vast damage and the number of people affected by it was overwhelming. But we set in to help, one person at a time.





Samaritan’s Purse quickly became an organization we all respected. First, they took care of all our needs: shelter, restrooms, food, supplies, etc. But more importantly, their perspective on the situation was deeply rooted in love for Jesus and sharing that love with others. Work hard—really hard, but if you have opportunity to talk to someone, stop working. And we were required to leave a Bible and pray with everyone we helped. What a joy! Contrary to my fear of encountering victims enraged at and frustrated with God, I never chanced on that attitude. On the contrary, I again and again heard testimonies of how people loved God all the more because they lost everything. If there was any ministering, it was them ministering to me!



Christmas lacked the joy of my brother. He was with my sister’s family in Carolina. Obviously, I was sad, yet it by no means ruined Christmas. We still had an enormous celebration with all the relatives and friends proving to be almost as joyous. After Christmas, my immediate family (that being my pop, mom, and myself) traveled to Canada for our annual ski trip. There wasn’t as much snow as we hoped for, but we made the best of it.


Since I didn’t get to share the holidays with my brother, we made up for it by spending a weekend in Colorado skiing at Breckinridge and Vail. The first day was the coldest day of skiing I have ever encountered—with the wind chill taken into account, the temp dropped to -30. The frigid temperature gave us frost nip on our faces by the end of most runs and to this day (a month and a half later), the end of my nose is still a bit red and numb! Our lodging was the most luxurious mountain condo I have ever seen, and what made it all the better is that it is owned by one of our friends. It sat on the edge of a mountain opposite Breck, overlooking the slopes and the town. It was by no means small to say the least. Each of the four stories had 25 ft ceilings, a big screen TV with surround sound, an amazing view…and as you may be gathering, it could sleep 14 in beds! Posh…

I now live in Spokane with my dear friend Erik—a man blatantly called to be a medical missionary to China. He has a heart for the nations and for prayer. We have far too much fun together as we frequently laugh ourselves to tears. We spend a great deal of time together and, in all honesty, it feels as though we are married as we work our way through a deep friendship with all the joys and struggles inherent within purposeful and intimate relationships. Through these past 4 months of living together, we have challenged and encouraged each other in BIG ways.

Most notable of all is the dramatic change in my life caused by Uganda and illness. For about 4 years now, the HS reserved a fond portion of my heart for Uganda. “Why” perplexed me while knowing full well how someday this fondness would prove relevant by His providence. January was providence. The Lord laid a deep burden on my heart for Uganda through and variety of means, which daily affirmed supernatural directing. One of these means was a film called Invisible Children documenting the atrocities of Northern Uganda where a rebel group called the Lord’s Resistance Army is abducting thousands of children, torturing and brainwashing them, and forcing the boys to fight as soldiers and the girls to serve as sexual slaves. The children in Northern Uganda fear for their lives fleeing nightly to cities, sleeping in bus parks, under cars, and under the verandas. So far, over 30,000 children have been abducted and many have died. This has been going on for 20 years and the UN is calling it the “largest neglected humanitarian emergency” in the world. (www.InvisibleChildren.com)

While attending a missions conference in Portland, I had the opportunity to talk to some staff from Invisible Children and quickly became a volunteer in the Spokane booking screenings in the area colleges and high schools. It keeps me busy constantly trying to book screenings at Universities, churches, and high schools, but I am starting to see the fruit of this.

By this time, you are probably curious about my two mentions of “illness.” While the whole Uganda revelation was going on, the Lord surprised me yet again. In January, I rather flippantly underwent some medical testing prescribed by my Doctor (i.e. Dr. Dad). They are standard test he performs on virtually all his patients, but since I’m technically not a patient of my dad’s, I never did these tests. We both expected to find nothing, except maybe some parasites or something… :-) However, we were both stunned by the results. A couple findings came back abnormal: along with discovering a modest Candida yeast infection, pancreatic enzyme insufficiency, and low intestinal antibodies, it most dramatically disclosed a strongly elevated large intestine inflammatory marker. Normal range for this marker is about 60. High inflammation would be 160. I resulted with 1100+ (that's not a typo). So what's that mean? Basically my colon was very swollen and thus not able to function as it ought. Although there were no chronic side effects, it could be an early marker for something far worse. I prayed this wasn't the case. For the past three months, I have been on a highly strict diet (if you thought I had it tough eating last year, it is much harder now...) and taking many digestive enzymes and probiotics to help develop healthy bacteria in my gut and heal the GI lining so that it will not develop into a chronic disease. Here is what I wrote shortly after receiving word in January:

“Over the past couple months, I have felt a heightened amount of spiritual warfare around me. It has been difficult and burdensome. But I do not say this tritely: the Lord is faithful. Although the world may consider this struggle to be bad, the Lord is using it for good. This is not to say that it has been a happy, easy-going time. No, it's been difficult. I know I am weak. I know I am sick. It is fearful and worrisome. But truly truly truly, my weakness has made the Lord strong. And there is some explainable joy that is in me---some hope. (Rom 5--struggle produces endurance, to character, to hope b/c God's love has been poured into our hearts). 

I'll be honest, I could eventually die from this. It's not probable, but possible. I think the Lord still wants me to be here for a while longer so I'm content. Either way, I don't really mind too much because if my God is powerful and kind enough to knit me together in my mother's womb, and He already proved he can raise people from the dead so no worries there, then most assuredly, He can easily grow me some new bowels or even fix the ones I've got! More importantly than this physical home though, my soul is being nourished daily. Yahweh, my Father, is proving His name to me (Ex 34:6). It is good. I still need your prayers. Pray for healing, both spiritual and physical. Pray for continued and deepening dependence on our Lord. Thank you. 

A month ago I memorized a verse from Corinthians; I now cling to it daily. 

So I do not lose heart. Although this outer nature is wasting away, my inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing me for a weight of glory beyond all comparison as I look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”

And what came of it? Where do I stand now? Closer to the Lord, relying more on His faithfulness and who He inherently is, and becoming more firmly established as a follower of Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. I recently penned this to Ben:

“My prayer when I moved to Spokane was to know God more through this season of life and He is answering in ways I never expected, but ways far better than I imagined. Ben, this illness has been one of the best things that has happened to me. Satan intended it for evil but God is using it for good! Because of it, I know God more. I know who He is, and His character He is proving to me—or maybe I believe in who He is more. I trust God more than I ever have. The other day I was talking to Jerry and realized how I, in all consideration, have stepped out of this body and see it only as a momentary home. Ben, I’m intended for a new body to praise the Lord without this weight of sin corroding my flesh. For the first time in my life, I can say with all my heart, to live is Christ and to die is gain. My body is falling apart and if I die I get to go to Heaven to be with Jesus. But despite this body that is approaching death because it is so marred by sin, I know that although death and sin should cause me worry, it doesn’t. I have been set free from sin and death, and I live a new life—the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. The only way I will live is if God heals me, and so I know to live is for Christ. That’s why I’m here! For Christ—for nothing or no one else! I was not made to enjoy this world for myself. I was not made to be successful. I was not made for some woman. None of these are my purpose for being here. My purpose is Christ. Period. End of story.”

I waited on the Lord and He heard my cry. I recently received the results from my retesting and that high result of 1100+ is now 24! Praise the Lord from Whom all blessing flow!

I still wait on the Lord. He is doing good things in my life, yet I still rob my soul from adequate time in His Word. I am starving myself and know it! I am so thankful for the prayers of so many people who are lifting me up. God hears and answers. A huge prayer of mine is for God to open my mouth. It may bit a weird concept, but I feel like there is some sinful force eagerly attempting to clamp my lips closed and it often works. But I cannot see what is causing this. I just know the HS has power to not only open my mouth but to also empower me with words to say and embolden me to say them with confidence! Another letter to a friend on the topic:

(Speaking about Invisible Children) “In a way, I feel like John the Baptist preparing the way for these people! And then I think to myself, “how is it that I can put so much effort into sharing this story of such tragedy when I know a greater story of such Hope??” It is a perturbing question.... The Lord is using this opportunity to mold me and make me bold—I mean, I can talk to anyone about this story and I do! I’ve been praying for a while now for the Lord to “open my mouth”—that is, to free it to speak openly and lovingly whenever I should. And the crazy thing is that He’s doing it!!! Funny eh? I talked to a guy named Paul the other day on the ski slopes and invited him to church (this might not sound like a huge thing, but it is. You see, it wasn’t forced it just came naturally and freely). Yesterday I struck up a conversation with a man and quickly discovered that he was a Christian. I later found out he was a missionary in Scandinavia and Czechoslovakia doing tons of evangelism. I took note asking him a bunch of questions; his “methodology” for evangelism was the best response I’ve heard: “pray a lot. Even fast. And then listen to the Holy Spirit’s leading.” It was encouraging to hear him speak and tell stories. God has amazing ways of placing people in our lives to encourage.”

So what keeps me busy? I am generously involved with my church in regards to music. The church is becoming a family to me. This is good. People are thankful for my service. You know, it is good to be needed and used, especially as it relates to my gifts.

As far as work, I am working for Bill. He has a website (www.BiblicalTraining.org) offering a free seminary education. Essentially, he records the lectures from a theological scholars on a given topic, and then posts the audio files as well as the class notes online. In the end, you have a vast array of courses offered from some of the top scholars of the nation, absolutely free! My role in this is to edit some of the audio and to create course outlines—basically, I get paid to listen to amazing teachers give their lectures! (And to think—I used to pay big bucks to do the same thing!). I don’t make much, but it pays the bills.

Very soon I will be heading back up to Alaska to work for the White Pass and Yukon Route Railway. Come visit me! So I think that’s about it. Consider yourself updated as to the life of Paul.