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