Hello Everyone,
Many weeks later, I return to make my last post. On Apirl 12th, I left Germany, where I last updated my post at. Since then I spent a week in Italy and six days in Austria. Those two weeks, were definitely some of the least stressful travelling times, because I was almost constantly with my grandma, and I could pass on responsibilty a little bit, and let her take care of things for a while. Lucky for me, she was willing to do this. During my week in Italy, I completed a bus tour- that travelled about 3,500km round-trip- with my grandma. We headed down to southern Italy, and I got to see three different islands (Elba, Capri, Ischia). I also got to go to Rome and see Pompei and climb up Mt. Vesuvius. Each day was very busy... but I saw so much. The special thing about this bus tour is that it is designed for seniors. By doing a seniors bus tour, I could go on a holiday that my grandma felt comfortable travelling with. Fortunately, it all actually turned out differently that I expected. My expectations were much too low, when they shouldn't have been. All of the people (seniors ) were so nice, we talked a lot, and I got to share a lot about Canada, something they were all interested in. After Italy, I spent my five days in Austria visiting family, and experiencing the Easter traditions in Catholic Austria. In Austria, students have 1 1/2 weeks off of school, and Good Friday through to Easter Sunday each have their own traditions. Though I don't agree with all of the traditions that they follow, seeing how important this holiday really is was a good reminder to me. Sometimes tradition is nice because it adds more formality to certain occasions, and in the example of Easter here, I think that we could have a little bit more tradition in our North American Easter. But it was really good experience to spend Easter away from home, the first time in my life!
So after my time in Austria was up, I flew to Alicante to pick up the rest of my suitcases (I only had a small backpack during my month of travelling). There, I spent my last, and final, night at Rio Vida.
Now I am home, back in Kamloops! These past 3 1/2 months have been an incredible journey, and it is so amazing how fast it went by. It is still sinking in that it is all over, and that now I'm home. So much has happened and changed in past months, but coming home was so familiar, and it was so nice to see everyone at home and church this morning. What I am learning is that travelling is a wonderful break from real life; it is a chance to pause from the regular routine of life and take a moment to stop and breath and discover more about oneself and the world that God so beautifully created for us. I am so thankful for all of the oppotunities that I had in the past few months, for all of the things I got to try, for safety while travelling, and for all of wonderful people that I've met.
Thank you so much everyone for all of your prayers and thoughts throughout this adventure. Hopefully I will get to share some more stories and/or see you sometime in the future.
May the blessings and peace of God be with you,
Adios,
Christi Schröttner
Monday, May 2, 2011
Saturday, April 9, 2011
In the midst of travelling...
Hello everyone!
What a crazy time it has been, these past 3 weeks! I have been in so many new places, and have met so many wonderful people. God has been and continues to be good!
At the end of March bible school ended, and on March 24th, I officially graduated from the 2 1/2 month program (with honours!). On March 26th, I left for Madrid, and spent 3 nights there. One really neat story about Madrid: I was in a huge city, and I was having a few days of... sadness. I had just left bible school, and a lot of friends, and I was in a huge city where, for some reason, it was so chaotic, and I was having a really hard time seeing and feeling God. They told us that we would be most vulnerable to Satan right after leaving bible school. And I would say that is very true, because I had left the comfortable bible-school setting. In Madrid, everywhere I looked I was upset by what I was seeing, the beggars on the street, all of bars being open so late at night, hearing people running around, talking about nothing other than partying, and the general busy lifestyle and living up to standards was something I had almost forgotten about at bible school. Then being back in what is actually normal life... I was so unprepared for it! Well, I decided not to take my bible with me while I am backpacking, because it is pretty big a weighs a lot. So I didn't have a bible, which, interestingly, made me feel distanced from God. I really wanted to find a travel size bible, so I went out to look for a store (I thought that Madrid must have one!). I finally found one on the map, but on my way there, I got lost and was very close to breaking down. Then I turned the corner, and there it was. The bookstore was called, "The Love of God Bookstore", located of "Amor de Dios" (The love of God street). It was so cool! I went in there, and I found the perfect bible. I felt like crying for joy, and I really wanted to tell the store owner how much this meant to me, but he couldn't understand anything I said in English. So I just smiled and said thank you over and over again, and then left, definitely with a new outlook on the city! So that was Madrid.
After Madrid, I had an amazing experience... I got to walk down a pilgrimage trail, dating back to the 10th century. It goes across the North of Spain, and the whole way is 700km long. I walked the last 110km of the trail over a period of 5 days. (For more information you can look here: http://www.santiago-compostela.net/ ) The walking was not difficult... the terrain isn't ever too steep or hard to walk on, but some challenges would be carrying a backpack, walking 25+km in a day, not having food for a long time or struggling during the heat of the day. To do the whole pilgrimage, it would take so much strength and endurance! But it was also such an inspiration, my friend and I met so many people! Everyone who does the trail has a different reason for their pilgrimage. We met a 62 year old German woman who has done the whole thing, and is just getting over cancer. It is her goal now to make the most of her life, and this has been one of her dreams. There was another lady who we saw limping everyday because of her knees, but she is so determined to get to the end, that she kept going. Two Irish guys we met, are doing the camino to raise awareness on suicide, which they said is an issue that is growing in Ireland. The community of people walking is so close, and we met so many people from all over Europe. We were actually saw a lot of the same people over the 5 days because everyone you are with is at the same stage of the trek, and will get to the same point at night, so you might lose each other one day, and see each other again two days later, but you're all headed in the same direction. So when we go to the very end (the town square in front of the church in the last city), there were several different groups of people who we had seen the whole way through. Everyone was genuinely happy for each other, and congratulating each other on finishing the trail. I do think that one day I'll go back and either do more of the Camino de Santiago, or a different trail, thats leads the same finishing point.
After doing the Camino de Santiago, I spent a restful two days in Barcelona, slowly walking around to all of the most popular sights, but also spending time sitting in the hot sun eating ice cream and people-watching. And now... I am in Germany. Through a hectic series of events (catching the wrong train, missing my flight, having a small thing stolen from me and sleeping in an airport)... I am at a friend of a friends house. It is nice to be in the same place for more than two days, in a house where I know the bed and shower is clean! But God has been so good to me in my travels, and he has kept me safe and has provided in so many ways! On Tuesday I am leaving for Austria, and then Italy, and who knows what will happen after that? Life keeps moving on, and God keeps changing it from what I have planned. So I guess what I have learned the most through travelling is this: You can have as much as you want planned, but God's will often have something totally different in store for you! So be open to change and don't be afraid to give it up to Him.
Well, that is all for now! I will do my best to update again in a week or two, and let y'all know how everything is going! Once again, thank you for all of the prayers and thoughts! I was reminded of this today when I called home and my dad said that people are asking about how was doing... what a reminder of the support of friends and family! Thank you all so much!
...Until next time...
Christi
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Hey Everyone!
So... it has been almost a whole month since I last posted! The weeks have passed so quickly, and now we are into the very last week of bible school! This Thursday, the 24th of March is our Bible School graduation night. We are all preparing in so many ways... packing, getting last minute travel plans together and taking advantage of our time together as much as possible! It is really sad to think tht we'll all be going our separate ways into the world in just 3 days. And to think that 11 weeks ago we never knew that each other exsisted! The friendships that I have formed here are incredible. I have such a great support group here, and people that I can just have fun with or cry with. In just the past week so much has happened. Some highlights would be kayaking in the Mediterannean Sea and then coming back, playing volleyball on the beach then going into the water for a swim! And it wasn't even cold! Then on yesterday (on Monday), we had a retreat of solitude, This was 6 hours of complete solitude to spend time in prayer and meditation. We were also fasting, so there were no distractions at all! We got to the base a mountain and were let loose for six hours. I had my bible, my journal and a piece of paper to write a letter to myself. We got the oppurtunity to write ourselves letters and reflect on our time here, and they will be sent to us in 6 months It will be a good reminder of how God has worked in my life and the things he taught me while here at school. So I started walking, and walked around the base of the mountain for a while. Then I sat down for a bit and rested. Then I thought that I wanted to go to the top so that I could have a view of the ocean. So I went to the top, and the view was beautiful, but it was really windy and cold. So I went down the back where I was protected from the wind. I found a spot on a rock and sat there, but it was too steep to sit on and the rock was hard. But I sat there for a while and read my bible. Then I went to the bottom again, for the last two hours and finally found a spot that was protected from the wind and fairly sunny. I sat there for a while and prayed, then I was so tired that I laid down. I was praying and actually fell asleep but then woke up and kept on praying. It was such a good sleep. I went into sleep praying and came out of it praying. But it was such a re-energizing sleep! I was finally content where I was! Walking around that morning, I realized that it really was a picture of my life. I had so much on my mind and kept on walking around, looking for the perfect spot. In life, I have realized that I am always looking forward, looking for more things to try and different places to go. But what I really need to do is find happiness in the places where God has put me, and be content in that. In the past few weeks I have been applying to different bible schools around Europe to be on staff ad volunteer, but I got the final email this morning that they didn't have room for me! It was a little bit of a let down, because I had so much hope in it. I really wanted to stay in Europe, but all of my attempts had not worked out. I guess God is trynig to tell me something. Through this, I realize that God is still trying to teach me a lesson: "Be content where you are, and I will provide for you". So that is what I leave you with today. Be content where ever you are, and God will provide for you. Seek God and he will give you what you're looking for. (Deut. 4:29)
Have a nice day!
Christi
So... it has been almost a whole month since I last posted! The weeks have passed so quickly, and now we are into the very last week of bible school! This Thursday, the 24th of March is our Bible School graduation night. We are all preparing in so many ways... packing, getting last minute travel plans together and taking advantage of our time together as much as possible! It is really sad to think tht we'll all be going our separate ways into the world in just 3 days. And to think that 11 weeks ago we never knew that each other exsisted! The friendships that I have formed here are incredible. I have such a great support group here, and people that I can just have fun with or cry with. In just the past week so much has happened. Some highlights would be kayaking in the Mediterannean Sea and then coming back, playing volleyball on the beach then going into the water for a swim! And it wasn't even cold! Then on yesterday (on Monday), we had a retreat of solitude, This was 6 hours of complete solitude to spend time in prayer and meditation. We were also fasting, so there were no distractions at all! We got to the base a mountain and were let loose for six hours. I had my bible, my journal and a piece of paper to write a letter to myself. We got the oppurtunity to write ourselves letters and reflect on our time here, and they will be sent to us in 6 months It will be a good reminder of how God has worked in my life and the things he taught me while here at school. So I started walking, and walked around the base of the mountain for a while. Then I sat down for a bit and rested. Then I thought that I wanted to go to the top so that I could have a view of the ocean. So I went to the top, and the view was beautiful, but it was really windy and cold. So I went down the back where I was protected from the wind. I found a spot on a rock and sat there, but it was too steep to sit on and the rock was hard. But I sat there for a while and read my bible. Then I went to the bottom again, for the last two hours and finally found a spot that was protected from the wind and fairly sunny. I sat there for a while and prayed, then I was so tired that I laid down. I was praying and actually fell asleep but then woke up and kept on praying. It was such a good sleep. I went into sleep praying and came out of it praying. But it was such a re-energizing sleep! I was finally content where I was! Walking around that morning, I realized that it really was a picture of my life. I had so much on my mind and kept on walking around, looking for the perfect spot. In life, I have realized that I am always looking forward, looking for more things to try and different places to go. But what I really need to do is find happiness in the places where God has put me, and be content in that. In the past few weeks I have been applying to different bible schools around Europe to be on staff ad volunteer, but I got the final email this morning that they didn't have room for me! It was a little bit of a let down, because I had so much hope in it. I really wanted to stay in Europe, but all of my attempts had not worked out. I guess God is trynig to tell me something. Through this, I realize that God is still trying to teach me a lesson: "Be content where you are, and I will provide for you". So that is what I leave you with today. Be content where ever you are, and God will provide for you. Seek God and he will give you what you're looking for. (Deut. 4:29)
Have a nice day!
Christi
Monday, February 28, 2011
Outreach Group!
Hey Everyone,
Another update in such a short time! I just wanted to write about the experience I had with my outreach group, while it is still fresh in my mind. Yesterday, (Sunday, Feb. 27th) my group, called ¨Llamados¨ (spanish for ´the called ones´) led a service a local church in a neighbouring town, San Juan. Since the beginning of the semester, all of us students have been placed in outreach groups, and are in charge of leading one church service at a church in the surrounding towns. Generally, the groups lead a part of the service through a time of worship, reading of the bible and sharing a small testimony. It is done in English, while our director translates everything into Spanish. But my group was lucky enough to do our outreach at an English-speaking church! It is so amazing to worship in a group of believers that are all brought together with the same purpose. So the church that we went to has a very small congregation. I was talking to a lady there, and she said that there are 12 regulars. But sometimes their numbers reach up to twenty, especially in summer. The pastor told me that when the church was first started, its main goal was to be a church set up for the tourists that flock Alicante and the surrounding area during the summer months, but out of that came many other people who are mostly of an English background. Most of the people I talked to are British, but there are a few locals who just have a passion for the Lord, and don´t even know English! There is also one person from Africa, Venezuela, Mexico and the Philipines. The church has grown into a non-denominational international church! Bringing our school of 31 students, plus staff, nearly tripled the size of the church.
We started with worship led by their worship team. This consisted of a recording of a choir and instruments and overheads. So entirely different than what I´m used to, but sooo great! The joy that was in that building during the worship was so incredible. Seeing them dance and sing for joy broke down all of the barriers (ex: cultural and musical) and brought us all together. In those moments where everyone sang and joined in one song of praise for our God... just made me so happy. I think the pastor described that indescribable happiness, when he said ¨My heart is so full with the presence of Go¨, and now that I think of that... it´s so true that only God can really make your heart so happy. He is he only one who puts peace, hope, happiness and complete ´contentness´ in your life. And what God recently revealed to me; THAT is joy. To me, joy is all of those things and having confidence that God is in control and Lord over my life. Singing at church with everyone really showed me again how real God is.
After singing, and an introduction from the pastor, our group went up and did our thing. We started out by introducing ourselves, then read a verse to lead us into worship. We sang our own songs, which was a completely different style, but still, they sang with us. Then a few of us shared a small testimony of our lives, and a verse to go with it. Our ´theme´of the service was trusting God and the different ways that we have dealt with that. I shared a very quick testimony of what God has done in my life, and that through my struggles (I shared about the insecurities that I have) I have grown to learn to trust in God. It went really well! And through God in me, I wasn´t even nervous for speaking and the words flowed out, and made sense! After that we did a skit... each of us held papers on which the one thing that we struggle with the most was written on. ´Jesus´ beckoned us to come to him, but we walked past and couldn´t let go of our problems. Then one person was able to, and we followed and gave up our problems to God. When that was done, the speaker for this week shared a sermon, and that was the end of the service.
I had the opportunity to stay for a while after and share in fellowship with the people. We had tea and cake... so English. It was really neat to talk to everyone and get to know these people personally. The whole experience was so great. I really felt a connection to these people, and really enjoyed hearing their stories of how they ended up at this church and just got to know the people a bit more, instead of being there, doing a service and then leaving again. Of course, the fact that they spoke English was huge, but it was really inspiring to go to a church and see God so alive in these people!
Thanks for reading this again, and supporting me through this!
Christi
Another update in such a short time! I just wanted to write about the experience I had with my outreach group, while it is still fresh in my mind. Yesterday, (Sunday, Feb. 27th) my group, called ¨Llamados¨ (spanish for ´the called ones´) led a service a local church in a neighbouring town, San Juan. Since the beginning of the semester, all of us students have been placed in outreach groups, and are in charge of leading one church service at a church in the surrounding towns. Generally, the groups lead a part of the service through a time of worship, reading of the bible and sharing a small testimony. It is done in English, while our director translates everything into Spanish. But my group was lucky enough to do our outreach at an English-speaking church! It is so amazing to worship in a group of believers that are all brought together with the same purpose. So the church that we went to has a very small congregation. I was talking to a lady there, and she said that there are 12 regulars. But sometimes their numbers reach up to twenty, especially in summer. The pastor told me that when the church was first started, its main goal was to be a church set up for the tourists that flock Alicante and the surrounding area during the summer months, but out of that came many other people who are mostly of an English background. Most of the people I talked to are British, but there are a few locals who just have a passion for the Lord, and don´t even know English! There is also one person from Africa, Venezuela, Mexico and the Philipines. The church has grown into a non-denominational international church! Bringing our school of 31 students, plus staff, nearly tripled the size of the church.
We started with worship led by their worship team. This consisted of a recording of a choir and instruments and overheads. So entirely different than what I´m used to, but sooo great! The joy that was in that building during the worship was so incredible. Seeing them dance and sing for joy broke down all of the barriers (ex: cultural and musical) and brought us all together. In those moments where everyone sang and joined in one song of praise for our God... just made me so happy. I think the pastor described that indescribable happiness, when he said ¨My heart is so full with the presence of Go¨, and now that I think of that... it´s so true that only God can really make your heart so happy. He is he only one who puts peace, hope, happiness and complete ´contentness´ in your life. And what God recently revealed to me; THAT is joy. To me, joy is all of those things and having confidence that God is in control and Lord over my life. Singing at church with everyone really showed me again how real God is.
After singing, and an introduction from the pastor, our group went up and did our thing. We started out by introducing ourselves, then read a verse to lead us into worship. We sang our own songs, which was a completely different style, but still, they sang with us. Then a few of us shared a small testimony of our lives, and a verse to go with it. Our ´theme´of the service was trusting God and the different ways that we have dealt with that. I shared a very quick testimony of what God has done in my life, and that through my struggles (I shared about the insecurities that I have) I have grown to learn to trust in God. It went really well! And through God in me, I wasn´t even nervous for speaking and the words flowed out, and made sense! After that we did a skit... each of us held papers on which the one thing that we struggle with the most was written on. ´Jesus´ beckoned us to come to him, but we walked past and couldn´t let go of our problems. Then one person was able to, and we followed and gave up our problems to God. When that was done, the speaker for this week shared a sermon, and that was the end of the service.
I had the opportunity to stay for a while after and share in fellowship with the people. We had tea and cake... so English. It was really neat to talk to everyone and get to know these people personally. The whole experience was so great. I really felt a connection to these people, and really enjoyed hearing their stories of how they ended up at this church and just got to know the people a bit more, instead of being there, doing a service and then leaving again. Of course, the fact that they spoke English was huge, but it was really inspiring to go to a church and see God so alive in these people!
Thanks for reading this again, and supporting me through this!
Christi
Thursday, February 24, 2011
New Term!
Hello Everyone!
So, as I just mentioned, it's already the middle of the semester, which is crazy! We just had our travel weekend, which means that we had 1 1/2 extra days with no classes. A group of about 20 of us (out of a school of 31 students) ended up going to Granada. Honestly, at first I was a little bit upset that so many people from Rio Vida were going to the same city, but in the end it was good. I think that it was the first time that most of us were traveling on our own, so that fact that we were all on the same bus and found our way to Granada as a big group made the transition easier. It must have been weird for the Spanish locals on the ALSA bus (the Spanish version of Greyhound buses), to get on and everyone was talking to each other,. Imagine a Greyhound bus fulls of talking, usually its completely silent! Once we were in Granada, we all separated, and went our own ways. Granada is such a beautiful city! It is going to celebrate it's 1000 year anniversary in 2013! It was first settled by the Muslims in 1013! Since then it went back and forth, several times, between Muslim and Christian governing powers. Everything in the city has a Arabic flair. The tourist stalls are full of North African and Muslim culture and fabrics and shoes and jewelry. The buildings have beautiful arches and are all so intricately carved. My friend, Heidi, and I got to go see the Alhambra, and beautiful castle built by the Moors (the first Muslim king who lived in Granada). Every single tile placed into the wall was hand carved almost a millennium ago, and it is still in great condition today. I wish I could explain the detail of the work, but it is just so amazing! Heidi and I did all of our touristy things on Friday, during the day, because we planned on going to Gibraltar the next day. It is a four hour bus ride away, but we both thought it would be worth it to go there, because it is a tiny piece of land that is still a British Colony. I don't know if I'll ever get the chance to go again, unless I'm in Spain, but no buses or trains worked out. So as we were trying to plan the day trip out, I quickly decided to make the decision to give it up to God, and if it was in his plan to make it work out, he would do that. Well, I'm so glad that it didn't work out, and that God's plan was fulfilled in other ways. We didn't get to go, but I'm not sad, because I know that it might happen another day. But the day that we had in Granada was amazing! We decided that we could take it easy that day, because we had already done all of the touristy things, so we decided to go hiking. We went to the tourist information booth (so helpful!), and the man their point out to us a nearby town. It was a 20 minutes bus ride there, so we took the chance and went on an adventure. We were waiting at the bus stop and heard some English voices behind us, which we thought was pretty cool. Then we got onto the bus, and they followed, and got on the bus as well. They were sitting all around us and talking about going hiking on the same trail that we were going to go on. So basically they ended up leading us to the town, and to the hiking trail! We saw them so many times that day! We figured out that they were a group of American students studying Granada and Madrid. We saw them at the top of the hiking trail again, and then as we were waiting for the 4:00 bus back into Granada. Well, the 4:00 bus didn't show up, and neither did the 5 or 6 o'clock buses, so Heidi suggested we hitchhike it back. We were talking with the Americans, and I kind of agreed (but I wasn't too sure about it...) but one of the American guys said he'd go with us. So we went onto the road and within a minute we had a ride back to town by a very honest looking guy :) The two things that were so great and God given, were this really nice man who drove us back into town, and this American guy spoke Spanish really well. We were just really blessed to be taken care of by God, because his hand in the situation was so evident. During the two hours that we were waiting for the bus, I remember praying, and knowing in myself that God would provide. It is truth, God will provide, but I definitely learned that we can't put God in a box. I knew he'd provide, and thought that a bus would come. But God didn't provide the bus that we 'wanted' and thought we 'needed', God gave us a spanish speaking American, a really nice random man to get us safely back into town, and also, in the end, a beautiful day full of sun, and a beautiful day getting out of the city to experience God's creation in a place I'll probably never see again in my life. So we got back to the city and went to see flamenco dancing, which was also such a great cultural experience. It was nothing like I imagined! I am so thankful to God for the wonderful trip that he provided, and that he made everything work according to his plan, definitely not mine!
So now it is the middle of the semester already! It is so crazy that time has gone by so fast! But Spain is still great, and I am loving it more than ever. I am even picking up on the language! Every day is truly a gift from God. We learn new truths everyday, and there is so much to soak in and learn! I recently decided to wake up a bit early, instead of going straight to breakfast, and.. I am so glad I did! Starting the morning with prayer, reading the bible, and see the sunsets (which are such a testament to God's beauty) are greats ways to start the day. It is such a change to the day when you wake up and give it up to God, trusting that he will provide, and everything that happens is in his plan.
Hope all is well at home, or from where ever you may be reading this from!
Christi
So, as I just mentioned, it's already the middle of the semester, which is crazy! We just had our travel weekend, which means that we had 1 1/2 extra days with no classes. A group of about 20 of us (out of a school of 31 students) ended up going to Granada. Honestly, at first I was a little bit upset that so many people from Rio Vida were going to the same city, but in the end it was good. I think that it was the first time that most of us were traveling on our own, so that fact that we were all on the same bus and found our way to Granada as a big group made the transition easier. It must have been weird for the Spanish locals on the ALSA bus (the Spanish version of Greyhound buses), to get on and everyone was talking to each other,. Imagine a Greyhound bus fulls of talking, usually its completely silent! Once we were in Granada, we all separated, and went our own ways. Granada is such a beautiful city! It is going to celebrate it's 1000 year anniversary in 2013! It was first settled by the Muslims in 1013! Since then it went back and forth, several times, between Muslim and Christian governing powers. Everything in the city has a Arabic flair. The tourist stalls are full of North African and Muslim culture and fabrics and shoes and jewelry. The buildings have beautiful arches and are all so intricately carved. My friend, Heidi, and I got to go see the Alhambra, and beautiful castle built by the Moors (the first Muslim king who lived in Granada). Every single tile placed into the wall was hand carved almost a millennium ago, and it is still in great condition today. I wish I could explain the detail of the work, but it is just so amazing! Heidi and I did all of our touristy things on Friday, during the day, because we planned on going to Gibraltar the next day. It is a four hour bus ride away, but we both thought it would be worth it to go there, because it is a tiny piece of land that is still a British Colony. I don't know if I'll ever get the chance to go again, unless I'm in Spain, but no buses or trains worked out. So as we were trying to plan the day trip out, I quickly decided to make the decision to give it up to God, and if it was in his plan to make it work out, he would do that. Well, I'm so glad that it didn't work out, and that God's plan was fulfilled in other ways. We didn't get to go, but I'm not sad, because I know that it might happen another day. But the day that we had in Granada was amazing! We decided that we could take it easy that day, because we had already done all of the touristy things, so we decided to go hiking. We went to the tourist information booth (so helpful!), and the man their point out to us a nearby town. It was a 20 minutes bus ride there, so we took the chance and went on an adventure. We were waiting at the bus stop and heard some English voices behind us, which we thought was pretty cool. Then we got onto the bus, and they followed, and got on the bus as well. They were sitting all around us and talking about going hiking on the same trail that we were going to go on. So basically they ended up leading us to the town, and to the hiking trail! We saw them so many times that day! We figured out that they were a group of American students studying Granada and Madrid. We saw them at the top of the hiking trail again, and then as we were waiting for the 4:00 bus back into Granada. Well, the 4:00 bus didn't show up, and neither did the 5 or 6 o'clock buses, so Heidi suggested we hitchhike it back. We were talking with the Americans, and I kind of agreed (but I wasn't too sure about it...) but one of the American guys said he'd go with us. So we went onto the road and within a minute we had a ride back to town by a very honest looking guy :) The two things that were so great and God given, were this really nice man who drove us back into town, and this American guy spoke Spanish really well. We were just really blessed to be taken care of by God, because his hand in the situation was so evident. During the two hours that we were waiting for the bus, I remember praying, and knowing in myself that God would provide. It is truth, God will provide, but I definitely learned that we can't put God in a box. I knew he'd provide, and thought that a bus would come. But God didn't provide the bus that we 'wanted' and thought we 'needed', God gave us a spanish speaking American, a really nice random man to get us safely back into town, and also, in the end, a beautiful day full of sun, and a beautiful day getting out of the city to experience God's creation in a place I'll probably never see again in my life. So we got back to the city and went to see flamenco dancing, which was also such a great cultural experience. It was nothing like I imagined! I am so thankful to God for the wonderful trip that he provided, and that he made everything work according to his plan, definitely not mine!
So now it is the middle of the semester already! It is so crazy that time has gone by so fast! But Spain is still great, and I am loving it more than ever. I am even picking up on the language! Every day is truly a gift from God. We learn new truths everyday, and there is so much to soak in and learn! I recently decided to wake up a bit early, instead of going straight to breakfast, and.. I am so glad I did! Starting the morning with prayer, reading the bible, and see the sunsets (which are such a testament to God's beauty) are greats ways to start the day. It is such a change to the day when you wake up and give it up to God, trusting that he will provide, and everything that happens is in his plan.
Hope all is well at home, or from where ever you may be reading this from!
Christi
Sunday, February 13, 2011
 | Here is the update for this week! The past week has been good with lectures, lots of learning! This boardwalk is in downtown Alicante, right along the beach. There are lots of touristy kiosks and lots of tourists! This past weekend we got to spend the day in a mountain city called Guadalest and this coming weekend is travel weekend! I'm going to see the Alhambra in Granada and hopefully Gibraltar. The topic for this weekend is going to be on Creation Science! Happy Valentines day, and have a good weekend! | |||||||
| Alicante Boardwalk |
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Hello Everyone!
Once again, I have to say this, I can´t believe how fast time is going by! The weeks just keep getting faster and faster. I know I say this in almost every post, but really, it´s crazy! And now it´s already February and we´re heading into week #4. The weather here has thrown me completely off from a normal winter. For the past week we´ve had completely clear skies both during the day and at night. The tempuratures during the day range from 15-20 degrees. The beach is beautiful, and we all go there as often as we can. The weather has also pushed me to get more exercise. Now that it´s nice out, I´ve been walking and running a lot, and there is usually a group of people that go out to play soccer. There is a ´soccer court´nearby- it´s exactly like an outdoor basketball court, but it´s specifically for soccer. There are no public grass fields here, because it is such a dry climate. So we have to play on the beach or on the rubber courts. But it´s definitely worth it to play anyways!
This past week, I didn´t get to do many cultural things, but the classroom learning was great! In a week, we generally have two main topics. This past week´s topics were ´Biblical Worship´and ´The Life of Peter´. Both of the topics were so interesting, and I think that I learned the most during the past week. ´Biblical Worship´ was a class not just about how to worship, but why we worship. There was a lot of history, and going through the bible. It was a ´theology of worship´, so it was on the topic of worship, with all of facts and research pulled from the bible. It was so interesting to learn what our worship is based on. I think I take it for granted at home... I mean going to church every sunday and singing was meaningful, but I never knew why we really did everything the way we do it. By going through ´Biblical Worship,´ I have really learned about the foundation that modern Christian worship is built on. The other topic, ´The Life of Peter,´was also so interesting. We learned about Peter the Apostle, and how he grew from a regular fisherman into a mature follower of Christ. He made many quick, thoughtless decisions, but by asking lots of questions and by being a teachable person, he grew into someone who we can all look up to. He grew into a fisher of man, and brought many people to Christ. He grew in confidence as well, and was able to address large crowds and heal sick people. Many things in the life of Peter, I found, are so relatable to where I am in my own life right now. Peter is a very inspirational person, who can so easily be overlooked! So learning this past week was really incredible!
Today (sunday), after church, I got the chance to go to a Spanish, evangelical wedding! It was a really good experience. The ceremony was so different than any typical North American wedding ceremony. The audience was really only the church congregation, and the ceremony was over an hour long. It started with praise and worship time. We stood up and sang modern worship songs, and then the pastor even preached a sermon. The weddings vows and rings were only exchanged at the end, in the span of about 10 minutes. It seemed more like a church service than a wedding ceremony. It wasn´t very formal either, but the thing that struck me the most was the joy that the people worshipped with. Everytime I am around Christians here in Spain, it is just incredible to see them worshipping my God, in a different language! And it makes me think of how he isn´t ´my´ God. We have a God who is bigger than North America. He understands all languages and all people. He is pleased with any worship, and anyone who praises Him from the heart and in sincerity. Singing praise songs at the wedding today made the whole world seem a little smaller, because we are drawn together by the One who is constant and present in everyone of our lives, all around the world.
This week we will be studying the books of Judges, and James. We also have a beach soccer tournament, and I´m on team Spain! It will be a busy week, but of course, I am looking forward to all of the new experiences and adventures!
Have a great week!
Once again, I have to say this, I can´t believe how fast time is going by! The weeks just keep getting faster and faster. I know I say this in almost every post, but really, it´s crazy! And now it´s already February and we´re heading into week #4. The weather here has thrown me completely off from a normal winter. For the past week we´ve had completely clear skies both during the day and at night. The tempuratures during the day range from 15-20 degrees. The beach is beautiful, and we all go there as often as we can. The weather has also pushed me to get more exercise. Now that it´s nice out, I´ve been walking and running a lot, and there is usually a group of people that go out to play soccer. There is a ´soccer court´nearby- it´s exactly like an outdoor basketball court, but it´s specifically for soccer. There are no public grass fields here, because it is such a dry climate. So we have to play on the beach or on the rubber courts. But it´s definitely worth it to play anyways!
This past week, I didn´t get to do many cultural things, but the classroom learning was great! In a week, we generally have two main topics. This past week´s topics were ´Biblical Worship´and ´The Life of Peter´. Both of the topics were so interesting, and I think that I learned the most during the past week. ´Biblical Worship´ was a class not just about how to worship, but why we worship. There was a lot of history, and going through the bible. It was a ´theology of worship´, so it was on the topic of worship, with all of facts and research pulled from the bible. It was so interesting to learn what our worship is based on. I think I take it for granted at home... I mean going to church every sunday and singing was meaningful, but I never knew why we really did everything the way we do it. By going through ´Biblical Worship,´ I have really learned about the foundation that modern Christian worship is built on. The other topic, ´The Life of Peter,´was also so interesting. We learned about Peter the Apostle, and how he grew from a regular fisherman into a mature follower of Christ. He made many quick, thoughtless decisions, but by asking lots of questions and by being a teachable person, he grew into someone who we can all look up to. He grew into a fisher of man, and brought many people to Christ. He grew in confidence as well, and was able to address large crowds and heal sick people. Many things in the life of Peter, I found, are so relatable to where I am in my own life right now. Peter is a very inspirational person, who can so easily be overlooked! So learning this past week was really incredible!
Today (sunday), after church, I got the chance to go to a Spanish, evangelical wedding! It was a really good experience. The ceremony was so different than any typical North American wedding ceremony. The audience was really only the church congregation, and the ceremony was over an hour long. It started with praise and worship time. We stood up and sang modern worship songs, and then the pastor even preached a sermon. The weddings vows and rings were only exchanged at the end, in the span of about 10 minutes. It seemed more like a church service than a wedding ceremony. It wasn´t very formal either, but the thing that struck me the most was the joy that the people worshipped with. Everytime I am around Christians here in Spain, it is just incredible to see them worshipping my God, in a different language! And it makes me think of how he isn´t ´my´ God. We have a God who is bigger than North America. He understands all languages and all people. He is pleased with any worship, and anyone who praises Him from the heart and in sincerity. Singing praise songs at the wedding today made the whole world seem a little smaller, because we are drawn together by the One who is constant and present in everyone of our lives, all around the world.
This week we will be studying the books of Judges, and James. We also have a beach soccer tournament, and I´m on team Spain! It will be a busy week, but of course, I am looking forward to all of the new experiences and adventures!
Have a great week!
Monday, January 31, 2011
2 weeks in...!
Hello Everyone!
So now it has ben two weeks since I have been here in lovely Spain. And once again, so much has happened! The first week seemed to go by quite slowly, and then we were warned the weeks would go by faster, but I didn`t believe it. Now the second week is already over! I can`t believe it has gone by already! This past week, we studied about Nehemiah, Christian Leadership and we watched a video series called `Rediscovering Christ`. I learned so much, and all the classes were so great! Then yesterday, on saturday, a group of about 20 of us went to a soccer game! It was such a good experience! The game we saw was the Alicante Hercules vs FC Barcelona! It was crazy, because I wanted to cheer for Hercules, because they are from Alicante, but Barcelona is the number one team in Europe right now! Eventually I chose to cheer for Hercules because they are the underdogs. The game was so incredible though. I have always wanted to see a professional soccer game in Europe, and the fact that Barcelona was coming to the city I`m in was just a God thing! Tickets also sold out in a few hours, and we had a connection to get them, so we were super fortunate to get to the game at all! It just all worked out! =)
Today we went to a church service in Alicante. The church that we went to was a church set up by the Salvation Army. It was so cool to see a group of people from all around the world gathered together for the same purpose, to worship and learn more about God. All of the students have been put into different outreach groups to lead church services in a different church in the city. My group is scheduled to present on February 27th! I am already looking forward to it!
Time to go to class and learn about Biblical worship!
Hasta Luego!
So now it has ben two weeks since I have been here in lovely Spain. And once again, so much has happened! The first week seemed to go by quite slowly, and then we were warned the weeks would go by faster, but I didn`t believe it. Now the second week is already over! I can`t believe it has gone by already! This past week, we studied about Nehemiah, Christian Leadership and we watched a video series called `Rediscovering Christ`. I learned so much, and all the classes were so great! Then yesterday, on saturday, a group of about 20 of us went to a soccer game! It was such a good experience! The game we saw was the Alicante Hercules vs FC Barcelona! It was crazy, because I wanted to cheer for Hercules, because they are from Alicante, but Barcelona is the number one team in Europe right now! Eventually I chose to cheer for Hercules because they are the underdogs. The game was so incredible though. I have always wanted to see a professional soccer game in Europe, and the fact that Barcelona was coming to the city I`m in was just a God thing! Tickets also sold out in a few hours, and we had a connection to get them, so we were super fortunate to get to the game at all! It just all worked out! =)
Today we went to a church service in Alicante. The church that we went to was a church set up by the Salvation Army. It was so cool to see a group of people from all around the world gathered together for the same purpose, to worship and learn more about God. All of the students have been put into different outreach groups to lead church services in a different church in the city. My group is scheduled to present on February 27th! I am already looking forward to it!
Time to go to class and learn about Biblical worship!
Hasta Luego!
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Hola!
It has been almost a week since I last wrote! It is amazing what has happened and what has gone just in the past few days! So, to fill you in on the past few days... on Friday (January 14th) I flew out of Canada and landed in Alicante, Spain at 9:00 PM on Saturday, January 15th. As soon as the trip started, it was an adventure. The original plan was to leave from Kelowna instead of Vancouver, because we didn't want to take the risk of having to drive over the Coquihalla in the middle of winter. But we got to the airport in Kelowna, and they told us that my flight was cancelled, So, we ended up having to drive to Vancouver anyways! But there were so many blessings from that point on! I was supposed to arrive in Vancouver six hours early. I was planning on meeting up with a friend, but this gave us enough time to catch my flight! All along the way, we were warned of bad roads, but the connector between Kelowna and Merrit was super sunny, and it was raining on the Coquihalla! There was no construction on any of the roads and once we were in the airport, and airline worker randomly came up to me and asked me if I wanted to get my ticket right away. I had just enough time to eat and then catch my plane. God is amazing, and amidst all the stress, when you finally remember to turn to God and trust him with your problems, he already has everything worked out!
Today is my fifth day in Spain now. The weather is so different here! The first day played soccer on the beach, which is only a 5 minute walk from the house! Then the next few days were colder, and all the locals were dressed in big winter jackets, boots and scarves, but it really was only between 10-13 degrees! This morning was super sunny and warm enough for t-shirts. We did a prayer walk in the beautiful sunshine and each went our separate ways to pray for the neighbourhood and for this city.
The staff and school is amazing. There are a total of 31 students, with 5 boys and 26 girls. I am staying in one of the bigger dorm rooms with 4 other girls. In a normal day there are between 4-5 classes. As typical day starts with breakfast at 8:00 AM, then we go into classes at 9. We then have lunch at 2:00 and free time from 3:30-5:30PM. This is the normal Spainsh 'siesta' time :) We go into one more class and then dinner is at 7:00PM. We then have free time from after dinner until 'quiet time' at 11. Every day during free time I love to go on walks to the beach or to the Walmart-type store called Carrefour. I successfully got through the check out line with my very limited Spanish! On Saturday, we are going to the castle in Alicante for a daytrip and we all have to potential opportunity to go to a soccer game in two weeks! It will be the Alicante Hercules v.s. FC Barcelona! It would be so great and so exciting to go to a Premier League soccer game! This is something I've wanted to do for so long!
So that has been my life in the past few days! I am so excited to be here, and am looking forward to what God has in store for me over the next few weeks!
Thank you for all of the prayers, God bless you wherever you are!
Christi
It has been almost a week since I last wrote! It is amazing what has happened and what has gone just in the past few days! So, to fill you in on the past few days... on Friday (January 14th) I flew out of Canada and landed in Alicante, Spain at 9:00 PM on Saturday, January 15th. As soon as the trip started, it was an adventure. The original plan was to leave from Kelowna instead of Vancouver, because we didn't want to take the risk of having to drive over the Coquihalla in the middle of winter. But we got to the airport in Kelowna, and they told us that my flight was cancelled, So, we ended up having to drive to Vancouver anyways! But there were so many blessings from that point on! I was supposed to arrive in Vancouver six hours early. I was planning on meeting up with a friend, but this gave us enough time to catch my flight! All along the way, we were warned of bad roads, but the connector between Kelowna and Merrit was super sunny, and it was raining on the Coquihalla! There was no construction on any of the roads and once we were in the airport, and airline worker randomly came up to me and asked me if I wanted to get my ticket right away. I had just enough time to eat and then catch my plane. God is amazing, and amidst all the stress, when you finally remember to turn to God and trust him with your problems, he already has everything worked out!
Today is my fifth day in Spain now. The weather is so different here! The first day played soccer on the beach, which is only a 5 minute walk from the house! Then the next few days were colder, and all the locals were dressed in big winter jackets, boots and scarves, but it really was only between 10-13 degrees! This morning was super sunny and warm enough for t-shirts. We did a prayer walk in the beautiful sunshine and each went our separate ways to pray for the neighbourhood and for this city.
The staff and school is amazing. There are a total of 31 students, with 5 boys and 26 girls. I am staying in one of the bigger dorm rooms with 4 other girls. In a normal day there are between 4-5 classes. As typical day starts with breakfast at 8:00 AM, then we go into classes at 9. We then have lunch at 2:00 and free time from 3:30-5:30PM. This is the normal Spainsh 'siesta' time :) We go into one more class and then dinner is at 7:00PM. We then have free time from after dinner until 'quiet time' at 11. Every day during free time I love to go on walks to the beach or to the Walmart-type store called Carrefour. I successfully got through the check out line with my very limited Spanish! On Saturday, we are going to the castle in Alicante for a daytrip and we all have to potential opportunity to go to a soccer game in two weeks! It will be the Alicante Hercules v.s. FC Barcelona! It would be so great and so exciting to go to a Premier League soccer game! This is something I've wanted to do for so long!
So that has been my life in the past few days! I am so excited to be here, and am looking forward to what God has in store for me over the next few weeks!
Thank you for all of the prayers, God bless you wherever you are!
Christi
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Leaving...?!
Hey everyone!
I am leaving in two days! It is crazy to think that in about 72 hours I will be in a new country, surrounded by a language I don't know and meeting tons of new people who I'll be spending the next 2 1/2 months with! As you might be able to tell, I am getting stressed! I am starting to fully realize how much I have to do before I leave... but I have a few lists written up, as I am trying to organize these next two days before I leave!
So now that you know how I am doing, let me tell you about the school!
1) The school I will be going to is located in Alicante, Spain. It is a smaller, touristy-type town located on the South-Eastern coast of Spain, right along the Mediterranean!
2) The school, called Rio Vida, is one of 26 Torchbearers Centres located in one of 20 countries around the world. Torchbearers Centres are a branch of Torchbearers International, a worldwide community of believers with centres located all around world, designed to act as retreat and conference centres with the goal to provide and area of recreation, study, Bible schools and service.
3) The short, 10-week program I am taking will start on January 17th, 2011 and be completed on March 24th, 2011.
4) The school will be taught in English, which is fortunate, because I don't know any Spanish... but I am hoping to pick up a few words or phrases. There are optional Spanish course that will be offered.
5) We will doing bible memorization, book reports, attending lectures, daily bible readings, learning to lead bible studies and serving through outreaches in the community (like volunteering in local churches and working with children)!
So basically all of the information I know of is for the Rio Vida website. I don't know exactly what is going to be expected of me while I am there, and I don't really know what to expect myself! But I know that God has a few things in store for me to learn while I am there. I am going to do my best to be open to whatever is revealed to me and whatever situations I'll be confronted with!
If you want to know anything else, feel free to leave a comment on the blog or e-mail me, and I will do my best to get back to you as soon as possible!
May God bless you wherever you are and through whatever
you're doing over the next three months,
Christi
=)
P.S---> If you want more information, the website for the school is:
- http://www.riovida.org/default.asp (this is the better one)
or
My address while I am in Spain will be:
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