Sometimes, several days during a week can pass without me consciously thinking about the fact that I'm in East Asia. Yesterday was NOT one of those days...
As a pitiful excuse for a political science major, I had pretty much given up hope of voting since I wasn't able to send in for my absentee ballot soon enough and it seemed like too much work to pursue other ways of voting. It would stress me out when I was thinking about it and taking away from my ministry here, so I said the heck with it.
Until yesterday.
"All we had to do" was print off our emergency ballot and get it to a certain FedEx store and they would overnight it for free. Sweet deal. Okay, I'm in. It's a straight shot there on the bus, simple.
Five hours and three modes of transportation later, we finally returned home from voting.
I'll spare you the boring details, but let's just say there was a lot of walking, some very packed rush-hour buses, a ton of wandering around city streets (and some rural streets...oops), and a very, very small, tucked away FedEx shop smaller than most dorm rooms.
Moral of the story:
Even though I think both candidates would probably do a fine job if elected as president and your vote barely counts in the scheme of things (let's just be honest...and no, I don't need a lecture on this, I know how the electoral college works), go to the polls next Tuesday and voice your opinion. We Americans love to give our opinions and what better chance to do so than in a democratic election.
And you'll probably have a far easier time at it than I did.
-CK
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
An Interview with Myself
Hi everyone,
I recently received an email from my cousin with a number of really good general questions about day-to-day living and I thought I'd post my answers on here since it's the kind of stuff a lot of people might be wondering about but that I've grown pretty accustomed to and wouldn't think to write a blog about. So here goes:
How's the food?
Thankfully, the food situation is much better than I thought it would be. I've definitely lost some weight already due in part to eating less but also because I haven't been able to work out as much. The food here really isn't "bad." There are definitely plenty of things that I have found to eat. Chicken wraps, sweet and sour pork, curry dishes, pineapple rice, lamb and chicken skewers, donuts, etc. There are too many good food items to list them all and pretty much every week I find a new guy on the street corner or something new that I really like. And of course there's always room in my diet for the occasional KFC or McDonald's. But I can even buy groceries and things like milk, bread, peanut butter, jelly, crackers, pasta, etc. One advantage is that it's REALLY easy to get fresh produce and it's REALLY good and really cheap.
The problem I run into is that we eat at the cafeteria EVERY single day since it's one of the main ways we're able to meet with people. Even the students get sick of the cafeteria. The other problem is that this country's food is good, but you're going to eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if you don't get creative. There's no variety like in the States where I can have Italian for lunch and Mexican for dinner. These kinds of places exist if you look hard enough but they're very expensive and just aren't the same. In short, if you want something bad enough, you can find it, but you may have to pay extra for it. In short, if you want something bad enough, you can find it, but you may have to pay extra for it.
How often do you get to chat with your family and friends back home via phone?
I have actually never used a phone to call home since arriving here. The online program, Skype, is free and I can even use a webcam to communicate. On some occasions I can use Skype on my computer to call landlines and cell phones in the States for very cheap, but it does cost money.
It's been more difficult to talk with my family than anyone else for the most part. Due to work schedules and me being pretty busy during times that they would have free, besides emails we usually only talk about once each week.
It's also been pretty difficult to communicate with many of my friends from home as many of them have gone off to different corners of the world to do ministry. Usually this is done through emails and the occasional Skype conversation, but it's pretty hard sometimes to find the energy to have a conversation with someone late at night due to time differences and all of the other things we have going on.
But I love technology. Amy, my girlfriend, and I have been able to use our webcams just about every day. Some stretches are busy for one or both of us and it's less than that, but there's usually not a day that passes without some kind of contact whether it's an email, quick message, or a conversation. This has been a HUGE blessing!
How many other students are there with you?
In total, there are 11 students from the University of Wisconsin-Madison but we are split into two different teams. On my team there are six people from the UW, two interns, a married couple who are our team leaders and the parents of an 11-month old daughter, Miriam, and a Korean-American girl. The other team has five students from Madison and two French students in addition to their team leaders.
What have you enjoyed most about your experience?
This is a really difficult question. I'm going to pick a couple things.
First, I'd have to say the students. I've absolutely loved getting to know the other believers in our fellowship that are from this country and having the chance to work alongside them to bring the Gospel to this campus. I've gotten to spend a lot of time recently with a student named Will who is a leader in the movement. I will be discipling him soon and training him how to lead a Bible study but in a lot of ways it's kind of weird to be leading him because I just consider him a friend, not a disciple or trainee or anything like that. If I had met him in the States I would genuinely just want to be his friend and hang out with him because I think he's cool! It's been a great experience getting to work alongside all of these students, worship alongside them, and continue to develop friendships with all of them.
It's also been a very "stretching" experience so far, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. My trust in God and His character is put to the test pretty frequently and I'm forced to cling to Him in a way that I would never need to do in the comfort of Madison, Wisconsin. I've already seen myself grow in character and seen God work in a ton of amazing ways, both in me and through me. More than anything else this year I'm excited to experience Him in ways that I never have before, to grow closer to Him, and to let Him continue to develop and change who I am.
I also got to go camping on the Great Wall and watch the sun rise over the mountains from a mountain peak...that was pretty sweet!
What do you miss most about home?
Easy. My family, friends, and girlfriend. Sure, I could say things like the food, the convenience of being in the States, watching sporting events on TV, etc...and I DO miss all of those things, but not nearly as much as the people in my life.
I miss getting to see my family and hanging out with my brother on campus. Not that some of those things happened a ton while I was in the States, but you start to miss them more when you're so far away.
I miss all of my friends from campus and the family and fellowship that I had there. Roommates, bandmates, Saturday morning football buddies, the guys that would sit around and talk about the deep things of life as "Peter the Great" looked on (inside joke), Bible study guys, our fearless Bible study leader and now, father. But I've been incredibly blessed to have some of my closest friends here with me! I can't imagine doing this without them!
And of course, Amy. Surprisingly, the past couple months have actually been REALLY good for our relationship, but the closer we get, the more dificult it gets to be apart. Technology has been very, very good to us and we're pretty lucky in that sense, but still, nothing can take the place of getting to see her face-to-face and to be there for each other and serve each other in ways that we just can't do right now. I can't wait to see her in a month!
Okay...the other random things I miss: applesauce, American candy (especially chocolate), burgers, The Great Dane, getting to be a part of worship teams at Blackhawk, church, convenience, good workout facilities, clean air, watching sports on TV, Dr. Pepper, live music, guitars, driving cars, and the Brewers in the playoffs.
General impressions of the culture?
The people here are very proud of their culture and their history, and rightfully so, it's a long one. They haven't had the best track record especially within the past 60 years or so but most of them are aware of that. The people here are very concerned with apperances and would never do anything to make someone "lose face." As a result, they're generally very hospitable. They are also very concerned with "harmony" and are generally fairly quick to avoid conflict.
My heart definitely goes out to the students here and what I've understood about their experience in life so far. Basically, they study, study, and study some more to try to do well on ONE college entrance test that will decide whether or not they fail or succeed in life, and there's certainly a lot of pressure in that, certainly from themselves but also their parents and the rest of society.
There are definitely a lot of cultural things that I wasn't use to at first (and probably still am not completely used to). Though some things are weird to me, that doesn't necessarily make them wrong...although there are a few things that have to be just plain wrong.
Some things that have taken some adjusting: People don't wait in lines for elevators or subways, they just push. Split pants...there's a "split" in young children's clothing so they can just pee (or the other thing) in the grass (or in a subway station...or on a subway on people. Not even kidding, I've seen it or heard stories of friends who have been peed on!). Car horns...not just for the person that pulls out in front of you. Nope, they're used just about every time a car passes someone...which could get really annoying if you live on a busier street (we do).
I hope that gives everyone a little better picture of what the details of my life look like. If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact me!
God bless,
CK
I recently received an email from my cousin with a number of really good general questions about day-to-day living and I thought I'd post my answers on here since it's the kind of stuff a lot of people might be wondering about but that I've grown pretty accustomed to and wouldn't think to write a blog about. So here goes:
How's the food?
Thankfully, the food situation is much better than I thought it would be. I've definitely lost some weight already due in part to eating less but also because I haven't been able to work out as much. The food here really isn't "bad." There are definitely plenty of things that I have found to eat. Chicken wraps, sweet and sour pork, curry dishes, pineapple rice, lamb and chicken skewers, donuts, etc. There are too many good food items to list them all and pretty much every week I find a new guy on the street corner or something new that I really like. And of course there's always room in my diet for the occasional KFC or McDonald's. But I can even buy groceries and things like milk, bread, peanut butter, jelly, crackers, pasta, etc. One advantage is that it's REALLY easy to get fresh produce and it's REALLY good and really cheap.
The problem I run into is that we eat at the cafeteria EVERY single day since it's one of the main ways we're able to meet with people. Even the students get sick of the cafeteria. The other problem is that this country's food is good, but you're going to eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if you don't get creative. There's no variety like in the States where I can have Italian for lunch and Mexican for dinner. These kinds of places exist if you look hard enough but they're very expensive and just aren't the same. In short, if you want something bad enough, you can find it, but you may have to pay extra for it. In short, if you want something bad enough, you can find it, but you may have to pay extra for it.
How often do you get to chat with your family and friends back home via phone?
I have actually never used a phone to call home since arriving here. The online program, Skype, is free and I can even use a webcam to communicate. On some occasions I can use Skype on my computer to call landlines and cell phones in the States for very cheap, but it does cost money.
It's been more difficult to talk with my family than anyone else for the most part. Due to work schedules and me being pretty busy during times that they would have free, besides emails we usually only talk about once each week.
It's also been pretty difficult to communicate with many of my friends from home as many of them have gone off to different corners of the world to do ministry. Usually this is done through emails and the occasional Skype conversation, but it's pretty hard sometimes to find the energy to have a conversation with someone late at night due to time differences and all of the other things we have going on.
But I love technology. Amy, my girlfriend, and I have been able to use our webcams just about every day. Some stretches are busy for one or both of us and it's less than that, but there's usually not a day that passes without some kind of contact whether it's an email, quick message, or a conversation. This has been a HUGE blessing!
How many other students are there with you?
In total, there are 11 students from the University of Wisconsin-Madison but we are split into two different teams. On my team there are six people from the UW, two interns, a married couple who are our team leaders and the parents of an 11-month old daughter, Miriam, and a Korean-American girl. The other team has five students from Madison and two French students in addition to their team leaders.
What have you enjoyed most about your experience?
This is a really difficult question. I'm going to pick a couple things.
First, I'd have to say the students. I've absolutely loved getting to know the other believers in our fellowship that are from this country and having the chance to work alongside them to bring the Gospel to this campus. I've gotten to spend a lot of time recently with a student named Will who is a leader in the movement. I will be discipling him soon and training him how to lead a Bible study but in a lot of ways it's kind of weird to be leading him because I just consider him a friend, not a disciple or trainee or anything like that. If I had met him in the States I would genuinely just want to be his friend and hang out with him because I think he's cool! It's been a great experience getting to work alongside all of these students, worship alongside them, and continue to develop friendships with all of them.
It's also been a very "stretching" experience so far, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. My trust in God and His character is put to the test pretty frequently and I'm forced to cling to Him in a way that I would never need to do in the comfort of Madison, Wisconsin. I've already seen myself grow in character and seen God work in a ton of amazing ways, both in me and through me. More than anything else this year I'm excited to experience Him in ways that I never have before, to grow closer to Him, and to let Him continue to develop and change who I am.
I also got to go camping on the Great Wall and watch the sun rise over the mountains from a mountain peak...that was pretty sweet!
What do you miss most about home?
Easy. My family, friends, and girlfriend. Sure, I could say things like the food, the convenience of being in the States, watching sporting events on TV, etc...and I DO miss all of those things, but not nearly as much as the people in my life.
I miss getting to see my family and hanging out with my brother on campus. Not that some of those things happened a ton while I was in the States, but you start to miss them more when you're so far away.
I miss all of my friends from campus and the family and fellowship that I had there. Roommates, bandmates, Saturday morning football buddies, the guys that would sit around and talk about the deep things of life as "Peter the Great" looked on (inside joke), Bible study guys, our fearless Bible study leader and now, father. But I've been incredibly blessed to have some of my closest friends here with me! I can't imagine doing this without them!
And of course, Amy. Surprisingly, the past couple months have actually been REALLY good for our relationship, but the closer we get, the more dificult it gets to be apart. Technology has been very, very good to us and we're pretty lucky in that sense, but still, nothing can take the place of getting to see her face-to-face and to be there for each other and serve each other in ways that we just can't do right now. I can't wait to see her in a month!
Okay...the other random things I miss: applesauce, American candy (especially chocolate), burgers, The Great Dane, getting to be a part of worship teams at Blackhawk, church, convenience, good workout facilities, clean air, watching sports on TV, Dr. Pepper, live music, guitars, driving cars, and the Brewers in the playoffs.
General impressions of the culture?
The people here are very proud of their culture and their history, and rightfully so, it's a long one. They haven't had the best track record especially within the past 60 years or so but most of them are aware of that. The people here are very concerned with apperances and would never do anything to make someone "lose face." As a result, they're generally very hospitable. They are also very concerned with "harmony" and are generally fairly quick to avoid conflict.
My heart definitely goes out to the students here and what I've understood about their experience in life so far. Basically, they study, study, and study some more to try to do well on ONE college entrance test that will decide whether or not they fail or succeed in life, and there's certainly a lot of pressure in that, certainly from themselves but also their parents and the rest of society.
There are definitely a lot of cultural things that I wasn't use to at first (and probably still am not completely used to). Though some things are weird to me, that doesn't necessarily make them wrong...although there are a few things that have to be just plain wrong.
Some things that have taken some adjusting: People don't wait in lines for elevators or subways, they just push. Split pants...there's a "split" in young children's clothing so they can just pee (or the other thing) in the grass (or in a subway station...or on a subway on people. Not even kidding, I've seen it or heard stories of friends who have been peed on!). Car horns...not just for the person that pulls out in front of you. Nope, they're used just about every time a car passes someone...which could get really annoying if you live on a busier street (we do).
I hope that gives everyone a little better picture of what the details of my life look like. If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact me!
God bless,
CK
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Freedom in Christ
Throughout the past month I've become pretty convinced that most of us Christians have little understanding of what it actually means to have "freedom in Christ." We probably have little understanding of what it even means to have a relationship with God in the first place...it's something I spend each day trying to figure out.
Ask most people what the point of this relationship is or why I should "ask Jesus into my heart" and I'd be willing to bet that most people would give some sort of response about being able to go to Heaven when they die. Fair enough, but there's far more to it than that. What we do with THIS life matters.
Others, myself included many times, would mention something about "fulfillment" and rightfully so, after all, God created us to know Him and it's only through a relationship with Him that we find our true purpose. But this response inevitably comes up short too because a relationship with God isn't about what WE can get from HIM - fulfillment, happy feelings, purpose, etc.
I recently had the opportunity to show the Jesus Film to four students this past week, and much of the conversation that resulted in the 90 minutes after the movie finished had to do with what it means to have a relationship with God.
Good luck trying to sum that up in 60 seconds or less using about half of the English vocabulary you possess in order to make it simple enough to understand.
It seems that the longer I walk with the Lord, the less and less I truly understand what it means to have a relationship with Him. We try to put it inside a nice little box that makes it easy and convenient for us to be in a relationship with God, but at the end of the day, a relationship with the Creator of the Universe and Author of our faith should not be as easy to summarize as we make it out to be sometimes.
I have had many other conversations since being here that closely resembled the one after watching the Jesus Film, but this time more than any other I left feeling like I could only tell them what a relationship with God is NOT, and not what it IS.
And when we can't wrap our minds around something we create rules, policies, procedures, and guidelines that make us feel more comfortable. "Don't do this, don't do that"...again, looking at it from the angle of what a relationship with God is NOT and not what it IS. If I had a dime for every person I've run into that thinks this is what Christianity is about, I'd be slightly less rich than if I had a dime for every time I've heard someone say they're going to Heaven because they're a "good person." (Show me where that is in the Bible...)
Or there are other things that we think we're supposed to do as good Christians, as if a relationship with God is like checking boxes on a list.
Read the Bible and pray every day and our relationship with God is doing well.
Share our faith once each week and our relationship with God is doing well.
Go to church every week and lead a Bible study and our relationship with God is doing well.
I've read over this passage many times, but it's continually jumped off the page at me the past week or so:
Jesus just finished the Sermon on the Mount a couple chapters ago where he lays out what can easily appear to be practical rules, yet he says,
"I desire mercy, not sacrifice."
Interesting...
Countless other places in the Gospels, Jesus returns to this theme.
"Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." -Matthew 11:28-30
My point is, I think there's way more freedom in our relationship with God and our walk with the Lord than we as the Church can even comprehend.
It's easy to preach on Sunday mornings about living by the Word and the guidelines that God has set out for us, and while extremely important, that's not the Gospel.
The Gospel is that we have a Heavenly Father that loves us infinitely more than we can even imagine, passionately wants a relationship with us, and sent His son to die for us so that our lives WOULD'NT be all about rules and guidelines that we have to follow. He simply desires our love.
You can look all you want, but THIS type of relationship is not portrayed ANYWHERE else in our culture or any other culture, which is why it's so hard to fathom. Love that's given freely without having to earn it, grace and forgiveness to cover even the WORST, dirtiest parts of us, and a Father and Friend who wants only the best for us and who will walk with us every minute, every second of every day along the way.
Pray for me, that the Spirit would speak through me to convey these truths to the students here. Truths that I can't even fully comprehend or understand. Would the Lord give ME a better understanding of what it means to have a relationship with Him and would I live out and experience the Gospel this year in a way that I never have before!
Ask most people what the point of this relationship is or why I should "ask Jesus into my heart" and I'd be willing to bet that most people would give some sort of response about being able to go to Heaven when they die. Fair enough, but there's far more to it than that. What we do with THIS life matters.
Others, myself included many times, would mention something about "fulfillment" and rightfully so, after all, God created us to know Him and it's only through a relationship with Him that we find our true purpose. But this response inevitably comes up short too because a relationship with God isn't about what WE can get from HIM - fulfillment, happy feelings, purpose, etc.
I recently had the opportunity to show the Jesus Film to four students this past week, and much of the conversation that resulted in the 90 minutes after the movie finished had to do with what it means to have a relationship with God.
Good luck trying to sum that up in 60 seconds or less using about half of the English vocabulary you possess in order to make it simple enough to understand.
It seems that the longer I walk with the Lord, the less and less I truly understand what it means to have a relationship with Him. We try to put it inside a nice little box that makes it easy and convenient for us to be in a relationship with God, but at the end of the day, a relationship with the Creator of the Universe and Author of our faith should not be as easy to summarize as we make it out to be sometimes.
I have had many other conversations since being here that closely resembled the one after watching the Jesus Film, but this time more than any other I left feeling like I could only tell them what a relationship with God is NOT, and not what it IS.
And when we can't wrap our minds around something we create rules, policies, procedures, and guidelines that make us feel more comfortable. "Don't do this, don't do that"...again, looking at it from the angle of what a relationship with God is NOT and not what it IS. If I had a dime for every person I've run into that thinks this is what Christianity is about, I'd be slightly less rich than if I had a dime for every time I've heard someone say they're going to Heaven because they're a "good person." (Show me where that is in the Bible...)
Or there are other things that we think we're supposed to do as good Christians, as if a relationship with God is like checking boxes on a list.
Read the Bible and pray every day and our relationship with God is doing well.
Share our faith once each week and our relationship with God is doing well.
Go to church every week and lead a Bible study and our relationship with God is doing well.
I've read over this passage many times, but it's continually jumped off the page at me the past week or so:
Jesus just finished the Sermon on the Mount a couple chapters ago where he lays out what can easily appear to be practical rules, yet he says,
"I desire mercy, not sacrifice."
Interesting...
Countless other places in the Gospels, Jesus returns to this theme.
"Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." -Matthew 11:28-30
My point is, I think there's way more freedom in our relationship with God and our walk with the Lord than we as the Church can even comprehend.
It's easy to preach on Sunday mornings about living by the Word and the guidelines that God has set out for us, and while extremely important, that's not the Gospel.
The Gospel is that we have a Heavenly Father that loves us infinitely more than we can even imagine, passionately wants a relationship with us, and sent His son to die for us so that our lives WOULD'NT be all about rules and guidelines that we have to follow. He simply desires our love.
You can look all you want, but THIS type of relationship is not portrayed ANYWHERE else in our culture or any other culture, which is why it's so hard to fathom. Love that's given freely without having to earn it, grace and forgiveness to cover even the WORST, dirtiest parts of us, and a Father and Friend who wants only the best for us and who will walk with us every minute, every second of every day along the way.
Pray for me, that the Spirit would speak through me to convey these truths to the students here. Truths that I can't even fully comprehend or understand. Would the Lord give ME a better understanding of what it means to have a relationship with Him and would I live out and experience the Gospel this year in a way that I never have before!
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