Campus Mystery

In my six months of doing campus ministry here in Colorado I have learned one thing for sure. You never know what is going to work or what is going to happen. While working at Mines I tried different things to meet people and sometimes the most effective way was sending out campus wide emails and other weeks that only made people mad.

This summer me and my other two campus ministry partners (Art and Bri) have been starting new work at a campus downtown. Our goal has just been to feel out the campus and meet people using our listening booth (similar to Lucy's psychiatric booth on Charlie Brown but we listen instead of being mean). I have been down there 4 times so far this summer and each week has been different.

One week we did the booth and I ended up talking with a girl who was out on campus trying to make people aware of environmental issues. She went to the school and was really great to talk to and said she liked what we were doing. Another week we played pool in the game room on campus and decided it would be super fun to just pay for people to play pool with us. We also got to talk to some high schoolers on campus and a lady who lets just say she really needed to be listened to.

Today was another interesting day. Art and I did not pick up the table for our booth so we decided to skip the booth for the day. While eating lunch we noticed advertisements for a book club that afternoon so we decided to go. The ladies hosting the club were really nice and invited us to stay even though we had not read the book. About 10 people came and four of of the ten (including us three) had not read the book but we still had a good time listening and asking questions. Everyone was super nice and explained things to us and it was a great chance to really interact with things happening on the campus. One lady at the meeting was the coordinator for students events and another girl passed out campus activity information to the different departments. Awesome contacts!

I am not sure campus ministry is what I am best at but I am learning and being stretched a lot. I do love that you never know what is going to happen and sometimes not having a plan is the best plan. That is totally me! I cannot wait to see what goes on next week!

These are some unrelated photos from my most recent hiking adventure and attempt to summit a mountain.

These beautiful white and yellow flowers were all over the place on our hike.

We had quite a few of these rushing, snow-melt rivers to cross. This was not a dry hike.

There was quite a bit of snow all along the hike. We were not prepared for it.

You can kinda see the top of this mountain where we tried to summit.

You can see here why we did not summit. The only was up was to cross multiple areas like this. Jeremy attempted to trudge some of them until we would realize it was stupid and turned back. It was a super fun, tough and beautiful hike!

The Springs

My parents have been on their summer vacation this past week and much of it included playing in Colorado. They decided to do things in and around Colorado Springs because they had never done that area before. So one night after work I drove down there and spent the night and ran around with them the next day.

The first sight we saw was called Cave of the Winds which was a nice size cave that we toured. Probably not the best cave I have ever seen but not the worst either. It had some nice sized stalagtights and stalagmites and some other interesting formations. When I am in a cave I have to resist the strong temptation to touch everything because you are not supposed to. It will make the cave deterioriate more quickly. I also always want to go exploring by myself in the areas that you are not supposed to go. But I know I would get freaked out but it just makes me want to be an explorer!


The second place we went was Pikes Peak. We did not hike it but rode a train up and down it which was pretty nice. We got to see a lot of cool things and it took a lot less time than hiking it would since it is a 14er. We got to the top and it was not the most impressive mountain top I have been on but of course anything that high is pretty nice. Since the mountain is in the foothills it is still pretty far from the actual big Rocky Mountains so the view was not as good. Also, it was just so touristy and had a gift shop on top. It was so weird! But I pretty much love anything that gets me outside so I enjoyed it.

The third stop we made was to the Seven Falls and I really liked this place. It is back in this canyon and the drive was beautiful! You get to the end of the canyon and there is this very tall waterfall that is divided into 7 different smaller falls. At one place you climb 185 stairs to get to the top of this look out that gives you a great view of the falls from far away. Then you go down those stairs just to climb 224 more that go right next to the falls. It was a good climb but totally worth it. The falls were beautiful.

After the falls we ate dinner and then I drove back home to Golden. It was a great little trip and I was glad to get to spend some time with the padres.

Life of a Barista

It is crazy to think that it has been less than two weeks since I got home from our survey trip. So much has happened since then that it seems forever ago. I keep getting asked how long I have worked at Starbucks and it seems like a long time but it really has only been like a week and a half. Crazy how time goes sometimes! So much has just run through my head in these last two weeks it is hard to keep up with.

Today I worked an eight hour shift at Starbucks and it was crazy but good. There was a car show in downtown Golden so there were a ton of people walking around all day which made working super busy but they purposefully had me work then to experience it all. I was set to the register and I feel like I am getting pretty good at it if I could only remember all the little symbols to write on the cups. I also got to see a bunch of the Interlink students throughout the day which was super fun. I miss seeing them and they were surprised to see me too!

People are just so funny with their orders. They will list about 10 different things they wanted added to their drink with specific milks, sizes, extras, syrups, espressos, lights, creams, and even temperature of the liquid. TEMPERATURE! Who knows the temperature of their drink? That is way too specific!!! Then there are the people who walk up while the frap blender is whizzing and the coffee grinder is screaming and they whisper their order to me. I just want to yell "WHAT WAS THAT?!?!" But I think the customer service part of my manual did not really think that was a good idea. People just make me laugh and that is why I think I will really like this job. The millions of different people that come through Starbucks every day!

Then I come home and read more of The Irresistible Revolution and it just slaps me across the face with so many things to think about. Like the huge gap between the rich and the poor and how Jesus bridged that gap but we do an awful job of it. We as "Christians" can tell you the amazing things that Jesus did but we are not willing to do them ourselves unless they are comfortable. Why is it considered better to work with the poor than with the rich? And does Jesus call all of us like he did the rich young ruler to sell everything to follow him? (Mt. 19:21) And what about marriage? Is it actually better to say unmarried if you can accept it? (Mt. 19:11-12) Man this book is making me think. Do we really have any idea what it means to be a Christian? I already want to read it again and I am not even finished yet! I hope I can sleep tonight!

God Books

I have never been very much into the "God book" thing. For a long time I felt like I needed to be so I would try to read them and then get frustrated because someone who had no idea who I was, was trying to tell me how to live my faith. Isn't that what the Bible is for? Plus who are they to know what is the right way to live. I would have much rather re-read Harry Potter, To Kill A Mockingbird or a Francine Rivers book. I still love reading those but I am slowly being brought into the world of "God books."

The first good one I read was probably The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis but I think it started when I read Wild At Heart by John Eldredge last summer and I could not put it down. I loved the things he had to say because they were simple and applicable and useful. They were not judgemental, prideful, or so deep it hurt my brain just reading a few pages (Mere Christianity.)

It was a while after that before I picked up another "God book." I think I am cautious about which ones I read because I am pretty easily swayed to someones opinion if they can argue it well and I do not see anything wrong with it. Because of this I do not just want to read any Christian authors book because who knows what they could stand for. But after hearing from tons and tons of people how good Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller was, I took my month after surgery time of laying around a lot and read it also. It was great and it gave me some good things to think about. Plus it really made me want to go live in the woods with some hippies for a month or two. I cant wait to read his other books!

Now I am onto my newest "God book" called The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. As a campus ministry team we decided to read it and talk it through together this summer. I had never heard of it but I went along with it anyways. Before we started reading I made sure we would read it together so I did not have to do it at home (knowing myself) but after reading the first chapter together I cannot wait to read ahead. There is no way for me to say anything as good as he does so you have to read it for yourself but man it is just hitting on all the things I am thinking about right now in relation to missions. I am so excited I will probably go read after I am done here.

So, I do not think anyone has to read "God books" to be a good Christian and I believe the Bible is amazing in itself, but there are a few good authors out there who are trying to stretch us and could possibly help me shape my own beliefs. I am sure I will be blogging about things I read because I already know there is a quote in chapter 4 that I cannot wait to get to!

Time Management

My life has changed quite a bit in the last few days. I am still dealing with being back in the US when I would rather be in Chile. It won't make much sense to most people, but I just do not feel like I fit here. I feel out of place. When I am here for a long time I start to settle back in but as soon as I leave and come back the feeling returns but in a strange way I want the out of place feeling to stay.

Anyways, I started my new job yesterday. I am officially a new Starbucks Barista. Sounds fancy huh? I am really just training right now but I did successfully make one Mocha Frappachino with whipped cream. Woot! It was quite nerve racking though as the customer is waiting for their order and I am praying I got the right amount of everything in it. Mostly right now training consists of reading this super thick binder and talking with the manager. But I learn better by doing and not reading so hopefully I will get some good practice in.

The big change right now is that I have a lot more free time. I worked yesterday (Wednesday) but I do not work again until Saturday! Woah! What the heck am I supposed to do? I guess this is what I wanted but I am going to have to be careful that I do not waste my time away and forget the purpose of quitting Interlink and starting at Starbucks. The purpose was to free up my time to do more ministry.

Well right now Rob and a lot of the teens are out of town on a trip so I will probably start more work with them next week. I miss them so much. Also, I have Tuesdays set aside for campus ministry work but other than that day I still don't really know what to do. When I am confident in my ministry (like with the teens) I am much better at doing things on my own but I still feel a little lost in campus ministry.

Today so far I slept till 9:30 (I stayed up late talking with the roomie about missions). I got up, made coffee (my free pound a week from Starbucks) and ate some cereal. I iced my knee (worked it super hard yesterday and it was swollen) and finished Harry Potter #4. Now It is 11:20am and I need to plan out my day so I don't waste it. Here is my plan:

1. Lay out in the sun and spend some quite time with God.
2. Go get my oil changed and while waiting call people in our campus ministry to see how they are doing.
3. Go order Harry Potter #7 at Barnes and Noble.
4. Eat lunch.
5. Come home and decide what to teach this summer for my girls Bible study and work on a lesson for next week.
6. Ummm...no idea what to do next.

Lets hope I can stick to that plan and that it will fill up my day. Then, what am I going to do tomorrow? Luckily Meredith is coming in to town so she can keep me busy until my teens get back.

Survey Trip: Concepcion, Chile

The second part of our survey trip was spent in Concepcion, Chile which is a city of about a million (including the surrounding cities) south of Santiago along the coast. Reid told us many times that it reminded him so much of Oregon. It is a hilly area that is covered in huge, beautiful trees. The people are more European looking and speak very fast, mumbled Spanish.

While here we met with two different American missionary couples, a Chilean who works for Campus Crusades, and a local Church of Christ leader. They gave us amazing insight to the culture, the needs, and opportunities in this city. The city ranges from upper class professionals, to lower class impoverished to university students and they all need the Lord in their lives.

This is just along one of the streets in the city. It is set up with a center area where one of the campuses are and a lot of businesses. There are lots of tall buildings and a nice little walking street area with shops and restaurants. Outside of the center are places to live and other universities.

This is our team on the campus of Universidad de Concepcion. The leaves were changing for fall and it was beautiful. It was a large campus and the only campus I have ever seen in South America that resembles an USA campus. It is spread out with grassy areas, fountains, campus centers, and lots of places to walk. Many of the students are from Concepcion but a larger majority than most campus move to the city to go to school there.

One day we met with Maria Jose who works for Campus Crusades on the Universidad de Concepcion campus. She spoke wonderful English and was very passionate. She told us about her ministry and showed us around campus and let us ask her questions. This meeting really got us thinking about ideas for outreach and maybe even our own student center.

This is just one of the many neighborhoods we drove through to see what life could be like living there. We even had a realtor show us some places to live which felt very grown up. It looks pretty normal and safe doesn't it?

We took one morning and rode the bus to a small old mining town and went down into an underground mine. I was not too excited. It was really deep and part of it even went under the ocean. I seriously thought it could have caved in on us at any moment. The scariest part was when the turned the lights off and it was so dark I felt all alone. I got used to being down there after a while but not exactly my idea of fun.

Survey Trip: La Paz/El Alto, Bolivia

I am back home in Colorado now and I guess it is time to catch up on my blogging. I feel like nothing I can say can explain how amazing our trip was so I will just give a little summary and then let the pictures speak for themselves.

Our trip began in La Paz, Bolivia and God was watching out for us the whole time. He helped us make amazing connections with people who really gave us a good view of what missionary life would be like there. Also, God was watching out for our health because none of us got sick from the food or water and the worst altitude symptom any of us has were headaches and being 12,000 feet and above that was pretty amazing.

We met with missionaries who works for Youth for Christ, a woman who works with women who prostitute themselves, church planters, and the only Church of Christ in the city. These were all amazing people who were serving this city with all their hearts.

This is a view of La Paz from above. It is set up in a huge valley within the Andes mountains. Most parts of the city are on a hill and it is continually spreading south. Unlike most mountain towns, the higher up you are the poorer it gets and the further down you go the richer it gets. This is because of the extreme conditions in the higher altitude. But even in the rich areas it still seems poor.

This is El Alto, the city above La Paz where the airport is and it is the poorest in the area because of its altitude. Bolivia is the poorest South American country and El Alto is the poorest city.

These are shoe shiners that work in the city. They cover their faces to avoid discrimination and shame for cleaning people's shoes. Randy, one of the missionaries who works for Youth for Christ focuses on these shoe shiners for his ministry. He teaches them basketball, takes them hiking and tries to teach them about Christ.

La Paz is a city mixed with many different types of Bolivians including Quechua and Aymaran Indians. These people lived in the country but as work disappeared they moved to the city and you can see their huge influence everywhere you go. Many of the women look like this woman carrying things on their back with a little top hat on their head that we never really figured out.

This is just me touring the city taking as many pictures as I could as I went. I really loved this city and found it beautiful and fascinating. I have never seen anything like it and I wish the pictures could capture its grandness.