Charting Worldviews
In this section we will look at the key points of Christianity vs every other religion, or the world for short.
MAN
Christianity:
-Man is basically evil. This means that we are born totally sinful and incapable of doing ANYTHING not sinful until we are changed by God. (Explained in Law Breakers, coming later)
-Total depravity. This means that we are completely helpless and unable to save ourselves.
-We are called to tell people the bad news. They need to know the bad news before they can hear the good news.
The world:
-Man is basically good. This means that we are born good and corrupted by society. This allows people to blame society for all the stupid stuff they do while still taking credit for doing anything of value.
GOD
Christianity:
-God is infinitely gracious and perfectly holy. The God of the Bible. Yes, he is gracious and holy even when destroying cities. (that is explained in The Power of Doubt coming later)
-The trinity exists.
The World:
-No, He is not.
THE UNIVERSE
Christianity:
-Genesis and John accurately describe Creation.
The World:
-No they don't. Jews will say that Genesis describes creation, but John doesn't.
TRUTH
Christianity:
-Truth is in the Bible. This means that the Bible is the ultimate source or truth and takes authority over any other "truth". No other "truth" has ever been able to disprove any part of the Bible.
The World:
-Truth is in man. That has to be a sad way to live! "You must find your own truth and purpose."
He had three other points (Morality, Family, and Politics) but he ran out of time talking about these.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Friday, June 15, 2012
As an Atheist, I Truly Believe Africa Needs God.
The following is an actual article that appeared in the london times, written by Matthew Paris.
Reposted from:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/matthew_parris/article5400568.ece
Before Christmas I returned, after 45 years, to the country that as a boy I knew as Nyasaland. Today it's Malawi, and The Times Christmas Appeal includes a small British charity working there. Pump Aid helps rural communities to install a simple pump, letting people keep their village wells sealed and clean. I went to see this work.
It inspired me, renewing my flagging faith in development charities. But travelling in Malawi refreshed another belief, too: one I've been trying to banish all my life, but an observation I've been unable to avoid since my African childhood. It confounds my ideological beliefs, stubbornly refuses to fit my world view, and has embarrassed my growing belief that there is no God.
Now a confirmed atheist, I've become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people's hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good.
I used to avoid this truth by applauding - as you can - the practical work of mission churches in Africa. It's a pity, I would say, that salvation is part of the package, but Christians black and white, working in Africa, do heal the sick, do teach people to read and write; and only the severest kind of secularist could see a mission hospital or school and say the world would be better without it. I would allow that if faith was needed to motivate missionaries to help, then, fine: but what counted was the help, not the faith.
But this doesn't fit the facts. Faith does more than support the missionary; it is also transferred to his flock. This is the effect that matters so immensely, and which I cannot help observing.
First, then, the observation. We had friends who were missionaries, and as a child I stayed often with them; I also stayed, alone with my little brother, in a traditional rural African village. In the city we had working for us Africans who had converted and were strong believers. The Christians were always different. Far from having cowed or confined its converts, their faith appeared to have liberated and relaxed them. There was a liveliness, a curiosity, an engagement with the world - a directness in their dealings with others - that seemed to be missing in traditional African life. They stood tall.
At 24, travelling by land across the continent reinforced this impression. From Algiers to Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon and the Central African Republic, then right through the Congo to Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya, four student friends and I drove our old Land Rover to Nairobi.
We slept under the stars, so it was important as we reached the more populated and lawless parts of the sub-Sahara that every day we find somewhere safe by nightfall. Often near a mission.
Whenever we entered a territory worked by missionaries, we had to acknowledge that something changed in the faces of the people we passed and spoke to: something in their eyes, the way they approached you direct, man-to-man, without looking down or away. They had not become more deferential towards strangers - in some ways less so - but more open.
This time in Malawi it was the same. I met no missionaries. You do not encounter missionaries in the lobbies of expensive hotels discussing development strategy documents, as you do with the big NGOs. But instead I noticed that a handful of the most impressive African members of the Pump Aid team (largely from Zimbabwe) were, privately, strong Christians. âPrivatelyâ because the charity is entirely secular and I never heard any of its team so much as mention religion while working in the villages. But I picked up the Christian references in our conversations. One, I saw, was studying a devotional textbook in the car. One, on Sunday, went off to church at dawn for a two-hour service.
It would suit me to believe that their honesty, diligence and optimism in their work was unconnected with personal faith. Their work was secular, but surely affected by what they were. What they were was, in turn, influenced by a conception of man's place in the Universe that Christianity had taught.
There's long been a fashion among Western academic sociologists for placing tribal value systems within a ring fence, beyond critiques founded in our own culture: âtheirsâ and therefore best for âthemâ; authentic and of intrinsically equal worth to ours.
I don't follow this. I observe that tribal belief is no more peaceable than ours; and that it suppresses individuality. People think collectively; first in terms of the community, extended family and tribe. This rural-traditional mindset feeds into the âbig manâ and gangster politics of the African city: the exaggerated respect for a swaggering leader, and the (literal) inability to understand the whole idea of loyal opposition.
Anxiety - fear of evil spirits, of ancestors, of nature and the wild, of a tribal hierarchy, of quite everyday things - strikes deep into the whole structure of rural African thought. Every man has his place and, call it fear or respect, a great weight grinds down the individual spirit, stunting curiosity. People won't take the initiative, won't take things into their own hands or on their own shoulders.
How can I, as someone with a foot in both camps, explain? When the philosophical tourist moves from one world view to another he finds - at the very moment of passing into the new - that he loses the language to describe the landscape to the old. But let me try an example: the answer given by Sir Edmund Hillary to the question: Why climb the mountain? âBecause it's there,â he said.
To the rural African mind, this is an explanation of why one would not climb the mountain. It's... well, there. Just there. Why interfere? Nothing to be done about it, or with it. Hillary's further explanation - that nobody else had climbed it - would stand as a second reason for passivity.
Christianity, post-Reformation and post-Luther, with its teaching of a direct, personal, two-way link between the individual and God, unmediated by the collective, and unsubordinate to any other human being, smashes straight through the philosphical/spiritual framework I've just described. It offers something to hold on to to those anxious to cast off a crushing tribal groupthink. That is why and how it liberates.
Those who want Africa to walk tall amid 21st-century global competition must not kid themselves that providing the material means or even the knowhow that accompanies what we call development will make the change. A whole belief system must first be supplanted.
And I'm afraid it has to be supplanted by another. Removing Christian evangelism from the African equation may leave the continent at the mercy of a malign fusion of Nike, the witch doctor, the mobile phone and the machete.
Reposted from:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/matthew_parris/article5400568.ece
Before Christmas I returned, after 45 years, to the country that as a boy I knew as Nyasaland. Today it's Malawi, and The Times Christmas Appeal includes a small British charity working there. Pump Aid helps rural communities to install a simple pump, letting people keep their village wells sealed and clean. I went to see this work.
It inspired me, renewing my flagging faith in development charities. But travelling in Malawi refreshed another belief, too: one I've been trying to banish all my life, but an observation I've been unable to avoid since my African childhood. It confounds my ideological beliefs, stubbornly refuses to fit my world view, and has embarrassed my growing belief that there is no God.
Now a confirmed atheist, I've become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people's hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good.
I used to avoid this truth by applauding - as you can - the practical work of mission churches in Africa. It's a pity, I would say, that salvation is part of the package, but Christians black and white, working in Africa, do heal the sick, do teach people to read and write; and only the severest kind of secularist could see a mission hospital or school and say the world would be better without it. I would allow that if faith was needed to motivate missionaries to help, then, fine: but what counted was the help, not the faith.
But this doesn't fit the facts. Faith does more than support the missionary; it is also transferred to his flock. This is the effect that matters so immensely, and which I cannot help observing.
First, then, the observation. We had friends who were missionaries, and as a child I stayed often with them; I also stayed, alone with my little brother, in a traditional rural African village. In the city we had working for us Africans who had converted and were strong believers. The Christians were always different. Far from having cowed or confined its converts, their faith appeared to have liberated and relaxed them. There was a liveliness, a curiosity, an engagement with the world - a directness in their dealings with others - that seemed to be missing in traditional African life. They stood tall.
At 24, travelling by land across the continent reinforced this impression. From Algiers to Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon and the Central African Republic, then right through the Congo to Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya, four student friends and I drove our old Land Rover to Nairobi.
We slept under the stars, so it was important as we reached the more populated and lawless parts of the sub-Sahara that every day we find somewhere safe by nightfall. Often near a mission.
Whenever we entered a territory worked by missionaries, we had to acknowledge that something changed in the faces of the people we passed and spoke to: something in their eyes, the way they approached you direct, man-to-man, without looking down or away. They had not become more deferential towards strangers - in some ways less so - but more open.
This time in Malawi it was the same. I met no missionaries. You do not encounter missionaries in the lobbies of expensive hotels discussing development strategy documents, as you do with the big NGOs. But instead I noticed that a handful of the most impressive African members of the Pump Aid team (largely from Zimbabwe) were, privately, strong Christians. âPrivatelyâ because the charity is entirely secular and I never heard any of its team so much as mention religion while working in the villages. But I picked up the Christian references in our conversations. One, I saw, was studying a devotional textbook in the car. One, on Sunday, went off to church at dawn for a two-hour service.
It would suit me to believe that their honesty, diligence and optimism in their work was unconnected with personal faith. Their work was secular, but surely affected by what they were. What they were was, in turn, influenced by a conception of man's place in the Universe that Christianity had taught.
There's long been a fashion among Western academic sociologists for placing tribal value systems within a ring fence, beyond critiques founded in our own culture: âtheirsâ and therefore best for âthemâ; authentic and of intrinsically equal worth to ours.
I don't follow this. I observe that tribal belief is no more peaceable than ours; and that it suppresses individuality. People think collectively; first in terms of the community, extended family and tribe. This rural-traditional mindset feeds into the âbig manâ and gangster politics of the African city: the exaggerated respect for a swaggering leader, and the (literal) inability to understand the whole idea of loyal opposition.
Anxiety - fear of evil spirits, of ancestors, of nature and the wild, of a tribal hierarchy, of quite everyday things - strikes deep into the whole structure of rural African thought. Every man has his place and, call it fear or respect, a great weight grinds down the individual spirit, stunting curiosity. People won't take the initiative, won't take things into their own hands or on their own shoulders.
How can I, as someone with a foot in both camps, explain? When the philosophical tourist moves from one world view to another he finds - at the very moment of passing into the new - that he loses the language to describe the landscape to the old. But let me try an example: the answer given by Sir Edmund Hillary to the question: Why climb the mountain? âBecause it's there,â he said.
To the rural African mind, this is an explanation of why one would not climb the mountain. It's... well, there. Just there. Why interfere? Nothing to be done about it, or with it. Hillary's further explanation - that nobody else had climbed it - would stand as a second reason for passivity.
Christianity, post-Reformation and post-Luther, with its teaching of a direct, personal, two-way link between the individual and God, unmediated by the collective, and unsubordinate to any other human being, smashes straight through the philosphical/spiritual framework I've just described. It offers something to hold on to to those anxious to cast off a crushing tribal groupthink. That is why and how it liberates.
Those who want Africa to walk tall amid 21st-century global competition must not kid themselves that providing the material means or even the knowhow that accompanies what we call development will make the change. A whole belief system must first be supplanted.
And I'm afraid it has to be supplanted by another. Removing Christian evangelism from the African equation may leave the continent at the mercy of a malign fusion of Nike, the witch doctor, the mobile phone and the machete.
Worldview
As most of you know I went to a Worldview Academy last few days. It was pretty epic, but instead of just talking about it I'm gonna try to put the main points of the many lectures in different posts and see how that goes. I am gonna do them in the order that they appear in the book, not how I got them. Without further delay, enjoy...
Blind Faith
First off there is no such thing as an unbeliever.
The absence of belief or faith is just not possible. In fact those who say that they rely on only logic and reason, namely the atheists, rely heavily on faith. For example there are actually at least twelve (12) things that an Atheist MUST take on faith. Here they are:
1. There is no God.
2. Free will and dignity do not exist.
3. Something came from nothing.
4. Life came from non life.
5. Mind and thought do not exist.
6. There are no absolutes.
7. Conscience does not exist.
8. There is no afterlife.
9. There are no angles or demons.
10. Your life has no meaning or purpose.
11. Miracles can not happen.
12. Souls do not exist.
Now I will briefly try to explain why all of these must be taken on faith:
1. Because you must search all knowledge to prove there is no God and when you have searched all knowledge they you will have become God the only way to say that He doesn't exist is faith. (original idea from David Platt)
2. Because, if we evolved and everything is scientific, we are run by different reactions stimulated by different events or emotions we are just robots. Dignity doesn't exist where free will doesn't.
3. Almost all atheists are willing to agree that the universe had to have a definite beginning point and because there was nothing before that then something had to come from nothing.
4. Even scientists with rigged science rooms have never been able to make life from non life, much less watch it happen with no prompting.
5. If we have no actual physical thoughts and there is no such thing as the spiritual dimension thoughts must not exist.
6. Unless you have a holy, eternal, loving, unchanging God you can't have absolutes.
7. If there is no standard for moral values we can not feel bad when we do something wrong because it would not, in fact, be wrong.
8. Pretty self explanatory. If there is no way to prove that there is no afterlife then it must be taken on faith.
9. With no spiritual realm at all them there must be no angles or demons. Hard to explain possessed people then.
10. Life is meaningless with no one giving it meaning. Mortal men can not give meaning or value to anything spiritual, much less life.
11. When you have mathematical proof (another lecture) of the historical accuracy of the Bible and it speaks of miracles but there is no spiritual dimension then something has to give.
12. Souls do not exist. No afterlife, no souls, no nothing.
So the question is not "who has faith and who has reason" it really is who uses the most blind faith.
For a worldview that claims to rely on reason and logic, it is strange that try would require so much faith.
Blind Faith
First off there is no such thing as an unbeliever.
The absence of belief or faith is just not possible. In fact those who say that they rely on only logic and reason, namely the atheists, rely heavily on faith. For example there are actually at least twelve (12) things that an Atheist MUST take on faith. Here they are:
1. There is no God.
2. Free will and dignity do not exist.
3. Something came from nothing.
4. Life came from non life.
5. Mind and thought do not exist.
6. There are no absolutes.
7. Conscience does not exist.
8. There is no afterlife.
9. There are no angles or demons.
10. Your life has no meaning or purpose.
11. Miracles can not happen.
12. Souls do not exist.
Now I will briefly try to explain why all of these must be taken on faith:
1. Because you must search all knowledge to prove there is no God and when you have searched all knowledge they you will have become God the only way to say that He doesn't exist is faith. (original idea from David Platt)
2. Because, if we evolved and everything is scientific, we are run by different reactions stimulated by different events or emotions we are just robots. Dignity doesn't exist where free will doesn't.
3. Almost all atheists are willing to agree that the universe had to have a definite beginning point and because there was nothing before that then something had to come from nothing.
4. Even scientists with rigged science rooms have never been able to make life from non life, much less watch it happen with no prompting.
5. If we have no actual physical thoughts and there is no such thing as the spiritual dimension thoughts must not exist.
6. Unless you have a holy, eternal, loving, unchanging God you can't have absolutes.
7. If there is no standard for moral values we can not feel bad when we do something wrong because it would not, in fact, be wrong.
8. Pretty self explanatory. If there is no way to prove that there is no afterlife then it must be taken on faith.
9. With no spiritual realm at all them there must be no angles or demons. Hard to explain possessed people then.
10. Life is meaningless with no one giving it meaning. Mortal men can not give meaning or value to anything spiritual, much less life.
11. When you have mathematical proof (another lecture) of the historical accuracy of the Bible and it speaks of miracles but there is no spiritual dimension then something has to give.
12. Souls do not exist. No afterlife, no souls, no nothing.
So the question is not "who has faith and who has reason" it really is who uses the most blind faith.
For a worldview that claims to rely on reason and logic, it is strange that try would require so much faith.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Ronald Reagan Quotes
"My fellow Americans. I'm pleased to announce that I've signed legislation outlawing the Soviet Union. We begin bombing in five minutes." -joking during a mike check before his Saturday radio broadcast
"It's true hard work never killed anybody, but I figure, why take the chance?"
"I hope you're all Republicans." -speaking to surgeons as he entered the operating room following a 1981 assassination attempt
"Honey, I forgot to duck." -to his wife, Nancy, after surviving the assassination attempt
"I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself."
"I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of national emergency -- even if I'm in a Cabinet meeting."
"Politics is supposed to be the second-oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first."
"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'"
"I have only one thing to say to the tax increasers: Go ahead, make my day." -threatening to veto tax-increase legislation after getting his record tax cut to date in 1981. He ultimately followed with two tax increases, though declined to go any further.
"Well, I learned a lot....I went down to (Latin America) to find out from them and (learn) their views. You'd be surprised. They're all individual countries"
"I don't know. I've never played a governor." -asked by a reporter in 1966 what kind of governor he would be
"Facts are stupid things." -at the 1988 Republican National Convention, attempting to quote John Adams, who said, "Facts are stubborn things"
"Trees cause more pollution than automobiles."
"All the waste in a year from a nuclear power plant can be stored under a desk."
"There is absolutely no circumstance whatever under which I would accept that spot. Even if they tied and gagged me, I would find a way to signal by wiggling my ears." --on possibly being offered the vice presidency in 1968
"Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed, there are many rewards. If you disgrace yourself, you can always write a book."
"You can tell a lot about a fella's character by whether he picks out all of one color or just grabs a handful." -explaining why he liked to have a jar of jelly beans on hand for important meetings
"I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience." -during a 1984 presidential debate with Walter Mondale
"The state of California has no business subsidizing intellectual curiosity." -responding to student protests on college campuses during his tenure as California governor
"Approximately 80 percent of our air pollution stems from hydrocarbons released by vegetation, so let's not go overboard in setting and enforcing tough emission standards from man-made sources."
"Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his."
"We are trying to get unemployment to go up, and I think we're going to succeed."
"As a matter of fact, Nancy never had any interest in politics or anything else when we got married."
"I've noticed that everyone who is for abortion has already been born."
"Before I refuse to take your questions, I have an opening statement."
"I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the US Congress."
"Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other."
"I'm afraid I can't use a mule. I have several hundred up on Capitol Hill." -refusing a gift of a mule
"What we have found in this country, and maybe we're more aware of it now, is one problem that we've had, even in the best of times, and that is the people who are sleeping on the grates, the homeless who are homeless, you might say, by choice."
"How are you, Mr. Mayor? I'm glad to meet you. How are things in your city?" -greeting Samual Pierce, his secretary of Housing and Urban Development, during a White House reception for mayors
"My name is Ronald Reagan. What's yours?" -introducing himself after delivering a prep school commencement address. The individual responded, "I'm your son, Mike," to which Reagan replied, "Oh, I didn't recognize you."
"One picture is worth 1,000 denials."
"What does an actor know about politics?" -criticizing Ed Asner for opposing American foreign policy
"What makes him think a middle-aged actor, who's played with a chimp, could have a future in politics?" -on Clint Eastwood's bid to become mayor of Carmel
"How can a president not be an actor?" -when asked "How could an actor become president?'
"It's true hard work never killed anybody, but I figure, why take the chance?"
"I hope you're all Republicans." -speaking to surgeons as he entered the operating room following a 1981 assassination attempt
"Honey, I forgot to duck." -to his wife, Nancy, after surviving the assassination attempt
"I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself."
"I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of national emergency -- even if I'm in a Cabinet meeting."
"Politics is supposed to be the second-oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first."
"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'"
"I have only one thing to say to the tax increasers: Go ahead, make my day." -threatening to veto tax-increase legislation after getting his record tax cut to date in 1981. He ultimately followed with two tax increases, though declined to go any further.
"Well, I learned a lot....I went down to (Latin America) to find out from them and (learn) their views. You'd be surprised. They're all individual countries"
"I don't know. I've never played a governor." -asked by a reporter in 1966 what kind of governor he would be
"Facts are stupid things." -at the 1988 Republican National Convention, attempting to quote John Adams, who said, "Facts are stubborn things"
"Trees cause more pollution than automobiles."
"All the waste in a year from a nuclear power plant can be stored under a desk."
"There is absolutely no circumstance whatever under which I would accept that spot. Even if they tied and gagged me, I would find a way to signal by wiggling my ears." --on possibly being offered the vice presidency in 1968
"Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed, there are many rewards. If you disgrace yourself, you can always write a book."
"You can tell a lot about a fella's character by whether he picks out all of one color or just grabs a handful." -explaining why he liked to have a jar of jelly beans on hand for important meetings
"I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience." -during a 1984 presidential debate with Walter Mondale
"The state of California has no business subsidizing intellectual curiosity." -responding to student protests on college campuses during his tenure as California governor
"Approximately 80 percent of our air pollution stems from hydrocarbons released by vegetation, so let's not go overboard in setting and enforcing tough emission standards from man-made sources."
"Recession is when your neighbor loses his job. Depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his."
"We are trying to get unemployment to go up, and I think we're going to succeed."
"As a matter of fact, Nancy never had any interest in politics or anything else when we got married."
"I've noticed that everyone who is for abortion has already been born."
"Before I refuse to take your questions, I have an opening statement."
"I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the US Congress."
"Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other."
"I'm afraid I can't use a mule. I have several hundred up on Capitol Hill." -refusing a gift of a mule
"What we have found in this country, and maybe we're more aware of it now, is one problem that we've had, even in the best of times, and that is the people who are sleeping on the grates, the homeless who are homeless, you might say, by choice."
"How are you, Mr. Mayor? I'm glad to meet you. How are things in your city?" -greeting Samual Pierce, his secretary of Housing and Urban Development, during a White House reception for mayors
"My name is Ronald Reagan. What's yours?" -introducing himself after delivering a prep school commencement address. The individual responded, "I'm your son, Mike," to which Reagan replied, "Oh, I didn't recognize you."
"One picture is worth 1,000 denials."
"What does an actor know about politics?" -criticizing Ed Asner for opposing American foreign policy
"What makes him think a middle-aged actor, who's played with a chimp, could have a future in politics?" -on Clint Eastwood's bid to become mayor of Carmel
"How can a president not be an actor?" -when asked "How could an actor become president?'
Thursday, April 19, 2012
The absolutely knock-you-off-your-feet glory of God
Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around.
Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking. (Ezekiel 1:28 ESV)
He fell on his face. Hmm I would too...
And he said to me, "Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you." And as he spoke to me, the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. (Ezekiel 2:1, 2 ESV)
He couldn't even stand. The Spirit had to do it for him. Next time you pray to God, the God who can do a whole lot more then knock people off their feet by showing some of His glory, do it with total awe at who He is. Then try to talk.
Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking. (Ezekiel 1:28 ESV)
He fell on his face. Hmm I would too...
And he said to me, "Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you." And as he spoke to me, the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. (Ezekiel 2:1, 2 ESV)
He couldn't even stand. The Spirit had to do it for him. Next time you pray to God, the God who can do a whole lot more then knock people off their feet by showing some of His glory, do it with total awe at who He is. Then try to talk.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Things I don't get:
1. People who tuck their hoodies into their jeans.
2. People who wear suspenders yet still manage to have their pants falling off.
3. People who write a review on a free app and say "worth every cent"
4. Evolution
2. People who wear suspenders yet still manage to have their pants falling off.
3. People who write a review on a free app and say "worth every cent"
4. Evolution
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Austronauts
Here is a favorite song of mine:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxWvgwnx1NA&feature=youtube_gdata_player
As I look through the evening sky
I think to myself
How much He must love you and I
The Milky Way makes me look
Like a piece of dust on the road
But the Milky Way is a speck of dust
Compared to my Lord
That's how big He is
That's how big He is
And I don't know that much about astronauts
But I know that Jesus cares an awful lot
He made the stars
He made the moon
Just think of how much more
He loves you
Space may be the final frontier
For a lot of people who show no fear
They step outside and they look around
They take a sample and come back down
Have they ever found the meaning of life out there
I don't think so, no way
I don't think so
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxWvgwnx1NA&feature=youtube_gdata_player
As I look through the evening sky
I think to myself
How much He must love you and I
The Milky Way makes me look
Like a piece of dust on the road
But the Milky Way is a speck of dust
Compared to my Lord
That's how big He is
That's how big He is
And I don't know that much about astronauts
But I know that Jesus cares an awful lot
He made the stars
He made the moon
Just think of how much more
He loves you
Space may be the final frontier
For a lot of people who show no fear
They step outside and they look around
They take a sample and come back down
Have they ever found the meaning of life out there
I don't think so, no way
I don't think so
Monday, April 2, 2012
Young and unashamed
I am kinda sick of always hearing about how being young and inexperienced makes people listen to what you have to say less. God can speak through anyone, they do not have to have had a long relationship with God or be respected in their community. Here are a couple songs that I like:
Young and Unashamed
By Trip Lee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTPqsaJvPg4&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Verse 1:
Hey when they see ya boy, what's they first impression?
Probably not a teen redeemed from the worst transgressions
That's repented from the path of His first ancestors
Was cursed but since rebirth this person's dressed in
The glorious righteousness of Christ
They probably think I'm on the stage 'cause I like the mic
Or like to get hype, but really I'm laid back main
But sometimes could lose my mind if you say that name
(Who?) Jehohah Jireh, my soul's provider
Life without Him's a contradiction like bein' poor with Prada
I done wrote a lot of flows, in my soul's a fire
That shut up in my bones, ah my soul desire
Is for some slick guys to the know the Lord He died
But still the Son did rise like it was mornin' time
So if you think you fully satisfied wit a vette wit chrome
You better check yourself like playin' chess alone
I'm a stranger, is Earth really my residence? Nope
I'm a alien and I can't wait to rest at home
My dress ain't always fresh to def I ain't impressed wit clothes
But Christ, He's the key to life dog and death's the door (and rebirth)
Since the moment I believed, my flesh was broke
Sin lost it's control and death it's hold
So maybe now you'll understand and get up in ya brain
Why ya boy so young and unashamed
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/t/trip_lee/young_and_unashamed.html ]
Verse 2:
They don't associate ya boy wit Christ Jesus kid
'Cause I got my hat cocked and my jeans is big
No suit and tie, tall tees and kicks
But you ain't gotta be a geek to preach that Jesus lives
So it's almost strange when they see me hit tha street blocks
'Cause with my life I copy Christ like a Xerox
No heat cocked, I roll wit the Lord and
Wit a team full of Saints like I play for New Orleans
We hold each other accountable when seekin sound doctrine
Through Christ we been found not guilty without Cochran
We kingdom people selected to rep His name
Forget bout cheddar main, Christ is the better thing
I don't let no weapon hang, I don't roll wit thugs
That's holdin drugs and spendin all they dough in clubs
I roll wit a gang of believers that's crazy for Jesus
That's saved from the flames and unashamed of His teachings
Cats be like, "You just a baby, how you know about the Lord?"
To know Jehovah at His core we had to open up our swords
We read His word on a daily, His inspired text
And submit to the Spirit dog, we died to flesh
I confess, they tell us that our youth is bein wasted
Instead of jewels up in a bracelet, we speak truth each time we make hits
So maybe now it's stuck up in ya brain
Why the 116 is so young and unashamed
Verse 3:
Cats don't really understand, they think I lost my mind
They hood on they back, but I rock a cross on mine
Walk wit Christ in light, blood bought plus I'm
Not dark as night, I'm light because I sought His shine
I was livin' for today, was always caught in crimes
Bout guilty as O.J., my talk and walk declined
The Boss of time and space, but I put that to rest man
I saw my old life, it wasn't right like my left hand
Now He orders my steps and with Him is how I walk bro
Got off the highway to Hell and I took the cross roads
Now I'm walkin with Christ, what beautiful thing
It's cooler than fame, more precious than jewelry and chains
Most think God is just old school like Kool and the Gang
They wanna be like Jeezy, Jay-Z and Ludacris main
But I'm here today to say that if you want a greater day
Don't fade away, cling to Christ and His amazing savin grace
If you a Christian who accepted the King and you clean
We gotta move, the Lord is pleased when we play on His team
I hope young believers understand, I pray it's in ya brain
If we love the Lord we must be young and unashamed
Young
By Andy Mineo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_h46Hx0pyik&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Look it don't matter if I'm young
This life isn't mine I'm living for Him now
I ain't wasting time (*tick tick) never turn back
I really ain't missing nothing stead of living for myself
I be living for the mission of the King that'll soon be coming
Sin over promise under delivers
I ain't with the nonsense I'm in the Scriptures
Get to know Him early I tell 'em why I wait
So Imma serve Him all my days
It don't matter if I'm (Young 2x)
Yeah I'm unashamed (Young 2x)
That's right I'm living for the King (Young 2x)
Through Him I can do all things (Young 2x)
Yeah it don't matter if I'm (Young 4x)
No it don't matter if I'm (Young 4x)
No it don't matter if I'm (Young 4x)
No it don't matter if I'm (Young 4x)
No it don't matter if I'm Young
They say living in your twenties
Go and get yours go and get money
Sow them wild oats slide with some honeys
Yeah I tried that already and them lies don't satisfy buddy
This ones really dumb they like have some fun
Now and change tomorrow, but that may never come (*tick tick)
And they saying they excuses that they young
While you stop making excuses when a man's what you become
Don't believe the lies yeah ya'll ain't missing nothing
'Cept never ending gains of holding on to sand grains
They calling me a fool I giving what I can't keep
Gaining what I can't lose
It don't matter if I'm (Young 2x)
Yeah I'm unashamed (Young 2x)
That's right I'm living for the King (Young 2x)
Through Him I can do all things (Young 2x)
Yeah it don't matter if I'm (Young 4x)
No it don't matter if I'm (Young 4x)
No it don't matter if I'm (Young 4x)
No it don't matter if I'm (Young 4x)
No it don't matter if I'm
Wheezy told me get that money little duffel bag boy
Them dime-bags, nickle-bags, hustle that enjoy
But Eons D say go to jail get out you unemployed
Now you a Winn-Dixie, Publix or a Kroger bag boy
And uh and if I listen to the colleges
I probably come out sounding like a Darwinist
Agnostic and arguing tolerance I can do whatever no consequence
Partyin' partyin' with a couple barbies
Going to Bob Marley spliffs
And my god is in science, psychology
The only problem is Yahweh's real
I was locked up in a box car
Couldn't pop the top until the Son popped up
Then He copped us with a drop blood
He would adopt the flock and by the cross bring us
Brought us from the bottom though I lost
Over what I got was God and His love
How could I be missing out on everything I'm hearing now?
This better and better I'm glad I'm young
So they say you young live your life
Do what you want I think they right
Cause we want Jesus living in our sight
You only live once, my homie's living twice
New heaven homie new earth too
Yeah I'm unashamed (Young 2x)
That's right I'm living for the King (Young 2x)
Through Him I can do all things (Young 2x)
Yeah it don't matter if I'm (Young 4x)
No it don't matter if I'm (Young 4x)
No it don't matter if I'm (Young 4x)
No it don't matter if I'm (Young 4x)
No it don't matter if I'm
Young and Unashamed
By Trip Lee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTPqsaJvPg4&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Verse 1:
Hey when they see ya boy, what's they first impression?
Probably not a teen redeemed from the worst transgressions
That's repented from the path of His first ancestors
Was cursed but since rebirth this person's dressed in
The glorious righteousness of Christ
They probably think I'm on the stage 'cause I like the mic
Or like to get hype, but really I'm laid back main
But sometimes could lose my mind if you say that name
(Who?) Jehohah Jireh, my soul's provider
Life without Him's a contradiction like bein' poor with Prada
I done wrote a lot of flows, in my soul's a fire
That shut up in my bones, ah my soul desire
Is for some slick guys to the know the Lord He died
But still the Son did rise like it was mornin' time
So if you think you fully satisfied wit a vette wit chrome
You better check yourself like playin' chess alone
I'm a stranger, is Earth really my residence? Nope
I'm a alien and I can't wait to rest at home
My dress ain't always fresh to def I ain't impressed wit clothes
But Christ, He's the key to life dog and death's the door (and rebirth)
Since the moment I believed, my flesh was broke
Sin lost it's control and death it's hold
So maybe now you'll understand and get up in ya brain
Why ya boy so young and unashamed
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/t/trip_lee/young_and_unashamed.html ]
Verse 2:
They don't associate ya boy wit Christ Jesus kid
'Cause I got my hat cocked and my jeans is big
No suit and tie, tall tees and kicks
But you ain't gotta be a geek to preach that Jesus lives
So it's almost strange when they see me hit tha street blocks
'Cause with my life I copy Christ like a Xerox
No heat cocked, I roll wit the Lord and
Wit a team full of Saints like I play for New Orleans
We hold each other accountable when seekin sound doctrine
Through Christ we been found not guilty without Cochran
We kingdom people selected to rep His name
Forget bout cheddar main, Christ is the better thing
I don't let no weapon hang, I don't roll wit thugs
That's holdin drugs and spendin all they dough in clubs
I roll wit a gang of believers that's crazy for Jesus
That's saved from the flames and unashamed of His teachings
Cats be like, "You just a baby, how you know about the Lord?"
To know Jehovah at His core we had to open up our swords
We read His word on a daily, His inspired text
And submit to the Spirit dog, we died to flesh
I confess, they tell us that our youth is bein wasted
Instead of jewels up in a bracelet, we speak truth each time we make hits
So maybe now it's stuck up in ya brain
Why the 116 is so young and unashamed
Verse 3:
Cats don't really understand, they think I lost my mind
They hood on they back, but I rock a cross on mine
Walk wit Christ in light, blood bought plus I'm
Not dark as night, I'm light because I sought His shine
I was livin' for today, was always caught in crimes
Bout guilty as O.J., my talk and walk declined
The Boss of time and space, but I put that to rest man
I saw my old life, it wasn't right like my left hand
Now He orders my steps and with Him is how I walk bro
Got off the highway to Hell and I took the cross roads
Now I'm walkin with Christ, what beautiful thing
It's cooler than fame, more precious than jewelry and chains
Most think God is just old school like Kool and the Gang
They wanna be like Jeezy, Jay-Z and Ludacris main
But I'm here today to say that if you want a greater day
Don't fade away, cling to Christ and His amazing savin grace
If you a Christian who accepted the King and you clean
We gotta move, the Lord is pleased when we play on His team
I hope young believers understand, I pray it's in ya brain
If we love the Lord we must be young and unashamed
Young
By Andy Mineo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_h46Hx0pyik&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Look it don't matter if I'm young
This life isn't mine I'm living for Him now
I ain't wasting time (*tick tick) never turn back
I really ain't missing nothing stead of living for myself
I be living for the mission of the King that'll soon be coming
Sin over promise under delivers
I ain't with the nonsense I'm in the Scriptures
Get to know Him early I tell 'em why I wait
So Imma serve Him all my days
It don't matter if I'm (Young 2x)
Yeah I'm unashamed (Young 2x)
That's right I'm living for the King (Young 2x)
Through Him I can do all things (Young 2x)
Yeah it don't matter if I'm (Young 4x)
No it don't matter if I'm (Young 4x)
No it don't matter if I'm (Young 4x)
No it don't matter if I'm (Young 4x)
No it don't matter if I'm Young
They say living in your twenties
Go and get yours go and get money
Sow them wild oats slide with some honeys
Yeah I tried that already and them lies don't satisfy buddy
This ones really dumb they like have some fun
Now and change tomorrow, but that may never come (*tick tick)
And they saying they excuses that they young
While you stop making excuses when a man's what you become
Don't believe the lies yeah ya'll ain't missing nothing
'Cept never ending gains of holding on to sand grains
They calling me a fool I giving what I can't keep
Gaining what I can't lose
It don't matter if I'm (Young 2x)
Yeah I'm unashamed (Young 2x)
That's right I'm living for the King (Young 2x)
Through Him I can do all things (Young 2x)
Yeah it don't matter if I'm (Young 4x)
No it don't matter if I'm (Young 4x)
No it don't matter if I'm (Young 4x)
No it don't matter if I'm (Young 4x)
No it don't matter if I'm
Wheezy told me get that money little duffel bag boy
Them dime-bags, nickle-bags, hustle that enjoy
But Eons D say go to jail get out you unemployed
Now you a Winn-Dixie, Publix or a Kroger bag boy
And uh and if I listen to the colleges
I probably come out sounding like a Darwinist
Agnostic and arguing tolerance I can do whatever no consequence
Partyin' partyin' with a couple barbies
Going to Bob Marley spliffs
And my god is in science, psychology
The only problem is Yahweh's real
I was locked up in a box car
Couldn't pop the top until the Son popped up
Then He copped us with a drop blood
He would adopt the flock and by the cross bring us
Brought us from the bottom though I lost
Over what I got was God and His love
How could I be missing out on everything I'm hearing now?
This better and better I'm glad I'm young
So they say you young live your life
Do what you want I think they right
Cause we want Jesus living in our sight
You only live once, my homie's living twice
New heaven homie new earth too
Yeah I'm unashamed (Young 2x)
That's right I'm living for the King (Young 2x)
Through Him I can do all things (Young 2x)
Yeah it don't matter if I'm (Young 4x)
No it don't matter if I'm (Young 4x)
No it don't matter if I'm (Young 4x)
No it don't matter if I'm (Young 4x)
No it don't matter if I'm
Part of a puzzle
A big theme on our recent trip to Honduras was how everything was part of puzzles. The big puzzle of God's plan, the smaller puzzle of relief to Honduras, and the even smaller puzzle of how our team works. With surgeons but now nurses the surgeries don't go well because nothing would be clean or orderly. With no anesthesiologists patients would have to revert back to the old practice of shotgunning some rum before the surgeries. With only doctors the patients would have knowledge of the drugs they need but would be no better off. With only pharmacists patients would get overdoses and wrong meds.
Also a big problem that people were facing on our last day was "is what we did actually useful and beneficial?" people had many ideas and were saying that while medicines help them in the moment, they still are gonna get sick again. The thing is if we only focus on the long run, people die now and there would be no one left to help later. Basically they argued it back and forth for a while. Then God had me say "Guys, it really doesn't matter if you think that you are doing any good. Or that others think that you are doing any good. If God called you to do this just do it. Don't ask questions." They thought that it was deep and it ended the conversation anyway.
The fact is when a puzzle is not put together it is hard to see how each piece fits. Only God knows everything and our job is to just trust him and praise him for everything.
Also a big problem that people were facing on our last day was "is what we did actually useful and beneficial?" people had many ideas and were saying that while medicines help them in the moment, they still are gonna get sick again. The thing is if we only focus on the long run, people die now and there would be no one left to help later. Basically they argued it back and forth for a while. Then God had me say "Guys, it really doesn't matter if you think that you are doing any good. Or that others think that you are doing any good. If God called you to do this just do it. Don't ask questions." They thought that it was deep and it ended the conversation anyway.
The fact is when a puzzle is not put together it is hard to see how each piece fits. Only God knows everything and our job is to just trust him and praise him for everything.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Trip #2
Being the second part of our trip. Btw this is an event only version. The theology will be discussed more later.
Also forgive the grammar errors. All of this was written on site and I was not worried about grammar.
H-Trip
March 24 2012
I woke up at 2:57 to dad trying to make the clock near our bed snooze, though it hadn't gone off. Turns out he heard my iPod and thought it was that clock. We got to the airport and checked in before I realized that I had forgotten my carry-on bag in the hotel. Fortunately I had taken my wallet, my iPod, and some headphones from it right before we left. We ate at burger king before we took off. The flight lasted 2 1/2 hours. We landed, ate at mcdonalds, and got ready for the next flight. The plane was really nice and they fed us so we got three breakfasts today xD. After we landed we met up with the BMDMI head dude for the hospital and his wife, along with three interpreters. We waited at the airport for 3 hours or so as other team members arrived. This took that long because one of the flights was delayed by two hours due to a very strange occourance. After boarding the plane they were told that there was some problem with the nose cap. After two hours of waiting the were finally alerted that the problem had been solved with, of course, duc tape. The nose of their plane was held together with duc tape! Anyway, during the time we waited we got lunch at McDonald's. As soon as everyone had arrived we went over to pizza hut and ate another lunch (yes that is 5 meals so far). After that everyone loaded on the buss and we navigated streets that made New York look tame. There appeared to be no traffic signals, but somehow we got out into the country and drove three hours to our final destination. Once there we unpacked and settled in. Then, after a dinner of some rice and meat thing, we got briefed and took a quick tour of the hospital. Bed shortly followed.
March 25 2012
Not much happening today. Got up at 6:45 and spent a while after breakfast trying to work the tech. We went to church this morning and listened to a Spanish sermon, but they had a translator. Today we see no patients because it's Sunday. After a lunch of nachos we started pumping some pills. We sorted, counted, bagged, and bottled medicines from 12:30-20:30 at night with a break for dinner that lasted about an hour and a half. We played some frisbee during that time and it rained while we stood on a little watch tower thing. From then on we just chillaxed. It's 22:13 right now. Oh, one other thing, someone saw a coral snake today! They are very poisonous and can kill with a single bite so I hope I don't run into one xD.
March 26 2012
We woke up at the regular time (6:45) and took a bus, after breakfast, to Talanga nearby and set up a hospital. I worked as a pharmacist and distributed like 500 packs of pills. xD after about 8 hours we stopped for the day. I'll give you the basic thing that happens to the patients. First they fill out "una tarjeta," which means a card. Each card has the patients height, weight, age, and stuff like that for the doctors on the front, and on the back is a list of all out medicines with check boxes next to the name. Ok, back to the patient's experience... They get their blood pressure taken and sent to the doctors. After the doctor sees them and checks the correct medicines they take their tarjeta to me and the farmicia crew. Basically I take their card, grab the medicines that are checked, and say something like "esto es para usted" or "estos son tuyos". The first version is more polite. You would be surprised at how many patients don't say thanks after they get their medicine. We finished and ate dinner and played some frisbee and games. Then we cooked some utensils to sterilize them.
March 27 2012
Woke up again at the regular time. Again I went to telanga to work as a pharmacist. It's pretty awesome, now that I have been doing it for two days I started to be able to check other people's trays and give my own out with out having to check it with the head honcho. We got back and ate a dinner of enchiladas. After dinner we talked for a while and went to bed at about 23:00.
March 28 2012
Got up and ate breakfast. Then we talked about the day and other stuff. Today I am gonna go to Telanga (surprise, surprise) and be a pharmacist again. The trip out is always interesting. We will pass these little shacks with shingles falling off and stuff and on top of EVERY shack is a "claro" wifi dish. It's humorous. We distributed medicines until lunch. After lunch we went out on a house visit and bought a lot of EXTREMELY MEGA SOUR candies which we fed to a bunch of people off the street to see their reaction xD it was hilarious, one started to do some sorta dance from the mega sour part, a lot of people tried to be polite and not freak out and pretended like they liked it. After we got back we just hung out till dinner, and after dinner we chilled till bed.
March 29 2012
We went to a different place today; a small school near by. We saw patients till lunch and ate a picnic at a marble mine. To get to the mine you must go on a trail that would be easy for a jeep, but for a school bus it was nearly impossible. Actually we had to get out an walk for one section to take some weight from the bus. After lunch we went back to the hospital and played four square and dodgeball until diner.
March 30 2012
We are headed to the valley of angels today. There we did some shopping. After that we went to a orphan's home run by BMDMI. All the kids were lacking attention and basically mobbed us. It started out nice, then we started to play soccer. NOT A GOOD IDEA!! They were wild and played by crazy rules. I told the girls on the sideline my name when they asked and they started chants and stuff with it. For some reason they kept telling me that I had to hit the ball with my feet instead of my hands... xD All the kids loved my accent and especially how I said "benjamin" and "soy americano". The kids all lacked attention and were very wild. One little fellow just ran up and slugged me in the gut. Another was testing out his water balloon throwing abilities. The game ended 1-1. After we left the kids place we went to a mission home. The place was really nice. After a dinner of beef and potatoes we watched some videos of BMDMI and our trip slideshow. When we finished that we went up to a balcony and talked for a while. People were trying to figure out all sorts of questions like if short-term mission trips are useful and what if what we just did is only a temporary bandage and not fixing any problem. During one of the prayers suddenly God told me something to say and apparently knew I wouldn't do it on my own so after the prayer was over the guy kinda running it pointed right at me and said something to the effect that I have been pretty quiet so far. It was pretty cool. After we finished the talk I looked at all 2111 pictures that were taken and went to bed.
March 31 2012
We fly out today. Breakfast was at 7:00 and I had five omelets that tasted really good. When breakfast was over we drove out to the airport. At one point the road disappeared over the edge of a cliff where an avalanche had ripped out a hole. We avoided the pit. The trip took a few hours and we got to the airport at 9:30 or so. My bag almost was left behind but fortunately was put into the ambulance and showed up. The runway that we will be leaving from is one of the most dangerous in the world so hopefully we survive... We took off by going to the very end of the runway (and I mean the VERY end) then they turned the jets on and kept the brakes on until the engines were going fast. They released the brakes and we shot away! It still took almost all the runway to take off but it was very fun xD. We arrived in Houston at about 4:00 and prepared for our next flight which left at 7:30, 25 minutes late. Got into Minneapolis and eventually got to our hotel where we quickly realized that I was more sick then anyone else had thought. We went to McDonald's for a midnight snack at 12:05 and went to bed at 12:30. The major difference between Honduras and USA can be summed up by two sentences: I saw only two stop signs in Honduras. No one stopped for either.
Trip stats:
1337 total patients
4119 prescriptions total
I probably filled somewhere between 40-60% of the prescriptions.
Total miles traveled: a large number
Also forgive the grammar errors. All of this was written on site and I was not worried about grammar.
H-Trip
March 24 2012
I woke up at 2:57 to dad trying to make the clock near our bed snooze, though it hadn't gone off. Turns out he heard my iPod and thought it was that clock. We got to the airport and checked in before I realized that I had forgotten my carry-on bag in the hotel. Fortunately I had taken my wallet, my iPod, and some headphones from it right before we left. We ate at burger king before we took off. The flight lasted 2 1/2 hours. We landed, ate at mcdonalds, and got ready for the next flight. The plane was really nice and they fed us so we got three breakfasts today xD. After we landed we met up with the BMDMI head dude for the hospital and his wife, along with three interpreters. We waited at the airport for 3 hours or so as other team members arrived. This took that long because one of the flights was delayed by two hours due to a very strange occourance. After boarding the plane they were told that there was some problem with the nose cap. After two hours of waiting the were finally alerted that the problem had been solved with, of course, duc tape. The nose of their plane was held together with duc tape! Anyway, during the time we waited we got lunch at McDonald's. As soon as everyone had arrived we went over to pizza hut and ate another lunch (yes that is 5 meals so far). After that everyone loaded on the buss and we navigated streets that made New York look tame. There appeared to be no traffic signals, but somehow we got out into the country and drove three hours to our final destination. Once there we unpacked and settled in. Then, after a dinner of some rice and meat thing, we got briefed and took a quick tour of the hospital. Bed shortly followed.
March 25 2012
Not much happening today. Got up at 6:45 and spent a while after breakfast trying to work the tech. We went to church this morning and listened to a Spanish sermon, but they had a translator. Today we see no patients because it's Sunday. After a lunch of nachos we started pumping some pills. We sorted, counted, bagged, and bottled medicines from 12:30-20:30 at night with a break for dinner that lasted about an hour and a half. We played some frisbee during that time and it rained while we stood on a little watch tower thing. From then on we just chillaxed. It's 22:13 right now. Oh, one other thing, someone saw a coral snake today! They are very poisonous and can kill with a single bite so I hope I don't run into one xD.
March 26 2012
We woke up at the regular time (6:45) and took a bus, after breakfast, to Talanga nearby and set up a hospital. I worked as a pharmacist and distributed like 500 packs of pills. xD after about 8 hours we stopped for the day. I'll give you the basic thing that happens to the patients. First they fill out "una tarjeta," which means a card. Each card has the patients height, weight, age, and stuff like that for the doctors on the front, and on the back is a list of all out medicines with check boxes next to the name. Ok, back to the patient's experience... They get their blood pressure taken and sent to the doctors. After the doctor sees them and checks the correct medicines they take their tarjeta to me and the farmicia crew. Basically I take their card, grab the medicines that are checked, and say something like "esto es para usted" or "estos son tuyos". The first version is more polite. You would be surprised at how many patients don't say thanks after they get their medicine. We finished and ate dinner and played some frisbee and games. Then we cooked some utensils to sterilize them.
March 27 2012
Woke up again at the regular time. Again I went to telanga to work as a pharmacist. It's pretty awesome, now that I have been doing it for two days I started to be able to check other people's trays and give my own out with out having to check it with the head honcho. We got back and ate a dinner of enchiladas. After dinner we talked for a while and went to bed at about 23:00.
March 28 2012
Got up and ate breakfast. Then we talked about the day and other stuff. Today I am gonna go to Telanga (surprise, surprise) and be a pharmacist again. The trip out is always interesting. We will pass these little shacks with shingles falling off and stuff and on top of EVERY shack is a "claro" wifi dish. It's humorous. We distributed medicines until lunch. After lunch we went out on a house visit and bought a lot of EXTREMELY MEGA SOUR candies which we fed to a bunch of people off the street to see their reaction xD it was hilarious, one started to do some sorta dance from the mega sour part, a lot of people tried to be polite and not freak out and pretended like they liked it. After we got back we just hung out till dinner, and after dinner we chilled till bed.
March 29 2012
We went to a different place today; a small school near by. We saw patients till lunch and ate a picnic at a marble mine. To get to the mine you must go on a trail that would be easy for a jeep, but for a school bus it was nearly impossible. Actually we had to get out an walk for one section to take some weight from the bus. After lunch we went back to the hospital and played four square and dodgeball until diner.
March 30 2012
We are headed to the valley of angels today. There we did some shopping. After that we went to a orphan's home run by BMDMI. All the kids were lacking attention and basically mobbed us. It started out nice, then we started to play soccer. NOT A GOOD IDEA!! They were wild and played by crazy rules. I told the girls on the sideline my name when they asked and they started chants and stuff with it. For some reason they kept telling me that I had to hit the ball with my feet instead of my hands... xD All the kids loved my accent and especially how I said "benjamin" and "soy americano". The kids all lacked attention and were very wild. One little fellow just ran up and slugged me in the gut. Another was testing out his water balloon throwing abilities. The game ended 1-1. After we left the kids place we went to a mission home. The place was really nice. After a dinner of beef and potatoes we watched some videos of BMDMI and our trip slideshow. When we finished that we went up to a balcony and talked for a while. People were trying to figure out all sorts of questions like if short-term mission trips are useful and what if what we just did is only a temporary bandage and not fixing any problem. During one of the prayers suddenly God told me something to say and apparently knew I wouldn't do it on my own so after the prayer was over the guy kinda running it pointed right at me and said something to the effect that I have been pretty quiet so far. It was pretty cool. After we finished the talk I looked at all 2111 pictures that were taken and went to bed.
March 31 2012
We fly out today. Breakfast was at 7:00 and I had five omelets that tasted really good. When breakfast was over we drove out to the airport. At one point the road disappeared over the edge of a cliff where an avalanche had ripped out a hole. We avoided the pit. The trip took a few hours and we got to the airport at 9:30 or so. My bag almost was left behind but fortunately was put into the ambulance and showed up. The runway that we will be leaving from is one of the most dangerous in the world so hopefully we survive... We took off by going to the very end of the runway (and I mean the VERY end) then they turned the jets on and kept the brakes on until the engines were going fast. They released the brakes and we shot away! It still took almost all the runway to take off but it was very fun xD. We arrived in Houston at about 4:00 and prepared for our next flight which left at 7:30, 25 minutes late. Got into Minneapolis and eventually got to our hotel where we quickly realized that I was more sick then anyone else had thought. We went to McDonald's for a midnight snack at 12:05 and went to bed at 12:30. The major difference between Honduras and USA can be summed up by two sentences: I saw only two stop signs in Honduras. No one stopped for either.
Trip stats:
1337 total patients
4119 prescriptions total
I probably filled somewhere between 40-60% of the prescriptions.
Total miles traveled: a large number
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)