the.stories

My reflection

Fri, 3 Aug 2007 12:03:31 -0600

What a great couple of weeks we had! Are you all as tired as I am? If you’re anything like me, you’re enjoying the comforts of being home - in a familiar place with familiar people doing the same old things you’ve always done. I’ve always said that there’s nothing to remind you how great you’ve got it back home like coming home from a long trip and that was magnified, for me, this time because of the distance and time traveled.

Still, no matter how happy I am to be home, I think I left a part of myself there in the muddy fields of Summer Oasis and I miss it a little. Yes, it was hard work and seemed to be a never-ending, uphill battle but what great stories we have to tell others. We served as one. We were “the Americans” at camp and nearly everyone knew we were there and there to serve however we could. You guys showed up to a somewhat difficult situation and you made the most of it and I think we all took something away when we left. Whether it’s the fond memories of our new Danish brothers and sisters and the pictures that capture their essence in a moment’s time. Or maybe it’s the way God found you in a new way in place outside your normal day-to-day. Or it could be just the new friends you met from our group as we trekked all across Europe with a cargo train’s worth of luggage.

Whatever you take away from this trip, I hope you take time to reflect on it alone with God and listen for what His purpose is in that. It’s been hard being back because everyone wants to hear everything about the trip and you get so into the routine of telling the story that you become a narrator and not a character in the story. You lose the meaning in it and the heart of it because you just keep relating the same moments over and over again. I’ve decided to tell people I’m still processing the whole experience and I’ll tell the story when I feel ready and they respect that. I want to absorb every experience God put before me there and determine what it all means to who He created me to be. Journal on it. Reflect on the photos you took. Remember the special moments you shared with teammates and new Danish friends.

One thing I have been able to process is that I am thankful to have been a part of your team and for the way you all found ways to make tedium and trials fun and exciting. You all still have that spark of “I can do anything” that we world-weary older-types tend to lose as we grow up. You were a great team to be a part of and I will remember you all fondly in the weeks and months to come. See you the next time you’re in Denver...

They’ll never take our FREEDOM!

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 07:34:14 -0600

Hey Everybody,

This is Ben. So yeah... I have been helping out at the Rock Solid tent with all the junior highers. I’ve had an awesome time getting to know both the kids and the other Danish leaders. I have made so many new friends.

Yesterday was a lot of fun. We had this giant war with all the Rock Solid kids... We had this huge game of capture the flag. There were three teams and I was on the blue team. So I figured it was time to paint myself like one of the Scottish warriors in Braveheart... yeah, we totally dominated... um yeah so you had a ribbon for a tail and if someone from another team took your tail you had to go back to the “hospital” and get a new one... but everyone that you took from someone on another team counted as one point for your team. We also made bases out of hay bales and had to protect our flag... if the other team got our flag that counted as 20 points for them.

About halfway through, after I had already gotten one of the other teams’ flags, some of the leaders brought out tubs full of colored dough - that’s when it really got fun... ;-) ... So we started tossing the dough at everyone. I got absolutely covered but I dished out my fair share of dough. Afterwards a lot of us kids and leaders tried to wash off in the creek that parallels the field that we were playing on. Then the buckets came out and we just started to douse everyone around that looked too dry.

To sum it all up, I have been having a lot of fun. It has been tiring but the joy of serving God has been more fulfilling than anything else. I have been blessed to be able to have gone so far from home to do what Jesus has called me to do. I just want to say to all you at home who read this, thank you for your support, I could not have made it here without all of you.... It means the world to me that you have been supportive of my vision to go to Denmark and make a difference. You have been my backbone, not merely my plane ticket, finances are important, but I could not have done this without all the emotional and spiritual support that you have given me. Thank you, it means the world to me having all of you who are there for me caring about me. I’ll share more of my stories when I get home.

Thank you and I love you,
Benjamin Fisher

A little Thai food for thought

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 06:50:28 -0600

Hello the US team,

I can’t believe that I can be here, in Denmark, with all of you guys. It’s such a wonderful opportunity to get to know you and serve along side with all of you, it’s so amazing, Hallelujah!!!

From the first day until now, I have learned a lot about how to live for our dearest God. First week is such a tired week for all of us but we still keep going with what we have to do - that encouraged me a lot. I hope you guys will keep this passion in your daily life and you will see what God gives you back for your passion in His work.

I am very thankful for your friendship that you keep getting to know me day by day during our time together on this mission trip. Have you ever imagined how wonderful is our God that He would bring all of us from different part of the world to be together, to be friends and to be involved in His mission and I’m so happy to know you all.

I would like to encourage you to read Proverbs every single day for example, if today is 20th, read chapter 20. I believe this is gonna help you a lot in your everyday life. You will have more wisdom, more strength and become more mature.

Thank God for all you guys, thanks God for giving me such an amazing opportunity to be here. Thanks God, Hallelujah!!!

Wongsakorn “Nick” Rattana, from Thailand

The ice cream’s good...

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 09:21:11 -0600

Rachel and Rebecca here.

Everything is going pretty good. But not the living in the tents part. Every time we go into our tent, there seems to be at least 20 new spiders hanging from our ceiling and crawling around our things. It is quite exciting and we have learned to kill them without flinching.

Since it is no longer work week we only eat 3 meals a day (haha) - I miss the 5 meals.

We walk a lot. It takes about 10 minuets to walk to breakfast, lunch and dinner. Up hill for a little bit. If you aren’t as brave to use the port-a-potty you can walk about 7 minutes to the school to use a real bathroom.

Now let us tell you about the showers we have. Well first off they are down in the basement of the school. Second, they are “European” style. If you don’t know what that means, one of us will explain it to you when we all get home. Third, I don’t think the bathrooms have been cleaned in like a year. Let’s just say that we have great adventures whenever we take a shower. Or really do anything here. =]

Every night (almost every night) we have ice cream. Soft serve. Either with rainbow sprinkles or chocolate sprinkles. The chocolate milk is also very good.

Today we have kitchen duty. Which means washing dishes from 4-7p. The best part about kitchen duty is eating the dinner. I can’t wait since, for lunch today, we had COLD meatballs and potatoes. It was interesting.

Miss and love all of you at home. EMAIL US!

Rebecca and Rachel

Prayin’ and playin’

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 09:03:55 -0600

Hey Everyone!

I am so glad that I finally get to talk to you guys I have been so busy lately. So I guess I’ll start from the beginning. The first couple days we got there we worked so hard it was so insane. Everyone helped put the boards in and that just about killed us. Then my next job was to help set up 2,278 chairs it might sound easy but we had to reset them many times and zip tie each chair twice. Then we helped set up the stage, helped the children’s tent get ready, and helped set up tents. Everything was worth it after we saw everyone at camp.

I was put on the prayer team and my partner is Becky Gudnason. We have been able to pray for four people so far. A neat experience was at the end of our prayer session all the American team had left I was telling Becky that I felt I wanted to stay. I felt that God was asking us to stay. As we were discussing that a girl walked in and asked for us to pray for her.

When I’m not working on the prayer team I get to hang out with the Jr. High kids at RockSolid. I have met 4 of the cutest girls ever. It’s been really good getting to know them.

Also today, we got to go to a elderly woman’s house and work in her garden. She made us cake and coffee. We had some complications getting there......

This trip has taught me so much, and God has stretched me and grown me. I can’t wait to tell you all about it when we get home. I miss you all and love you.

<3 Carly Gerwig <3