Friday, December 21, 2007 

Where Am I Living?

A few days ago a friend invited me to go with him and see a concert choir in action. Being a lover of fine arts (and someone who had nothing better to do) I took him up on it and we went to the little auditorium and watched the "Classic Folk Music Concert".





It was going pretty well, I was enjoying it. I couldn't tell what they were singing really, but the music was nice. Then came the big finale. Before they started the last song, they introduced their special guests of the night, the whirling dervishes.

(In case you don't know, the whirling dervishes are these guys that worship a false god and try to reach "perfection", "religious ecstasy", or whatever else you want to call it by spinning around and doing other stuff too.)





As the last song started, the dervishes did their little introductory walk and started their pagan worship. As the song drug on (it was seriously like 15 minutes long) the dervishes spun around and did their weird walk thing over and over.

When the song finally ended, the dervishes lined up on stage, and the lead dervish guy led everybody in a prayer to their false god. Everybody in that entire auditorium was praying along with the lead dervish guy. From the 7-year-old to the 87-year-old, everybody was joining this guy in pagan prayer. As I looked around the auditorium I found I was the only one not lifting up my hands and muttering prayers. What the smurf is that? How does a choir concert turn into pagan worship?!! Where am I??

12:02 PM | |

 

That Ain't Right!!!

I was talking with a friend of mine yesterday, and he asked me about an old cartoon show. He said the name of it in his language, but I didn't recognize it. He told me about little blue creatures that run around, but I still had no clue what he was talking about. Then he drew one. A smurf. My eyes lit up as I finally knew what he was talking about. The conversation then went something like this:




Me - "Yeah, I watched that show when I was a kid."

My Friend - "It was pretty good. There's only one part I didn't like."

Me - "Which part?"

My Friend - "The part where they taught about Islam and doing the prayers 5 times a day and all that stuff."

Me - "...I don't remember that."

My Friend - "Yeah, I heard when they translated the audio into our language they changed it to teach kids about Islam."

Me - shocked silence


What kind of world am I living in where a jerk (or more likely group of jerks) would take a children's cartoon like "The Smurfs" and turn it into a vehicle to teach kids a false religion?!



"Say goodbye to Papa Smurf kids! He's going to the mosque for his Friday prayers!"

11:23 AM | |

Sunday, December 16, 2007 

Thanks But No Thanks

I have a friend I like to call Captain Hank. He's a student at one of the universities here, but before he was a student he worked as the captain of a cruise ship. How many people can say that?

Anyway, we met last week to hang out, and as usual (with Hank) we started talking about the Bible. We had a great conversation about Abraham almost sacrificing Isaac before God provided the ram and how that relates to Jesus and us. Then he tried to give me the Jesus film. He told me how it was a good film and that I should watch it. How crazy is that? That's my job! I'm supposed to be the one giving Jesus films to people! It's awesome when God shows you how He is already at work in a place way before you ever thought of coming.




P.S. Hank is not a believer (yet). Pray for him. Pray that he will agree to meet and study the Word once a week, and then actually do it.

1:22 PM | |

Saturday, December 08, 2007 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Late Thanksgiving! This post is a little late because 1) I'm a lazy blogger, and 2) I've been busier than a Wal-Mart check-out clerk on Black Friday.

Last year Thanksgiving was more than a little disappointing. To celebrate, I went to language class. (When you live in a foreign country, you don't get Thanksgiving off.) This year, though, I was determined to make the most of the season. So, I headed down to the Village. Actually, "the Village" is another city in my country with more than a million people. But there's no mistaking the homey village feel you get walking around.



Why head to the Village? I had passed through there last January, and after receiving some warm village hospitality from some like-minded people over there, I had been looking for an excuse to go back. So, I hopped on a bus and in a quick 14 hours or so I was back. Here's some highlights:

Wednesday night C-Love and I prepared a pre-Thanksgiving Day feast of lamb spaghetti for some lucky ladies. It was by far the best lamb spaghetti I've ever eaten. And as you can tell, we were having a jolly good time in the kitchen.


Thursday we cooked some carrots and headed over for the traditional Thanksgiving Meal. And as expected, it was delicious. Turkey, dressing, yeast rolls, pumpkin pie, all the bases were covered. And as you can tell, we were all having a jolly good time.



After a hearty meal and some good times with afternoon guests, it was time for one more tradition. Much to my surprise, we were able to watch the Packers-Lions football game live. Props to the host for springing for cable tv.



So after a long weekend of good food, friends, and football, I headed back home. What more could you want in a Thanksgiving?

1:58 PM | |

Monday, December 03, 2007 

Sorry Ladies

Me and D (another guy from the team) were studying the Word with a self-proclaimed Atheist guy earlier tonight. We were doing a creation-to-Christ thing where you show how the Old Testament leads up to Christ. As we talked about Abraham and David and Isaiah and all the promises and prophecies the guy listened politely, but didn't seem too interested.

Then somehow it came up that I'm a virgin.

The guy stopped us as his eyes got wide as could be. He asked me about 5 times in different ways if I really was a virgin. He couldn't believe it. He asked me how I could live as a virgin. I gave him the good answer "Jesus helps me." I think that impressed him more than any Scripture we read, for better or for worse.

After we finished, D and I talked about my newly discovered role as Apostolic Virgin. For the sake of the spread of the gospel in this land, I must refrain from marriage. One of the best proofs of the truth of the gospel is my virginity. Looks like I'm taking one for the team...

12:32 PM | |