Wherever you go - it's there

So, just in conclusion to the last two blogs - I have to say that I was super blesssed when I was travelling. I was blessed by witnessing God's work in a variety of people's lives.

You get a sense when things are fake and when things are honest. I was around honest people who did not have their guards up. People who had no need to impress me. People who didn't even know they were speaking faith into my life - speaking encouragement.

And what I saw is that these people had a depth and a purpose/hope for thier lives.

Driving from Mexico to The States I was just witnessed to by the kids who were in the van. They were so much different then most of the kids I was teaching in my last job. These kids had more light in their lives. They didn't have that heaviness and desperation that my students had.

I was witnessed to by Howie, our project manager at the site in Mexico and his depth and purpose. I loved it that he didn't just rail about Coorporations and the poor, but his life was about doing something about it.

I was witnessed to by the lady who we built the house for. Her desperate situation paired with her ridiculous faith. And I mean ridiculous. She believed God healed her from breast cancer, God was going to save the neighbourhood from Crystal Meth, and God had now brought her a house.

I was witnessed to by my friends Joe, Jon, Imelda and Amber in China who were dreaming God dreams in China. I was encouraged by seeing more kids in China seek God and old ones continue to seek him.

I was encouraged by the continual growth of my church in China.

I was encouraged in LA when I went to Mosaic Church and O.C. when I went to Saddleback.

I was encouraged by my friends Tony, Sanli, and Jean in LA and their faithfulness to God.

God spoke everywhere when I listened.

Some gathering conclusions on the journey

So, any how... I Felt a bit bad about leaving everything hanging. About belief and my conclusions on my mental trip.... Here's what God spoke into my life.

(Murphy is chewing on my pants) ( Murphy is a dog) (Bad Dog!!)

I guess my biggest pondering was "is my faith real?" Is it real or is it just emotional and psychological. Is it created in our minds to feel better about getting through a seemingly meaningless life?

I definitely came up with the conclusion that yes, there is such thing as a spiritual life. There are too many unexplainable things in this world.

Like love for instance. There is nothing scientific about love. If we didn't believe in love we'd be left with lust and just the purely physical need for the human race to reproduce and to satisfy their own selfish physical desires. But I've been fortunate enough to actually witness genuine human love in several romantic relationships. Its actual existence, persistence, and longevity defies human description. Love is not common sense - it's very supernatural.

And our need for relationship...There is nothing biological about that.

How about idealism in itself. Why do we think that things could be better if we've never actually been there? What actually gives us the ability to imagine a better reality. It's like we were created for a perfect world and have been fighting against it since the day we were born. It's like we know things are messed up. The dawn of socialism itself points to heaven. "hmmmm... imagine a world where all people were equal and unselfish and shared everything!!" In the Words of Jesus and Chairman Mao "Serve the People" True socialism is like Matthew 5, but we can't carry it out because we are sinful people who live in a broken world BUT we know it should exist.

I just think that the fact that most cultures everywhere around the world believe in a spiritual life is grounds enough to say it exists because it's almost like instinct. Like we were created to realize this. It's a predisposed conclusion in the human race and we usually need to be rich and have a university education to be "wise" enough to fight against it and fight for our own scientific autonomy which denies a God.

But the main thing that God showed me during my trip was how he is real to so many people and how he is filling them up all over the world and in so many cultures. I guess it would take a million page essay if I were to answer all of the arguments that one could make, but I can just tell you how God spoke to me.

And when I say "God" I mean God from the Bible. I don't mean that all truths are equal and lead to the same path. That, in my opinion defies all logic and panders to a society with no backbone which wants to suit everyone. There cannot be multiple directly contradicting statements that can all simultaneously be true.

Belief Journey

So, yes, I'm still back tracking on my thoughts during my travels. I guess I'll probably be doing that all of this month since I'm a very lazy blogger.

Anyhow, the whole time I was in the van traveling from

(Oh my gosh - it's super duper snowing outside right now! - in Edmonton that is)

Anyhow, the whole time I was in the van traveling from Saskatoon to Mexico, and also a lot of time while I was on the plane to China, I was thinking about one thing predominately....

The Opposite Sex.

Just kidding. Well, more than that I was thinking about what I believe. I have close friends who don't believe what I believe at all. Some of them pique me and make little comments. Some of them didn't trust me at first because they thought that I was their friend just so that I could make them believe as I do. Some of them are very respectful and encourage me. Some of them used to believe what I believe and now don't believe at all or have adjusted their beliefs to suit themselves and their lifestyles.

So anyhow, it's the last group especially that makes me think. Especially because I remember worshiping God with them. I remember discussing God's love and work with them. Now they look on me with pity like I'm still in the dark. And I can imagine all of their arguments all lined up like soldiers.

The main one being - Your Faith... well that's the way you were socialized so it's like a security blanket, a crutch, a placebo. It's part of North American Culture.

The reason I was thinking of belief so much is because now I'm actually working for a church. I can't let my belief sit aside quietly while I go on with life and work activities. My belief is now central for my everyday work. I can't fake it. I'm a very bad faker and it makes me feel miserable about myself like I'm an orange tele-evangelist or something.

(I just took Murphy out for a pee and was witnessed to by Jehovah Witnesses) (Murphy is a dog)

Anyhow, the central meaning of the word "belief" is to trust something is true. So how can we trust something is true if we haven't measured it up? If we haven't questioned and searched?

Belief is not static. It's a roaming and searching creature and it needs strengthening.

So on the dawn of this huge doubting session and thinking period on this trip I was scared to embark on this mental trip. But then I was like "Hello!" You keep telling your friends to search for truth and if you are being honest and you are truly searching for truth, God will reveal himself to you and you will find truth. Don't let any unsettled feeling lie, any emptiness be accepted. Just search search search. Let your belief be true, not a default, not a security blanket.

So then why am I afraid to question and search? God will answer me and reassure me if I'm being honest and if he is true and this lifestyle is the answer to human emptiness.

Driving Through the USA

So we drove through the USA to Mexico in a 15 passenger van and the ugliest trailer in the world which the kids promptly named "acne".

We left Saskatoon on the 10th at 6 am and then wasted a whole 40 minutes trying to find a gas station proceeded to fill the trailer tires with air. When we finally found a gas station with air, Conrad filled the wrong tires and we ended up driving for 3 or 5 hours with out the air anyhow.

The group was interesting. A lot of kids were from VCA, they were all Mennonite, and about half were also from the Bergthaler church, and , of course, two of them were my second cousins (which I just discovered while on the trip). It wasn't long before everyone had redeveloped thier mennonite accent to a perfection that only a Hague coffee shop could produce.

We had some good times of worship as we drove as well as some rousing renditions of "She thinks my tractor's sexy" and many other other meaningful country love songs.

Well, I'm sure you can assume from what I've already mentioned that this group was fun, but also probably leaning to the more conservative side of life expieriences.

So, consequently, that is what makes our major tourist stops so funny.

The first place we stopped was Salt Lake City Utah and we "last minute" decided to check out the Mormon Tabernacle. But we weren't members, so instead we had a grand tour of the convention center accross the street. So that was a big eye opener for all of the kids because we sure learned a lot about Mormonism.

Then the next major place we stayed was Vegas. So we took the van down the strip (minus acne) and we expierienced extreme American consumer/entertainment culture. The kids were also quite wide eyed. The fountain at the Belagio was cool as well as the pirate show at the Pirate casino. I also saw David Chihulily's chandeliers at the Bellagio and that excited me. The thing that excited the kids the most was that as soon as we entered Vegas we saw a SUV that had been set on fire. Apparently that was top entertainment.

The next major place we stopped was on Sunday morning we went to Saddleback church. So...funny enough Doug Fields spoke and he spoke about Sex.

So before we even arrived in Mexico we expierienced Cults, Gambling and Bright Lights, and a good old talk about Sex.

Good Times. And I even drove the van with the trailer. I felt quite proud of myself that I did that!