mormons, mormons everywhere

here I am sitting in the Salt Lake City, Utah and this is the first free hour I have in a long time to sit, surf friends blogs and think about life. The only sucky thing is I paid 5 bucks for this internet. I better make this blog worth it.

I have been enjoying reading Kori and Lisa's blog and as they contemplate our living situation in Canada and try to relate that to the experience we just had in Uganda. I would echo every word that they have said so far, so there is no reason for me to delve into the, I hate to say it, cliche comments about how we have so much and they have so little. For some reason it is so easy to shrug those type of words off as cliche and to forget what they are communicating before we finish reading them. John has asked me to talk for a couple minutes about my experience at ignite this weekend, so I want to try and bring a fresh approach to talking about the experience of visiting a third world country.

I am continually frustrated when I think about what I can actually do to help the people I interacted with. They had already been given the only thing that has any meaning and importance; the message and love of Jesus Christ. What more can I bring apart from the luxuries of the western world and basically money? Don't get me wrong, our trip was definetely not in vain. The spiritual encouragement on both sides far outweighed any cost of the trip to get there. Sure, we built them a playgroud, worked on their school, taught them and brought them things that they could not afford, but the trip meant so much more. We were able to strengthen their hope in the one true God, the only one that they have to rely on, trust and confide in. The only thing that gets them through their long, hungry days.
But let me go back to the question: what more can I bring them?
When we go and take with us these 'things,' and by things I mean our VBS program, the soccer balls, the jerseys, the pencil cases etc etc. These are not bad things, but are we not taking them the things that have so corrupted our own society, turning it away from trusting in our God to provide? What are communicating to the young children in Africa? That these things bring happiness? Do we help those in Africa by trying to make their lives like ours? I'm not so sure.

Hopefully you can see my thought struggle here, and I'm sure there is no easy answer. For those who don't know, I am coming home this weekend for a visit. Maybe I'll get to see you.

thank you

i'd like to thank all of those who replied to my last post. i didn't think it was at all one that would start a series of replies like it did. i owe it all to alicia.

if you haven't read all the comments in 'processing' I encourage you to do so. there are some great things to contemplate.

there is a chapel on campus called 'seekers chapel' which focuses on discussing difficult christian topics. this week the theme is "to what extent can God know the future." It would be nice to hear you opinions.

I will blog and make mine known at a later date.

processing

i've been doing a lot of thinking.

we talk about coming back to our western culture and coming back to our 'routines.' there is talk of not letting ourselves slip back into them, whatever they may be.

how do we live life after coming back from a missional experience, such as africa, and not go back into our routines?

the fact is, how we live life in north america is how we live life. when I first came home, I almost felt bad for using the tap to get water, for buying groceries and for even using my computer.

we are blessed people. is it wrong to use these blessings? I can't see that God would think so.

but the problems come when we get selfish.

it is such a simple truth that we hear all the time, but is so hard to do.

Africa taught me many things, but this sticks out the most and is hitting home the hardest these days:

God wants us to have the mentality of "what's mine is yours." Give abundantly, recieve abundantly.

hopefully you guys enjoyed some of those pictures.

fish out of water.

i've been so busy since returning to the west that I have hardly had anytime to think about the experience I just had half way across the world.

all I know is that when I do have time to myself and can think, I feel empty, sad, angry, confused, blessed, guilty, convicted, motivated, stuck.

why am I so blessed? the dream of every ugandan child in the school was to go to university. i am at a university except I hardly percieve it as a dream fulfilled. do I wish to change places with them? maybe; that way I don't have to feel so...I don't know.

it was so good to see my rwandan friends again and to understand a little more. I held hands with one of them. it was a neat moment.

uganda felt like home almost. hard to describe i guess. all I know is that i need to go back there soon. hopefully in may.

i got a job on campus to help make some extra cash so I can pay for a plane ticket in the summer. anyone who wants to join kris and I is more than welcome.

check here for all my photos from africa.

more updates soon.

the bad place

Saturday was our one 'day off' in Jinja.
We used the time well.

All 9 of us went on a white water rafting trip down the beginning of the white nile.
Needless to say, it was intense.

The trip consisted of 11 rapids, four class 5, five class 3/4, and the rest class 2.

The last rapid of the day was a monster class 5 called the bad place.

No white water rafting company in Canada would dare to take customers on something like this.

Kris, Kori, Ernest, Sheri and I all flew out of the raft. The rest were lucky enough to stay. The next 3 seconds under water felt like an eternity. We were all rescued by kayakers after that.

Worth every shilling.

Not much longer before I hop on a plane for home. See you guys at the airport.

We are all safe and healthy and thank you for your prayers.

slaughter house kris

it is no lie.

today, kris was the honoured Canadian to slaughter a goat. The culture of this place is unbelievable as you can imagine. The community and school brought us gifts to show their appreciation of their dear visitors. We got tons of fruit, eggs, a live chicken and a live goat. The gifts were presented to us by the mothers in the community.

Everyone gathered outside to watch Kris kill a goat. Then they roasted it in a pit. And then we ate it. Delicious.

Needless to say, Kris felt like a man.

There is so much that has gone on, but an update will have to happen later. The internet is slow and there is much to talk about.

These updates will be for those who are worrying about it. We are safe and healthy. Keep praying for us. Talk to you soon.

slaughter house kris

safe and sounds

We have made it half way across the world safely. The trip was very long and we have had our first full day in Kampala.

There is a lot to say about it but to make it short, it is an african city. For those of you who have been, you know what I mean. For those of you who haven't, no description can come close to the experience.

Full of noises that make no sense, random things happening all over the place and people and cars everywhere.

The people from Fields of Life are extremely friendly and hospitable. Our rooms are great and the showers are cold and crisp. Thanks for you prayers. Keep them up.

Will update soon with more details!

safe and sounds

this is africa

or as Leonardo Di Caprio would say in his suave south africa accent: "T.I.A."

blood diamond = great movie

as most of you already know, or are guessing, I will be making the trip to Africa this summer. The Journey Church team is heading for Uganda on Aug 9th and I will be coming back slightly earlier than everyone else on the 23rd. I wish I could spend more than 2 weeks there, but c'est la vie. Even though it is a short time to go so far, I'm sure the experience will be worth it.
As our departure time nears and our preparation is in full gear, there is always a hint of doubt that we are not ready. However as we slowly check off the to do list, things are feeling pretty good.

There are many reasons why this trip is already special:
1) The team
- God has brought together a unique group of people for this trip from different backgrounds, ages and experiences. Our fearless leaders, Kori and Lisa Jones, have done a great job and bring such passion to our purpose.
2) Money
- God is good. This trip has been flooded with money from everywhere and from enexpecting places. Our financial situation and impact in Uganda is definetely a result of God's provision. Thank you to those who felt inspired and motivated to support this cause.
3) Donations
- In addition to money, we were in need of various goods. Here is a peek at what has been graciously given to us:

• Over 500 Pencil Cases. There is enough for every child in the school and extra for next year's new students. Thank to those who put so much time into making them for us.
• Pencils, Pens and Erasers. We have enough pencils/pens/erasers to fill every pencil case with one each.
• Soccer Balls. The Calgary Southwest United Soccer Association gave us over 80 used soccer balls, and over 100 team sets of very nice used jersey's. They deflated all the balls for us and even bought two huge suitcases to put them in. They are ready for the plane ride.

This is just a portion of what was provided. Thank God for providing us with so much. We have more stuff than we can even take on the plane.

Personally, I am ready to make this journey. All those who read this thing, which is probably a whopping four people at most, we want your prayers.

means again

i tried to take a few pictures at the show, but the digital camera has trouble capturing so much movement. the venue also had a lot of crap in the air, so the light reflected off the little particles in the air. here are a few decent ones.

Not great. but still cool. also, when the boys headed out I was in class, so they decided to leave a little present for me.

normal looking room

the means aftermath. but it was probably all Kris. what a jerk.

i really miss those guys now. say hi to them for me when they hit your home town.

means

i returned from spring break to means staying in my dorm room and then going to a show in wichita. great time.

those guys are quality and the show was stellar. after the show in wichita, they came back to OC to sleep again before going on to Joplin, Missouri. It is sad to see them go because they are a great dose of true canadian greatness.

hopefully they will come back soon.

more posts to come. soon. with pictures. maybe.

matt had to go to the bathroom, and I said, "going to the john?", he said "yah, Im going to drop a D in the John Close." oh man.

psalms

i have been thouroughly enjoying my psalms class this semester, especially since the teacher is Curt Nicuum. This is guy is one good teacher, and really makes you think. He has given us the assignment of coming up with our own psalm and the instructions are vague in order to inspire creativity on our part. I am not a very creative person, so minimal instructions leave me helpless and unsure of what road to take.

However, after some divine inspiration, I decided I would write a psalm to the tune of "the failsafe" by misery signals. listen to it here. Now the challenge is determining what I actually scream to God in a psalm. I have found a program that removes lyrics from songs, and so I am going to add in my own screaming using a friends recording programs. If all goes well, I should have a copy for you to listen to within the week.

I am excited about how this could turn out, but the road is still long. So far I have two lines, and I don't even like them. This is going to be a long week, but the process should be good for me.

agreed

kori has a great comment from the "prayer" blog I posted yesterday. I definetely agree with him as I did not mean to convey the motion that we stop praying all together during gatherings of various types.

i guess my main frustration is that I am on this christian campus and I don't see the church. then this frustration is amplified by the fact that I am not taking more responsibility in my own relationship with God because I am too busy doing all these christian things at a christian school. ironic, but I can see how it would be a problem at most christian schools.

when it comes down to it, I am very grateful to be on this campus, annoying prayers and all. I think a problem like this is only solved working from the inside out, starting with my own walk.

miss you guys.

T.

prayer

I am continuely amazed at the south and how different the church experience is down here compared to home.

One of the things that really stands out is the question "does anyone have any prayer requests?"

Every time prayer happens here that question is asked, the person who is going to pray writes everything down, and then goes for it. I don't think we ever did that in youth group and I am not sure what to think about it. In the right situations, that is a great question and true prayer can take place. But in the south we have to pray before and after EVERTYHING we do.

for example:
1) In my chemistry class the teacher would start each class asking for prayer requests. then someone would volunteer to give the same mundane prayer. it goes something like this: "dear God, we thank you for the opportunity to learn, and to be at oklahoma christian. help us to learn today and continue to grow. God, help those that are in need and please heal (insert name) if it be your will. in Jesus name. Amen" I hate that.

2) After every intramural basketball game we huddle up at center court and another monotonous prayer is said. "dear god, thanks for sports. thanks for no injuries. help us to injury free for the rest of the season. (sometimes they throw in the "thank you for the your son Jesus who died to save our sins") and help us through the week. in Jesus name. Amen"

At this christian institution, we for some reason feel the need to squeeze in these prayers everywhere. I may be way offline but I'm not sure God appreciates these very much. They are so heartless and forced. These prayers almost become the substitute and justification for it to be okay that we don't take our own spiritual/prayer lives as seriously as we should. Prayer needs to be genuine. Let's take out our hearts and plop them before God, holding nothing back.

here is one last thing to add some more insight to the south. at our basketball game on Saturday morning the first half buzzer went and everyone was called into the centre of the court. The guy who had been running the scoreboard then started to preach! It lasted for like 5 - 10 mins and then it was game on. I was so confused. I asked my teammate what the heck happened and he said that they do a "commercial for God" at every half time throughout the day. priceless.

he's back.

it has been awhile. the main reason for my absence is lack of interesting things to say. sometimes the homework piles up and that is all that seems to be going on. however, spring sing (a stupid show that the clubs on campus have to participate in that includes choreographed dances and parodies of songs tailored to the clubs theme, ours being elves) is now in full swing and we have too many practices. we had our first lock in on saturday night where we practiced for 7 hours straight. it wasn't so bad, but my body was not at peak performance level for my hockey game on Sunday. Needless to say my two goals could have turned into so much more if only I wasn't so tired from doing silly dance moves. hockey has been a lot of fun so far and team is really bonding well, producing some sweet chemistry on the ice. We have one guy from New York who plays for the full 54 min game, and skates harder than anybody else. He is one of the fittest guys I have ever seen. He scores a lot of goals. More than me even.

Clair and I have been doing very well lately. We got into a weird lull at the beginning of semester where we just annoyed each other to death and it was creating quite a bit of tension. We are now back to normal (according to me anyways) and are enjoying each others company.

Here is the question of the week: if a homeless person asks you for money, should you give it to him?

Clair and I went out on Saturday to dinner and a blazers game and at the end of the game was approached by a homeless looking gentleman. He made up some story about how he was at the hockey game, he and his wife got into a fight, she took the car home and left him in downtown with no money or way to get home. I didn't by the story but the guy was only asking for a couple bucks to "catch a bus," so we thought it wouldn't hurt. He kept complimenting us, saying we looked great as a couple, and that my glasses were cool. Good tactic, because he got the money. As soon as we gave this guy the dollar bills, another homeless gentleman was walking by and noticed. After the first guy goes on his way, the next one catches us right before we are about to get into the car. He asks for "some change for a brother" and I offer to buy him some food. It was a pretty cold night and he said that he wasn't hungry but that he needed 5 bucks to get into the Salvation Army Shelter, and that would pay for a week there. I wasn't sure if that was true or not, and I only had a 20 so I was hesistant to give it to him, but I did.

God was definelty testing me with this whole thing, because my friends and I had been talking about this very situation that week. Why are we so hesistant to give to someone who asks for money? I judge people and don't give them any money becuase we all think we know what they, the homeless people, are going to do with it. How fair is that? Did God not bless me with this money even though I am a sinner to? Why do I want to hold on so tight to an earthly possesion that is not even mine?

In the end, I was reminded of Jesus. he healed and blessed not expecting for people to be perfect once he had done so. in the same way, I need to be a generous giver of whatever I have to give at that time, regardless of how I think the person will use that gift.

i hope everyone back home and around the world is doing well. there is a new banner at the top of the blog screen but it doesn't go to the right site unfortunately. you can go here tho. I can't wait for this album.

forgiven

last week I wrote a super sweet blog. it had everything that a good blog needs. a little humor, a touch of information, a sprinkle of insight and great grammar. unfortunately, when I went to publish my piece of art, the blogger site messed up and I lost it all. after a week of ignoring blogger.com for it's failure, I am forgiving the internet and writing a new post.

last week was pretty sweet. our dodgeball team came 3rd and I played in my second hockey game. i don't know what it is, but this past christmas gave me a renewed love for the game and I can't get enough. im glad okc has some ice I can tear up.

i wrote my first dynamics test which was "confusingly easy," as my friend Will described it. You walk out of the test thinking, man that was easy, but you are second guessing yourself more than ever because it couldn't have been that easy, could it? i guess we will see how easy it was. I have two more tests this week, which will hopefully won't be too hard either.

last night I was fortunate enough to hear Earl Lavender, writer of Living God's Love, talk. He said something so simple but it has really hit me. He said, you cannot give what you don't have. No duh. But the reality of it for me was that I have been so eager to jump into Lord's work, to get busy in the kingdom, that I have not even thought about if I am prepared spiritually. If I do not put any serious effort into the building of a relationship with God, which right now is practically zero, then how can I share Him with others? For most of my life, things have come fairly easy to me, so I have never had to seriously work hard to be more than moderate at something. This pattern is definetely reflected in my spritiual life. I have never seen the need to put effort into seeking God, beacuse I thought it would come naturally. I am now seeing and feeling how wrong this is. I hope that in the coming days, I will learn to "have a cup of joe with the creator" and to read and listen to what I have to learn about Him and from Him.

finally, if you haven't already done this go check out and read Nic Olson's blog, the link is on the right. you will not be disappointed.

ice capades

last night was pretty fun. i should have stayed in the dorms, finished my bible reading and then went to bed early. instead I was peer pressured into going ice sliding at lake arcadia. the weird ice storm has left the hills covered in 10 cm (notice the metric use) of solid, slick ice. needless to say we saw an amazing oppourtunity before us, and the pictures on flickr are the result.

we all ended up feeling pretty stiff and sore in the morning after many falls while trying to surf down the slope. at the bottom was a line of long grass and scattered trees. if you were lucky, you didn't can yourself on one of them.

also, we have entered a dodgeball team in the school tournament and have been practicing our 5 D's of dodgeball with fervour. Dodge, Dip, Duck, Dive and Dodge. wish us luck.

Tyler.

NEW ROOM!

i just got the loft kit I ordered, so I was able to reorganize my room a little bit better. the only real problem is that I might fall out of bed and kill myself on night. for the extra space, it's a risk I am willing to take.

there is a picture on flickr.

in other news, school was cancelled today but is still on tomorrow. all the church services on Sunday were cancelled as well, which led to a great small group discussion at Chad and Sarah's apt. where we had supper together, broke bread, drank juice and communioned the way Jesus did back in the day. it was refreshing to be a part of that, especially in the bible belt (however the origins of people that attended the small group were Canada, Australia, Montana and Ohio). it was still good though.

we decided that as a group we needed to do this more often. Eat, drink and talk God in an informal setting. a place where we can express our angers and frustrations with God as well as give him praise. hopefully there will be many more great sessions to come.

although school was cancelled, I still had to get up for an 8 am lecture which my teacher decided to have online. it's pretty neat how it works, but still, I had class and homework on a snow day. the least the teacher could have done was have the lecture at say, 2, after everyone was awake.

and my final peice of news is that I did not get to play in my first hockey game this week. Ironically, they cancelled the game due to all the ice. Next week I will have my chance.

hookah, halo and hotcakes.

with the ice storm here, everyone is basically couped up in the dorms, trying to find stuff to do.

my neighbour Chad aparantly can make some wicked waffles (ie. hot cakes), and the plan for friday night was to have some hookah, play some halo and eat some hot cakes.

in preparation for smoking hookah in the dorm room we were trying to find a way to cover the smoke detector because we weren't sure if it would detect the hookah smoke or not. I came up with a great plan to tape a plastic back around the smoke detector. it should work right?

well, as I was standing on Evan's shoulders, taping the bag there, and the smoke detector started to go, and then after 5 seconds turned off. We had no idea what made it go off and there was no test button that I could have hit.

by this point we were getting worried about smoking the hookah in the dorm and getting caught, as all the detectors are wired together throughout the building and we didn't want to cause the sprinklers to go off.

with our hopes down, and the ability to smoke hookah elsewhere was minimal due to the cold, we decided to give up on the idea. all of sudden, Justin came up with the great idea to go set up his dome tent in the park and just sit in there and smoke.

so that's what we did. needless to say it was freaking freezing outside, but with 5 manly bodies sitting in a small tent with a hookah pipe, we were able to stay warm enough and enjoy some good times together and have some good talks.

it turned out to be a pretty fun night.
there are some new photos on flickr of the hookah night and an OC basketball game.

keep in touch,
ty.

ps. thanks for the comments mom and dad, it means a lot. keep them coming.

crazy ice storm eh?

if you haven't heard the news, the state of oklahoma is being hit with a severe ice storm. it's not rain, it's not sleet, it's not hail and it's not snow, but something is coming down from the sky and creating ice all over the place.

the good news is that they cancelled afternoon classes. they also have a bunch of emergency plans of action so that if the power goes out we, the students, will still have a warm place to sleep and food to eat. it's pretty crazy.

as of right now, everyone is just sitting around watching movies. bball has been mentioned for later and I think I will hit that up.

b baller butel is signing off.

flickr

i have gotten some pictures up online. just click the link on the right of the page.

there are only a few photos up of my dorm room and roommates. keep checking back for more.

T.

back to the grind

the holidays were so great and it is very hard to be back on campus. thanks to all back home for the good times and catching up.

i think the thing that gets me the most is being in the dorm room and how it does not feel homey at all. no dad in the rocking chair, no mom vacumming while you are trying to watch TV, no brothers yelling at you and trying to wrestle you. i miss that.

it is a good thing that Clair is with me to keep me going. two days of classes have gone by and the homework has started. this should be a tough but fun semester.

in other news I have joined the fighting squirrels hockey club in the adult mens league here. hopefully I can dazzle them with my canadian stick handling and stunning good looks. if I can't, then at least it will be a good work out.

expect a flickr site to develop soon as I learn to use the new camera and shoot some pics of life at OC.

clair says hi.

tyler.