Communication...

Hello Everyone!  I know, I finally am updating the blog.  Writing is not one of my favorite things to do, especially knowing that Josh can write something amazing in a few minutes while it takes me forever to write...well just not as good as him. So, Josh is being a good boyfriend I guess by making me practice.

 This past week Randy Thomas spoke on hearing Gods voice and being history makers.  He emphasized how God is a communicating God, and a two way relationship is essential.  God will speak most clearly and most often in a relationship.  My favorite day this week was Saturday in Portland for "faith day". As students we were were split into teams of three to four people.  As a team we had to complete specific tasks throughout the day, including picking up trash, giving something away, do something you wouldn't normally do, ask God for an encouraging word for someone..etc. As we completed the task, we had to rely on God to give us a person, words, places..etc.  It was awesome to see myself getting so excited to talk to random people on the streets and seeing how God reveals himself when we listen and obey, and then the relationships we create.  So many stories, I can't wait to share!

A small glimpse of downtown Portland.
The weekends are becoming more busy but also more exciting considering the fact that we have less than a month before Thailand! I opened my eyes this weekend as I explore Portland and Salem, and I  keep soaking up as much as I can because its amazing here and this is once in a lifetime opportunity that I will be with these friends, leaders, and the lovely 'mossy' area.  Its amazing how we can get caught up with the businesses of life and not cherish the simple things and great relationships God placed for us.

In the van on the way home from church on Sunday, we all were talking about restaurants and food...because after church that's what you focus on right?  Anyways, I mentioned that I had a craving for a good burger and fries (which doesn't happen all the time, so this was big stuff).  Ashley, our leader mentioned a burger place her friends love and we should check it out.  Five Guys was the fellowship spot after church that day.

Let's all look at Josh's facial hair in this picture. Tomorrow is the big day he shaves everything but the mustache...oh boy!

 

The message I posted on the Five Guys bulletin board.

Thank you again everyone for the prayers and support!

Open your eyes...

Lecture topic this week...Spiritual Worldview

This week covered the ideas of spiritual realms and the events/rituals, people, bodies, objects, etc that accompany spirits.  Our teacher, Heather Majoribanks pointed out through the week that we have such a limited view of the spiritual world here in the west compared to other parts of the world.  It may seem weird that we talked about ghosts, evil spirits, amulets, etc but in a majority of cultures around the world they are very prominent and it is very important to be open minded to such things so that when confronted with an issue we are not offensive.  It was a really interesting and eye opening week that will be very useful on outreach.  Now knowing what many of the people believe and more importantly why they believe it we can tread carefully and show love instead of mockery when we are faced with something that seems a little too out there.

By the way....much of the practices done in Hinduism or Buddhism such as divination, fortune telling, calling up in evil spirits, they are all in the Bible.  Every single one of them has some sort of link in the Bible.  Each one is condemned and has a Biblical principle that overcomes it.  Pretty amazing.

Outside of class we do have a life.  Hanging out with friends, walking around downtown Salem, hanging out with staff, stuff like that is pretty common.  Thursday night was special though.  Our staff put on a mystery play that we had to solve through clues and questions.  It was like Clue only alive.  Really fun!  The Fall DTS teams arrived from Thailand and Africa on Thursday and Friday evening.  It will be exciting to hear their stories this coming week.

After this week, I have to shave all but the mustache.  Danielle is not too happy and is not too happy with the inspiration I have been receiving from home in the form of Bearduary but it is all in good fun.  I'll have to admit that the stache has become a bother to even me but I'm holding out until the end.

I miss little old Zeeland and VRC very much.  I cannot wait to share all of my experiences especially from the coming months in Thailand!

Stay safe!

Josh

Below are some pictures we have posted. If you click on the pictures,you will be able to view the captions and they will appear larger.
We are not the best at capturing our life here in Salem, but we hope to get better at it. Enjoy!

Oh how time flies!

I cannot believe that it has been one month already!  Everything has just been flying by but it has been worth every single second.  Before I get into the week I just want to thank all of the supporters again.  We recently found out how much everyone owes for the remainder of school and to know that we are completely covered is a huge burden off our shoulders.  Thank you!

Alright, as for this week, our speaker was Phil Gazely.  He is actually the dad of one of the girls in our class so it was an interesting experience.  He is a great guy and he is really passionate about spreading the Kingdom of God.  He spoke to us about the Holy Spirit.  It was a very interesting topic to study.  Church in America, unless its the Pentecostal, doesn't really talk about the Holy Spirit all that much so to learn a whole bunch of new stuff was awesome.  First and foremost we learned that the Holy Spirit is not an it but a He and is completely divine.  The rest of the week consisted of deciding what the Holy Spirit does for us.  Essentially the Holy Spirit is our guide, leading us into a deeper and more personal relationship with God and equipping us with the gifts necessary to share the love of God.  The part that impacted me most was the idea that we can become 'constipated Christians.'  Constantly filling up ourselves with the Holy Spirit and then doing nothing with the gifts we receive is not Christianity.  We are called to fill ourselves with the Spirit then empty ourselves in order to fill others up and then repeat the cycle.  Its all quite complicated and I can't wait to share more about it when I get back.

Outside of class we did a lot of the usual until Friday and Saturday.  Friday night was our outreach night.  This week we went to an exhibit that featured injustices and natural disasters from around the world and what Medical Teams International is and has done for such disasters.  It was really eye opening and a wonderful exhibit.  Saturday we continued on the theme of injustice and went through the Experiencing Injustice the Mobile Team does on base here.  I don't want to spill too much about it because both Danielle and I really want to bring it back home but lets just say it was an intense experience.

Overall it was a great and fun week!

Youth With A Mustache Update:  1 week down...not much there (I know there is the chin fuzz as well but for the first four weeks we can grow whatever we want. Its not until the last two weeks that we have to have just the stache).  Next week probably won't be much different.  I'm what you call a baby face.

Hope all is well at home.  Danielle and I really miss the snow and are actually quite jealous of all the snow you have!  Also, sorry for not updating with pictures... please forgive us :(

Miss you guys.

Josh