Something that I’m finding interesting and picking up on more and more is the difference in language. Having grown up in a Christian family, I realize that a lot of my morals are based on what my parents taught me and how I was brought up. Growing up, my parents told me not to drink, do drugs, have sex, and use profanity. Swearing in my family was a definite no-no.
In high school, people knew that I didn’t party and that I didn’t swear. If you were to ask someone that I went to high school with about me, I would guarantee that they would say something about me being the “Christian girl” or the “goody two shoes.” I took pride in the fact that people knew what I stood for.
Coming to a different culture, I obviously encounter differences in language or even in meaning. Growing up with swearing not being allowed or looked at really negatively, I never would have dreamt to swear, especially not in front of a complete stranger. Each week, I help out with a Christian after school program called “Champions.” It runs from 2-5 pm on Thursday afternoons.
Today I was in charge of making the sandwiches (using three loaves of bread), cutting ten apples, cutting ten oranges, and making four bottles of juice. I had made Marmite sandwiches, which are disgusting, but I had to make them. The senior pastor’s son, Joshua, came up and grabbed a Marmite sandwich, and came up to me and said, “Why does this Marmite sandwich taste like ass?” I had to turn my head and ask him what he just said and he said it all over again.
I’m so blown away that profanity is acceptable here, even from a nine-year old, but in the States, in a Christian household it would be deemed unacceptable.
Why is that? What’s changed from culture to culture? What makes things acceptable here that are unacceptable back home? How do I determine what’s right and wrong to me while I’m here. If I’m to adapt to the culture, does that mean that I should include profanity because they don’t think that it’s wrong at all? Where do we draw the line from adaptation or abandonment of all that we’ve come to know and make our own?
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Thoughts...
It's awesome to see God move.What's even more awesome is to have God use you.
I've had quite the interesting week...I've taken this week to really get to know myself.I find that I'm constantly going and I had forgotten to take time to just sit and be still or even do something that I actually enjoy doing just for myself...so, I've been doing that and I must say that I've really been able to get to know myself that much more.Sometimes it can be a really scary process, but it helped me to think through some things and to also evaluate how I interact with other people.
Throughout the week, I've had several thoughts, both positive and negative, run through my mind...about if God was using me here, how He was using me here, what He had to teach me through certain circumstances, and if I was willing to listen and learn.Throughout the week, I've had people come into my path.I'm thankful that God puts people right in my path exactly when I need them...to either comfort, encourage, challenge, or just tell me when I'm being an idiot.So, thanks!
Be blessed and be a blessing.
I've had quite the interesting week...I've taken this week to really get to know myself.I find that I'm constantly going and I had forgotten to take time to just sit and be still or even do something that I actually enjoy doing just for myself...so, I've been doing that and I must say that I've really been able to get to know myself that much more.Sometimes it can be a really scary process, but it helped me to think through some things and to also evaluate how I interact with other people.
Throughout the week, I've had several thoughts, both positive and negative, run through my mind...about if God was using me here, how He was using me here, what He had to teach me through certain circumstances, and if I was willing to listen and learn.Throughout the week, I've had people come into my path.I'm thankful that God puts people right in my path exactly when I need them...to either comfort, encourage, challenge, or just tell me when I'm being an idiot.So, thanks!
Be blessed and be a blessing.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Tough Question
Last week I sat down with one of my mentors over here and he asked me a bunch of different questions, but one question that really stirred in my heart and head was, "When you leave, what do you want people to say about you?" What a wake up call.I mean,sure I've thought about it...who hasn't. When you meet someone new, you want to know what kind of impression you've made on them.
I sat there for a little bit just soaking in that question that he had asked. What DO I want people to say about me?I thought back to this guy Billy Borden.At a young age, Billy said, "I'm going to give my life to prepare for the mission field." His friends thought that he was crazy to give his life away to be a missionary,but he still pursued it. Billy entered college/uni already more spiritually mature than others. During his college years, Billy made one entry in his personal journal that defined what his classmates were seeing in him: "Say 'no' to self and 'yes' to Jesus every time."
Wow.Billy wrote 6 words at the back of his Bible: "No reserves. No retreats. No regrets." Billy left his inheritance (over a million dollars) to become a missionary (no reserves), after graduating college, he turned down several high paying job opportunities (no retreats), then he left for China to work with Muslims, but stopped in Egypt to study Arabic. While there, he contracted spinal meningitis. Within a month, 25 year old Bill Borden was dead.
What an example. So...back to that question of what I want people to say about me when I'm gone...I want them to say that they saw Jesus in me, that I didn't hold back, that I loved people to my capacity, that I was selfless, and that I provided hope to someone.
What about you...what do you want people to say about you?
I sat there for a little bit just soaking in that question that he had asked. What DO I want people to say about me?I thought back to this guy Billy Borden.At a young age, Billy said, "I'm going to give my life to prepare for the mission field." His friends thought that he was crazy to give his life away to be a missionary,but he still pursued it. Billy entered college/uni already more spiritually mature than others. During his college years, Billy made one entry in his personal journal that defined what his classmates were seeing in him: "Say 'no' to self and 'yes' to Jesus every time."
Wow.Billy wrote 6 words at the back of his Bible: "No reserves. No retreats. No regrets." Billy left his inheritance (over a million dollars) to become a missionary (no reserves), after graduating college, he turned down several high paying job opportunities (no retreats), then he left for China to work with Muslims, but stopped in Egypt to study Arabic. While there, he contracted spinal meningitis. Within a month, 25 year old Bill Borden was dead.
What an example. So...back to that question of what I want people to say about me when I'm gone...I want them to say that they saw Jesus in me, that I didn't hold back, that I loved people to my capacity, that I was selfless, and that I provided hope to someone.
What about you...what do you want people to say about you?
Sunday, November 16, 2008
We're Not in Kansas Anymore...
I know that some of my readers are wondering just exactly I'm doing here in New Zealand...and I ask myself that same question at times, but God is so quick to remind me what I am doing here...
New Zealand. This place certainly wasn't on the top of my list for places to visit, but since being here I'm wondering why it was never really an option.You see, at school, studying Global Ministry (ministering overseas), I had to go on a 5-6 month internship somewhere overseas...go figure.So, I naturally wanted to go to some place like Swaziland and help with AIDS relief and just show people the love of Jesus. I hate how people treat those with AIDS as if they are the disease, rather than they just have a disease. There's a big difference there.
Anyways,my uni really likes when Global Majors go in partners on their internship, but again, I was dead set against that...I knew that if I went with someone else, then I wouldn't grow as much and I would somehow "cling" to them and hold myself back from what God wanted me to do...so, I was going by myself...that's the end of that.Then, I couldn't find a place to go...at all.I wanted to go someplace where they didn't speak English and where I would be stretched to the max...and then I ended up with New Zealand.
However, I was totally wrong...New Zealand is such a mission field. Yes, they speak English and yes, their culture is similar to the States...but this is such a mission field. When I walk in the mall and see people's faces, they look so sad and lost...they don't know the truth because it isn't well portrayed here.People honestly don't grasp the concept of church.
In the states, you wouldn't hold something on a Sunday because you would know that you wouldn't get a lot of people to come out to it, but here...they plan everything on Sundays, which makes those that attend church miss out on community activities and has them make a choice between church and activities.
Where this may not look like the "typical misisonary field," it is totally a mission field. I was skeptical at first, but with my living situation, with the teens that I work with, with the young adults that I'm coming in contact with...they need Jesus just as much as any other place in the world. This may seem like the "duh" answer, but it's clicking into my head. I guess you could say that I'm learning.
Be blessed and be a blessing.
New Zealand. This place certainly wasn't on the top of my list for places to visit, but since being here I'm wondering why it was never really an option.You see, at school, studying Global Ministry (ministering overseas), I had to go on a 5-6 month internship somewhere overseas...go figure.So, I naturally wanted to go to some place like Swaziland and help with AIDS relief and just show people the love of Jesus. I hate how people treat those with AIDS as if they are the disease, rather than they just have a disease. There's a big difference there.
Anyways,my uni really likes when Global Majors go in partners on their internship, but again, I was dead set against that...I knew that if I went with someone else, then I wouldn't grow as much and I would somehow "cling" to them and hold myself back from what God wanted me to do...so, I was going by myself...that's the end of that.Then, I couldn't find a place to go...at all.I wanted to go someplace where they didn't speak English and where I would be stretched to the max...and then I ended up with New Zealand.
However, I was totally wrong...New Zealand is such a mission field. Yes, they speak English and yes, their culture is similar to the States...but this is such a mission field. When I walk in the mall and see people's faces, they look so sad and lost...they don't know the truth because it isn't well portrayed here.People honestly don't grasp the concept of church.
In the states, you wouldn't hold something on a Sunday because you would know that you wouldn't get a lot of people to come out to it, but here...they plan everything on Sundays, which makes those that attend church miss out on community activities and has them make a choice between church and activities.
Where this may not look like the "typical misisonary field," it is totally a mission field. I was skeptical at first, but with my living situation, with the teens that I work with, with the young adults that I'm coming in contact with...they need Jesus just as much as any other place in the world. This may seem like the "duh" answer, but it's clicking into my head. I guess you could say that I'm learning.
Be blessed and be a blessing.
Absence Does What Again?
One of my good high school friends said that he missed me the other day...and I said, "Why is it that our friendship is stronger when we're so far apart?" To which he replied, "I think it's because, as cliche as it sounds, absence makes the heart grow fonder."I can't help but think that is such a geeky phrase...
Being a true geek, I looked up the word "fond" in the dictionary and it says: "cherished with strong or unreasoning feeling." I really like this definition because it rings true to how my heart is feeling at this moment. Being so far away from the people that I love has made me cherish the time that I speak with them that much more...and when I see their faces in pictures or on skype, I cherish that (in case you guys didn't know that).Since being here for two months, each of my closest friends have gone through something major. When things like that happen, I automatically want to be there.I've looked up plane tickets when two of my best friends lost their grandfathers...sad to say, it was just too expensive.
I think my problem stems from the whole "control" thing.I want control over things, especially where I am and who I can be with...but God has a different agenda...imagine that.I don't understand Him sometimes...why when my friends are going through really difficult times, do I have to be away from them?This is the typical "my heart is there, but my body isn't." My best friends in the States and in England are so worth it to me...I want to be there through everything...but I just can't. My heart is there,but my body isn't.
Is that fair though?By me thinking that way, am I taking too much of my heart away from being here...I have to be cautious of that...I wish I were a superhero that could be in two places at once...that would solve a lot of problems.
Through this, God teaches me yet another lesson...imagine that...He's teaching me that although I want to be there for my best friends through the pain and sorrow,I can't physically be there.I have to rely on God to take care of them and provide the comfort that I can't physically give. That's really tough for someone who is as stubborn as I am.I'm learning and growing more and more...
Don't wait for people to be absent to grow fond of them.
Being a true geek, I looked up the word "fond" in the dictionary and it says: "cherished with strong or unreasoning feeling." I really like this definition because it rings true to how my heart is feeling at this moment. Being so far away from the people that I love has made me cherish the time that I speak with them that much more...and when I see their faces in pictures or on skype, I cherish that (in case you guys didn't know that).Since being here for two months, each of my closest friends have gone through something major. When things like that happen, I automatically want to be there.I've looked up plane tickets when two of my best friends lost their grandfathers...sad to say, it was just too expensive.
I think my problem stems from the whole "control" thing.I want control over things, especially where I am and who I can be with...but God has a different agenda...imagine that.I don't understand Him sometimes...why when my friends are going through really difficult times, do I have to be away from them?This is the typical "my heart is there, but my body isn't." My best friends in the States and in England are so worth it to me...I want to be there through everything...but I just can't. My heart is there,but my body isn't.
Is that fair though?By me thinking that way, am I taking too much of my heart away from being here...I have to be cautious of that...I wish I were a superhero that could be in two places at once...that would solve a lot of problems.
Through this, God teaches me yet another lesson...imagine that...He's teaching me that although I want to be there for my best friends through the pain and sorrow,I can't physically be there.I have to rely on God to take care of them and provide the comfort that I can't physically give. That's really tough for someone who is as stubborn as I am.I'm learning and growing more and more...
Don't wait for people to be absent to grow fond of them.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Choices
Over the past three days,I've had some really interesting conversations. It's somewhat bizarre to me how I could have similar conversations/circumstances happen, but have them be around compeletely different people. These thoughts have pertained to things such as alcohol consumption, profanity, and just the morality in someone's life. Where do our morals come from?
I know that most people would say, "well,you learn morals from your parents." How true is that?I remember growing up and hearing this phrase: "It's not okay to do drugs. It's not okay to drink. It's not okay to have sex."So what did I do? I stayed away from all of those things because it was engrained in me that they were wrong. And though I still manage to find hurt, I don't intentionally go out seeking for it...so I stayed away from those scenes.
If a person hasn't been brought up like that or with loving parents, where do they learn their morals from? In such an immoral world, can we say that we get "morals" from the world? How much do we let people influence us? Where do you draw the line? How close is too close? Is there a certain level of "liberal" thinking that a Christian should have...or we will continue to be classified as "conservative Christians" that can't think outside the box. I've had someone say that to me...it's not just coming out of nowhere.
I love the fact that I'm changing...for real.
Something that I've thought about is that in every new experience that I'm in...I change. A part of me changes...develops into a hopefully better person.So, when I leave that new experience and return home, I've changed,but other people haven't or I may feel that they can't relate to me. So...it's almost presented me with a fear..thinking that I have to keep in close contact with people(granted I want to anyway) because I want them to be able to relate to me when I go back home...
I guess what it boils down to is that we are each presented with a choice.A choice of who will impact our lives...people come and people go, but it's up to us if we want their influence to do just that...influence our lives.Will hanging out with "this type" of people make me a better person or will it hinder me? Do people hinder?
Thoughts are welcome.
Be blessed and be a blessing.
I know that most people would say, "well,you learn morals from your parents." How true is that?I remember growing up and hearing this phrase: "It's not okay to do drugs. It's not okay to drink. It's not okay to have sex."So what did I do? I stayed away from all of those things because it was engrained in me that they were wrong. And though I still manage to find hurt, I don't intentionally go out seeking for it...so I stayed away from those scenes.
If a person hasn't been brought up like that or with loving parents, where do they learn their morals from? In such an immoral world, can we say that we get "morals" from the world? How much do we let people influence us? Where do you draw the line? How close is too close? Is there a certain level of "liberal" thinking that a Christian should have...or we will continue to be classified as "conservative Christians" that can't think outside the box. I've had someone say that to me...it's not just coming out of nowhere.
I love the fact that I'm changing...for real.
Something that I've thought about is that in every new experience that I'm in...I change. A part of me changes...develops into a hopefully better person.So, when I leave that new experience and return home, I've changed,but other people haven't or I may feel that they can't relate to me. So...it's almost presented me with a fear..thinking that I have to keep in close contact with people(granted I want to anyway) because I want them to be able to relate to me when I go back home...
I guess what it boils down to is that we are each presented with a choice.A choice of who will impact our lives...people come and people go, but it's up to us if we want their influence to do just that...influence our lives.Will hanging out with "this type" of people make me a better person or will it hinder me? Do people hinder?
Thoughts are welcome.
Be blessed and be a blessing.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Differences...
So, obviously when you enter a different culture there will be differences. I've been here for two months and I'm starting to catch on to some of the differences and discovering new ones every day. My housemates often laugh at the way that I say things or wonder what I mean by a certain phrase that I say...who knew that Heidi was so complex?I like that...hah.
Here's a few:
*Flip flops=Jandals
*Sweet/Awesome= "Sweet as" I would often stand there and expect them to continue to say something, but nope..it's just "sweet as." You may think "Sweet as what?"...just "Sweet as"
*Friend=Mate
*Profanity is A-OK here...that's different.I won't go into detail on those words :)
*Grilled Cheese=Toastie
*They're used to eating spaghetti in a can and not actually making it...weird...at least my flatmates.
*The word "jerk" is a big insult here.
*Q-tips=Cotton Buds (I was so confused when I first went to find them)
*No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service=Barefeet are typical...and they come with grass stains...ew.
*Laundry=it's very uncommon to see dryers in households because it's so expensive, so drying racks and hanging clothes outside are in.It takes at least two days to do laundry.
*French Fries=Chips
*House at the camp=Bach (house at the beach...pronounced "Batch)
*Cookie=Biscuit
*Trunk to a car=Boot
*Woods=Forest or Bush
*Parking Lot=Car park
*Candy=Lollies
*Rice Krispies=Rice Bubbles
*Tired/Exhausted=Knackered,fagged out
These are just a few of the differences in language.It may not be learning a totally different language, but there are so many differences and they speak quickly...so it's challenging depending on how fast the person is speaking.
Enjoy!
Be blessed and be a blessing.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Remember Remember the Fifth of November
Each culture has different traditions.Last week, Americans carved pumpkins...and in New Zealand today, we're celebrating Guy Fawkes day.Some of you may be asking, who is Guy Fawkes? Well,I'll glady share about this odd character.
Guy Fawkes was a part of the English Roman Catholic revolutionaries who planned to carry out the "gunpowder plot."This plot was an attempt by a group of religious conspirators to kill King James I of England, his family, and most of the aristocracy by blowing up the House of Lords in the Palce of Westminster during the State Opening of Parliament.Essentially, this guy, Guy Fawkes, (haha) was going to blow up Parliament.
The plotters realised that no outside help would be forthcoming unless they took action themselves. Fawkes and the other conspirators rented a cellar beneath the House of Lords having first tried to dig a tunnel under the building. This would have proved difficult, because they would have had to dispose of the dirt and debris. (No evidence of this tunnel has ever been found). By March 1605, they had hidden 1800 pounds of gunpowder in the cellar. Pretty brilliant.
One of the conspirators wrote a warning letter to Lord Monteagle, who received it on October 26th. The conspirators became aware of the letter the following day, but they resolved to continue the plot after Fawkes had confirmed that nothing had been touched in the cellar.So, the Lord began to search the cellar on November 5th.However, nothing was moved, in order not to alert the conspirators that the plot had been uncovered. Fawkes, who was resolved to blow himself up along with Parliament if need be, was seized as he attempted to ignite the powder charge. Peter Heywood, snatched the torch from his hand at the last instant. Fawkes was arrested and taken before the privy council where he remained defiant. When asked by one of the Scottish lords what he had intended to do with so much gunpowder, Fawkes answered him, "To blow you Scotch beggars back to your own native mountains!"
So, now, countries who have British roots, celebrate this man who was wanting to blow up Parliament, but was instead tortured for days and then hung. So what do they do? They have massive bonfires and set off fireworks in honor of Guy Fawkes. Weird, eh?
Many popular contemporary verses were written in condemnation of Fawkes. The most well-known verse begins:
“Remember, remember the fifth of November,
The gunpowder, treason and plot,
I know of no reason
Why the gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.”
So remember the fifth of November.
P.S. V for Vendetta is about Guy Fawkes.
Guy Fawkes was a part of the English Roman Catholic revolutionaries who planned to carry out the "gunpowder plot."This plot was an attempt by a group of religious conspirators to kill King James I of England, his family, and most of the aristocracy by blowing up the House of Lords in the Palce of Westminster during the State Opening of Parliament.Essentially, this guy, Guy Fawkes, (haha) was going to blow up Parliament.
The plotters realised that no outside help would be forthcoming unless they took action themselves. Fawkes and the other conspirators rented a cellar beneath the House of Lords having first tried to dig a tunnel under the building. This would have proved difficult, because they would have had to dispose of the dirt and debris. (No evidence of this tunnel has ever been found). By March 1605, they had hidden 1800 pounds of gunpowder in the cellar. Pretty brilliant.One of the conspirators wrote a warning letter to Lord Monteagle, who received it on October 26th. The conspirators became aware of the letter the following day, but they resolved to continue the plot after Fawkes had confirmed that nothing had been touched in the cellar.So, the Lord began to search the cellar on November 5th.However, nothing was moved, in order not to alert the conspirators that the plot had been uncovered. Fawkes, who was resolved to blow himself up along with Parliament if need be, was seized as he attempted to ignite the powder charge. Peter Heywood, snatched the torch from his hand at the last instant. Fawkes was arrested and taken before the privy council where he remained defiant. When asked by one of the Scottish lords what he had intended to do with so much gunpowder, Fawkes answered him, "To blow you Scotch beggars back to your own native mountains!"
So, now, countries who have British roots, celebrate this man who was wanting to blow up Parliament, but was instead tortured for days and then hung. So what do they do? They have massive bonfires and set off fireworks in honor of Guy Fawkes. Weird, eh?
Many popular contemporary verses were written in condemnation of Fawkes. The most well-known verse begins:
“Remember, remember the fifth of November,
The gunpowder, treason and plot,
I know of no reason
Why the gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.”
So remember the fifth of November.
P.S. V for Vendetta is about Guy Fawkes.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Don't Settle
"Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed."Proverbs 16:3
Today, I had the opportunity to talk with two of my good friends back home.One of them shared with me this verse and I have to say, I've fallen in love with it.
I tried to break it down. "Commit to the Lord whatever you do." Done...er, wait...everything? Everything I do I have to commit to the Lord?Hmm...even cleaning?Dang...when I think about everything that I do and commiting it all to the Lord...would it honor Him or would it hurt Him?Dang...wake up call.
The second half of the verse is quite powerful as well... "and your plans will succeed." So, let me get this straight, if I commit everything that I do to the Lord, then my plans will succeed? Does that mean the plans that I commit or "whatever I do?" Does that mean that when I commit everything to God...my speech, my actions, my heart..then he'll make my plans succeed and does that mean that until I do those things, then my plans won't succeed?It seems like such a simple verse, but when you try to get at the core, there's so much more truth behind it.Intense.
Can I be honest?I hate it when people settle.Not "settle down," but when they cut short the things that they can do with their lives. They stay at home and live with their parents, they don't go to uni, they don't do things that will better themselves and further their trust and faith in God. It absolutely drives me nuts when I hear how people settle for second best. They settle for what's comfortable...but it says right here, "Commit whatever you do and your plans will succeed." So...stop being scared of taking a leap of faith for Christ.That's something that I am constantly reminding myself of.
Leap.Get uncomfortable.Put yourself in a position where you're petrified...and God will blow your mind.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Clumsy
I already know what my parents are thinking, "Heidi's hurt herself again," but rest assured that I have not. I have however come across something else...
I've always been very clumsy...especially when it comes to my ankles.I've had one ankle surgery already and I injured my other ankle quite badly this past summer...so my ankles pretty much are a mess.
Because I have such bad ankles, it hurts very badly to be in the kneeling position and trying to sit on them.It makes them be at an awkward angle..haha ankle angle (sorry...lame).So, with that problem, it only allows me a few minutes before I'm in thriving pain in both of my ankles.It used to be just one, but since the last injury,it's now both.
This is so frustrating.I just want to kneel before the Lord, but I physically can't. It hurts far too much.I'm going to be praying that God would heal the interior of my ankles and make it pain-free for me to kneel.Please keep me in your prayers as this is a way that I want to worship God and physically can't.
That's what I get for being clumsy.
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