Catching up

It’s been a long journey…

I’m finally returning to Anderson after a month and a half of traveling around the world.  I finished my second to last semester at Anderson University on May 5^th and immediately geared up for my trip to Romania.  On May 8^th I said goodbye to school work and the continental US as I traveled with a team of 10 to Oradia, Romania and Budapest, Hungary.  I’m learning more and more that there is just no way in which to capture every event/ feeling that happened on these trips, but let me give you a brief rundown.

            We were working with a community of hope and love called Caminul Felix.  Their ministry is to the 220,000,000 street children in the world today.  By providing these children with a family environment (17-20 other children and parents) and a broader community (group of 8 other houses in a gated community) these children who would have hope no other way are lavished upon by their new families.  While there we were able to paint one of the houses and provide a bit of a face lift to the community in the mornings and in the afternoon/ evenings we would offer the most love we could to the children with a gift of our time.  As a part of this we were able to share Bible stories through song, dance, drama, and games in our 5 VBS programs.  More than anything I believe the children simply wanted us and our attention.  * There was one child in particular who captured my heart:   I snuck in to one of the choir practices that took place for the older teens when this little guy caught my attention.  I sat down beside him and began to try to win him over.  I was looking for a laugh, smile, or something, but I couldn’t get much out of him.  After nearly 15 minutes of poking, prodding, and pestering I couldn’t get much more than a smirk out of him.  An older man sat down on the couch beside us and began to explain that Alex was new to the village.  Only being there 2 weeks after being abandoned with his twin sister by his mother and father, he was not quite adjusted to his new surroundings.  I began to quickly understand why he was acting like he was, but didn’t feel like I could simply give up, so I kept doing all I could to get some reaction out of him with little avail at first.  As the days continued to come and go so did Alex’s apparent wall until the 3^rd day when I gave witness to one of the most remarkable sights I’ve even seen.  As we pulled into the gates at Caminul Felix I looked across the courtyard where I saw Alex sprinting just as fast as his little legs would take him with arms wide open.  I hurriedly got out of the van in great expectation of the upcoming reunion just in time to catch the little guy flying through the air.  I immediately brought him up 4ft to eye level where I attached him to my hip.  He proceeded to melt my heart with the simple gesture of placing his head on my shoulder.  Sadly to say, by this time in the trip the end was approaching and so Alex and I had to say goodbye.  There was a struggle to retrieve my neck, but I did get it back while realizing I had become to him another person who abandoned him.  <- interesting    I longed to bring him with me to the states to raise as my own, but was reassured time and time again that customs wouldn’t allow it  J.

            We were able to visit a few gypsy villages before returning to the states extending as much love and grace as possible to the hurting and ostracized of this beautiful country.  We returned to Budapest with 2 days left in our trip to explore the beautiful city which carries much world wide recognition.  We enjoyed seeing the captivating architecture, being confused in conversations with many, and finding our way around this foreign city.  At one point a friend and I decided to walk/ tram for 2 hours and then find where we were on a map and get back to the hotel.  Oh what a blast!

           

 

 

Looking at this trip in retrospect I must say that it was a confirmation of God’s global church while confirming how hope and community are the basis of how we are to be God’s hands and feet.

            I returned to Birmingham from Romania via a 2 hour flight from Budapest, Hungary, 9 ½ hour flight from Switzerland, and a 2 hour flight from Chicago.  I enjoyed 3 days at home before going with my Dad, Brother, and Uncle on our annual golf trip with 40 others.  It was a great time of fellowship which led directly into my next adventure that took us to Florida for my cousin’s wedding.  Before the wedding my family got a chance to meet my girlfriend as we spent 3 days with each other.  She seemed to past the test of the family while enjoying the glorious sunshine of the beach.  What a joy to have her take part!  My cousin’s wedding during the later part of the week was beautiful as him and Tressie joined their lives together.  It was fun being the best man and all that comes along with that… I did have a bit of a scare however when I was swimming in the Gulf of Mexico only 5 hours before the wedding.  A topical storm had just rolled through which produced some of the biggest waves I’ve seen in the Gulf and so Adam and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.  We took off out into the surf where a wave got the best of me while body surfing smashing me face first into the sand.  I knew it couldn’t be a good thing when I couldn’t feel my nose and my brother looked at me with deep concern.  With a nice scrape on my nose and upper lip I found my mother and bridesmaids who took great care to made sure I wouldn’t mess up any pictures.  It made the morning quite interesting. 

            We returned to Alabama on a Monday when I was able to spend more time with family and wrap up a few things at home before taking flight once again for San Antonio to make plans for the IYC ’08.  We’ve had a great week in San Antonio as 16 students and 6 adults collaborated to continue to work out the details of this event which exists to give nearly 6,000 teens the opportunity for life change.  Truth, Faith, Hope, and Love immerged as our continued focus as we planned prepared and pursued God’s dream for this convention.  What a joy it was to be a part of these leaders lives.  These young men and women who will be catalysts in the church for continued outpouring of Christ’s love.  It brought me such encouragement to be in the company of this group who seek after God’s hand so readily.