My God is SO much bigger than that!

The picture directly above is one of me holding a teeny weeny little Philistine god from back in the BC days. The top picture is me sitting at the entrance to a tomb that would've been similar to one that Jesus would've been buried in. But wait a minute, I'm getting ahead of myself...

So, I am back on campus, and let me just say that it feels so good to be home! Fall break was very productive and relaxing. I accomplished much, including an extra credit paper that isn't due until December, but it was nice to get that done while the information is fresh in my head. I did some fun stuff too, don't just think it was all work. I took one of my brothers and my sister to see High School Musical 3 for their birthday. I have to say that it was well worth it. If you don't like anything else in that movie, you have to like the choreography. It is simply amazing!

This week has been rather busy for just getting back on campus. Class started off in full swing this week with Dr. George Guthrie coming to us from Union University to teach on the topic of the New Testament. Just like I enjoyed our last professor teaching the Old Testament, it was equally as interesting to hear this professor lecture on the New Testament. I took away so much information this week, including filling out a packet of 100 pages of notes during our 9 hours of class time. I especially loved all the Jewish history that he packed into this time with us. He talked a lot about what the traditions are for the Jews, and especially how understanding these traditions can help us better understand certain phrases in the Bible and even Jesus' parables.

All this class time was brought to an end when we visited a place called Explorations in Antiquity last night (http://www.explorationsinantiquity.net/). Here we ate dinner in the traditional Jewish style complete with food and decor relevant for the time period. This meal was supposed to represent a traditional Passover feast. Some of my classmates got so into the occasion that they dressed up in bed sheets to mimic the attire of the day! That was a lot of fun to see. :) After eating an incredible spread of salad, chicken, lentil soup, tortillas with hummus, artichoke dip and apple sauce, and various fruits and nuts, we headed outside to go through life size structures of different objects you would find in Bible days. Such things included a tent like Abraham would have made out of goat hair, a well where Rachel would've drawn water from, a tomb that would have been similar to where Jesus was buried, catacombs where Christian's would meet in secret when Christianity was illegal, a cross similar to the one Jesus would've died on, an actual size oil press, and a model town such as where Joseph and Mary would've been when Jesus was born. It was so incredible to walk through all this and really see what "Bible days" life would've been like. While being at EiA, we got to see some ancient artifacts found over in the Holy Land, such as broken pieces of pottery, an oil lamp, and the tiny god that you see me holding above. After seeing this, one girl declared, "oh, my God is SO much bigger than that!" How perfect!

Philippians 2:14-17

"Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe 16as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing."

SIFAT is not a diet camp

Before beginning this week of class, we had a mission trip training experience at a place in Alabama. SIFAT (Servants in Faith and Technology) is an organization that trains missionaries and locals from other countries to go overseas and back to their villages and teach the people there basic skills for living (such as digging wells, building latrines, teach disease protection, etc). http://www.sifat.org/

We spent two nights at this place preparing for our mission trip in January to Brazil. The first night we were there was spent in a local village. A short thirty minute hike into the woods behind the SIFAT campus will take you to an area where seven huts have been built. These huts have been constructed to look just like a house would look if you were to visit that country. These seven countries are Ecuador, Bolivia, Guatemala, Liberia, Uganda, the Philippines, and Nepal. I stayed in Liberia (which was a circular hut with two windows, one door, a hole in the ceiling for the smoke from the fireplace to go up, and a dirt floor to sleep on). Some of the more "go hard or go home" Impacters brought nothing with them, thus they were sleeping in dirt with no sleeping bag. Most of us, like me, brought a sleeping bag, but that was all! We made our dinner over an open fire (chicken, rice, beans and tortillas) and ate it out of banana leaves. It was definitely an interesting experience. I enjoyed sleeping outside, but it also was a huge eye opener to how 2/3 of the world really lives. The second night we were there was participating in a slum experience. We were divided into 4 groups and told we had to get food, shelter and water in the next two hours. We were thrown into the slums with nothing but the clothes on our backs. We ended up working for shelter and trading in shoes and sweaters for food and water. Even though it was just a "game," it really showed us how difficult it is to live like that. We ended our weekend with debrief, devotion and worship.

This week at I360 was the most interesting class time that I have experienced since starting this program. We had a professor from Columbia International University in South Carolina teach us this week about the Old Testament. He went through every book of the OT and gave historical background, key events that took place, as well as related it to the topic of Israel being a light to all nations. We were constantly in the word, looking up passages of scripture. My Bible has been highlighted and written in as I was soaking up all he had to say. This week made me realize just how much I enjoy classroom time at I360.

Fall break just began for us students at Impact 360. I left campus yesterday afternoon and got to Athens, GA (where my parents live) right before dinner time. I don't have to be back to Pine Mountain until Sunday night, so these next few days will give me quite a lot of time to refresh myself, as well as get ahead on some school work.

Before leaving for fall break, we were sent an e-mail about our mission trip to Brazil, so I thought I'd post that on here so you can see what we're going to be doing and where we will be going. While at SIFAT, we found out our IE teams (International Experience). There are nine students besides me on my team, plus a staff member (Bethany Haegele), our Student Living Coordinator. My group is team B.

MINISTRY OVERVIEW: IMPACT 360 students have a unique opportunity to apply their studies and also learn from local church and ministry leaders when they spend one month in Brazil during the international experience. Through youth camps, music, sports, Vacation Bible School, and service projects, students will work to establish relationships with local families so that they can share with them about their faith. Relationships are very important to Brazilians, and students hope that by finding and talking about their common interests they will be able to gain the trust and attention of the young adults in the community.
By partnering with local churches, IMPACT 360 students will be able to learn how to most effectively do ministry in the southern Brazilian cities they will visit. They also hope to be an encouragement to these small congregations of faithful believers who want to reach their communities for Christ. Students will travel and minister together in Brasilia for several days, and then they will form two teams. One will stay in Brasilia for another week, then travel to Bauru, and the other will travel to Porto Alegre. By working with churches in both urban cities and rural areas, as well as staying with host families during their international experience, IMPACT 360 students will have a unique perspective on culture and ministry in Brazil.
DATES AND LOCATION: The IMPACT 360 group will depart on January 9, 2009. The group will include all 21 students, Brian Davis, Bethany Haegele, Eric Turner and Larry Cox plus Orman and Elizabeth Gwynn who served as missionaries to Brazil for 30+ years. The entire group will travel to Brasilia where John and Trudy White will receive them at the Aqua Viva Retreat Center. The team will participate in a group project with a local orphanage, then the 21 students will be put into two teams. The dates and ministry locations are as follows:


January 9 Depart ATLANTA
January 10–14 Entire group at Aqua Viva Retreat Center – Brasilia
January 14 Team A – Brasilia Team B – Porto Alegre
January 25 Team A travels to Bauru
February 1 Team A travels to Sao Paulo Team B travels to Sao Paulo
February 2-5 Entire group ministering in Aracaiba
February 6 Depart Sao Paulo
February 7 Arrive ATLANTA

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
"The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil."

Intro to Blogging!

So it looks like I've finally succumbed to blogging. I honestly don't know how faithful I'll be to it, but I'll try to keep up with it and post at least once a week. So for those of you who will keep up with me through this, I'm at Impact 360 right now. This is a gap-year program, between high school and college. It is a nine month, living and learning program in Pine Mountain, GA focused on Biblical worldview and leadership training. We get 15 hours of college credit through Union University in Tennessee. Impact 360 is sponsored by Chick-fil-A out of Atlanta, GA. We go to the corporate headquarters in Atlanta every three weeks for leadership training as well as an exposure to the business world. We have class from Monday-Wednesday, 8:15am-noon. Then on Thursday mornings we have what we like to call "wrap-up." It's a casual setting where we discuss and somewhat debate the issues we have learned about in class. We read an average of a book a week, somewhere between 200-400 pages, and then write a 4 page, 1000 word paper on that book. We have guest professors come in every week to lecture on that book, and we also get to interact with them outside of class. As well as classroom learning we also have service opportunities (SO) where we volunteer 4 hours a week. My SO is at Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation in Warm Springs, GA. I am using my Certified Nursing Assistant to help those in this hospital. As well as these individual SO, also have group serving times where the team of us 21 students do a community activity together, such as a blood drive, trash pick up or volunteering at an MS bike race. On Tuesday night we have Bible study, led by our Student Life Coordinators Brian and Bethany. We are currently studying the book of Galatians. And then on Sunday nights, we have worship and prayer. So that is just a basic overview. I encourage you all to check out the website (www.impact360.net) and for those of you between the ages of 18-20, seriously pray about being a part of this program. It is absolutely amazing and a complete joy to be a part of!

Before I get into to much of what has been going on in my life, I would like to give you a list of books that we have read thus far...

God at Work by Gene Edward Veith, Jr.
Kingdom Triangle by J.P. Moreland
god is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens (yes, we even read opposing viewpoint books)
Engaging God's World by Cornelius Plantinga (you gotta love that name)
Naming the Elephant by James W. Sire
Revolution by George Barna
Mission in the Old Testament by Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. (this is the book we're reading this week)

All these books have been a thrill to read in their own way. I have found myself being more self-disciplined to get the work done here than I ever was in high school. Most likely it’s because this is actually stuff that I want to learn about. Since everything we’re talking about here is of tremendous interest to me, I want to do the work and really love doing it as well. It's nice to get back into the groove of reading and writing papers. School has always been enjoyable to me, and being here has definitely intensified my desire for education.

As I mentioned above, there are 21 students here at Impact this year (we are the biggest class thus far and are only the third year). Within the first week, this group already started to feel like a family. I really do feel that since leaving Wisconsin, even though I miss it terribly, this campus is finally home to me. I love everyone here so much. The other students are great, and the staff is so loving and caring for us as individuals. The more I am here (it's been almost 7 weeks), the more I am convinced that this is exactly where God wants me this year.

Before I sign off on this entry, I want to speak for a minute on what God has been doing in my life. I am currently going through the book of Matthew in my daily quiet time, as well as reading a Proverb a day. God has been speaking to me on a variety of things that He wants me to be working on, as well as encouraging me about His love and unconditional acceptance. Every morning I pray for a verse to stick out to me that I can carry through the rest of the day. It's been amazing to see what verse the Lord gives me, and it always seems so relevant to what I'm dealing with and going through.

Proverbs 19:21
"Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand."