Peter's Thoughts and Experiences

Become Like/Stay Like

2012-02-13T10:30:00.000-06:00

The Good News is that “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). So why did God become a man? “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). God came to us because in our sin, there was no way we could go to Him. Ultimately, Jesus birth is important because of His death....

Everyone who trusts in Jesus will be saved, but first they have to hear about Him! God has given us the responsibility to go and tell everyone the Good News. Paul presents two key principles about sharing the Gospel in 1 Corinthians 7 and 9: “become like” and “stay like...”

We must learn to “become like” the lost to reach them better, and we must let new believers “stay like” those who know them best so they can be more effective witnesses.

To learn about these, check out the rest of my article on ReachingCampus.com:

http://www.reachingcampus.com/become-likestay-like-2/

Preparing for Christmas

2011-12-19T13:22:00.001-06:00

I don't know about you, but for me, the Christmas season is just now starting to hit. With all the stress of exams and projects finally past, I've realized that Christmas is on its way! For the world around us, this means it is time to plan parties, buy gifts, etc. In the mean time, many churches are now singing Christmas carols, holding Christmas concerts, and sometimes even lighting candles with names like "Hope," "Peace," and "Joy." I think a lot of times it's easy to just dismiss these things as nice symbols of the season without really pondering their meaning.

Whether our culture recognizes it or not, Christmas is all about the Gospel, the Good News that "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). So why did God become a man? "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). God came to us because in our sin, there was no way we could go to Him. Ultimately, Jesus birth is important because of his death. God became one of us, lived a perfect life, and was executed on the Cross to pay for our sins. Then, he rose from the grave to show his victory over Death. That's why he was born! It wasn't to be a "good teacher" or a "moral prophet". It was to save the world from Sin by giving his life in exchange for ours.

But there's a twist here: Jesus death on the cross didn't give everyone in the world an automatic free pass to Heaven. His last words on Earth were a command to to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19-20). Paul put it this way in Romans 10: ‎"for 'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.' How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!' " (Romans 10:13-15). Everyone who trusts in Jesus will be saved, but first they have to hear about him! God has given us the responsibility to go and tell everyone the Good News.

So coming full circle, Christmas is about the Gospel, and as believers in Jesus we are called to share the Gospel. That's the purpose Christ has given us on Earth, and wherever you are right now, the people you spend the most time with (family, friends, classmates, coworkers) are who you are called to share with! So as you prepare for Christmas, think about the Gospel, let the symbols of Christmas remind you of how Jesus came, and look for opportunities to share this wonderful news with those around you.

Merry Christmas!

Lean Not On Your Own Understanding

2011-11-12T12:38:00.001-06:00

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” -Proverbs 3:5-6

It’s interesting how much we tend to rely on ourselves. It happens in our schoolwork, in our job searches, in our relationships, and in our ministry. We have good ideas, and we run with them. That’s how the world works, right? Proverbs 3:5-6 says the exact opposite. We should learn to trust in God more than ourselves. But what does that mean for college students surrounded by ambitious, intelligent peers?

Follow the link below to read the rest of my article at ReachingCampus.com!

http://www.reachingcampus.com/lean-not-on-your-own-understanding/

Mission Requires Discipleship

2011-10-17T08:40:00.000-05:00

God is doing some awesome things on college campuses today! Students are starting to catch the vision that God has placed them on their campuses to reach out to their peers and share the Gospel with them. Many are recognizing that Jesus’ call to “make disciples of all nations” applies to us even while we are in college.

However, even though students are getting excited about sharing their faith, when it comes to actually living out a “missional” lifestyle, we quickly get frustrated, bored, or tired. Why is this? I think part of the reason is that we tend to focus so much on the mechanics of living out God’s mission that we forget about discipleship, which just means following Jesus and teaching others how to follow Jesus. We tend to rely on our own strength and power rather than God’s.

Follow the link below to read the rest of my article at ReachingCampus.com!

http://www.reachingcampus.com/mission-requires-discipleship/

Back to School

2011-09-10T14:30:00.000-05:00

Summer is over and students are pouring back onto campus. As the semester gets started, it’s sometimes hard to stay focused on the things that are most important. Here are a few things that are really helpful for me to think about as I begin each new semester of college.

Spend Time Alone with God

This is absolutely the most important thing you will do this semester. Take time every single day to stop whatever you are doing and develop your relationship with God through prayer and scripture. Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” It’s important to start out the semester right by developing good habits.

It’s not always easy to carve out time in your schedule, and it takes discipline to develop a regular routine. If you need some structure to help you focus, try using a devotional book or a scripture reading plan. Resist the temptation to replace your quiet time with attending church or campus ministry events.

These are good things to be a part of, but they can never satisfy your need to be intimately connected to the God who made you. Let your prayer time guide your day and continue in an attitude of prayer as you go to class, do your homework, and fulfill your other responsibilities.

Follow the link below to read the rest of my article at ReachingCampus.com!

http://www.reachingcampus.com/back-to-school/

Trust

2011-08-14T17:13:00.003-05:00

A theme over the last couple of weeks has been learning to trust God (again). Of course the two areas I've been struggling with, as always, are my future career and relationships.

On the career side, I finished my co-op with Jacobs this last week. All of my reviews were outstanding, and my supervisor even said I have been doing the work of a senior engineer while still a student and told me I would go far. They understand that I'm pursuing other opportunities with NASA, but would love to have me back either before or after graduation.

I also had another chance to connect with the NASA co-op coordinator before I left. He shook my hand, took an updated copy of my resumé, and promised to call me when he got a chance. For now, I'm hoping to get into the NASA Co-op Program in January so I can complete 3 tours before graduation.

Lord, in this area of my professional future, please help me to put my trust in you and you alone. Don't allow me to idolize my job or organization, and teach me to allow your Holy Spirit to guide me into your will rather than just blindly pursuing mine. I know you brought me to Jacobs for a variety of different reasons, and you have definitely blessed my time there. I can't see the future. I can't know the future. So I trust in you and you alone. Rather than seeking your will for my life Lord, I ask that you would show me how to obey your will and how you want my life to serve the bigger purpose of bringing glory to you and making disciples of all peoples.

In the area of relationships, once again it all comes down to trusting in God and his will. I have to put my trust in God, not myself, my feelings, or others.

God, please lead me here. Please guard my heart. Help me to trust fully in your with my future relationships leading to marriage. Help me to wait on your timing and your leading. Don't let me hang around for "the one," but lead me to "a woman who fears the Lord" and who loves you and serves you with all her heart. Help me to trust in your will rather than my short-sighted desires. I place my future marriage in your hands God. I give you the pen; I don't want to write my love story. I want you to do it, because I know your version will be much better than mine, not only for my future wife and I, but for your glory and your Kingdom. God, let your name be glorified through my singleness and marriage.

Help me to keep you as my only priority, with all other concerns only subsets of seeking your glory in all things.

Strategy and Spontaneity

2011-07-14T21:00:00.003-05:00

In a recent post I shared some ideas about Serving Christ as a Summer Intern. What I didn’t say in that article is that I am currently working in the co-op program (basically an extended internship) at a NASA contractor company in Houston. I’d like to expand on the ideas from the other article and share some stories of how I have lived them out among the co-ops and interns here at NASA.

Though they are of course specific to the environment I am currently in, I hope these stories can help you to see some ways you can reach those around you in your internship, on your college campus, or at your full-time job.

Follow the link below to read the rest of my article at ReachingCampus.com!

http://www.reachingcampus.com/strategy-and-spontaneity/

Praying on Mission

2011-07-03T17:14:00.003-05:00

God has a mission: He “wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 2:4). God has called all believers to join in His mission by becoming Christ’s ambassadors to the world so He can “make his appeal through us” (2 Corinthians 5:11-6:2).

As we live this out, it it important to remember that it is God’s mission, not ours. No amount of convincing or arguing is going to bring someone from darkness to light, from lost to saved; only God can work that kind of miracle (2 Corinthians 4). That’s why we must pray!

Follow the link below to read the rest of my article at ReachingCampus.com!

http://www.reachingcampus.com/praying-on-mission/

Serving Christ as a Summer Intern

2011-06-17T17:10:00.006-05:00

Although some take summer classes, many college students leave their campuses during the summer to get a taste of “the real world” by working as a summer intern in their career field. For some Christian students, it may seem like a summer internship isn’t a great opportunity to serve God in the same way as a summer mission trip.

However, God works through us wherever we are, and serving Christ as a summer intern is very similar to living God’s mission after college. While doing your work well is a great way to glorify God (Colossians 3:23), you can also serve Christ by thinking of yourself as a missionary during your internship in the secular workplace (or wherever you are!).

Follow the link below to read the rest of my article at ReachingCampus.com!

http://www.reachingcampus.com/serving-christ-as-a-summer-intern/

Living With the Lost

2011-05-02T21:10:00.003-05:00

For the first time this semster, I had a roommate I didn’t choose. We had never met before we arrived at our apartment to move in, and we didn’t know anything about each other.

Many college students experience this with a “potluck” roommate their first semester, but I knew my freshman roommate from my home church, so living with a “stranger” was a first for me this year.

It turned out that my new roommate is not a believer, but God has made it clear to me that He placed us in the same apartment for a specific reason. Jesus calls us to make disciples of all people wherever we go (Matthew 28:18-20), which includes the people we live with! I’d like to share some thoughts on what it looks like to share the love of Christ with your lost roommate.

Follow the link below and read the rest of my article at ReachingCampus.com!

http://www.reachingcampus.com/living-with-the-lost/

JSC Co-ops and Interns Inspire the Next Generation of Space Explorers

2011-03-26T14:17:00.013-05:00

On Saturday March 19th, a group of ten JSC co-ops and interns made the hour-and-a-half trek out to Brazos Bend State Park near Houston. We had fun exploring some of the park’s trails and getting up close and personal with the wildlife there (including some very large alligators!), but we had come to Brazos Bend for much more than to see the great outdoors. It was Family Space Day at the George Observatory, located smack in the middle of the park, and we had signed up to volunteer with the Challenger Learning Center.

40 Mile Lake at Brazos Bend State Park

An alligator sunning itself at Brazos Bend State Park near the Challenger Center

The Challenger Center, one of 50 located around the nation, was established in memory of the crew of STS-51-L, who were killed when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded seconds after liftoff. These centers aim to inspire kids to learn more about Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). The main way they do this is by giving kids the opportunity to run their very own NASA mission in a simulated spacecraft and Mission Control Center. For Family Space Day, children and their parents bought inexpensive tickets and worked together to man positions on the S.S. Observer spacecraft for a special mission: a journey to the Moon.

Some of the JSC co-ops and interns who volunteered for Family Space Day at Brazos Bend State Park

As volunteers, the co-ops and interns first had the chance to run through the mission for ourselves so we would be familiar with how it works to help the kids and their parents. After our mission, we ran four missions for the public, rotating between helping in the spacecraft, manning critical posts in Mission Control, and facilitating other fun activities. We were on the spacecraft as co-Commanders, giving instructions to guide the kids and their parents through their assigned mission tasks. The mission taught them about different aspects of human space flight, and the kids at various posts also had to work together to deal with emergencies as they came up. In the process, they learned valuable teamwork and communication skills.

JSC co-ops and interns prepare to land on the Moon while conducting our own mission on the S.S. Observer at the Challenger Center

While some co-ops and interns were running missions, others were conducting fun space activities. Inside in the air conditioning, we helped kids use robotic arms to pick up small objects and design their own Space Shuttle gliders. Outside in the Texas heat, we showed them how to pop the tops off of film canisters by filling them with water and Alka-Seltzer and launched rockets made of soda bottles. To create a rocket, Styrofoam fins were taped to the side of a plastic bottle and it was filled about 1/3 full of water. We then held the bottle on top of a PVC pipe frame and had the kids use a bicycle pump to add pressure to the bottle. Once enough pressure had been built up, we gave a 5 second countdown and then let go…to watch the bottle soar 50 feet up into the sky! Water splashed out of the bottle, keeping us cool, and the kids got to learn about pressure and propulsion.

JSC students Zakaria Juber, Matthew Noyes, and Kelly Fine teach kids about robotics with some neat toys.

JSC co-op Miles Tabibian launches a water rocket

JSC co-op Miles Tabibian said, “The bottle rocket setup provided a great opportunity for the kids to simulate the launch of a vehicle. We kept each kid involved by having them pressurize the rockets, clear the ‘launch pad’ and provide the launch countdown. It was great to see kids asking questions such as: ‘Why do we put water inside the bottles?’ and ‘What happens if you put more, less or none at all?’ Hopefully these questions will provide a spark for kids to learn more about science and physics out of their own interests.”

JSC intern Farah Khemani prepares for a rocket launch

We had a long day, but it really was a blast. Both the volunteers and all the kids who participated had loads of fun. JSC intern Farah Khemani said, “It was so wonderful to share my passion for space and for NASA with the young kids at the Challenger Center. They were so enthusiastic and eager to learn! The experience was truly rewarding.” We have planted the seed into a few young minds of how exciting the STEM fields can be. One day, these kids may become the scientists and engineers that lead our nation’s exploration of space!

To find out more about Challenger Learning Centers around the nation, visit their website: www.challenger.org

Setting Our Priorities Straight

2011-03-06T18:28:00.005-06:00

It’s so easy to get caught up in the things of this world. We quickly loose sight of the eternal purpose of God in our lives and allow our minds and hearts to focus on the temporal things around us. Personally, I have found myself thinking a lot about my future: Should I go to grad school? What will I do after I graduate? Who am I going to marry?

These big questions easily break down into smaller worries like scholarship and job applications, not to mention work that piles up from a job or school. Before I know it, my life becomes incredibly complicated, with responsibilities and to-do lists piling up.

In the midst of all this, Jesus, with amazing simplicity, calls us to completely change our viewpoint and take an entirely different focus. His words in scripture give us a clear indication of what our priorities should be.

Follow the link below and read the rest of my article at ReachingCampus.com to find out what they are!

http://www.reachingcampus.com/setting-our-priorities-straight/

Living God’s Mission After College

2011-01-30T17:08:00.002-06:00

You loved all the incredible things that happened in college. Maybe you were plugged into an awesome campus ministry, grew in your faith, and made some awesome friends. You may have even spent time among the lost, sharing your faith with them between classes, over coffee, or at the gym.

But now you’re graduating, getting a job, and moving on to the “real world” (as if college wasn’t real enough). You’re fully committed to Christ, but you aren’t going into full time ministry or becoming an international missionary. So how do you continue to serve God and pursue His mission while holding down a 9 to 5 job?

Follow the link below and read the rest of my article at ReachingCampus.com to find out!

http://www.reachingcampus.com/living-gods-mission-after-college/

NASA From a New Perspective

2011-01-23T15:05:00.004-06:00

I'm spending my Spring semester in Houston, working as a co-op (long-term intern) for Jacobs Technology, a contractor for NASA. Even after only a couple of weeks, it has been an interesting experience. In many ways, I'm familiar with this place. I did an internship with NASA over the summer, so I've been here before. I'm familiar with the area. I'm used to the terminology and the culture. I know how to get my email running.

But in many ways it's different. I'm doing work for NASA, but I don't really "work for NASA." I'm in an office building not too far away from the main NASA campus, working for a private contractor. Over the summer I lived with an awesome 88-year-old man about 20 minutes away, but this semester I'm sharing a furnished four bedroom apartment with one other guy. Our company covers rent and all the bills, so it's really nice! Plus, my commute is really short; I only have to drive about 5 minutes to work.

Also, the social scene is a bit different for me now. Since I live closer, it's a lot easier for me to interact with the 50 or so other NASA co-ops and interns. I'm 21 now, so even though I don't drink, I can hang out at places I wouldn't have gone before. God has opened up some great opportunities for me to get to know the people around me, and He is showing me how I can shine the light of Christ into their lives.

Over the summer I was part of a bible study for co-ops run by a few recent graduates who now work here full time. So, when I got here a couple of weeks ago, I already had friends that I knew and was instantly able to plug into community with them. Now, the bible study will be a great opportunity to get to know new people by exploring Scripture, sharing fellowship together, and serving the community around us. Stay tuned to see what God is doing in Houston this semester!

Revival: God Restores His People

2010-12-27T08:21:00.002-06:00

There are many misconceptions about what revival is. It is not a single emotional worship service or event. It is not a massive evangelistic meeting. Those things can and do occur during a revival, but they are not a necessary or definitive part. Revival is also much more than the recommitment of a few lives to the Lord. Revival is a time when all of God's people acknowledge their sin and turn back to Him, moving from a lazy, mediocre faith or outright rebellion into total obedience to God's will and God's commands. It is a gift of God conferred as a result of prayer, confession, and turning from evil and selfishness to seek God with fervent enthusiasm. It is not local, isolated, or limited, but spreads virally on a national or even international scale. A Biblical definition of revival is given in 2 Chronicles 7:14. The last major revival in the United States occurred in 1905-6, over 100 years ago. Today, in a time when the Church and its people are infected with laziness, mediocrity, and hypocrisy, as well as sin, we are desperately in need of such a restoration.

Revival is an essential way that God works within the Church to bring His people back to Him. The origins of revival are twofold. First, believers who have fallen away from God must repent of their sins and return to Him. Also, God must grant anew the anointing of the Holy Spirit in a powerful and unique way. When God’s people humble themselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from their wicked ways, He hears from heaven, forgives their sin, and heals their land (2 Chronicles 7:14). Revival always starts in the hearts of believers and spreads throughout the Church. The results include true worship of God, proclamation of the Truth of Scripture, unity within the Church body, and a bold movement to spread the Good News about Jesus Christ.

What do you need to do today to prepare your heart for revival? Is there some sin you haven't fully repented of? Is there someone who has hurt you that you need to forgive? Do you pray like you should? Are you truly loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength? If we honestly examine ourselves, all of us can find some area that needs improvement. None of us is perfect, and God doesn't expect us to be. He simply wants us to draw nearer to Him, allowing Him to transform us from the inside out. When we humble ourselves enough to admit we can't do it on our own and begin to ardently seek God, the seeds of revival are planted in our own hearts. From there, they will inevitably spread to others. That's how God changes the world; He starts in our hearts.

Campus Renewal

2010-12-20T17:20:00.003-06:00

I just finished reading Campus Renewal by Justin Christopher. This book is an absolutely incredible account of the ways that God is moving at The University of Texas. Campus ministries are uniting to pray for the campus and send students as missionaries to share the Gospel with each unique people group that the 50,000 students make up. Read this book, and consider it a personal challenge. How does God want to use me to make an eternal impact where he has placed me? Whether you are a student, a college minister, or a member of the work force, this book provides practical principles on how to unite the Body of Christ to accomplish Jesus' call to make disciples of all nations. The ideas presented in this book aren't just theoretical; they are explicitly backed up by scripture, and the book is filled with specific stories that illustrate exactly how these principles have been worked out at UT over the past 15 years. If you want to be used by God on your campus or anywhere else, this book is a must read!

Many students and campus ministers wrote short snippets for the book. I contributed a small segment relaying my experiences:

Before coming to UT, I had never really merged the ideas of prayer, service, and evangelism, much less imagined that I could do all three among and in partnership with the people I’m around every day. I first learned about missional communities in the spring of my freshman year. I received coaching from an older student to learn the biblical principles of reaching out to my peers and began praying with another student for the Aerospace Engineering department.

During my second year at UT, my roommate Jared, who I knew through my campus ministry, was an RA (Resident Assistant) in San Jacinto Dorm. We held a Bible study in the dorm every week, mostly made up of guys from our ministry that we were pouring into and challenging to live on mission to reach their friends. At the same time, a couple of guys from other campus ministries had also committed to lead missional communities in our dorm, and we met with them frequently to pray together and encourage each other.

Because of Jared’s position as an RA, we he had a unique chance to witness to the other RAs in our dorm and even saw one RA move from totally rejecting the gospel at the beginning of the year to accepting Christ as his Savior in April! At the same time, the Christian guys in our Bible study have grown more comfortable in their faith and are beginning to understand that our purpose as believers is to share God’s love with others.

In fall 2010 (my third year at UT), we are building a network of missional communities in the Cockrell School of Engineering. In each engineering department (Aerospace, Chemical, Civil, Mechanical, etc.), we are bringing together a group of believers from a variety of different campus ministries. Each group meets weekly to pray and encourage one another to be intentional in reaching out to their peers. We are also creating a mentoring program to connect underclassmen with older students for academic, spiritual, and lifestyle guidance.
You can read more about the book and purchase it at http://campusrenewal.org/campusrenewalbook. I promise I don't get anything out of it. This story needs to be read and told!

ATX Rides: Free Rides. No Strings.

2010-11-23T20:46:00.003-06:00

The last few years during Spring Break, several Christian organizations at UT have gotten together and gone on a trip called Beach Reach to South Padre Island. South Padre is one of the biggest Spring Break party spots in the nation, and during that week thousands of students from all over go there to party.

Beach Reach brings together students from across Texas and the nation to show the love of Christ to Spring Breakers by serving them rather than judging them. We hand out free pancakes for breakfast at a local church and at midnight in front of one of the biggest clubs on the island. On the beach, we pick up trash and hand out sunscreen. At night, we give free van rides anywhere on the island, keeping students from driving drunk and helping them get safely wherever they need to go. Amazingly, these simple acts of service are incredibly effective. The students we are serving are usually genuinely thankful, and often they ask us, "Why are you doing this?" which opens up incredible opportunities to talk about how our faith in Christ has totally transformed us and spurs us to love people in the same way Jesus did.

After having an incredible experience at Beach Reach, many students and campus ministers began asking how we could do the same thing at UT. Ideas were tossed around for a long time, and finally, ATX Rides was born. Basically, ATX Rides is a service provided by several Christian clubs at UT. On Thursday nights, many students go Downtown for 'college night', so we offer them free, safe rides Downtown and back between 11 PM and 3 AM.

After a small trial run over the summer, we launched ATX Rides this Fall, and have done it three times so far. We have had volunteers from many different organizations helping us, making this a united effort of Christians at UT rather than just one group or church. Each Thursday that we do ATX Rides, there are several vans running at the same time, and we use a text message system to communicate with each van and with students who need rides. It is going great so far, and we have given rides to over 300 students already! Mostly, we just get the word out by passing out fliers on campus the week we are going to give rides. We also advertise through Facebook and on our website: http://atxrides.wordpress.com/, where students can sign up to get a text message reminding them when we are giving rides.

God is definitely blessing this, and we believe He will continue to grow it next semester. There are several ways you can get involved if you are a UT student or live in Austin. First of all, get the word out, and tell all the college students you know about this great service! Secondly, we need many more volunteers to pull this off, so let me know if you are at all interested in helping out.

Finally, even if you aren't in Austin, we need your prayers! The reason this service is so effective is because it is badly needed. Downtown Austin can get pretty crazy on Thursday nights, and sometimes dangerous situations happen, so pray for safety. Also, pray that the Love of Christ will be shown clearly through everything that we say and do, and that a message of grace and acceptance will be communicated by ATX Rides.

"Greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in this city!"

Abide in Christ --> Mission

2010-10-09T20:21:00.002-05:00

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing" -Jesus in John 15:5

I've been reminded a lot this semester that when we truly focus on a developing a growing relationship with God through prayer and reading scripture will we have a much greater eternal impact for the Kingdom. It's easy to focus all our efforts on "being missional," living our lives to point others to Christ, while neglecting our relationship with Him. This usually leads to fruitlessness and frustration, because we are trying to accomplish "good works" in our own human effort, rather than relying on God's to motivate and empower us.

So, at the beginning of this semester, I resolved to focus again on abiding in Christ. I devoted time to developing my prayer life and dove into scripture with a heart to listen rather than as an obligation. All of a sudden, amazing things started to happen. As I was abiding in Christ, opportunities to share the Gospel with other students just appeared in front of me. God was reminding me, "When you let me have control, I will use you in ways far more powerful than you could have ever asked for." The following are some cool stories of what God has done around me and through me since I came to this realization:

A small group of UT engineers recently started a new student organization called Engineers for Christ. Our vision is to facilitate missional communities in each engineering major, arrange mentoring relationships between upperclassmen and younger students, and connect students with churches, bible studies, and other campus ministries. On September 14th, we held an Info Session with free pizza and invited students we had connected with through tabling, email, Facebook, and face-to-face interaction. We also included an announcement in a mass email called "This Week in Engineering." We bought 12 pizzas and a few drinks and were expecting between 20 and 30 people, maybe a maximum of 50. It turned out that over 70 engineering students showed up to our meeting!!! We were absolutely blown away by the response. We quickly ran out of pizza, then got up in front of the room to share our vision. At the end, we broke everyone up by major to talk about what a missional community might look like for them. Before the meeting was over, it became clear that we are going to have a strong missional community in every single engineering department! (Aerospace, Civil/Architectural, Mechanical, Biomedical, Chemical/Petroleum, and Electrical). Before this, only the Civil and Aerospace engineering groups had been meeting. God is truly moving in huge ways here at UT and in the Cockrell School of Engineering!

I have been growing closer to one of my friends I know from class over the past several weeks. We got to know each other by studying together last semester and are in a couple of classes together this semester. One day, I bought him lunch at J2 (Jester 2nd Floor Dining Hall) and we talked about our summers. He studied abroad and did research with a UT program in Germany. As we were talking about European culture, the topic of religious diversity came up and I asked him what his religious background was. He basically told me he was somewhere between Christian and Atheist. He doesn't deny the existence of God, but he doesn't think there is only one true faith. Another week, we got lunch at the same time and place, and ended up having a great conversation. I actually got to share with him what I had learned about the motivation for prayer from a prayer study I had been a part of the morning before at the Campus House of Prayer, as well as a couple of scriptures. We talked about prayer, marriage, and enduring sufferings, all from a Biblical perspective. Afterwards, he told me he felt very comfortable talking about those things with me, since I wasn't trying to force my point of view on him or argue with him. We were just having open and honest conversation with each other about my faith in Christ. He has also been extremely grateful for the meals I have bought for him and the study help I've given him.

On the way to Kinsolving dining hall, someone came up behind me and then next to me and greeted me. It turned out to be a Petroleum Engineering student I know who is from Kazakhstan. He was going to Kinsolving as well, so we ate together. He knew I am helping start Engineers for Christ, and asked me how it was going, which immediately led to spiritual conversation. He was asking a lot of questions about "religion" (i.e. the differences b/w denominations), and I answered some of them, but then I just asked him "Do you know the story of what Jesus did on Earth?" He said no. He had never heard the Gospel before. In his life. So I told him. I explained God's redemptive plan and how only through Christ's death on the Cross can man be reconnected with God. I explained how Christ totally transforms our lives and hearts and makes us a brand new person. He listened closely, asked questions (still mostly about "religion") and seemed mildly interested. I gave him a Gospel tract and we exchanged phone numbers. It was definitely a meeting orchestrated by God, and my friend heard the Gospel for the first time in his life!

These are just a few examples of the incredible things God has been doing in my life since I was reminded earlier this semester that abiding in Christ is so essential. So try it out this week. Take some extra time to pray and read your Bible each morning. See if God doesn't use you in some incredible way you would have never expected otherwise.

Engineers for Christ

2010-09-12T15:51:00.004-05:00

God is at work among the students of the Cockrell School of Engineering here at The University of Texas at Austin (UT). Jesus-following students from many different campus ministries have united together to form a student organization called Engineers for Christ (EfC). The goal of our organization is to unite believers within the engineering school and share the Gospel with those who don't yet follow Jesus. We do this in three ways.

1.) Missional Communities - These are groups of Christian engineering students from similar majors who meet together once a week for an hour. During these meetings, we talk about what it looks like to be a missionary to our fellow students. We discuss how to intentionally build relationships with our friends who don't know Jesus so that we can love them and serve them in practical ways, showing and telling them about God. We hold each other accountable to living "on mission," or with a purpose to bring others to know Christ. We also pray together each week and briefly look at a passage of scripture that highlights God's call for us to bring others to Him.

2.) Mentoring - We are facilitating a way for younger engineering students to connect with older students. These mentoring relationships allow a newer student to connect 1-on-1 with someone who has been through the same things they are about to experience in the engineering school. The purpose of having mentors is to help younger students grow in their relationship with Christ, guide them through the life transitions that college brings about, and give them academic advice for choosing and completing engineering classes successfully.

3.) Connecting - We are not trying to start a church or campus ministry in the sense that EfC isn't meant to be the main source of spiritual growth in any student's life. Our organization is not aiming to create a new group, but to unite engineering students who are members of Christian groups that already exist at UT. Because of this, we encourage and assist students in finding a Christian community they can get plugged in with. Each person involved with EfC is also highly committed to a church and/or campus ministry that they consider their spiritual "home."

We are excited about all the incredible things God has already been doing in and through us, and we look forward to a great semester of uniting believers and sharing the Gospel! If you would like to know more about Engineers for Christ or find out how you can be involved, you can contact me or email us at EngineersforChrist@gmail.com

Why Student Leaders Should Pray Together

2010-08-24T15:05:00.002-05:00

On college campuses, it’s easy for groups of Jesus-followers to feel like they are alone in a vast sea of people who could care less about God. Many Christian students aren’t even aware that God is moving in incredible ways all across their campus because they rarely hear stories of what he is doing through ministries they aren’t a part of. At The University of Texas, we’ve started a weekly student Fusion prayer group. We have found that when student leaders from many different campus ministries join together in united prayer and worship, incredible things start to happen.

So why should student leaders pray together? Follow the link below and read the rest of my article at ReachingCampus.com to find out!

http://www.reachingcampus.com/why-student-leaders-should-pray-together/

Holistic Lifestyle

2010-08-16T19:22:00.008-05:00

God has been teaching me over and over that I must integrate Him into every part of my life rather than confine Him into one part. I feel the most joy and peace when I am living for God's glory in everything I do (work, school, friendships, etc). My purpose is to glorify God through Jesus Christ and bring others closer to Him, and I must learn to make every part of my life line up with this purpose. I have a new identity in Christ, and by living for God's glory (by His power, not my own), I'm simply becoming who I already am.

In the last few weeks of my NASA Internship, I had a ton of great experiences. You can see me trying on a space suit in the picture above. I also made lots of important connections and am applying to return in the Spring to work there again through the co-op program.

One of my friends, a fellow intern at NASA, became interested in the Bible Study group I was a part of during the last few weeks. The group was made up of students working at NASA and a few recent graduates (see picture above). I invited my friend to join us for a game night, and he enjoyed hanging out, playing games, and chatting. He later joined our guys group, which was reading through John Piper's book "Don't Waste Your Life" (available for free Online at http://alturl.com/i9ceu), a book describing our purpose to glorify God and draw others to Him. We had many deep discussions, and my friend enjoyed learning about what the Bible had on these things. I learned practically that just by being a friend to someone, I can point them toward Christ.

This past weekend at the Mission(all) Retreat, 40 UT students and campus ministers (some of whom are pictured above) from more than 10 student ministries got together to learn how to tell our friends about Christ. We were encouraged to embrace our identity, understanding that we can do nothing to save ourselves but must rely on God's grace. We learned that we must be intentionally spending time with our friends to show them the love of Christ. We spent time at the retreat encouraging each other, praying for one another, and planning how we will reach out in our communities this year. Great connections were made as students from many ministries met each other and heard each others' hearts. At the same time, 103 freshmen went to Ignite , a retreat that gets them connected with Christian ministries at UT. A lot of us visited them for a ministry fair and told them all about the various ministries we are involved with. You can read more about Ignite in my blog post from last year: http://pzschulte.blogspot.com/2009/08/ignite.html.

God is moving in incredible ways on our campus. He is preparing my heart to know him more intimately and live an integrated, holistic lifestyle that is focused on His mission to bring people from every tribe, tongue, and nation to himself. Join me in prayer for The University of Texas at Austin, and stay tuned to see what God will do in, through, and around me this semester!

Halfway Point at NASA

2010-07-03T17:41:00.003-05:00

Wow! It's hard to believe that my internship at NASA is already nearly halfway over. I started June 1st, and I'll be done on August 6th. I've gotten to see and do some pretty cool things in the past month.

My project deals with the Extra-Vehicular Mobility Unit (EMU), the space suit I'm standing next to in the picture above. It is the suit that American astronauts use when they step outside of the Space Shuttle or International Space Station for Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA), more commonly known as a space walk. My job for the summer involves shifting through data regarding about 1,200 "failures" that have occurred on this suit since 1977. These failures range from small things like broken threads on the glove to a catastrophic fire that consumed a suit during an unmanned test. I'm summarizing the failure reports, categorizing them, and putting them in a database. Hopefully, engineers can use this data as a "lessons learned" resource when they are designing the next generation of space suits for human exploration.

In addition to working on my project, I have had many opportunities to get a bigger picture of all that NASA does in support of EVAs. I have taken several operations training classes (the same ones astronauts take) to learn about tools they use on space walks, hardware in the airlock (the room they go into before heading outside), and an emergency rescue jetpack attached to the space suit. I've also gotten to see some cool facilities, like the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility and the Neutral Buoyancy Lab (NBL), a huge swimming pool where astronauts train for space walks. In the photo above, I'm meeting astronaut Dave Wolf just before he was put into the pool at the NBL.

Finally, I've had many opportunities to attend lectures and events. I've heard from astronauts and flight directors about their incredible experiences in the space program. The man in this picture is Gene Kranz, the legendary Flight Director of Apollo 11, Apollo 13, and numerous other missions.

I've had a good experience so far, but there is still a month to go! One thing I want to work on more is being aware of God's plans here at Johnson Space Center. I know he has called me to be a missionary, which is the call of every believer (Matthew 28:18-20; 2 Corinthians 5:11-21), but I feel that a lot of the past month has been focused on me. Pray that I can spend more time getting to know other students here outside of the Bible Study group I have been a part of. Pray that I can have an impact on my co-workers and show them that Christ is EVERYTHING to me. Pray that I can have more spiritual conversations with my mentor (who is a Christian).

I know that God wants to do great things in me and through me during the next month here at NASA. The biggest hurdle is for me to get past myself and develop His heart for the people around me. By His strength I can do it!

Thoughts on Prayer

2010-06-13T18:55:00.004-05:00

The beginning of the Book of Acts gives us a picture of what the Church looked like immediately after Christ rose from the dead. It says that the believers "all joined together constantly in prayer" (Acts 1:14), and "they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer" (Acts 2:42). When faced with persecution, "they raised their voices together in prayer to God" and "After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly" (Acts 4:24, 31).

What is it in this picture of the Early Church that I and so many others are lacking today? These first believers devoted themselves constantly to prayer. All the other things they did (fellowship, charity, eating together, teaching, worship) are regularly practiced by most Christians in most churches today. We meet together to do all of these things all the time. We love hanging out together, we go to huge worship gatherings, we team up to help people, and we enjoy meeting together to study and talk about the Bible. However, prayer stands out as one of the most cherished and one of the least practiced activities, especially when we look at the corporate body of the Church, what people do when they get together.

How often to churches get together to devote themselves to prayer? Devotion to prayer goes far beyond the ritualistic and formalized prayer before a meal, having a minister or elder pray during a worship service, or even appointing someone to pray at the beginning or end of a Bible Study meeting. True corporate prayer can only happen when everyone is engaged and involved, not just listening and nodding in agreement. Of course, prayer is also a necessary private discipline that many of us (myself included) fall short in. One reason we often fall into temptation is that we fail to pray and engage our Lord with all our heart.

So often, we are a prayer-less people. That's one of my downfalls, and one of the biggest sins of this generation. We just don't pray. Maybe we don't believe God is big enough, or that he cares, or that he exists. As Matt Chandler said, we are "practical atheists" who think we can do it all on our own, without God's help. We must realize that we cannot do anything without Christ and learn to rely on the Holy Spirit through constant prayer.

Also, we can't just pray by ourselves and expect great results. Jesus said that "if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them" (Matthew 18:19-20). Our hearts are unified when we pray together with other Christians, and as we come closer to each other, we are tied to Christ through the Holy Spirit.

Prayer is not a duty to be piously performed out of obligation. It's not a ritual where we just recite a few religious words at special times. Rather, it is a joyful opportunity to commune with our creator and our fellow believers. When I get bored or tired of prayer, I have to remind myself that the problem isn't God, it's me! God is always there, ready and willing to engage us, if we truly desire to engage Him in prayer. He promises, "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13).

"Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; it is time to seek the LORD until he comes and showers righteousness on you" (Hosea 10:12). The first step to seeing God's Work is always prayer. So let's pursue God together! Let's devote ourselves to prayer, personally and corporately, and see the amazing things God will do in us and through us. Only He can imagine the wonderful results prayer will bring!

Starting at NASA

2010-06-06T17:23:00.003-05:00

This week, I started my summer internship at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston. It's been an interesting transition from college life to working all day. I wake up at 6 AM every day, commute to work, sit in an office, go to meetings, eat lunch, then come home, make dinner, and go to bed by 10. It takes a lot out of you, and it's more tiring than I anticipated. The good thing is there's no homework :-)

I have a great mentor, and all the people around me at work are fun to be around, and very helpful and considerate. They're helping me fit right in, and I've already been doing some cool stuff. I'll be getting tours of testing and training facilities and going to some special classes on the space suit equipment, as well as sitting in on meetings to gain a bigger perspective of all that happens with EVAs (space walks).

I'm pretty sure some of the people I will be working with are believers, but I haven't had too much time to start building relationships with them yet. One struggle for me is going to be seeing beyond the work I'm going to be doing on the surface to what God's purpose behind all of it is. A big part of that right now is taking time to get to know the people around me, develop friendships with them, and show them who I am in Christ.

Also, I've begun to connect with other believers my age here at JSC. Yesterday, my roommate Matt and I met up with a group of NASA student employees (co-ops) and recent grads to play Ultimate Frisbee. We had a great time hanging out with them, and after the Frisbee game we went over to one person's apartment for a pot luck dinner, game night, and a movie. I got in contact with them through the email listserv for student interns and co-ops, because they sent out an email about a bible study meeting they have on Monday nights. Today, we went to church with them at Grace Bible Church in Clute, TX. It was a good drive (over an hour away), but we carpooled, and got to know each other better on the drive down.

Tomorrow it's back to work! My focus this week is going to be continuing to grow closer and more intimate with God throughout the day via prayer and meditation, establishing fellowship with other believers, and building relationships with the people around me at work, all while excelling at the job I'm getting paid to do. May the Lord guide me to do His work this week.

Missional Communities

2010-05-27T14:03:00.002-05:00

Before coming to the University of Texas at Austin, I had never really merged the ideas of prayer, service, and evangelism, much less imagined that I could do all three among and in partnership with the people I’m around every day. In the Spring of my freshman year, I first learned about missional communities, which are groups of Christians partnering together to pray, serve, and share the Gospel in the communities they were already a part of (such as college departments, dorms, student organizations, etc). Before I completed my first year at UT, I had received coaching from an older student to learn the biblical principles of reaching out to my peers and began praying with another student for the Aerospace Engineering department.

During my second year at UT, my roommate Jared, who I knew through my campus ministry, was an RA (Resident Assistant) in San Jacinto Dorm. We held a Bible Study in the Dorm every week, mostly made up of guys from our ministry that we were pouring into and challenging to live on mission to reach their friends. At the same time, a couple of guys from other campus ministries had also committed to lead missional communities in our dorm, and we met with them frequently to pray together and encourage each other.

Because of Jared’s position as an RA, we he had a unique chance to witness to the other RAs in our dorm and even saw one RA move from totally rejecting the Gospel at the beginning of the year to accepting Christ as his Savior in April! At the same time, the Christian guys in our Bible Study grew more comfortable in their faith and are beginning to understand that our purpose as believers is to share God’s Love with others.

For the Fall of 2010 (my third year at UT), student leaders are building a network of missional communities in the Cockrell School of Engineering. In each engineering department (Aerospace, Civil, Mechanical, etc.) we are bringing together a group of believers from a variety of different campus ministries. Each group meets weekly to pray and encourage one another to be intentional in reaching out to their peers. We are also creating a mentoring program to connect underclassmen with older students for academic, spiritual, and lifestyle guidance.

I am spending this Summer at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, working as a student intern analyzing space suit failures. However, at the same time, I will be partnering with other believers and building relationships with co-workers and other students. It will be an exciting challenge to reach out to those around me by praying for them, serving them, and intentionally seeking to share my faith with them while holding a 9 to 5 job. I can't wait to see what God does in me and through me!

Find out more about missional communities and what's happening at the University of Texas at Austin here: http://texasunited.org/

Titus Insights (Part 3)

2010-05-22T12:36:00.004-05:00

This post got delayed by a few weeks because of the busyness of finals and the end of the semester, but here it is!

In Titus 3, Paul urges us, simply, "to be ready to do whatever is good" (v. 1). This may seem so easy and common-sense, but really, it isn't. Doing what is good is so much more than "not doing stuff," according to the lists of rules that many Christians think we have to follow (don't drink, don't have sex before marriage, don't watch rated-R movies, etc.).

James tells us that "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins" (James 4:17). That means every time we pass by a homeless guy even though we had an inward tug to help him, we're disobeying God's command. Every time we have an opportunity to share an encouraging word or tell someone about Jesus for the first time but don't take it, we're falling short. We all fall short every day.

This doesn't mean God doesn't love us. Quite to the contrary. In Titus 3, Paul tells us that "when the kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy" (v. 4-5), and Romans 9:16 tells us, "It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy." Of course, no matter how many good things we do, we can never earn God's favor. [I talked about this more in Titus Insigts (Part 1)].

So how do we follow God's command to "devote [our]selves to doing what is good" (Titus 3:8)? Paul gives us the answer in vv. 5-6: God "saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior." When we accept Christ into our hearts, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of us, guides us, and transforms us so that we can live for God in everything we do (see Romans 8).

When we learn to daily listen to and depend on the Holy Spirit, God helps us and teaches us how to do what is good, provide for our daily necessities, and to carry out our lives in a way that is productive for His Kingdom (Titus 3:14).

Titus Insights (Part 2)

2010-05-02T21:45:00.003-05:00

Titus 2 is filled with instructions. Direction is given for 5 distinct groups of people (older men, older women, younger women, young men, and slaves) as a guide for how Titus is to lead the church bodies he has been entrusted with. I won't detail everything here, but I will point out some interesting things that stuck out to me.

There are some commonalities among the instructions to the different groups. For example, several are told to be temperate (not drink too much), and most of the them are directed toward self-control. Paul also adds to several of the lists of instructions that by following them we will make the teaching of God attractive (see Matthew 5:14-16).

In Titus 2:4, Paul directs that older women should "train the younger women to love their husbands and children." Strikingly, this is the only place in the New Testament where wives are commanded to love their husbands. In other passages, the command to wives is always to submit to their husbands (a voluntary attitude of giving in, cooperating, assuming responsibility, and carrying a burden, see Strong's G5293), while it is the husbands who are directed to love their wives sacrificially (c.f. Ephesians 5). While the kind of self-giving love husbands should exhibit is described by the Greek word agape, the command given in Titus 2 to wives to love their husbands is closer to phileo, meaning "brotherly love." This helps us to see that part of the wife's role in marriage is to cultivate a deep friendship bond with her husband. A woman's husband should be her best friend.

The teaching for slaves in Titus 2:9-10 makes much more sense when it is applied to us as employees or in any other position of service under authority. The word for slave here is actually "bond-servant," which implies the idea of voluntarily giving up one's rights to serve someone else. When we are under the authority of someone else, our focus should not be on our rights or desires, but on how we can best support and encourage them.

When instructing Titus how to teach, Paul focuses on sticking to the Truth and earning respect both in the way he teaches and in the way he lives. He also tells Titus "Do not let anyone despise [or disregard] you" (v. 15). The idea here is not that we should try to please everyone, but that we should be on the same page with those around us so they will take our actions and teaching seriously.

Paul wraps up his lists of instructions by reminding Titus of the reason for all of this in vv. 11-14. He basically presents the whole Gospel in 4 verses... God's grace came to us when Jesus sacrificed himself to free us from sin, and He is teaching us how to live for Him now while we wait for His return. Our focus should always be on Christ, rather than changing our behavior. We should allow His character to live through us, and as we are transformed from the inside out, we will reflect Him, like a mirror.

As Mother Teresa prayed:

Dear Jesus, help me to spread Thy fragrance everywhere I go. Flood my soul with Thy Spirit and Love. Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that all my life may only be a radiance of Thine. Shine through me and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel Thy presence in my soul. Let them look up and see no longer me but only Jesus. Stay with me and then I shall begin to shine as you shine, so to shine as to be a light to others. Amen.

Titus Insights (Part 1)

2010-04-23T17:02:00.004-05:00

Wow! I've been so busy that I haven't written a blog entry in over a month! A ton of things have been happening since Spring Break that I want to write about, but for now I'll just share some of what I'm learning from the book of Titus.

My college pastor, Ben Coleman, calls Titus the "clean-up guy" because the apostle Paul sends him to clean up messy situations in various churches around the Ancient Mediterranean. One important thing to remember about ministry is that it is going to be messy. Wherever you deal with people, especially in such a personal area like their relationship with God, there will be disagreements and tension. That's something that I've been learning to work through, and Paul's letter to Titus offers some insights.

In Titus 1, Paul lays out for Titus that "the reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished" (v. 5). This reminded me, first of all, that we can't do everything on our own. God places others in our lives to help us with ministry, and we need to partner with each other. Sometimes, others will finish what we start, and sometimes we will pick up where someone else left off (see 1 Corinthians 3:5-9).

Paul also talks about appointed leaders ('elders' and 'overseers') and gives some qualities of good leaders. For example, a leader "must be blameless--not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather he must be hospitable, one who love what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined" (Titus 1:7-8).

Leaders need to be held to a higher standard. Rather than just following the rules by obligation, they should be seeking righteousness with all their hearts. As a leader, I know people will be looking up to me, so some things that may not necessarily be "sinful" for me, I must avoid so that I don't cause any of my brothers or sisters to stumble (see 1 Corinthians 8:9-13 and 1 Corinthians 10:23-33). Of course we can't be perfect on our own, but we must let Christ live through us as he transforms us into His image. Does this mean we should hide our sins and mistakes? Of course not! We must be honest with each other, confess our sins, and let everyone know that it's okay not to be okay (check out 1 John 1:5-7).

Finally, Paul warns again Christians who "claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good" (Titus 1:16). There are a ton of people who "go to Church" but don't really live for Christ. That includes any of us who have ever just attended Church on Sunday morning and Wednesday night but don't really live differently than anyone else the rest of the week. So many of us who claim to be Christians act like the way to earn God's favor is by "being a good person." As long as we don't do anything too bad (by our own definition), show up to Church every once in a while, and throw a few bucks in the offering plate, we figure that's all that God requires.

It's easy for those of us who would consider ourselves committed Christians to look down on other people, but in fact, the Bible says "What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! ...There is no one righteous, not even one" (Romans 3:9-10). There's no way ANY of us could ever be good enough in God's eyes. In His sight, "all our righteous acts are like filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6).

So, if there's no way we can ever be good enough to get into Heaven, who can possibly make it? That's the exact same question the Disciples asked Jesus. And his answer reveals the solution. "The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, 'Who then can be saved?' Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God'" (Mark 10:26-27). Paul expands on this answer, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

So, Paul is warning against people who try to earn their salvation by doing good deeds. He also warns against hypocrisy, something that many outsiders often notice about Christians. We must be sure to not only address the outer issues, what we do, what we say, and how people perceive us. "The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7). Let's focus on letting God work on our hearts first. Then all the other things will fall into place. "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matthew 6:33).

Food for Thought

2010-03-26T18:30:00.000-05:00

There was a certain Professor of Religion named Dr. Christianson, a
studious man who taught at a small college in the western United States.
Dr. Christianson taught the required survey course in Christianity at
this particular institution. Every student was required to take this
course their freshman year, regardless of his or her major.
Although Dr. Christianson tried hard to communicate the essence of the
gospel in his class, he found that most of his students looked upon the
course as nothing but required drudgery. Despite his best efforts, most
students refused to take Christianity seriously.
This year, Dr. Christianson had a special student named Steve. Steve was
only a freshman, but was studying with the intent of going onto seminary
for the ministry. Steve was popular, he was well liked, and he was an
imposing physical specimen. He was now the starting center on the school
football team, and was the best student in the professor's class.
One day, Dr. Christianson asked Steve to stay after class so he could
talk with him. "How many push-ups can you do?" Steve said, "I do about 200 every night." "200? That's pretty good, Steve," Dr. Christianson said. "Do you think
you could do 300?"
Steve replied, "I don't know.... I've never done 300 at a time"
"Do you think you could?" again asked Dr. Christianson.
"Well, I can try," said Steve.
"Can you do 300 in sets of 10? I have a class project in mind and I need
you to do about 300 push-ups in sets of ten for this to work. Can you do
it? I need you to tell me you can do it," said the professor.
Steve said, "Well... I think I can...yeah, I can do it."
Dr. Christianson said, "Good! I need you to do this on Friday. Let me
explain what I have in mind."
Friday came and Steve got to class early and sat in the front of the
room. When class started, the professor pulled out a big box of donuts.
No, these weren't the normal kinds of donuts, they were the extra fancy
BIG kind, with cream centers and frosting swirls. Everyone was pretty
excited it was Friday, the last class of the day, and they were going to
get an early start on the weekend with a party in Dr. Christianson's
class.
Dr. Christianson went to the first girl in the first row and asked,
"Cynthia, do you want to have one of these donuts?"
Cynthia said, "Yes."
Dr. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do
ten push-ups so that Cynthia can have a donut?"
"Sure!" Steve jumped down from his desk to do a quick ten. Then Steve
again sat in his desk.
Dr. Christianson put a donut on Cynthia's desk.
Dr. Christianson then went to Joe, the next person, and asked, "Joe, do
you want a donut?" Joe said, "Yes."
Dr. Christianson asked, "Steve would you do ten push-ups so Joe can have
a donut?"
Steve did ten push-ups, Joe got a donut. And so it went, down the first
aisle, Steve did ten push-ups for every person before they got their
donut.
Walking down the second aisle, Dr. Christianson came to Scott. Scott was
on the basketball team, and in as good condition as Steve. He was very
popular and never lacking for female companionship.
When the professor asked, "Scott do you want a donut?"
Scott's reply was, "Well, can I do my own push-ups?"
Dr. Christianson said, "No, Steve has to do them."
Then Scott said, "Well, I don't want one then."
Dr.. Christianson shrugged and then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve,
would you do ten push-ups so Scott can have a donut he doesn't want?"
With perfect obedience Steve started to do ten push-ups.
Scott said, "HEY! I said I didn't want one!"
Dr. Christianson said, "Look! This is my classroom, my class, my desks, and these are my donuts. Just leave it on
the desk if you don't want it." And he put a donut on Scott's desk. Now by this time, Steve had begun to slow down a little. He just stayed
on the floor between sets because it took too much effort to be getting
up and down. You could start to see a little perspiration coming out
around his brow. Dr. Christianson started down the third row. Now the students were
beginning to get a little angry. Dr. Christianson asked Jenny, "Jenny,
do you want a donut?"
Sternly, Jenny said, "No."
Then Dr. Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten more
push-ups so Jenny can have a donut that she doesn't want?"
Steve did ten....Jenny got a donut.
By now, a growing sense of uneasiness filled the room. The students were
beginning to say, "No!" and there were all these uneaten donuts on the
desks.
Steve also had to really put forth a lot of extra effort to get these
push-ups done for each donut. There began to be a small pool of sweat on
the floor beneath his face, his arms and brow were beginning to get red
because of the physical effort involved.
Dr. Christianson asked Robert, who was the most vocal unbeliever in the
class, to watch Steve do each push up to make sure he did the full ten push-ups in a set
because he couldn't bear to watch all of Steve's work for all of those
uneaten donuts. He sent Robert over to where Steve was so Robert count the set and watch Steve closely.
Dr. Christianson started down the fourth row.
During his class, however, some students from other classes had
wandered in and sat down on the steps along the radiators that ran down
the sides of the room. When the professor realized this, he did a quick
count and saw that now there were 34 students in the room. He started to
worry if Steve would be able to make it.
Dr. Christianson went on to the next person and the next and the next.
Near the end of that row,
Steve was really having a rough time. He was taking a lot more time to
complete each set.
Steve asked Dr. Christianson, "Do I have to make my nose touch on each
one?"
Dr. Christianson thought for a moment, "Well, they're your push-ups. You
are in charge now. You can do them any way that you want." And Dr.
Christianson went on.
A few moments later, Jason, a recent transfer student, came to the room
and was about to come in when all the students yelled in one voice, "NO!
Don't come in! Stay out!"
Jason didn't know what was going on. Steve picked up his head and said,
"No, let him come."
Professor Christianson said, "You realize that if Jason comes in you
will have to do ten push-ups for him?"
Steve said, "Yes, let him come in. Give him a donut."
Dr. Christianson said, "Okay, Steve, I'll let you get Jason's out of the
way right now. Jason, do you want a donut?"
Jason, new to the room, hardly knew what was going on. "Yes," he said,
"give me a donut."
"Steve, will you do ten push-ups so that Jason can have a donut?"
Steve did ten push-ups very slowly and with great effort. Jason,
bewildered, was handed a donut and sat down.
Dr Christianson finished the fourth row, and then started on those
visitors seated by the heaters. Steve's arms were now shaking with each
push-up in a struggle to lift himself against the force of gravity. By
this time sweat was profusely dropping off of his face, there was no
sound except his heavy breathing; there was not a dry eye in the room.
The very last two students in the room were two young women, both
cheerleaders, and very popular. Dr. Christianson went to Linda, the
second to last, and asked, "Linda, do you want a doughnut?"
Linda said, very sadly, "No, thank you."
Professor Christianson quietly asked, "Steve, would you do ten push-ups
so that Linda can have a donut she doesn't want?"
Grunting from the effort, Steve did ten very slow push-ups for Linda.
Then Dr. Christianson turned to the last girl, Susan. "Susan, do you
want a donut?"
Susan, with tears flowing down her face, began to cry. "Dr.
Christianson, why can't I help him?"
Dr Christianson, with tears of his own, said, "No, Steve has to do it
alone; I have given him this task and he is in charge of seeing that
everyone has an opportunity for a donut whether they want it or not.
When I decided to have a party this last day of class, I looked at my
grade book. Steve here is the only student with a perfect grade.
Everyone else has failed a test, skipped class, or offered me inferior
work. Steve told me that in football practice, when a player messes up
he must do push-ups. I told Steve that none of you could come to my
party unless he paid the price by doing your push-ups. He and I made a
deal for your sakes."
"Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Susan can have a donut?"
As Steve very slowly finished his last push-up, with the understanding
that he had accomplished all that was required of him, having done 350
push-ups, his arms buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor.
Dr. Christianson turned to the room and said, "And so it was, that our
Savior, Jesus Christ, on the cross, plead to the Father, 'Into thy hands
I commend my spirit.' With the understanding that He had done everything
that was required of Him, He yielded up His life. And like some of those
in this room, many of us leave the gift on the desk, uneaten. "
Two students helped Steve up off the floor and to a seat, physically
exhausted, but wearing a thin smile.
"Well done, good and faithful servant," said the professor, adding, "Not
all sermons are preached in words."
Turning to his class, the professor said, "My wish is that you might
understand and fully comprehend all the riches of grace and mercy that
have been given to you through the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. He spared not His Only Begotten Son, but gave Him up for
us all, for the whole Church, now and forever. Whether or not we choose
to accept His gift to us, the price has been paid." "Wouldn't you be foolish and ungrateful to leave it lying on the desk?"
Share this with someone. It's bound to touch their heart and demonstrate
Salvation in a very special way.

Salvation Over BBQ!

2010-03-22T23:29:00.002-05:00

After I got back from Beach Reach, I had a fairly restful weekend. I ended up sleeping for 10 hours on both Friday and Saturday night. On Sunday afternoon, my friend Raul and I drove up to Rudy's BBQ for lunch. Raul is from Mexico and grew up Catholic. He has been hanging out with my roommate Jared and I and coming to our community group bible study.

From the minute I woke up on Sunday, the Holy Spirit was speaking to me that I needed to share the Gospel with Raul that day, and we had already planned to go get Rudy's together. I began praying as I got up and prepared to go, and I texted about 12 people (most of whom had gone to Beach Reach) to be praying for our conversation. In the car on the way up (about a 15-20 minute drive), we started talking about faith.

After we got there, ordered our food, and sat down, the conversation kept going. I had the chance to share my personal testimony of how God has been working in my life and transforming me since I accepted Christ at age 6. I got to share the Gospel with Raul, and He said that he has always seen God working in his life and believed in Him, but he had never made a commitment to Christ. We talked about it, and he came to the conclusion that it was time. Right there in Rudy's BBQ, he prayed to receive Christ!

There are still quite a few cultural issues to work through, and Raul has a long way to go in learning how to grow spiritually and seek God on his own, but it is incredible to see the work that God has done in his life since we first met and started hanging out with him. I can't wait to see what God will continue to do in and through my new brother Raul. To God Be the Glory!

Reflections on Beach Reach 2010

2010-03-20T15:27:00.000-05:00

I just spent an amazing week at Beach Reach on South Padre Island. I saw God move in huge ways in me, through me, and all around me. I learned to expect more from people than I might think on first seeing or meeting them. I learned that if I will just be open to having spiritual conversations, God will use that in powerful ways. When I was able to get personal and share my testimony and experiences in my relationship with God, He really worked powerfully, which I saw in my conversations with Marisol and Craig.

There are 3 words that summarize everything we did at Beach Reach:

Pray. Serve. Share.

I was constantly praying: praising God, confessing sin, thanking Him, and interceding for myself, other believers, and the people we were reaching out to. We were constantly serving everyone around us by providing free rides and free pancakes and meeting any other need that came up. We were constantly sharing our lives with Spring Breakers through personal and spiritual conversations where we got to share our heart, our faith, and the truth of the Gospel. I need to learn how to integrate Prayer, Service, and Sharing into my everyday life, especially for the guys in my Aerospace Engineering classes. What does that look like? I'm not exactly sure yet.

I do know that this week we were living on mission with God and we didn't have time to do anything else. I want to integrate Pray/Serve/Share into the things that are already in my schedule. However, I also need to reexamine my schedule and see what junk I need to cut out to live on mission with God.

Beach Reach is pointless if the 556 student who came to Pray, Serve, and Share on South Padre Island this week don't go back and do the same things on their own campuses. Now the real challenge begins. It's time to live Beach Reach.

Pray. Serve. Share.

Wrapping Up On Padre

2010-03-19T22:55:00.003-05:00

Last night we had worship on the Beach, then our final van shift from 11 PM-3 AM. We had quite a few good conversations, and we were able to get everyone home safely. I had 3 memorable conversations on the van during the night.

One was with a freshman named Spencer from Texas Tech. We talked about the difference between going to church and having a personal relationship with God. He said he feels far from God because he doesn't go to church much in Lubbock. I talked to him about the importance of being involved with Christian community and suggested he check out some student groups on his campus. I prayed with Spencer that God would renew his passion to seek Him.

The next guy I talked to was named Greg. He grew up in Illinois, went to high school in California, and goes to Sam Houston State University in Texas, the same school as my sister. Greg heard Xiaolei, my friend from China, share his testimony of how Jesus transformed his life after he came to America. I asked Greg what his spiritual background was and found out that he grew up non-denominational Christian and has been trying to go to church with friends a few times since coming to college. I told him about the BSM at Sam Houston and the Free Lunch on Wednesday that they do there, and prayed with him as well.

The last good conversation I had was with Craig, who is from Australia. He is friends with Sam, the guy who urinated on himself in our van a few nights ago. I talked to Craig about the existence of God, who he doesn't believe in. I had the chance to share my testimony of how Christ is transforming my selfishness, and how I have experienced a personal relationship with him. I asked Craig if he has ever experienced God working, and he said he notices beauty all around him in nature and people. We talked about how that beauty comes from God. I encouraged Craig to seek after God and prayed for God to reveal himself to him.

After we finished our van shift and cleaned up the midnight pancake breakfast, we headed back to the hotel to sleep from about 4 AM until 9:30 AM. Then we loaded up and left by 10:30. On the van ride back, we slept until we stopped at Chili's in Kingsville for lunch. After lunch, all the way back to Austin, we discussed what we had learned then affirmed each person on our team and prayed over them. We finally made it back to Austin around 6 PM.

It has been a great trip, and I have learned a whole lot about how God moves. Tomorrow I'll write a reflection on what I've learned and how Beach Reach 2010 is going to affect my life from here on.

More Love, More Power!

2010-03-18T16:28:00.002-05:00

This morning, we woke up around 10 AM and went to the church to serve pancake breakfast. I helped out by holding a sign that said "Free Breakfast" and cheered at cars driving by to get them to stop in for some pancakes.

While we were at the pancake breakfast, Marisol and Otti (the girls who accepted Christ last night) texted us and asked us to come pick them up. Grant, Rachel, and I took a van and picked them up with their luggage from the hotel. After we got to the church, the pancake breakfast was already over, but we sat around a table outside the church. It was Marisol and Otti, along with their friends Monica and Priscilla. We were also joined by Sarah Lancaster, the Wesley intern, and Ben Coleman. Sarah talked through with them the decision they had made last night and made sure they understood what it entailed. In the process of talking to Marisol and Otti, we asked the other two girls if they wanted to accept Christ as well. Priscilla said she already had, but Monica prayed to receive Christ right then and there! We got each of the girls a New Testament and gave one of them an NIV Student Bible. Ben got their email addresses and is going to get them connected with his sister, whose husband is on staff at a church in Fort Worth. Praise the Lord that these girls are going to have a mentor to help them grow in their faith together!

After we had lunch, we were outside, about to give a group of Spring Breakers a ride to the beach. I saw Sarah and Cesar hugging. Cesar has been plugged in with the Wesley for several years, but he was not a believer...until today! He accepted Christ, after years of seeking and searching. We all rejoiced with him in the lobby of our hotel.

Directly after that, we all headed to the beach, where there was a massive baptism service, in the middle of a crazy party. We had 20-30 people baptized who accepted Christ or rededicated their lives this week. While we were doing this, some Spring Breakers asked what was going on. Some of them heard the gospel declared, accepted it right there, and were baptized immediately!

God is good! Tonight we're going out again on the vans from 11 PM to 3 AM for our final shift. We will be manning the pancake breakfast outside of Louie's Backyard, the biggest club on the island and running shuttle service to and from there. Pray that God will continue moving! He's not done yet!

Three Salvations!!!

2010-03-18T04:15:00.002-05:00

Tonight during our van shift, we had an incredible time, and God worked powerfully through us. My teammate Drew was sitting in the break room at the church, when a group of Spring Breaker guys just walked up and asked for prayer. As Drew was talking to one of them, the guy said that he needed Christ, so Drew led him in a prayer to receive Christ! He is going to meet up with him tomorrow morning to follow up.

Later, on the van ride, I got to share with a guy named Anthony from Prairie View A&M. He was already a believer, but was drinking and partying with his friends. We talked about faith, he felt that he was not "doing enough" of what he should be. I prayed with him that God would just renew his passion to seek after Christ. He didn't make a decision, but I think he was starting to feel convicted about the drinking and partying he was involved in. Pray that God would keep working in Anthony's life and that he would begin seeking God again.

Towards the end of the night (around 3 AM), it was starting to get pretty crazy. We kept picking up groups of girls walking alone because we knew it wasn't safe for them to be out on the street. One group we picked up was 4 Hispanic girls from Fort Worth. A girl named Marisol sat next to me. We started talking, and I asked her if she knew why we did the free van rides. I got to tell her that we were showing Christ's love to them in a tangible way by giving them a safe ride back to their hotel. Then, I asked her if she had any spiritual background. She said that she grew up in the Catholic church, and had taught a communion class for 2nd graders at one point. She has not been going to church since starting school at Tarrant County Community College.

I asked her how her faith has changed her life outside of going to church. She didn't really know, and didn't have an answer for me, so she asked me that same question. I had the chance to share with her how I am imperfect, and that after accepting Christ, he has transformed me from the inside out. I got to share how Christ was a perfect, sinless sacrifice that took care of all of our mistakes, and allowed us to have a personal relationship with God by offering the free gift of grace.

I went on to describe how that relationship looks in my everyday life. We talked about the difference between religion and having a relationship with God. This whole idea of having a personal relationship with God seemed like a new concept for her. I explained how I have surrendered my life over to God, and I believe that he will take care of me and will always work everything out for good in my life, even if it is not easy or doesn't make sense at the time.

I then just asked her if she had that kind of relationship with God, and told her that she could have the same kind of relationship with God that I had. I asked her if she wanted that, and she said yes! So we prayed together, and she accepted Christ into her life and surrendered control to him. At the same time, my teammate Rachel had been sharing the gospel with Marisol's friend in the seat in front of us. They both accepted Christ!

Afterwards, we talked about how to seek God. We talked about the fact that prayer is a 2-way conversation, and that God speaks to us through the Holy Spirit by prayer, the Bible, other believers, and the church. We also talked about baptism, and how it is a public statement of the decision they have made. We got their contact information and are going to meet up with them tomorrow morning at the pancake breakfast. We are going to make sure they get connected with Christian community in their area, which shouldn't be difficult since our college pastor Ben Coleman is from the Fort Worth area and has a lot of connections.

Praise the Lord for these three people that were brought to Christ! Pray that each one of them would continue to grow in him. Pray that God would protect them from Satan's attacks, and that their hearts would be guarded against anything that would prevent them from growing in their faith. Pray that we will be able to stay in touch with them and that they will be able to connect immediately with Christian community that will encourage their spiritual growth. All glory be to God!

How Great Is Our God!

2010-03-17T15:49:00.003-05:00

Firstly, Ben Coleman (my college pastor) did an interview with a radio station in Florida and got to tell them all about Beach Reach. It is very descriptive and shares the heart of what we are doing in South Padre this week. Listen it out here: http://callfm.com/blog/?p=402

In the day since my last update it has been so much better! Our whole team had a spirit of discouragement before dinner last night, so we just prayed together as we were driving to the Church for dinner, and we all instantly felt God's calming presence, and the discouragement disappeared.

We had an incredible time of worship, and we all got to draw close to God and put our focus back on him. For the van rides from 11 PM-3 AM, God moved in an incredibly powerful way! Almost every single group in every single van had spiritual conversations and/or was prayed over!

I talked to one girl named Sierra, who said she needs to trust God more. After I prayed for her, she and her friends decided not to go into the club called Chaos that they were headed for, so we took them to McDonald's instead.

Another guy named Sam, from Australia, stayed in our van for an hour and a half, talking to Sarah (our driver) and Rachel (our navigator). He was pretty loopy, but they had a great spiritual conversation. He actually ended up urinating on himself before we got him back to the campsite where he was staying, but in spite of his condition, the girls really got to share with him what Jesus is all about and work through some questions he had.

Today, we went to the Beach and actually got to see a guy accept Christ for the first time! Amber, Amy and I went up to talk to a guy named Bob Hanus who carries a cross around and shares the gospel and his testimony of being rescued from drug and alcohol addiction by turning his life over to Christ (http://www.crosswalker.com/). 3 guys from Kansas walked up, and he asked them if they had been saved. Two of them said yes, but the third had not done that. Right then and there, he prayed to receive Christ! We got to talk to his friends and they were legitimate Christians. They were drinking Sprite on the beach and one guy wants to be a missionary. They are going to try to meet us for worship tonight and may even come back to the beach tomorrow for their friend to get baptized in the Gulf of Mexico.

Finally, on the way back to the hotel I ran into my friend Winston again! As soon as he saw me, he asked for prayer for his voice and I prayed for him. I got his number and invited him to worship tonight.

Keep praying that God's spirit would move powerfully! We are going out on the vans tonight again from 9 PM-3 AM. God is not done yet!

Moving Right Along...

2010-03-16T13:43:00.004-05:00

Today has been very interesting. Last night, we had a good van shift from 8 PM to midnight. We had quite a few spiritual conversations and many people were prayed over. A ton of different groups from Kansas came onto our van.

This morning, 9 of us went out to the beach and picked up trash. It was really windy and starting to rain by 9 AM, so we went back to the church for the pancake breakfast. My friend Drew talked to a guy named Johnny who is a believer who lives here in Port Isabel and works in one of the hotels on the island. He was jumped about 5 days ago, beaten up, and had his money stolen. Johnny really felt like God was telling him he needed to forgive those guys. He prayed with Drew and wants to join us for worship tonight.

Another guy who Jordan knows that lives in Austin came to the pancake breakfast and committed his life to Christ. He wants to get involved with the Alpha Course at the Wesley for seekers and young believers.

Personally, I've felt a little discouraged, just in having conversations with people. Pray that God would continue to fill me with his confidence and boldness tonight as we go out from 11 PM to 3 AM. Ask God to keep moving among us. Greater things are still to come, and greater things have yet to be done in this city!

God Is Good!

2010-03-15T14:13:00.005-05:00

Some awesome things have been happening here on the Island, and we are blown away by God's goodness and the incredible ways he is moving.

Here is a video update by my college pastor, Ben Coleman.(http://vimeo.com/10176234). Please watch it and hear the incredible story of how God put his team in the right place at the right time to save a girl who was one drink away from dying of alcohol poisoning. (Her BAC level was 0.359....0.4 is fatal)

From 3-4 AM, I was in the prayer room, lifting up our teams in the vans as they picked people up and shared the Gospel with them, or just talked. On the screen in the sanctuary, updates sent via text message were posted so that everyone could pray for each person who was being reached by name and the specific things they were talking about. Before I came in, 11 or 12 people had already accepted Christ that night!

After that, around 5 AM, our group went down to the Beach, where we cleaned up the thousands of beer cans that had been left there by partiers the day before. As we were walking down the Beach, I saw 3 guys sitting in a circle smoking cigarettes and drinking beer. A couple of us went over to see if they had heard about the free rides, and they asked us to sit down and chat. Two of them were from Tarleton State University in Stephenville, TX, and one was from Mexico. We talked for about 30 minutes about nothing, then they offered to help us clean up cans on the beach.

As we were walking toward where the rest of the group was, we had a great spiritual conversation with a guy named Winston. He was very open to talking about Jesus, and we had the chance to share the Gospel with him. He said he thought that was really great, but felt like he needed to experience God for himself, and not from what someone else said. We said, "Great! Can we pray for you that that would happen?" He agreed, and we prayed over him that God would reveal himself to Winston in a huge way so that he could feel God's personal love and fellowship. After we were done, Winston thanked us and said, "Man, I would love it if that happened!"

Winston helped us clean up some cans and met a few other people from our group before he took off. Pray that God will continue to speak into his heart and reveal himself to Winston this week! After we were done cleaning the Beach, Ben pulled out his guitar and we sang worship songs right in front of the stage on Coca-Cola Beach, where there is a huge, wild party during the day.

We went to bed around 8 AM, and now we are getting up and ready to do it all again! (not as early in the morning today though!). Thanks for your prayers, and please keep it up. We can feel the Holy Spirit moving powerfully on this Island!

Getting the Vans Rolling

2010-03-14T22:05:00.004-05:00

Last night, we got the whole Beach Reach crew together (almost 600 students and adult leaders). We had dinner at a bilingual church in Port Isabel, then had a rally there. We introduced everyone, then headed back to the Island, where the entire group broke into smaller groups and prayed for each other for several hours. Then we got into our vans and drove around, praying for the island and the Spring Breakers.

This morning we joined Island Baptist Church for their morning service, then headed to the Beach for prayer and worship. The UT team cheered on our friends from Timberline Church in Fort Collins, Colorado by forming a tunnel (see the picture). Later that evening, we did the same for the entire Beach Reach group.

After deciding on names for our vans and decorating them with paint on the windows, we began handing out hotline cards with the phone number that people can call to get free rides. We also started "going fishing" or picking up people who look like they need rides.

One of the guys we picked up was actually from UT! His name is Michael, and he is a freshman Aerospace Engineering major, so we have a lot in common. I talked to him about school for a while, then we talked about faith a bit. He grew up going to church, but doesn't have a personal relationship with Christ. He said his parents have told him for a long time that he needed to make a commitment to Christ, he just never has. He also doesn't go to church on Sundays. He seemed interested in talking about faith, but not quite ready yet. Pray that God will just open up his heart to hear the Gospel this week. Pray that he will continue to have more interactions with Beach Reachers on the van rides, the beach, and the pancake breakfast. Also, I didn't get his phone number, so pray that I will run into him again this week and that I will be able to reconnect with him back in Austin. One of my team members reminded me that I have been praying a lot that God would help me to bring what I learn at Beach Reach back to Austin. God really placed this guy in my path to provide just such an opportunity!

Another really awesome thing happened today, but I will save that for the next entry, since we start our first hotline shift at 2:30 AM! Also, be sure to check out my Facebook page throughout the week to see some pictures from the week (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=150716&id=510887477&l=02c9a13688). They will be updated less often, but will hopefully give you a better image of what is going on.

Arriving in Padre!

2010-03-13T15:51:00.005-06:00

We made it to Padre! We left UT around 5 PM on Friday, so we had lots of fun sitting in Austin traffic for an hour and a half.... My team played Catch Phrase for the first bit of the ride, then we had a great time of prayer and encouragement. We went around the van and each of us shared what has been going on in our life this week and what we need prayer for, then we went around and everyone prayed for each person. It was a great bonding experience. We also felt like God was calling us to pray against spiritual attacks, so we did that as well. By the time we got through praying for all of our team members, it was time to eat dinner. We stopped at a Dairy Queen and ate a quick dinner, then continued on to Padre.

By the time we finally got to the Island, it was after 1 AM. We didn't check into our hotel until the next afternoon, so we got to sleep in Island Baptist Church, which is our headquarters for the week and the only church on the island. I got to sleep just after 2 AM, laying in my sleeping bag across some of the pews in the sanctuary. This morning at 7:30 AM, Rusty, our UT team leader, led an hour of prayer centered around the Lord's prayer. He was praying in the sanctuary, so I woke up to prayer and just joined them :-). We then had a leaders meeting and a UT team meeting and then went back across the causeway to eat lunch at a seafood restaurant in Port Isabel.

After our meal, we met a clown named Yo-Yo who works at the restaurant. He is a Christian and lives in Mexico, going around to hospitals and ministering to children by cheering them up and making them balloon animals. That's him in the picture above. We've checked into our hotel, which has very spacious rooms more on the rest of the day later.

Beach Reach 2010

2010-03-04T20:03:00.002-06:00

During Spring Break this year, March 12th-19th, 2010, I will again be going on Beach Reach, a mission trip to South Padre Island, along with a couple hundred other Christian students from several other campus ministries at UT and from other colleges around the nation. South Padre is one of the biggest party destinations for Spring Break, and we will be reaching out to the thousands of students who fill the island during that week.

We need lots of prayer! Pray before, during, and after the week any time you think of me, the other students, the adult leaders, and those we are reaching out to. Specifically, I need 2 different people to commit to pray for each day of the trip (March 12-19). Please let me know if you are willing to make the commitment to support me by praying on a specific day. I will be posting updates and pictures throughout the week via Facebook and on my blog: http://pzschulte.blogspot.com. There is a box on my blog where you can type in your email address to receive updates by email, or you can let me know and I will add you to the list. For more info about Beach Reach, check out http://www.beachreach.org.

Here is what will happen on the trip. ‘Beach Reachers’ reach out to their partying peers by giving them free van rides wherever they want to go, feeding them free pancakes, and sharing with them the love and truth of Jesus Christ. God moves in very powerful ways when Spring Breakers who are caught up in a lifestyle of sin come face to face with unconditional love. As we serve and love the Spring Breakers, there are often opportunities to have really meaningful spiritual conversations. Most of the students we come in contact with have never seen Christians love people like we do, and many are fascinated by the love and acceptance of Christ that they see in us.

Each night of the week, from Sunday through Thursday, my team (8 students and an adult leader) will divide into 2 groups. Half of us will drive around the island in a church van, giving people rides. On the vans, we just talk to people, get to know them, and build relationships with them. Sometimes the conversations are nothing more than small talk, but often they turn to spiritual matters. At the same time, the other half of my team will be in the prayer room, the sanctuary at Island Baptist Church, praying for us as we talk to Spring Breakers (then we switch off several times). One person in our van will be sending text messages to the prayer room so the people praying know exactly who we are talking to and what we are talking about. Prayer is the most important thing that happens at Beach Reach, and it is incredibly powerful. When we pray, God guides us and uses us for His Glory. Our spiritual conversations are especially impactful because we are serving people in a tangible way, meeting needs that they can feel, and because people are praying for the conversations as they happen. Every year at Beach Reach, several dozen people come to know Christ as their Lord and Savior, some get baptized, and many more have their lives impacted in other ways.

During the day, we sleep, serve free pancakes for breakfast, hang out on the beach, talk to Spring Breakers, and pass out fliers with a phone number that they can call to get a free ride at night. Everything we do is focused on serving the people around us for the entire week we are there, and that service almost always opens up opportunities to have spiritual conversations.

Again, we need lots of prayer, so please let me know if you can commit to pray for me and if you want to receive email updates throughout the week.

“Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should” (Ephesians 6:19-20)

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone” (Colossians 4:2-6)

Thanks so much for your support!

--
Peter Schulte
1 Corinthians 13

"And we can see that God you're moving..."

2010-01-30T13:54:00.007-06:00

God has been doing some really cool things since I got back to Austin 3 weeks ago! I went on the Revival Retreat with 20 other students from UT during the week immediately before school started. Over Christmas Break, all of us had read 3 books about revival, and for 4 days we studied, discussed, prayed, worshiped, and fellowshipped together. Everything was focused on revival, which is basically an extraordinary time when God moves among his people to bring them back to Him.

Although I gained a lot of head knowledge about revival at the retreat, I also learned 3 really important heart lessons.

1.) We need to be seeking and hungering after God himself, not just his works or his blessings. That means that more than praying for revival, we should be praying that God would give us a desire to know Him more, and revival will come as a result!

2.) We need to be humble when God teaches us new things. We shouldn't look down on other believers who don't have the same understanding of God's ways that we do, and we need to learn from one another and build each other up.

3.) Prayer is powerful. It is the way that we seek God and changes our hearts to be more like His. God brings revival through the prayers of believers. Praying for one another is powerful and builds unity among the Body of Christ, an essential ingredient for revival.

If you'd like to know more about revival, check out my last 3 posts on the books we read. I'll hopefully be writing a short article some time this semester over what we talked and prayed about at the retreat and what I've learned.

The day after I got back from Revival Retreat, I went and worked at a DiscipleNow in Round Rock. I spent the weekend teaching 7th grade boys how to be disciples (followers) of Jesus, and learned a lot in the process. The highlight of the weekend was when one of the guys in my group made his decision to follow Christ!

For pictures of Revival Retreat and DNow, check out: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=138354&id=510887477&l=a2de741252

During the first week of school, I had to adjust from the spiritual intensity of the week before, but the transition ended up being fairly smooth. I really enjoyed going several times on a prayer walk around campus led by a friend of mine named Tommy Erdos. For 10 nights in a row, he led a different group of students each night, varying in size from 3 to more than 20. Each night, they did an hour-long prayer walk of campus then worshiped God at the UT Tower for an hour.

One night, after coming back from the prayer walk, I found my roommate playing the piano in the lounge of our dorm. He was singing hymns and other songs about God, and I felt compelled to read the book of Philippians out loud as he played. A lot of what I read was convicting for me; there's something powerful about reading God's Word aloud. I was almost crying when I got to Philippians 3:7-8:

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.

God just broke me down, and showed me that I hadn't done that. I had been holding on to things of this world rather than to Him. They may be good things, but my focus on them was keeping me from really desiring to know Him.

This past week (the second week of classes), was encouraging all around. We had our first BSM prayer time at the CHOP (Campus House of Prayer), which was awesome. Then, during FLOW (Free Lunch on Wednesday) at the BSM, I was in the prayer room by myself and 3 other students came and joined me without being asked, just because they wanted to! This is really encouraging, because I'm starting to see God working in the hearts of the students at the BSM and giving us a passion for prayer.

At our community group leaders meeting on Wednesday night, we talked about how God has placed certain relationships in our lives for a reason. Rather than trying to individually reach every single person in our community, we should focus on reaching out and loving the people who are closest to us already, the small circle of influence that has already been established in our lives. God is really helping me to do that, and is guiding me to very specific people who I can share his love with.

Finally, on Friday we had a CHOP community night, and about 30 people joined together for fellowship, then went to the roof of the parking garage across the street. We worshiped and prayed together in the cold wind, looking over the campus as the sun set, and it was awesome!

Then, after I got back to my dorm, my roommate went out with some friends, and I was left alone in our room. God filled me with an inexpressible joy, and I just started praising him in song and praying and nearly weeping out of sheer joy over his love. I really felt God's presence in a way I never have before, and it was incredible. God prompted me to read the book of Joel out loud, and showed me how our campus is like the land of Israel, devoured by spiritual, rather than physical, plagues. We are in dire straits, but there is hope if we repent, rend our hearts, and seek God with everything that we are; God will restore us, pour out his Spirit on us, and fill us with joy in Him once again.

God is definitely preparing the way for something big, and He will be at the center of it. If He has done all this (and much more) in just 3 weeks, I can't wait to see how he will move in the rest of this semester!

By the way in case you were curious, the title of this post is from the song "Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble?" by Delirious: http://popup.lala.com/popup/576742231766780429

Prayer Evangelism

2010-01-05T15:54:00.006-06:00

"Simply put, prayer evangelism is talking to God about our neighbors before we talk to our neighbors about God." In Prayer Evangelism, Ed Silvoso presents a practical and scriptural method to reach our cities for Christ. The mission of the Church, laid out by Jesus in Matthew 28:18-20, is to share the good news about Jesus with every man, woman, and child, and this starts with reaching the cities where we live.

Silvoso lays out a proven method to reach the lost by reaching out to the people immediately around you, your neighbors, friends, peers, and coworkers. Based on Luke 10, where Jesus sends out the seventy-two to preach the gospel, this method has proven extremely effective because it does not depend on our efforts or persuasive arguments but on God's power (see 1 Corinthians 2:1-5).

Accordingly, the first step of prayer evangelism is simply to pray for your neighbors. Recognize that Stan has blinded them to the truth about Christ (2 Corinthians 4:4) and only God's power can defeat Satan's. Speak blessing and peace into their lives and ask God to reveal himself to them. This is the most important step because if God is not working in your neighbors' lives and hearts, it doesn't matter what you say or do.

The next step is just spending time with our neighbors. "Fellowship provides an opportunity to show unconditional acceptance by welcoming our neighbors just the way they are instead of the way we want them to be." Jesus loved spending time with those who were considered "sinners" by the religious leaders of his day, and these "sinners" were drawn to him because he didn't judge them, but loved them (see Matthew 9:10-13). We must do the same.

Once we love our neighbors and begin spend time with them, they will see that we truly care about them. As we gain their trust, they will begin to share their felt needs with us, such as illness, family problems, or the need for a job, because they begin to sense that we have an answer. "It is at this precise moment that we can say to them, 'I've been praying for you, and I would be delighted to pray about this too.' " If they trust us, our neighbors will love to have us pray for them because they know that God has power, they just don't have his phone number. When you pray for their felt needs, ask God to meet them in a miraculous way. When he does this, they see his power at work and the kingdom of God draws near to them (Luke 10:9).

"Obviously, the most important need they have is salvation, but they don't know that yet...the key is prayer for miracles that meet the felt needs of unbelieving people"

"Imagine that after you have prayed for a miracle, a miracles does happen! The house that was in foreclosure is miraculously saved through an extraordinary series of events, or a better job replaces the one that was lost, or a sick person is healed. Would that person suddenly be interested in knowing who Jesus is? Absolutely!"

When people see miracles in answer to our prayers, they will be convinced of the power of Jesus and want to know more about Him. If we follow these steps in order, unbelievers will feel safe and naturally ask us to tell them about God's love because there has been a gradual improvement in the spiritual climate of our relationship.

This is such a simple method that everyone can do it, and if each person prays for and reaches out to the people directly around them, a whole city can be touched by God's power. The key here is being united, recognizing that there is only one Church in the city, and that all the different congregations and groups must put aside their differences and work together. Also, it is not just the job of pastors or Church staff to reach the city. Every Christian has this responsibility. "There is no way the 'pros' can win this match by themselves--every player in the Church must be active on the field!" It takes "the whole Church modeling the whole gospel to the whole city through prayer evangelism" to see a city reached for Christ.

In 1 Timothy 1:15-2:8, "Paul tells Timothy that by mobilizing the Church to pray for everybody in the city, they will ensure that all sinners have an opportunity to know that Jesus came to save them." We must all join together in prayer and love our neighbors where they are. Also, we are to bring Jesus to them, not make them come to church to get to him.

There is an "erroneous notion that the city should come to the church. It is the other way around: the Church must go to the city...[If we do this,] the Church will cease to be a monument, confined to one place, to a physical structure, and it will become once again a dynamic movement that expresses itself all over the city"

We need to change the way we think about evangelism.

"When Jesus said, 'You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free' (John 8:32), He was not talking about acknowledging a set of facts in our minds. Knowing the truth means experiencing the truth through a power encounter rather than the inconsequential intellectual assent we have made it out to be in the Western Church"

If we want our friends and neighbors to know the Truth, (and we should), we must introduce them to the person of Jesus Christ. Only God can reveal himself to the lost, so that is how we reach them, but praying for Him to do just that while we love them tangibly and unconditionally. We must unite with other believers and encourage them to do the same thing, believing that God can transform our city. "When a group of people has a compelling purpose, unity, and communication, nothing is impossible for them." (just take a look at the story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11). We may not think we can see an entire city come to Christ, but remember what Jesus said, "What is impossible with man is possible with God," (Luke 18:27). Now get out there and pray!

Revive Us Again

2009-12-29T19:28:00.019-06:00

I've just finished my second book on revival. It's entitled "Revive Us Again: Biblical Principles for Revival Today" and is written by Biblical scholar Dr. Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. The book is a study of 16 revivals in the Bible, 11 in the Old Testament and 5 in the New Testament. Each revival is studied in detail and in context, directly from the Biblical text, and the book uses numerous cross references to other passages and outside sources. Most importantly, Kaiser connects every story, verse, and quote to our current world (the book was written about 10 years ago) and how we can experience revival today.

The definition for revival comes from 2 Chronicles 7:14:

"if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land"

Revival is a time when God's people acknowledge their sin and turn back to Him, moving from a lazy, mediocre faith or outright rebellion into a fervent obedience to God's will and God's commands. Revival is not just an emotional worship service or a massive evangelistic meeting. It is a gift of God conferred as a result of prayer, confession, and turning from evil and selfishness to seek God with fervent enthusiasm. It is not just limited and local, but large-scale, national, even international. In a time when the Church and its people are infected with laziness, mediocrity, and hypocrisy, as well as sin, we are desperately in need of such a restoration.

Revival is first a renewing of God's people, not only an appeal to non-believers. In fact, according to Charles Finney, "Christians are more to blame for not being revived than sinners are for not being converted." As believers, we have free access to God through Jesus Christ (Hebrews 4:14-16), but all too often we fall in love with the ways of the world and get caught up in sin and selfishness. We don't grow, we don't pray, and we don't care. We slip into complacency, and that is why we need revival.

All of the great revivals studied in the Bible have similar characteristics, which we can look for when seeking revival today. First, a revival is often preceded by a time of deep spiritual and economic decline and despair (sound familiar?). Revivals always begin in the hearts of God's servants, who God uses to stir up the rest of His people. These faithful enter into the great work of prayer, which is God's instrument to bring revival. There is also a new and powerful proclamation of God's Word, meaning the message of the Bible is taught directly and not watered down. In a revival, God is always glorified and worshiped. Next, when people are truly revived, they get rid of any idols, which are objects or passions that compete with true devotion to God. In America today, these idols can be Money, success, academics, relationships, family, or any other priorities that are equal with or ahead of God in our lives. Each and every person in a revival feels a deep sense of sin and a desire to be free of it, for none of us is perfect and everyone sins. Finally, during revival there is a new sense of unbounded joy and exuberant gladness, and a time of great productivity and prosperity always follows.

The Bible gives us numerous snapshots of what revival looks like and how God has worked in the past. We have the examples of Moses, Samuel, Elijah, Ezra and Nehemiah, John the Baptist, the Apostles Peter and Paul, and numerous other leaders. Now it is our turn. We know that revival is needed in our day, and God will be pleased to give it to us, so we should begin by humbling ourselves, praying, and turning from our sin. We must seek God's face, renew our commitment to Him, and help others do the same by teaching them and praying for them. God is ready to send us a revival. Are we ready to receive it?

I leave you with this entreaty to pray from Cried Whyte that rings true in my own life:

My brethren, will nothing teach you to pray? Will all His examples, and all His promises, and all your needs, and cares, and distresses, not teach you to pray? Will you not tell your Saviour what a dislike, even to downright antipathy, you have at secret prayer; how little you attempt it, and how soon you are weary of it? Only pray, O you prayerless people of His, and Heaven will soon open to you also, and you will hear your Father's voice, and the Holy Ghost will descend like a dove upon you.

God On Campus

2009-12-18T18:59:00.007-06:00

I've just finished an incredible book called God On Campus: Sacred Causes & Global Effects by Trent Sheppard. This is the first of three books on revival that I am reading to prepare for a retreat in January. From the back cover:

God On Campus traces a remarkable legacy of spiritual awakening that stretches from the founding of the earliest colleges in the United States to a global movement of nonstop student prayer spreading across campuses today.

This book is a really cool way to learn about how God has moved on college campuses throughout history and led students to change the world. The best part is that is provides practical ways to join in with what God is doing on your campus and you can learn from the amazing stories of the past because each principle is illustrated by specific historical examples.

Through this book, God is teaching me that the choices I make every day in how I live my life for Him on campus have lasting impacts on the rest of my life, on those around me, and even into history. It's incredible to learn about the deeply spiritual foundation of schools like Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, and how devotion to God and knowing Jesus Christ was the primary aim of their students. For example, the original purpose of Harvard, as stated in the College of Laws of 1642 by President Henry Dunster, is simply:

Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well the main end of his life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life, John 17:3, and therefore to lay Christ in the bottom, as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning. And seeing the Lord giveth wisdom, let everyone seriously set himself by prayer, in secret, to seek it of Him

It was also amazing to see the impact of Charles and John Wesley at Oxford in 18th century England and how their devotion to Christ transformed their culture and society. The things these young men did on their campuses I can do on mine: Intentional, honest accountability. Intense discipleship. Service to the poor and destitute. Supporting and encouraging younger students. Fasting and prayer. And Spreading the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The important thing is to seek God together with like-minded believers, for "where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them" (Matthew 18:20).

Sheppard encourages us to join together and "begin to engage God in prayer." We have to act on what we believe now, and recognize that "shaping history is not a spectator sport." Sheppard shows us that "Intentional friendships that include honest conversations, steady rhythms of prayer, and practical service to others are essential for spiritual growth"and urges us to "explore the depths of friendship in God"

We must make sure that we engage our faith both intellectually and emotionally. Sheppard says, "The urgent need of our generation, and one of the most important themes of this book, is the rejoining of heart and head in our understanding of spiritual awakening, and especially in our day-to-day following of Jesus". We are also urged by these stories to live our life on purpose.

There is a deep desire in the human heart, common to most people, and especially active in students, to be a part of something bigger, greater, and significantly more lasting than the daily grind of classroom duties and the cyclical patterns of nine-to-five routines.

This book is replete with stories of students through the years (and up to today) who lived life on purpose. "Day after day - through steady teaching, honest conversations, and open prayer - students gave themselves to God in increasing depth." They made unreserved surrender to God, and were willing "to go anywhere, at any time, to do anything for Jesus"

Finally, these stories show that prayer and confession are central to any revival movement. Prayer promotes unity among differing viewpoints and brings the Body of Christ together across geographic and denominational boundaries to seek God. Also, it is important to realize that prayer leads to action by Mission (spreading the message of Christ), Mercy (loving the least of these), and Marketplace (living like Jesus in every area of culture and society).

The fact is that whenever a significant minority of students have truly given themselves to live at the intersection of prayer, mission, and justice, lives have been changed

Revival is not just historical; it is happening today. There is a "movement of prayer currently building across the campuses of America... Historically speaking, we are probably in the middle of the most widespread movement of prayer Christianity has ever experienced." Building off of the current prayer movement:

In 2010, an initiative of 24-7 Prayer called Campus America is partnering with students and professors , long-established collegiate ministries and brand new communities of faith, to help connect every college and university campus in the United States in a chain of non-stop student prayer for an entire year.

God is working mightily, and there is a huge movement on the college campuses of America. You can join in, by uniting with your friends and other believers on your campus in prayer. Wait, watch, listen, and obey when God reveals how He wants to use you.

If we get down on our knees side by side, we'll stand up much stronger together. Unified and humble prayer around the person of Jesus is a powerful prescription for the ills of our time

God is at work on campus. Why not join Him?

Find out more about Campus America:
http://campusamerica.org/

See what's going on at the University of Texas at Austin:
http://campusamerica.org/sections/2416-the-university-of-texas-at-austin

I Surrender All

2009-12-15T14:05:00.002-06:00

My semester is over, exams are finished, and I'm back home with my family for a month. Before I went to bed last night, I read through the beginning of Psalm 105, and verse 4 really struck me:

Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always

As I said in my last entry, God has recently shown me that I've been self-sufficient, relying on my own strength and abilities rather than looking to His. The second half of the verse is impactful to me because I really want to learn how to seek God's face, to know Him intimately through prayer and His Word (the Bible).

Last night, after I had turned out the light and was thinking over this verse, trying to meditate on it, I just couldn't relax and fall asleep. My mind kept wandering as I thought about other things, so I rolled out of bed and got on my knees.

I asked God to take away my self-reliance, to show me how to look to His strength. I even asked Him to bring me troubles and hardship that I might learn to lean on Him. I asked Him to show me how to seek His face always, and to enjoy being in His presence at all times. I recognized that having a month off from school is an incredible opportunity to draw close to God, something I desperately need. It's a chance to develop a relationship that can continue when the busyness of life resumes at the beginning of next semester.

I also prayed over the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20:

Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

God has called me to live this out at UT, and he wants me to trust Him to show me how as I allow Jesus Christ to rule and reign in and through me. I also feel that I need to go back to Argentina at some point, this time much more intentionally, as a missionary for a short-term trip (a summer or a semester). It's hard for me to see exactly when that will be because I am applying for a summer internship at NASA's Johnson Space Center and may be co-oping there in the Fall, but I need to trust God and surrender my plans to Him so He can show me the right way to go.

As I was praying, I sang "Holy is the Lord" to praise God, and then, recognizing my need for surrender, I sang this song:

All to Jesus I surrender
All to Him I freely give
I will ever love and trust Him
In His presence daily live

I surrender all
I surrender all
All to thee, my blessed savior
I surrender all

All to Jesus I surrender
Humbly at His feet I bow
Worldly pleasures all forsaken
Take me Jesus, take me now

I surrender all
I surrender all
All to thee, my blessed savior
I surrender all

All to Jesus I surrender
Lord, I give myself to thee
Fill me with thy Holy Spirit
Let thy presence fall on me

I surrender all
I surrender all
All to thee, my blessed savior
I surrender all

Then, I took a moment to be quiet, and I asked God to speak to me. I felt me was telling me one word: Love. At first, I thought the Holy Spirit was trying to impress on my heart His love for me, but then I realized that He was prompting me to live out 1 Corinthians 13:

And now I will show you the most excellent way.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

This passage is often read at weddings, and its true that this kind of love is essential for a healthy marriage. But the kind of love outlined here is so much more than romance. It is the very love Jesus has for each one of us. It is selfless, sacrificial love that always puts the needs of another person ahead of yourself. God wants us to have this kind of love toward every person we come in contact with. I know I don't have that kind of love in and of myself, but Christ lives in me (Galatians 2:20), and with His Love, I can have this selfless, sacrificial nature.

So, more than just deepening my relationship with Him, Christ wants to fill me with the Holy Spirit and transform me from the inside out. I need to learn how to love selflessly and sacrificially, starting by investing in my family, my roommate, and my friends, and branching out to every single person God brings across my path.

Is any of this possible on my own? Of course not. That is why I have to surrender everything to Jesus, let Him take control, and watch my life become an instrument of the Glory of God.

His Grace Is Sufficient

2009-12-08T00:41:00.006-06:00

On Sunday evening in my Bible Study class this week, we talked about exhortation (strongly urging or warning our Christian brothers and sisters about sin in their lives in a loving way; see Galatians 6:1-2). We examined how David sinned with Bathsheba and Nathan the prophet confronted him about it in 2 Samuel 11-12. As we were talking about how we should exhort our brothers and sisters in Christ, I recognized that I needed to be investing more in my relationship with my roommate we would know each other well enough to be able to notice when something is wrong.

That night when I got back to our dorm room, we sat down and talked for a good while. I asked him how he was doing, and tried to see if there was something going on in his life spiritually that I could help him with. The conversation ended up turning back to me, and I discovered a huge roadblock in my life. It has been keeping me from being effective for God's Kingdom, and I hadn't even recognized that it existed.

Basically, I set really high expectations for myself in a lot of areas this semester: in ministry, in my walk with God, and in my relationships, among other things. Then, when I wasn't able to follow through with those expectations, I felt like I had failed. What actually happened is that I have been trying to do things on my own. I have been trying, in my own effort and strength to do what I thought needed to be done. I haven't trusting in God to work through me or show me how to act. I have just been planning what I thought I should do and then NOT doing it, because guess what, I'm not perfect!

I was telling another friend about this tonight, and he pointed me to 2 Corinthians 12:7-10:

To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

My wise friend explained to me something I already knew but really needed to hear. I'm not perfect, and I can't do everything on my own. I was never meant to, and every time I try on my own, I will fail. God intended for me to fail. God wants me to recognize my weakness and depend on Him, so that His power may be displayed, not my meager human effort.

"It does not therefore depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy" -Romans 9:16

"Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you trying to attain your goal by human effort?" -Galatians 3:3

I have been acting like the foolish man who built his house on the sand. I have been basing everything on my own effort, which of course fails every time, so I've gotten burned out. What I need now is to learn how to stand in Christ. I need to learn to let His power and His strength fill me and allow Him to work through me, rather than trying to do things on my own.

God, help me to learn to trust in you and depend on you. Take away all my self-sufficiency and let me rely solely on you. I know that if I take things into my own hands, I will fail every time. So help me to place my trust in you, because I know that you never fail.

Transparency

2009-10-23T17:54:00.002-05:00

"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective" -James 5:16

God has been teaching me a lot about being transparent recently. I have never really had an accountability partner, someone who I could just be open and honest with and share my struggles with. This semester, God had really helped me establish some great relationships that have taught me how to be transparent.

The first, and most extensive, is with my roommate Jared. We didn't know each other very well last year, but this year we are sharing a room and leading a missional community group (Bible Study and outreach) in our dorm together. We share everything with each other: our sins, our desires, our dreams, our fears. We are able to lean on each other for support because of our shared faith and dependence on Christ and our total transparency. It's hard sometimes because we don't see each other during the day, but we have developed a close relationship to the point where we can trust each other and tell each other things we don't tell anyone else.

The second great relationship I've developed is with my parents. I've never really had a bad relationship with them, but this year I've been able to confide in them more. I hardly ever go home, but I call them at least once a week and we talk for nearly an hour or more. I go to them for advice and support, and I have been able to share and talk about really personal issues. It has been great being able to get to know them better and see their amazing faith and how they live it out, much of which I missed when I was still living with them. My mom really is an incredible prayer warrior, and she has taught me some great lessons for ministry, my prayer life and relationship with God, and many other things. My dad has been great at giving me advice for balancing school and extra-curricular activities and how to go about applying for internships. Oddly, I feel like I've grown much closer to my parents by being away from them!

Finally, I've been able to be more open and honest with everyone else in my life. I feel much more comfortable sharing the things I'm going through or what I've learned recently. I would love to talk with you sometime too. Let's meet up and have real, open, honest conversation. We can talk about our struggles, our fears, and our joys. We can talk about our faith, and what God is teaching us. Even, and especially, if you don't share my beliefs, I still want to share my life with you, let you see who I really am and discover who you truly are. We all have a desire to be genuine and transparent with one another. So let's do lunch. Let's share ourselves with each other. Let's do life together.

--
Peter Schulte
1 Corinthians 13

I See A Generation Rising Up to Take Their Place

2009-10-08T22:28:00.003-05:00

The Body of Christ here at UT is coming together like never before.

I see a generation
Rising up to take their place
With selfless faith
With selfless faith

I see a near revival
Stirring as we pray and seek
We're on our knees
We're on our knees

These words, from the song "Hosanna" show very well what is going on here at the University of Texas at Austin. Tonight, several hundred believers met together for All Campus Worship in a large classroom on campus. There were students from many different churches and student groups, and they all came together to worship God and pray for our campus.

God is doing some really cool things at UT. He is uniting together believers from different groups for a prayer movement. At the Campus House of Prayer (CHOP) (http://www.texasunited.org), there are groups of students praying together at all hours of the day and night. One of these groups is called the Fusion Group, and it includes almost 30 student leaders from all the Christian ministries on campus. They meet at the CHOP from 5-6 PM every Monday, united in prayer for our campus and worship of our God.

We also have a movement of Missional Communities (http://renovateut.com/). These are groups of two or more believers who live intentionally in their dorm, club, or school, basically committing to be missionaries among the people they are around every day.

All Campus Worship was a great time to show these things to the believers who didn't already know about them and draw us together in unity to cast a vision for how God is accomplishing His purposes on this campus. We are seeing a definite movement toward prayer and revival, and more believers are starting to live missionally in the communities they are already a part of.

Please pray that God will continue calling more Christians to join the movement of prayer and missionally living. "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field." -Luke 10:2

Ask yourself this question. What can I do to see God's purposes accomplished in the places where I am already? How does God want to move in my neighborhood, workplace, or school? How can I be a part of that? If you are a Christian at UT, follow the links above and see how you can get involved with what God is already doing here. If not, try to find other people of like mind and heart where you are, and join together with them. You're not alone. By uniting with other believers and with God's help, you can make a difference in the lives of the people around you!

Desires Fulfilled

2009-09-17T22:10:00.002-05:00

This has been a huge week for me. Originally, before school started, I had been planning and hoping on bringing my car to Austin at the beginning of the semester. I had been waiting and thinking about it for quite some time, but when the moment came, the car had some problems, and I didn't get to drive it to Austin in August before Ignite. Also, this week my cell phone completely broke. I could still send and receive text messages, but when I called anyone, we couldn't hear each other. Both of these things were fairly inconvenient to me, but I was prepared to accept and deal with them.

Last week, my parents had even told me that they would bring my car and Dad's old phone on October 24th for Parents' Weekend. This was still six weeks away at the time, but I made up my mind not to fret about my need to depend on others for transportation and communication. Essentially, I had died to the desire to have a car and a working phone and turned them over to God, to wait patiently on His timing. He sure surprised me!

On Sunday night, I was at EntryWay Café, a student run coffee shop in an old house on our church's property, and my Dad called me. Of course, I couldn't answer because my phone was broken, so I borrowed my friend's phone and called my Dad back. I was totally surprised when my Dad told me he had the week off from work, and he and Mom were coming on Tuesday (2 days later) to bring my car and his old phone! We talked a little about logistical things, like what kind of parking permit I needed, then hung up.

Later, I was talking to God and felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude. At the time, I thought he was giving me a blessing I hadn't asked for, but looking back on it now, I have a slightly different perspective. Having a car and a working phone, though they are petty, logistical things, were really desires of my heart, things I wanted because I knew I could use them for His Glory (by giving rides, coordinating things, inviting people to things, etc.) When I truly died to the desire for these thing, when in my heart, I knew I would be okay without having them, that was when God provided them. I know it sounds backwards, but God gave me my desires only after I was able to trust Him and go without them. It was something I have heard about a ton, but had never truly experienced until this week.

"Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart" -Psalm 37:4

Prayer is Answered!

2009-08-16T18:16:00.005-05:00

Thursday through Sunday was the Ignite retreat. We had more than 70 freshmen come, and it was an incredible weekend. Pictured above is Camp Drama, my group, which is one of six. The entire weekend was a series of answered prayers.

First, God provided campers, and they were amazing! Almost without exception, the campers in our group are incredibly spiritually mature and desire to grow with God. In the guy's small group, we were able to be open and honest with each other and discuss issues that guys face in college, as well as our own struggles.

While the Ignite retreat is a ton of fun, it is also a time when the incoming freshmen grow spiritually. They are able to see how God is already working at the University of Texas, and learn about the importance of developing a community of believers to provide accountability and live together in Christ.

On Saturday night, I was in the prayer room just before and during the beginning of worship. We saw some incredible things happen, and it was very evident that God was moving among the campers and the staff as a direct result of our focus on prayer.

One specific example of answered prayer was in the life of a camper named Kian. He is not a Christian, but is the friend of one of our counselors. She invited him to come to Ignite, and he seemed interested in it. For several weeks before the retreat, we prayed that Kian would come. He did not sign up until the night before camp, but he came, and God did some incredible things in his life. Though he did not accept Christ as his personal Lord and Savior, Kian recognized that his life is changing radically. Where before this week he would never have listened to what a Christian had to say, he is now wanting to study the Bible and come to Church.

God answered all of our prayers in a huge way, and has gone far beyond what we could have imagined Ignite would be like this year. He really has set a fire in the hearts of the incoming freshmen, and they will enter UT ready to learn and grow in Him, and to be used to bring glory to God. It is going to be incredible to see the way He moves among the students at this University this semester.

Pictures from the retreat: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=99355&id=510887477&l=bc1d387786
Videos: http://www.facebook.com/video/?id=510887477

Pre-Week Preparations

2009-08-12T14:15:00.008-05:00

I arrived in Austin on Monday morning for Pre-Week. The entire staff of Ignite (75 students) all met together at the Texas Union. We had time to mingle, played games, and prayed about the week and for the freshmen. Then, we split up into our our camps, six smaller groups of about 12 staff members. Each camp is named after a different movie genre, and my group is called Camp Drama. We are staying at our leader's apartment and doing everything together to prepare for the freshman retreat this weekend. We have been making decorations for our room and preparing a camp skit and chant. We have also been sharing our testimonies and praying together.

On Monday night, we went to eat at Rudy's BBQ and then everyone met at Mount Bonnell, the highest point in Austin, and had a time of worship together. All the staff meets together every morning to pray and discuss logistics. We also have time to just hang out, eat meals together, and take time to do fun things like play tennis and ultimate frisbee.

Everyone in my group is having a great time, and we're really growing closer together and getting a lot done. Tonight, we have a pep rally at the UT Tower. Tomorrow morning, we will go to Highland Lakes (the retreat center), and prepare our rooms for the freshmen, who will arrive in the early afternoon!

Ignite!

2009-08-08T16:42:00.000-05:00

I've only been home from Argentina for two weeks now, but I'm already preparing to leave again!

I'm a member of a student organization at UT called Ignite. We are a group of 75 Christians from many different denominations and organizations around campus. Each August, we put on a retreat for incoming freshmen, to help them "enter UT united and passionate about God's glory" by showing them "the strong Christian influence on campus and how God is moving at the University of Texas at Austin"

I attended the retreat last year as an incoming freshman, and it really encouraged me and helped me to see what God was already doing at UT before I ever arrived. As a result of going to Ignite last year, I also knew over 100 people on campus before I even moved in! After entering UT, I joined Ignite so that I could give back and allow God to use me to show the same things that I saw to this year's freshmen.

Ignite's staff will be meeting all together in Austin on Monday (Aug 10th) and will spend the week preparing for the retreat, which is Thursday, August 13th through Sunday, August 16th at Highland Lakes Camp and Conference Center on Lake Travis.

One really cool thing about Ignite is that it is built on prayer. Communication with and direction from God guides every decision and activity. We have two prayer officers and a prayer team who run a 24-hour prayer room during the retreat. Throughout the year, everyone in the organization has been meeting weekly to pray for the incoming freshmen. The Enemy will be attacking the incoming freshmen and the staff this week. We need your prayers!

This retreat has the potential to be a life-changing weekend for incoming freshmen. Pray, first of all, that they will come! With only a few weeks until school starts, freshmen are busy packing for college, finishing up summer jobs, and seeing off their family and friends. Pray that they will be able to take a break from all the action and noise and come to the retreat, ready to discover all God wants to show them. They are what this retreat is all about. Pray that they will focus on God, and be willing to listen to whatever he tells them. Pray that they will be able to overcome shyness and make lifelong friends. Pray that they may grow personally and spiritually throughout the retreat, and be "thoroughly equipped" to enter the University of Texas at Austin and start off on the right foot.

There is also a dedicated group of people called the Staff. We are all UT students who feel the importance of helping incoming freshmen be Ignited by God's Presence. We have spent the entire year praying, planning, and preparing for this weekend retreat. Pray that God will prepare our hearts to be servants this entire week. Pray that we will experience an abundance of God's joy and love, so we can share it with the freshmen. Pray that we will be protected from Satan's snares that hold us down and shielded from temptation so we can focus all our spiritual strength on helping the freshmen. Pray that we will be the hands and feet and mouth of Christ, showing His Love and Acceptance to the freshmen.

Another group of people who needs your prayers is Branch, the worship band for the weekend. Pray that God will use them as His instruments to connect the campers and staff with Him. Pray that they will be humble servants of Him, and that they will direct all glory to God, not themselves. Pray that they will be able to meet the students and enjoy the weekend retreat.

Finally, there is the camp pastor, who will be giving two messages each day at the retreat. Pray that God would speak through him and use him to deliver exactly the messages the incoming freshmen need to hear. Pray that everything he says would be God-inspired and scripturally grounded. Pray that he will get to know the students and relate to them personally.

Please pray for all these things and more, starting right now! God has huge plans for Ignite and the University of Texas and prayer moves the hand that moves the world!

Once again, the dates for Ignite 2009 are:
August 10-13: Staff Preparation
August 13-16: Freshman Retreat

I will be posting updates throughout the week, as possible, on my blog: http://pzschulte.blogspot.com
Thanks in advance for your prayers, and please feel free to share this with anyone who will pray!

--
Peter Schulte
1 Corinthians 13

P.S. Check out Ignite's website at http://www.ignitetexas.org

Reflections on Argentina

2009-07-27T15:57:00.003-05:00

Up to now, my blog has been a pretty detailed record of my experiences in Argentina over the last two months. Now, I'd like to share a little more of my thoughts and what I feel like I've learned during my time abroad.

First of all, I improved my Spanish skills tremendously. I took three years of Spanish from 8th-10th grade, and hadn't had a Spanish class in 3 years. I was really surprised by how much I retained, and I was able to communicate very well in Spanish. The place I learned the most Spanish and had the most chances to practice in Argentina was at church. We studied the Bible and discussed it in Spanish, prayed in Spanish, and sang worship songs in Spanish. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep practicing, and if anyone reading this would like to talk or write to me in Spanish, I'd love to chat with you.

Secondly, I had to adjust to a completely foreign environment and culture. This wasn't a huge challenge for me, but there are some interesting differences between Argentina and the U.S. For example, when you greet someone in Argentina, you always touch cheeks and kiss the air next to them. To them, it's just as natural as shaking hands.

God taught me several things during my time in Argentina. I've become much more aware of my need to connect with Him all throughout the day rather than only during specific times in the morning and evening. Also, he showed me that during those specially dedicated "Daily Quiet Times" I need to be free and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to me rather than confining myself to a formulaic routine, as I am prone to do.

I've also found that I know and understand a lot of Biblical Truths. Even though I don't always know exactly how to apply them to my life directly, when I invest in others to share what God has taught me, he can use that to bring them inspiration and growth.

Finally, I've learned that I have to trust God and allow His plans to take over rather than making my own plans and trying to fit them into His. God knows the best way to accomplish His Will, and he will show me one step at a time how he wants to use me. I have to be patient and obedient if I want to be a part of His plan.

Even though I'm no longer in Argentina, I'm still going to continue this blog. I probably won't relate every detail of my daily life any more, but I will continue to share my thoughts and recount my experiences of what God is doing all around me. Thanks for reading and praying for me during my trip to Argentina!

P.S. For a pictorial review of my trip, check this out: http://www.flickr.com/photos/38439335@N03/sets/72157621784638141/with/3777034772/

Don't Cry For Me Argentina

2009-07-25T17:30:00.001-05:00

On Tuesday, Chris, Kelly and I, along with Argentine friends German and Seba, set out on a road trip. We rented a small cabin on a lake near the town of Lobos. Basically, we just hung out in the cabin together, played a few games, studied some Bible passages, and talked. The whole trip was overcast, rainy and cold, but we had a great time and enjoyed each others company.

When we arrived at the lake, we discovered that there was almost no one else there! After looking around for a while we finally found someone to give us the keys to get into our cabin, then we went to buy some food at a nearby supermarket. As we were checking out, we asked the guys working there if there was anyone else around the lake. They said we were the only ones. It actually felt a lot like a ghost town, and there were really no other tourists there because of the weather

We made sandwiches for lunch and then drove to the nearby town of Lobos. The rain reduced to a sprinkle, and we walked around the town for a while before driving back to the cabin. We did some Bible study, and Kelly taught us a card came called Euchre, which is apparently pretty popular in the Midwest. I had played before a few times but only just learned the game in Argentina from some other UT students. We had pasta for dinner, then talked until just after midnight before heading to bed.

On Wednesday, we woke up around 8:30 and sat down for breakfast. We had some quiet time, and I took some time to read. I finished a short little book called The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. It talks about how we can practice God's presence all throughout our day. The idea is that you can be in touch with God all day long, not just during dedicated times of prayer or Bible study. This is one of the things I am trying to learn to do, but it is very hard, and can only be developed little by little with God's help. I would definitely recommend the book to everyone, and it's a very quick read.

After lunch, Seba looked out the window and noticed it was snowing! The temperature had dropped below freezing, and snowflakes were falling! Although it is winter there, snow is unusual, so we all went outside and enjoyed it (see the picture above). In addition to snow, there was also a huge flock of flamingos in the lake. (check out my pictures on Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=93797&id=510887477&l=37d3014b6a) We also played a game using Scrabble tiles called Banana Grams, spelling out words in Spanish and English. On Saturday night we went into Lobos for dinner at a restaurant there, then bought some ice cream for dessert, which we ate along with tortas fritas and dulce de leche. We stayed up watching TV until about 2 AM.

On Thursday, we slept in late (past 10 PM), then woke up, had breakfast, and set out in the car to try to find a place where we could rent some horses to ride. We were unsuccessful, and came back to the cabin to pack up the car, then went to Lobos and bought some empanadas for lunch. The rain had finally cleared up, and the sun was out for our drive back to La Plata. After dropping off Kelly and Seba, we went back to Chris and Flor's house and I quickly took a shower and packed up my suitcases. I said goodbye to Flor and Valentina, then Chris and German took me to the airport in Buenos Aires.

For my last meal in Argentina, I went to McDonald's at the airport. On the 10 hour plane ride, I had a hard time sleeping. I ended up watching three movies (Monsters vs. Aliens, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Race to Witch Mountain). The security people had made me dump out my water bottle before getting on the plane, so in addition to having difficulty sleeping (It's kind of hard to stretch out when you're over 6'4") I was dehydrated. I called the flight attendant when I felt lightheaded and she brought me a tiny bottle of water, but being dehydrated mostly just added to me not being able to sleep.

We arrived on time in DFW around 6:30 AM, and I had about an hour to get through immigration and customs and recheck my bags for my connection to Houston. I barely made it, and was one of the last on the plane, which was supposed to leave at 7:45. We landed in Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport about 8:45. My mom and my sisters were waiting for me right outside of Security, waving a poster saying "Welcome Home Peter!"

Now, I have two weeks at home in Sugar Land, then I will be in Austin for two weeks before school starts on August 26th.

Slowing Down

2009-07-20T17:02:00.001-05:00

On Tuesday, Chris and I did some projects around the house, such as putting some foam padding in the door frames to keep the cold out. Wednesday we spent the day in La Plata and had our Grupo de Vida small group Bible study at the office apartment in the evening. That night was the final game for the Copa de Libertadores, the soccer championship of Latin America. Our home team, Estudiantes de La Plata won the game! Everyone in La Plata was going crazy, and I think they probably partied all night. For the next several days, people were driving around honking their horns and waving red and white flags.

On Thursday afternoon, we went to Kelly's apartment to help her sand some new furniture she bought in preparation to paint it. On the way, we got a flat tire...
Friday Chris and I went to the orphanage and began digging the holes for the basketball goals. We went back on Saturday and finished them (see the picture above) They are almost 2 meters deep each (over 6 feet).

Sunday I went to church with Flor in City Bell. We heard her brother Niko tell about his trip to Egypt. In the afternoon, we had lunch with Flor's family, eating sausages and meat on a stick. On Sunday night, Chris and I watched a lecture of the 3 Apollo 11 astronauts live on NASA TV on the Internet. We ordered some ice cream to be delivered, and then started reading a book together out loud. It's The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis, a very interesting interpretation of what Heaven and Hell might look like.

On Monday, we had some friends over and did an asado, grilling meat. Then we went to a nearby park and played soccer. Tomorrow, we are going on a retreat to Lobos, a town about an hour and a half away. We're renting a cabin and will be spending 3 days there.

"Beware the File-Card Mentality"

2009-07-18T08:14:00.002-05:00

I've been reading through a collection of some of the best essays by A.W. Tozer that Chris let me borrow. They are great works about Christianity, and very personally challenging to me. I read "Beware the File-Card Mentality" last night, and I immediately read it again. This was a direct hit to many habits I've formed in my walk with God that I hope to discontinue immediately with His help. I'm going to quote the entire essay here and let it speak for itself:

The essence of true religion is spontaneity, the sovereign movings of the Holy Spirit upon and in the free spirit of redeemed men. This has through the years of human history been the hall mark of spiritual excellency, the evidence of reality in a world of unreality

When religion loses its sovereign character and becomes mere form, this spontaneity is lost also, and in its place come precedent, propriety, system---and the file-card mentality.

Back of the file-card mentality is the belief that spirituality can be organized. Then is introduced into religion those ideas which never belong there---numbers, statistics, the law of averages, and other such natural and human things. And creeping death always follows.

Now a file card is a very harmless little tool and a very useful one for some purposes. It is splendid for keeping attendance records in the Sunday school, and a good mailing list can hardly be managed without it. It is a thing in its place and deadly out of its place. Its danger comes from the well-known human tendency to depend upon external helps in dealing with internal things.

When the file card begins to direct the Christian's life, it immediately becomes a nuisance and a curse. When it gets out of the file case and into the human heart, woe be unto us; nothing but an internal spiritual revolution can deliver the victim from his fate.

Here's how the file card works when it gets into the Christian life and begins to create mental habits: It divides the Bible into sections fitted to the days of the year, and compels the Christian to read according to rule. No matter what the Holy Spirit may be trying to say to a man, still he goes on reading where the card tells him, dutifully checking it off each day.

Every Spirit-led saint knows that there are times when he is held by an inward pressure to one chapter, or even one verse, for days at a time while he wrestles with God till some truth does its work within him. To leave that present passage to follow a pre-arranged reading schedule is for him wholly impossible. He is in the hand of the free Spirit, and reality is appearing before him to break and humble and lift and liberate and cheer. But only the free soul can know the glory of this. To this the heart bound by system will be forever a stranger.

The slaves to the file card soon finds that his prayers lose their freedom and become less spontaneous, less effective. He finds himself concerned over matters that should give him no concern whatsoever---how much time he spent in prayer yesterday, whether he did to did not cover his prayer list for the day, whether he gets up as early as he used to or stays up in prayer as late at night. Inevitably, the calender crowds out the Spirit and the face of the clock hides the face of God. Prayer ceases to be the free breath of a ransomed soul and becomes a duty to be fulfilled. And even if under such circumstances he succeeds in making his prayer amount to something, still he is suffering tragic losses and binding upon his soul a yoke from which Christ died to set him free.

The pastor, too, must watch lest he become the victim of the file card. From the road in, it looks like a good idea to work out a system of sermon coverage, mapping out the doctrines of the Bible as a farmer divides his acres, allowing a certain amount of time during the year for sermons on the various Bible truths so that at the end of a given period proper attention will have been given to each one. Theoretically, this should be fine, but it will kill any man who follows it, and it will kill his church as well; and one characteristic of this kind of death is that neither pastor nor people are aware that it has come.

Those responsible for the activities of the churches and gospel workers must look out for the file-card snare. It is a deadly thing and works to quench the spontaneous operation of the Spirit. No one need die, no one need lie in patient, suffering prayer in the presence of God while the Holy Spirit imparts His sovereign will to the believing heart. No vision of God, high and lifted up, no shocking exposure of inner uncleanness, no pain of a burning coal upon the lips.

The glory of the gospel is its freedom. The Pharisees, who were slaves, hated Christ because He was free. The battle for spiritual freedom did not end when our Lord had risen from the dead. It still goes on, and in a tragic degree the songs of freedom are losing it. Many who know better are surrendering their liberties with only a token struggle. They find it easier to consult the card than to pray on to a place of spiritual illumination and inward prophetic assurance.

It will indeed be cause for mourning in Zion when the race of free men dies out in the church and the work of God is entrusted wholly to the file-card jockey.

-A.W. Tozer
"Beware the File-Card Mentality" from Of God and Men

"The LORD will rule over you"

2009-07-15T13:19:00.001-05:00

The Israelites said to Gideon, "Rule over us—you, your son and your grandson—because you have saved us out of the hand of Midian." But Gideon told them, "I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The LORD will rule over you." -Judges 8:22-23

In Judges 8, after Gideon saves the Israelites (as a result of God's intervention), they want Him to become their leader. Gideon refuses their request in verse 23. (Check out Judges 6-8 for the complete story). His statement, that the Lord will rule over us, we would do well to remember. We must make sure that Jesus Christ is Lord over every action. He must be our motivation, our goal, and our desire. We must surrender to him, not only in word, but in deed as well.

If we really believe that God is good, that He loves us, and that He wants the best for us, it is only logical for us to allow Him to rule over us. To do anything else would actually be detrimental. We can't be trusted with our own good, but God can. He is Good, and His Love Endures.

I think our main problem in failing to let go of our own will and desires is a lack of faith. Lack of faith that God really knows what is best, that He can see what we can't. We say we believe these things, even think we do, but if we don't surrender to Him, we expose our lack of faith.

Lord, I want Gideon's statement to ring true in my life. I want You to rule over me. Enough said.

Cathedral, Frisbee, and Concrete

2009-07-14T09:09:00.003-05:00

Friday was a slow day. In the morning, we went to the office and did some research for a trip we are planning on taking next week to a nearby city. Then, Kelly and I went to Campus Crusade's 24 hours of prayer. We had time to read, meditate and pray. (See my last post) Later on, it was time for English club, so we put out some tables and sat down with about 15 Argentine students who are learning English. We played some card games with them, did a worksheet to learn some English vocabulary and watched a video that used the words in context.

I met a student named Mauro, who is studying to be a lawyer. He stayed after English club was over, and we talked about Faith. He was raised Catholic, but no longer goes to mass. He is pursuing God and trying to have a personal relationship with him, but hasn't really grasped the idea of Christian community yet. When I told him that the Navigators focus on discipleship and training believers, he was really interested and even asked me how much it costs! I told him it is free, and invited him to come to our small group on Wednesday. I also gave him a tract about knowing God personally to read.

Later on, we had a corporate time of prayer and worship. We came together and prayed for a village in Salta that Crusade is traveling to with donations of clothes and other things. Then, we watched a Nooma video by Rob Bell and finished out the group time by singing some praise songs in Spanish. Around 1 AM I left and went back to the office apartment to go to sleep.

On Saturday, Chris came to pick up Kelly and I in La Plata, along with some missionaries who were visiting from Uruguay. We went to the La Plata cathedral and then had lunch. The picture above is of me and Chris making the "Hook 'em Horns" sign in front of the Cathedral. Around 3 PM, we met in a park with some students to play Ultimate Frisbee. Mauro (they guy from English club) came as well. We ended up having a game of 3 on 3, but a lot of us had just eaten, so it was difficult to run! The game ended up being fun, but tiring.

That evening, we returned to City Bell and had some students over at Chris and Flor's house. We ate empanadas (they had them delivered like pizza), and roasted marshmellows over a fire in the backyard. Then we played Imagineiff with Flor translating everything into Spanish. They had a whole pile of cards set aside marked "For Americans Only" because Argentines wouldn't get the cultural references.

On Sunday morning we went to the church in City Bell. The Pastor did a whirlwind sermon overview of the entire post-Mosaic Old Testament from Joshua through Malachi. After that, we went to Flor's parents house and spent the afternoon with them. Chris, Flor, and I watched Angels and Demons.

Monday was a work day, and we returned to the orphanage and finished laying all the concrete for the basketball court. Now we just need to add some finishing touches to make it more level, set up the goals, and paint the lines.

Follow this link to see some pictures of the La Plata Cathedral and laying concrete:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=91507&id=510887477&l=3ab0f0ed60

"Has not the LORD gone ahead of you?"

2009-07-11T09:38:00.004-05:00

"Has not the LORD gone ahead of you?"
-Judges 4:14b

¿Acaso no marcha el SEÑOR al frente de tu ejército?
-Jueces 4:14b

This is a thought we need to be constantly reminded of. God has been wherever you are, before you even considered the possibility of going there. He is already in places you have yet to go. Before we existed, He was here. After we are gone, he will still be here. He is everywhere, all at once. He marches in front of our army. He is the great I AM.

I'm writing this at a 24-hour prayer time with Campus Crusade in La Plata. We just watched Rob Bell's 1st Nooma video, "Rain" with Spanish subtitles. It talks about when God carries us through a storm in our live, he comforts us as a Father and cherishes those times. God has called me to remember that He has gone ahead of me. That definitely applies to trials and storms, as I must remember that God is already in those experiences, and He will be with me when i enter them. Also, God is wise above all others, and He can help me through anything. He would do anything to get me home safely.

I also shouldn't be afraid of hard times, because during them, God will draw me even closer to himself! In James 1, God tells us to "consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds." (James 1:2) We must recognize that those trials produce perseverance and build our character so that God can use us. He had already been where we are going and knows that we need to build up this character to withstand the challenges we will be faced with.

In Romans 5, verses 3-4 talk of the same thing, and in v. 6, we see that "God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit." He is already inside of us, and has gone before use even into the depths of our own hearts that we ourselves have yet to explore.

Lord, help me to look to you as my guide. Let me recognize that in every moment you know what is best, because you have gone ahead of me. You are in control, and see things I cannot see. I walk by faith, not by sight, because I have faith that you see what I can't. In the hard times, let me draw strength from you, and help me to grow so that in the future I will be "mature and complete, not lacking anything" (James 1:4), and "thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:17). I surrender my life to your Lordship. Amen.

Off and Running

2009-07-09T14:36:00.005-05:00

First, I want to make a clarification. The swine flu is spreading somewhat quickly here, and the government is taking some precautions to try to slow it down, such as closing schools and some public places such as theaters. However, I'm not in any immediate danger, and all these things are just precautions. We're washing our hands and everything, and I feel great. I'm not sick.

Monday was quite a day! We woke up early to take the train to Buenos Aires (BA). It was raining a little, but we were able to make it onto the train without getting soaked. Riding the train was an interesting experience. It took us about an hour to get to Buenos Aires, and the whole time, vendors were walking up and down selling things (bread, school supplies, stickers, Valentine's cards...) We arrived at Constitución, one of the two main train stations in BA, and got onto the Subte (which stands for subterraneo, BA's subway). We arrived Downtown in the rain, only to find that the gov't office where we needed to go wouldn't let us in to process the paperwork that we needed to.

Chris, Kelly and I met up with Rosaura (who was in BA for the weekend) at Café Tortoni, which was founded in 1858! We had hot chocolate and toast, then walked around BA for a while. We stopped into a restaurant for lunch and they had a few problems (running low on food, not getting our order out on time, etc). Argentine restuarants aren't particularly known for great service. We left Rosaura at the trian station, as we had to head back to City Bell to sign a contract for Kelly's apartment at 4:30 PM. Later, we moved some matresses and other things into the apartment.

On Tuesday, Chris and I went to work on the basketball court we're building at an orphanage nearby. We mixed and laid some concrete to start on the last segment. In the picture above, I'm smoothing out the surface of the concrete we laid. For lunch, we went to a bakery and had some really good empanadas.

On Wednesday, we walked around La Plata and the university. There was almost no one there (it is closed down b/c of the swine flu), but we ran into an engineer named Cristian, who was in an English class Chris teaches and is working on a student satellite project. He showed us the clean room and the satellite that is being built there. After that, we went outside and prayed for Cristian and the campus, then, we walked around for a little while, seeing if there was anyone we could talk to about God. We talked to one guy named Ricardo who was sitting on a park bench waiting for a bus. We had a good chat, and he was very open to talk about spiritual things. He described himself as Catholic, but No one had ever really explained the Gospel to him. He didn't really understand why Jesus died on the cross, so we shared what we could with him and gave him a booklet to read.

Afterwards, we went to an apartment that is the Navigator's Office in La Plata. We started installing a wireless router, but had some problems with it. On Wednesday evening, Chris, Kelly and I met with a guy named Guillermo (William) for Grupo de Vida (Life Group), a Bible Study where we looked at our identity in Christ. Afterwards, 4 more guys came over and we watched a soccer game. It was the first game of Copa Libertadores, the championship of Latin America. Our home team, Estudiantes de La Plata was playing against Cruciero, a team from Brazil. We weren't able to get tickets, so we watched it on TV. The game was pretty boring, and there was more blood than goals (it ended without either side scoring). After everyone left, Chris and I watched 3 Nooma videos, by Rob Bell on the Internet. We stayed at the office apartment last night, since we didn't get to bed until 2 AM.

This morning, we got up around 10, had breakfast and did our quiet times. Then, we tried to fix the wireless router. We got the Internet to work after having a neighbor come over and help us, and the wireless works with Chris's computer (which has Windows XP), but my computer has Vista, and we think the router might not be compatible since it is kind of old (the latest firmware is from 2005). I was able to plug into the router directly and log onto the wireless network, but not when we made the network secure. We didn't have time to resolve the problem, but we have another router we can try. We just need to find a power adapter so it can run on the electricity in Argentina.

Pictures from this week can be found here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=90618&id=510887477&l=7c7ef88197

New People, New Places

2009-07-05T16:56:00.012-05:00

On Friday, I arrived at the airport in Buenos Aires (BA). Chris Young met me right outside baggage claim (I was wearing my burnt-orange sweatshirt, so it wasn't hard to recognize me). With him was Kelly Leaver, who just graduated from the University of Wisconsin and is going to work with the Navigators here for 2 years. Kelly needed to turn in some paperwork at a government office, so we drove downtown. We circled around for a while until we found a place to park, then walked to the government office. They were closed because of the swine flu (called Gripe A here), but they let Chris and Kelly in, only to tell them they don't process paperwork in the afternoon! We walked around BA for a while, had lunch, then headed to La Plata (a city outside of BA).

Chris and his wife Flor (who is Argentine) live in City Bell, a town just outside of La Plata where she grew up. We went to Flor's parent's house and met up with Flor and Valentina, their one-year-old daughter. We went out to a café and then walked around City Bell for a while. When we got to Chris and Flor's house, we rested (I had a chance to get online because they have wireless Internet), ate dinner, and then learned how to place the Argentine card game Truco. (Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truco).

On Saturday morning, we went to La Plata to look at Kelly's apartment, which she is sharing with an Argentine girl named Male. The owners were there and showed us around. We moved a couple of disassembled beds in, and a fridge was delivered. Saturday was July 4th, so we had lunch with an American family, Alex and Kathryn Patterson and their daughters Micaela (Mica) and Brenna. They're with the Navigators as well and are from North Carolina. Both families are bilingual, and all 3 of the girls speak Spanish and English about equally well. We had hamburgers and hot dogs for lunch and watched Winnie the Pooh together.

Afterward, we dropped off Flor, Kelly, and Valentina at the house, and Chris and I went to a nearby orphanage. A group from First Evangelical Free Church in Austin (EveeFree) had come down a few weeks earlier and started laying concrete for a basketball court. Chris and I worked on placing the wood framing for the last of 7 sections of the court. We came back home and hung out with Vini (who is from Rio de Janiero) and Barbie (who is from City Bell). Then Chris, Kelly, and I went to the church in La Plata for a youth get together. We ate ravioli and talked with some students there until about midnight, then came home and went to bed.

A whole bunch of public places and schools have been closed down because of the swine flu (there are probably about 100,000 cases in Argentina: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/04/world/americas/04argentina.html?_r=1). The church in La Plata cancelled their services for this and next week, so on Sunday we went to a small church plant in City Bell, very close to home. It's small, and only about 10 people were there in total. We got there a little late, but got to sing 3 worship songs, all of which were originally English songs that have been translated into Spanish (The Wonderful Cross, Nothing But the Blood, and one more that I've heard in the US but don't know the name of). Then, the pastor gave an overview of the book of Exodos.

After church, Chris and Flor dropped Kelly and I off at the Patterson's house (they were going to visit family). We ate lunch and spent the afternoon with Alex, Kathryn, Mica, and Brenna. We played outside with the girls and talked for a while. Later on, we wanted to go into town to watch a soccer game at an ice cream parlor. We got some great ice cream (a little more expensive than in Córdoba, but still tasty), but the game was delayed because of hail. When they started playing, the TV was only showing the crowd! You have to pay-per-view to watch the actual game, and the ice cream parlor hadn't paid for it. After we realized that, we went to the video store and rented Bridge to Terabithia and Kung Fu Panda for the girls to watch later. We got home, and Alex realized he had forgotten to buy bread, so we went out again to the bakery. We returned to their house and were about to have tea when Chris and Flor got back to pick us up.

Chris and Flor brought us back home, and we had some time to rest. We ordered pizza for dinner, and then had our own Bible Study discussion and worship time (since Church was cancelled). Tomorrow morning we are riding the train to Buenos Aires to turn in the paperwork, explore the city, and meet up with some of my friends from UT.

Goodbye, Córdoba

2009-07-03T18:09:00.005-05:00

Sunday was an incredible day. The people of Jesús, Rey de mi Corazón gave me a loving send off. After a small Bible Study and prayer time on Sunday morning (3 of us), Juan invited me back to his house for an asado! ¡It was magnífico! That evening at the prayer meeting, I was able to talk about Ignite (http://ignitetexas.org), the organization that puts on a retreat for incoming Christian freshmen, and Campus Renewal Ministries (http://www.texasunited.org), the organization that is uniting all 50 campus ministries at UT to spread the gospel of Christ to every group of students. Now UT will have some new prayer warriors in Argentina! After the worship service, Juan had me stand up front and the whole church (about 10 people) gathered around me and prayed over me. Then we had a huge tray of empanadas, all without eggs so I could eat them. They were incredible. I am so thankful that the Lord brought me to this church. I'll still be in contact with them through Facebook, the way I got connected in the first place! Juan has also given me an open invitation to stay at his apartment any time I return to Córodba. To see pictures of the church and the asado, click this link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=88906&id=510887477&l=8c4461d283

Monday was our last day of class, and then the studying marathon began. I was at the university until after 7 PM that night, and later the next. On Tuesday we didn't have class, so the Engineering students took a field trip to the Córodba campus of CONAE: Comision Nacional de Actividades Espaciales (in English: National Commission of Space Activities), which is like NASA for Argentina. We got a guided tour of their facilities and saw some pretty cool stuff. Check out pictures here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=88909&id=510887477&l=4cfd2da3d3

Wednesday was the moment of Truth. Two 2-hour exams back-to-back, starting with Spanish from 9-11 and then Numerical Methods (Engineering) from 11-1. I survived the exams, and I think I did really well (I'll let you all know when I find out my grades). By 1:30 PM, I was done with school! No more classes unitl August, and still three more weeks in Argentina. :-)

On Wednesday evening, Rosaura and I met for our last Bible Study. We had a great time digging into Ephesians 6:10-20, about The Armor of God, and talked a lot about Spiritual Warfare. The basic idea is stated in verse 12: "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." There is a war going on constnatly, all around us. The forces of Satan and the forces of God are in battle over everything. This isn't a battle we can see, because it is in the spiritual realm, but we can definitely feel it. Nearly every time we experience doubt, fear, temptation, or pain, they are attacks from the enemy. We need to put on the Armor of God (metaphorically) to protect ourselves from his attacks, and with his Power, we can fight back. All the parts of the Armor of God (Truth, Righteousness, the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace, Faith, Salvation and the Word of God) are held together and integrated by prayer. Without even taking a breath after listing the Armor or God, Paul tells us in verse 18: "And pray in the Spirit on all kinds of occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints (believers)." Prayer isn't just a daily chore or an ornament to the Christian life. It is the integral weapon that God uses to fight the Enemy, and should be blended with everything we do, say, and think. When we are comminucating with God, he leads and guides us and we draw wisdom and strength from Him to know what is best in every situation and to do it. Besides that, we're contributing to the war effort of God's Holy War: His Mission to bring all of humanity into an intimate relationship with Him and glorify Himself among all nations.

After Bible Study, we walked downtown to the Farewell Party. It was a sad and happy time, with all of the UT students and our UNC professors and staff. We watched a video of memories from the entire first session, danced tango, ate some great food, and parted ways. Some students were leaving that night. Follow this link to see the video (thanks to Ahmed)! http://www.facebook.com/v/908942305194

On Thursday, I slept until about 11 AM, quickly packed my suitcases and ate lunch. At 1 PM, I met up with a few friends and we went to visit the Art Museum in Palacio Ferreyra, a huge mansion built in 1916 which has been restored. After that, we went to the ice cream parlor and ran into our Engineering professor. Then we walked around the pedestrian malls and did some last minute shoping. At 7 PM I went to Juan's print shop for our last celular small group Bible Study. It was only the two of us, and we had a great time diving into the Word, talking about it, and praying in Spanish. When I got home after 9:30, the students at my house were celebrating the birthday of Matt, the older student from Austin. We had dinner and said our goodbyes, then went to bed. Pictures from the Farewell Party and Thursday are here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=89751&id=510887477&l=4a11d9f7cb

I woke up at 6:30 AM this morning, caught a taxi to the airport, and have been sitting here for a few hours. I wanted to arrive early just to be safe, and my flight ended up being delayed. I am flying to Buenos Aires, where Chris Young and Kelly, a new intern of his, are going to pick me up. We're going to visit Downtown before heading to La Plata, where Chris lives and works as a campus missionary for the Navigators and where I will be staying for the next three weeks.
---
Update: I wrote the above when I was at the airport without Internet access. My flight ended up arriving about an hour late, and as soon as I walked out of baggage claim, Chris was there to meet me. More on my arrival later.

Finishing Up In Córdoba

2009-06-29T12:42:00.005-05:00

This past week was our last full week of class and my last full week in Córdoba. On Tuesday after class, our professor took us to eat choripan, which is a smoked sausage on French bread with a lot of toppings. It was very tasty. Afterward, we went to an ice cream parlor that was awesome! It cost 4 pesos (about a dollar) for a waffle cone with two huge scoops of ice cream. It was very tasty, and I could eat it! (the ice cream didn't have eggs)

Wednesday was our final tango lesson, and then I met with Rosaura for Bible Study. We prayed and talked about 1 Timothy 2:1-8, where Paul urges "first of all, that requests, prayers, and intercession be made for everyone" and "I want men [and women] everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing." This is an important passage for me, because I know that I need to focus more on intercessory prayer for others rather than only my own needs and wants, especially since I'm going to be the Prayer coordinator at the BSM this next semester. We also found that in verse 7, Paul talks about how he "was appointed a herald". As we were talked, I thought about what a herald was, and this is the description I came up with: when a King wins a battle, a herald is a person who goes around to all the surrounding towns and announces good news, that the King has won the victory. We realized that this is exactly what we are called and appointed to do as Christians! Jesus Christ has won the victory over sin and death. We are supposed to be going around to every town and telling them the good news that our King has won!

Thursday after class, I went and played basketball with Flavio, the sports coordinator for the Speaking Partners program. It ended up being only me and him playing with some other random Argentineans who happened to be on the court. It was fun, and hopefully I'll have some more chances to play before I return to the U.S.

We didn't have class on Friday, so I slept in until about 10 AM. At 1 PM, I rode a bus to the town of Alta Gracia. My group already visited there (see my entry from June 3rd, "Taking a Short Excursion and Settling In"), but I was going for the day to visit my speaking partner, Ramiro. The bus ride was easy and very cheap (6 pesos/2 dollars), and I was there less than an hour after I left. My speaking partner picked me up at the bus station, and we walked to his house. We visited the house of Spanish composer Manuel de la Falla and walked around the city for a while. The picture with this post is of the two of us on the balcony of De la Falla's house. You can see more pictures from the day here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=87988&id=510887477&l=f749a75acc

I rode the bus back on Friday night around 7 PM and went to a local mall (Patio Olmos) to use the public Wifi there. I was there until after midnight. I tried calling my parents on Skype, but there are no power outlets in the food court and my laptop died. I found a plug in a café inside the mall, and had to buy a submarino (warm milk with a chocolate bar mixed up inside) so I could justify sitting there. Skype wasn't working very well for some reason, so we agreed to try the next day.

On Saturday, I slept late again, ate a quick lunch at home, and went to a café close to my house that has Wifi to call my parents on Skype. At 4 PM a group of us were supposed to meet up with José (a student here who organizes extra-curricular activities) at Paseo del Buen Pastor to drink maté tea, but when he didn't show up by 5 PM, the five of us who were there decided to go get ice cream. After that, we walked around the artisan's market. Saturday night is the college gathering at Jesús Rey de mi Corazón (my church here), and Rosaura came, along with two other girls from UT who are believers.

This this was my last weekend in Córdoba, and on Sunday my church gave me a pretty good send off, but I'll write about that later. Right now, I need to be studying.
Wednesday we have our final exams, and then I'm done with school until August! I'm leaving Córdoba on Friday, July 3rd to spend three weeks in La Plata (outside Buenos Aires).

Birds and Bible Study

2009-06-22T19:21:00.008-05:00

Wednesday night was great. After tango lessons, I did a Bible study and prayer time with Juan, my pastor here, and Rosaura, a Mexican-American girl from UT who is in my engineering class. It was only the three of us, Juan doesn't speak much English, and Rosaura is fluent in Spanish, so we talked, prayed, and studied the Bible in Spanish! That wasn't my intent when I organized the meeting, but it was pretty cool. We read and discussed (in Spanish) Luke 10:1-12, where Jesus sent out seventy-two disciples to varous towns. We basically talked about how Jesus' instructions apply to us as we relate to the people around us, reaching out to them and showing God's Love to them.

Thursday night I had the celular (cell group Bible study). We talked about world view (in Spanish, which was very interesting), and how our knowledge of the Bible and our personal relationship with God affects the way we look at everything.

On Friday I went to see UP (the new Pixar movie) in Spanish with my speaking partner and a friend from the UT program. It was funny, and entertaining, and I was surprised by how much I understood. Of course, there isn't a lot of talking in it, and everything was really obvious from the visuals.

On Saturday morning, five other students and I went trekking. We hired a guide who drove us in a small eight-seater car. We went to a national park called Quebrada del Condorito (Where the Little Condors Stay). It was a two hour drive from Córodba, and we arrived there around 10 AM. The day of trekking consisted of walking 20 kilometers in total, going down into a valley and up a mountain on the other side. We probably walked for about 6 hours in total. It was a beautiful place, though the wind was a little chilly. We got to see some condors flying around, as well as an amazing view of the Córdoba countryside from the top of the mountain. You can see photos from the day here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=86883&id=510887477&l=24dd12530b

We got back to Córdoba on Saturday night around 8 PM, and I went to the university student meeting at my church, along with Rosaura. I finally met the Alexanders, the missionaries from Texas who got me connected with the church on Facebook. They had been in the States and just got back this week. We played ping pong, ate pizza, and had group Bible study, where we examined how God worked in the lives of several Biblical figures, such as Moses and David. We saw that he never changed them in a moment, but took a long time to grow and develop their character and their relationship with Him.

On Sunday, I went to the church at 10:30 AM for the morning gathering. Juan, two of the girls and I were the only ones there, and we read Psalm 19, talked about it, and prayed. Afterwards, we went to Juan's house for lunch. I got some homework done there after lunch, and then we returned to Church for the prayer meeting and worship at 6 PM. This is the main Sunday service, and there were about 15 people there, almost all young people (aside from Juan and the Alexanders). We had a great prayer time, sang worship songs, and heard a message. The message was from the end of Romans 8, about how we are heirs of God and all that he has promised us.

This is the last full week of class, and then we have one more class day, an off day, and an exam day. I'm leaving Córdoba on Friday, July 3rd, in less than two weeks!

A Change of Pace

2009-06-21T19:56:00.000-05:00

It’s time for a change of pace. For about a month I have been running on full throttle physically, starting with exams, then continuing into the few days I had at home and my trip to Argentina. Some incredible things have been happening in and around my life during this time, but there is one thing I have been getting more and more lax about: my personal relationship with God. One evidence of this is the date of my last journal entry, May 16^th. That’s over a month where I have not been stimulated or motivated to write down anything there. Secondly, to be blunt, my prayer life sucks. It pretty much consists of a five minute mental scramble. One thing I have kept up is my daily Bible reading, but that has been almost dead, and I have not been experiencing the joy of God’s Presence in my life day by day and moment by moment.

Lord, right now I surrender my whole being over to you. Take my thoughts, my desires, my activities, and my prayers and form them the way you want them to be. Help me to experience your presence in every moment of every day. Take away my need to always be in control, and help me to trust you. My one wish is this: simply allow me to recognize that you are with me all the time. If I constantly focus on you, I will be ready to obey the moment you call me to act or speak. Help me to rest in you, day by day, moment by moment. Fill my life with your presence.

“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.”

-Proverbs 19:21

Big Water and God's Movement

2009-06-17T13:28:00.005-05:00

This weekend a group of us (26 students) took a trip to Igazú Falls, a huge waterfall in the Northeastern corner of Argentina on the border with Brazil. On Friday morning I caught a city bus to the airport. It was interesting standing on the crowded bus with my small rolling suitcase and my loaded backpack, but I made it to the airport on time. We flew on Andes, a new airline, and went to the small airport at Puerto Igazú by flying through Salta. On our approach to Igazú, the pilot circled around the falls three times and we had a chance to get some awesome aerial views (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=85912&id=510887477&l=ca83b58f22). After landing, we were picked up by a bus from the travel agency, and our tour guide took us to the hotel. That night, we took a cruise on a catamaran down the Paraná River. At one spot, we could see the shores of three different countries, Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. On the Paraguayan shore, there were a group of native Guaraní boys who did a traditional dance for us (this was obviously planned ahead, as one of the boat crew gave them a grocery bag with food and other things). Inside the boat, there was a show with two guitarists who played and sang traditional Argentinean music.

On Saturday, we went to Igazú National Park to see the Argentinean side of the falls. We saw "Devil's Throat" (pictured above) up close, and got soaking wet from the spray. Afterwards, went on another expedition. We first took a drive through the subtropical jungle and then got on a boat. The boat took us close to some of the smaller waterfalls for some great views, then took us underneath them to get soaking wet! Luckily we knew in advance and had a chance to put dry clothes and cameras in a waterproof bag under our seats. After getting off the boat, we climbed to the top of the smaller waterfalls and met up with the rest of the group, ate lunch, then toured the rest of the falls. Pics from the day: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=86275&id=510887477&l=f6e16659b4

On Sunday, we slept in past noon, and in the afternoon went on an "adventure" excursion that included rapelling down a rock wall, trekking through the forest, and an 800 meter long zip line through the treetops. Pics from the day: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=86282&id=510887477&l=7b65fc659b

On Monday morning, we woke up to check out of the hotel at 10 AM and then walked to the Argentinean corner of the three-country intersection (we couldn't actually go to the other countries because there are rivers in between). On the walk back, it started raining and we got a little wet, but we made it back to the hotel in time to eat lunch at catch the bus back to the airport for our flight. We were back in Córdoba by 7:30 PM. Pics from the day: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=86285&id=510887477&l=82728261f7

We started class again on Tuesday, and I met up with my Speaking Partner on Tuesday evening. We had a chance to talk for a few minutes about faith. He considers himself a Catholic, like most Argentines, but knows nothing about the Bible. I started sharing the gospel with him, and he seemed somewhat interested. Hopefully we'll have a chance to talk more. His name is Ramiro and he could use your prayers. This was an answer to my prayer for God to use me to do His work here. I am going through "On Mission With God" by Avery Willis and Henry Blackaby, and it has shown me more and more that God has a Mission here on Earth, and he wants me to join him in it. I have been struggling with how that works out practically in my life, especially here in Argentina. I've had to learn how to surrender over to God and trust him to lead me in the right direction.

Tonight is my second Tango lesson (yes I am learning to dance the Tango in Argentina), and afterwards I am organizing a gathering of followers of Christ for fellowship, Bible study, and prayer. I'm hoping to help develop some sense of community among the believers in the UT program. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will direct this meeting and that His Will takes precedence in what we discuss and pray.

Beautiful Mountains and Tasty Barbeque

2009-06-08T18:25:00.004-05:00

Over the weekend, our group took a trip to the Northwest of Argentina, to the provinces of Salta and Jujuy in the Andean region. We left on Thursday night around 10 PM and drove overnight on a double-decker tour bus. We arrived Friday morning at about 9 AM in Salta, where were staying at a hotel for the weekend.

After dropping our luggage in our rooms and eating breakfast at the hotel, we took a walking tour of some of the interesting sites in the city of Salta. Later, we drove to a small town outside of Salta called San Lorenzo, where we bought local wares (sweaters, hats, and other handmade products) and ate lunch. We then returned to Salta and rode a cable car to the top of a high hill and took in the beautiful scenery with the city below and mountains not far away. We returned to the hotel, and after dinner I used the computer in the hotel lobby. It was a little old and slow, and the image on the monitor swam around like it was on the surface of a pond. Pictures from the first day: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=84850&id=510887477&l=4ff66d9733

Saturday was probably the best day of the entire trip so far. Around 9 AM we set off on a 2 hour bus ride to the North to the province of Jujuy (pronounced hoo-hooey), which is located in the extreme Northwest corner of Argentina, with the Andes mountains running along its western side. We were in the foothills of the Andes, but the mountains we saw were gorgeous. We stopped in a little village called Purmamarca and went on an hour-long trek by foot through Los Colorados, the colorful hills (what we would call mountains in Texas). On the way down, we had a few minutes to browse through the local market for more handmade clothing and crafts. Afterwards, the group went to the town of Tilcara for lunch. When we finished eating, I pulled out my Frisbee. I thought maybe three or four of the other students might want to go outside and toss it around, but it turned into 20 or 30 of us running around in the dirt. There were a couple of fantastic falls with two guys fighting over the flying disc. Next, we walked up another hill to Pucará, a reconstructed native village, where there was a fantastic view of the mountains all around. When we came down, we made the 2 hour bus trip back to Salta. Pictures from the second day: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=84914&id=510887477&l=d92708cb04

On Sunday, we left the hotel at about 10 AM for an hour drive to “El Bordo de las Lanzas,” an estancia (ranch) that has been owned by the same family for 400 years. We spent the entire day there doing a variety of things. On the open lawn, we played Frisbee, soccer, ping pong, and rugby. We ate an amazing traditional Argentinean asado (barbeque) for lunch, and later in the afternoon had tea (with coffee, hot chocolate, and desserts). We got to ride horses through the sugar cane fields. We saw local children perform traditional Argentinean dances (which some of the students joined in on). There were even a few bicycles to ride. Pictures from the third day: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=84954&id=510887477&l=d6b9cb23ff

After the short drive back to Salta, we hurriedly packed our bags, took a quick shower, and hopped on the bus for our overnight trip back to Córdoba (8 PM to 11 AM), including a stop for dinner at a gas station restaurant around midnight. We didn’t have class today (Monday), but the engineers met up at the university to work on our homework. I got all my work done, and I’m finally caught up with everything that’s been assigned so far! Now for a short week of class (Tuesday thru Thursday), and then we are taking off on Friday morning to fly to Cataratas, Argentina to see Igazú Falls, which is larger than Niagra.

Taking a Short Excursion and Settling In

2009-06-03T20:18:00.003-05:00

On Thursday evening, I went to the apartment of Juan, the pastor of Jesús Rey de mi Corazón, for an asado, Argentinean barbeque! It was delicious, and though it was hard for me to participate in the dinner conversation, I had a great time.

This past Saturday, my group took a trip to two small towns in the countryside. (Pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=83608&id=510887477&l=bf42b3c7ef) The first was Alta Gracia. There, we saw the Jesuit Estancia, a ranch from the 1600s, a colonial period of Argentina's history. The Jesuits were a Catholic order, some of the first Europeans to settle permanently in Argentina, and they focused a lot on education as well as evangelism. The photo to the left shows the top of the church that is attached to the ranch. Also in Alta Gracia is the childhood home of Ché Guevarra, the Cuban revolutionary leader, who is originally from Argentina. The house has been converted into a museum, which we went through. I had learned about Ché last Fall when I saw the movie The Motorcycle Diaries, so it was interesting to see many pictures and other things there.

After departing from Alta Gracia, the group continued with a drive through the countryside. We ate lunch at a small restaurant, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, that had very good food. One of the best parts about the restaurant was that it had a huge fireplace where we warmed ourselves. Also, we saw some llamas hanging out behind the restaurant. After leaving there, we drove through the beautiful Argentine country side, with hills, a lake, and some mountains in the distance.

Our other stop was the town of General Villa Belgrano. It is a German settlement, with a lot of typically German food, architecture, and craftsmanship. After spending about an hour there, we headed back to Córdoba. Along the way, we drove along a winding road along high cliffs overlooking a lake. We discovered why there is a lake there when we drove over the dam holding all the water in!

After returning to Córdoba, I went to the church for their university group meeting. When I got there, they were playing ping pong and listening to music. We had empanadas árabes for dinner, which are like pastries (made without eggs) filled with meat similar to a sloppy joe. I was excited because normally empanadas, which are a staple food here, have eggs in them, so I hadn't tried any yet. They were delicious! Also, to my surprise, a group of American college students showed up and joined the meeting! They were from the Baptist Student Ministry at Oklahoma Panhandle State University and were just finishing up a two week mission trip in Argentina. We had quite an interesting group, with Argentine students, Oklahomans, and a Texan. We sang some worship songs in both Spanish and English, including one in both: Open the Eyes of My Heart (Abre Mis Ojos in Spanish). After the singing, we attempted to do Bible Study. This proved to be a challenge, since the Oklahoma students didn't speak Spanish and all! Ana Luz, a girl who is studying English to be a translator and I had to work hard to make sure everyone understood each other, and fill in the gaps in our knowledge with the help of my Spanish/English dictionary.

On Sunday, I slept until 11 AM and then went to Juan's house for lunch, where we had tamales. They were a little spicy (but not much), and Juan's wife told me that most of the time in Argentina, they don't eat spicy food. Then I stayed and worked on my homework until the evening, when there was a service at the church. The service was small, only 6 of us, and we had a prayer time, worship and a sermon, all in Spanish and all led by students for the most part. The sermon was great, and I was glad to find that I could understand well what was being said and taught.

On Monday evening, we got to meet our Speaking Partners. We all gathered in a small auditorium, and were split up into groups. Each group had 15 minutes to create a play about Texans coming to Argentina. The topics ranged from figuring out how to ride the bus to differences in styles of dance and dress. Afterwards, we went and got pizza. My speaking partner is named Ramiro. He is studying geography at the University here in Córdoba (he actually has class in the same rooms that we do in the building called Casa Verde), and he lives in Alta Gracia, the town we visited on Saturday! He rides the bus back and forth everyday, which takes about 30 minutes. We also met for tea on Tuesday evening, talked in Spanish and English, and looked at my Spanish homework. Ramiro's sister lives on the same block where I am staying, so maybe we will go visit her sometime.

I have been walking to the University every day, which takes me a little longer than 30 minutes. Our engineering class has a lot of homework, which some of us stay after class to work on. There is a nice study room in the Math building where we go every day. Tomorrow evening, the group is going on another trip. We will be traveling to the Northwest of Argentina. We are taking a bus there, but it is about a 10 hour drive, so we are leaving at 9:30 PM and traveling overnight. There will be a lot of sightseeing of the natural beauty of the region as well as trekking on foot and on horseback. We'll be staying until Sunday night and driving back overnight to return on Monday morning around 9 AM. Thankfully, we don't have classes that day, so we can rest after we get back!

New Friends and New Classes

2009-05-27T18:32:00.002-05:00

Sorry this is a long update, but I'm relating the events of three days!

On Monday, we had a holiday, and I had the entire day free. I slept until 11 AM or so, since I was invited to come to a church for lunch. Here is the weird connection I had to this church. Mike Freeman, a member of Williams Trace Baptist Church, where I attend in Sugar Land, used to be a missionary in Córdoba. He knew Mark Alexander, another missionary who lives in Córdoba, and connected me with him on Facebook. Even though they live in Argentina, Mark and his family are in the United States until mid June, so Mark connected me (on Facebook again) with Anita, a student at the University who is involved with an evangelical Baptist church here in Córdoba.

Anita sent me her phone number, and we had been text messaging back and forth after I arrived in Córdoba (I have a phone here in Argentina that the program has loaned us, though we have to buy the service). I told Anita I was free on Monday (the holiday), and she invited me to come eat lunch at the church at noon. I left my house after 11:30 AM and walked to the church, which is about 20 minutes away from where I live. It is called Jesús, el rey de mi corazón (Jesus, King of my Heart). When I arrived at the church, which is located in a storefront, there were several students there and a few adults. They were painting the storefront, organizing things, and cooking. I met Juan (see picture), who was very excited to see me. I think he is the pastor, and he is a very jubilant guy. He speaks mostly Spanish, but he loves to throw in English phrases like "Wow!" and he gets excited about simple things. We had a lovely lunch, with pizza and meat cooked over a fire (beef and sausage) and served on rolls cut open to make sandwiches. Afterward, Juan and his wife took me back to their apartment, where their little daughter (about 7 or 8 years old) was watching TV. We talked for a while (completely in Spanish) about Texas and many other things, and then watched Kangaroo Jack (an American movie) in Spanish. Later, they took me to Patio Olmos, an old high school that has been converted into a three-story shopping mall. Juan was looking for some running shoes, and we shopped around and looked at several stores. They took me to McDonalds for dinner, and got me a cuadro de libre (quarter pounder). The meal was very nice, better than our McDonalds in the US, because they use natural ingredients. Juan invited me to several other things later in the week, and showed me where they were on the map. Later, the family walked with me back toward my host home. This was really the first time I have had an experience totally in Spanish here in Argentina where I spent an extended period of time with someone who doesn't speak English, and it went really well!

On Tuesday, we had our final day of Orientation, but this time at the University rather than the Hotel, since all the students have been living with their host families since Sunday. I rode the bus by myself successfully from my house to the university, and found the rest of the group. We split up into two smaller groups and had "Spanish Orientation," learning about some of the ways that Spanish in Argentina is a little bit different than in other parts of the world (the biggest is that they use the vos for you instead of tú, which changes some of the verb conjugations). Our whole group then walked to a restaurant and had lomitos, which are kind of like toasted subway sandwiches with meat, cheese, vegetables, and egg (I got mine without egg of course, because of my food allergies). This was a great break for all of the American students because we got to talk to each other in English! We had mostly been with our families for the last few days, and Speaking only Spanish. After lunch, we went back to the University and talked about extra-curricular activities. We are taking several trips as a group, and there is a Speaking Partners program where each American student will be paired up with an Argentinean student at the University. We are supposed to meet once or twice a week and talk half the time in English and half the time in Spanish. We will meet our speaking partners on Monday. After Orientation, a group of us walked back to downtown from the University (about 20 blocks) and sat in a coffee shop talking for over an hour.

Juan, from the Church, owns a print shop in the northern part of the city, and he had invited me to come on Tuesday night for a Bible study. I brought my Spanish/English NIV Bible and walked to the print shop. Me, Juan, and an Argentinean student named Christian were there, and we sat at a table in the basement of the print shop. We ate some Argentinean pastries and drank maté, a drink sort of like herbal tea that they take with sugar. The Bible study was completely in Spanish, including scripture reading, conversations, questions, and prayer. I actually was able to participate very well, understand mostly everything, and contribute quite a bit. We had a great time. We studied Faith, using a curriculum Juan gave us. I was glad to have the questions and everything written down so I could read them as they were being spoken. I sometimes used the English side of my Bible when I didn't understand the scriptures being read, but I could often decipher the meaning just by listening if it was a verse familiar to me. We even prayed in Spanish, and I was able to contribute quite a bit.

Wednesday was our first day of classes, and it was interesting. It has gotten colder here (around 50 degrees Fahrenheit), and on Wednesday morning it was rainy. The bus was crowded, but I met another guy from UT on it, and we got off at the University and walked to class together. At 9 AM, I have Spanish class. I'm in the most basic class, Spanish 303, which is for beginners. Our class is taught completely in Spanish, and has three students. I took three years of Spanish in high school, but the other two (Ahmed and Corrine) have never taken any Spanish classes. Our teacher is very patient though, and speaks extremely slowly and clearly, repeating things often and offering good explanations to help them understand. At 11 AM, I have the engineering class, ASE 311, where we are learning how to use numerical methods to solve problems using Matlab, a computer programming language. This is the class taught by UT Aerospace Engineering professor Dr. Linda Hayes. Our class has 8 students, and half of us class are Aerospace Engineers and have taken a semester class on Matlab already, but the other half have never used it before, though they all have some sort of programming experience. For the first day, we had an overview and a few basic homework assignments. After class, we had lunch, then went to a library to work on our programming homework. Two of us had computers with Matlab, so we took turns and got our homework done. Everyone has their laptops here in Córdoba and will be able to use them to complete the assignments on their own in the future. After this, we walked back downtown (I still haven't ridden the bus home by myself!), exchanged money, and went shopping in a clothing store. There were 2 guys and 3 girls at the store, but incredibly, both guys bought something, and neither of the girls did! I bought a sweater, which cost 60 pesos (about 16 dollars).

Getting Around the City

2009-05-25T09:11:00.009-05:00

On Saturday, we had a tour of the city of Córdoba, both by bus and on foot. (View photos here) We saw many places, including several churches. We also received some maps, and began to find our own way around the city. For dinner, we went out and had asado, Argentine barbeque.

Yesterday (Sunday) morning, we heard from the US Warden, the representative of the American Consulate in Buenos Aires. She shared with us about things we need to do to stay safe while in Argentina. After that, we cleaned out our rooms, packed up our luggage, and went down to the lobby to meet our host families. The families were given an hour window to pick us up, and most of them arrived right at the beginning. After most of the families had gone and taken their students, there were about five of us left. We waited for a while, until my host finally showed up. My hostess, Lilia (who speaks English), came and got me, and we took a taxi back to her house. It is located downtown, about 20 blocks from the University campus. She is a divorcé with three grown children who live in Spain. There are also going to be several other students staying with her, from Brazil and Italy. Our common language will be Spanish!

After showing me around the house, Lilia made lunch and I unpacked my suitcase. Then, she showed me what bus to take to get to the University, and rode with me all the way there and back. We also bought the tokens I will need to ride the bus next week. Later, two students arrived from Brazil. Now there are three languages, Spanish, English, and Portuguese. Today is a holiday, and on Tuesday we will finish our Orientation at the University campus.

I’m not sure exactly how my Internet situation will work out. There is a café very close to our house that has Wifi, and when it is open during the day, I can get online from home. I should also have Wifi at the University campus, so I will only be able to get online during the day unless I find an Internet café somewhere that is inexpensive and open late.

Arriving in Córdoba!

2009-05-22T21:19:00.009-05:00

We had a nice, short flight from Santiago to Córdoba, right over the beautiful Andes Mountains. I took tons of pictures (some of the best can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=81135&id=510887477&l=7d77aa9519) and I had a chance to read a little about Argentinean history and culture while en route. After landing in Córdoba, we were delayed by some Swine Flu precautions. We had to fill out an extra form, and sat at the gate for at least 30 minutes before getting out of the plane. Then, in the terminal, everyone had to stand in front of a temperature sensing camera and open their mouth wide, to make sure no one had a fever.

After picking up our luggage and going through customs, we were met by our program coordinators, holding a Longhorns flag. They rounded us up and loaded us up on a bus to go to the hotel. Even though it is winter here, it was HOT outside, and we all shed our sweatshirts quickly. On the 20 minute bus ride to our hotel (where we are staying this weekend for orientation), I almost fell asleep from being hot and tired.

We checked into the hotel, put away our bags, and came downstairs for a late lunch, a three course meal that more than filled us. We then walked around the city a bit, exchanged our US Dollars for Argentine Pesos, and bought adapters for our electrical plugs. We had a short orientation session, where everyone introduced themselves, and talked about how this program is different from most study abroad programs. This will be a complete cultural immersion experience, and 24 hours a day we will be surrounded by the language and culture of Córdoba.

Tomorrow, we have more Orientation sessions and a tour of the city and Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (UNC) campus. We are all speaking in English for the most part right now, as the program coordinators recognize that we need this orientation in English, but that will all change when we meet our host families and start classes next week (all Spanish, all the time!).

The Flight Fiasco!

2009-05-22T07:55:00.000-05:00

I’m sitting in the airport in Santiago, Chile with a group of students, and I finally have Internet access (I wasn’t able to get the free public Wifi to work in Houston or Dallas).
Yesterday was quite an experience. I was scheduled to fly on American Airlines from Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston (IAH) to Miami and from there to Santiago, Chile. The flight was to depart at 6 PM, and when we arrived at the desk at 2:30 PM to check-in, they told me it was cancelled! They had tried to reroute me to Dallas, but the flight for that evening was full, and they had scheduled me for the next day, which would have had me missing the group pickup and orientation in Córdoba. Luckily, there was another option, a regional flight from Houston Hobby to DFW. It didn’t leave until 7 PM, but we had to drive across Houston to get to the other airport. We were lucky to have been there so early, and I could totally see how God worked out everything. We ran into a traffic jam on the freeway through Houston, but found a back road and got to the airport in plenty of time. I got through security rather quickly, and got to the gate just as a flight was boarding… the first of three packed flights from Houston to Dallas. I was on the third, leaving at 7 PM. It was a small regional jet, 3 seats wide, and the flight was about 45 minutes. I arrived at DFW, hopped on the SkyTrain, and arrived at the gate in plenty of time to make the flight to Santiago. I found some students, both from UT and other schools, who were on the same flight. On the plane, I sat next to a girl named Jess, who is going to Architecture grad school in San Francisco. She was studying in Santiago and then traveling to Buenos Aires. The overnight flight was fine, though I don’t think anyone got much sleep. We watched the movie “Yes Man” with Jim Carey, and 2 episodes of “The Office”. This morning as we were arriving in Chile, there was a beautiful view of a sunrise over the Andes Mountains off to our left. On the flight to Córdoba, we have to fly OVER the Andes, and I have a window seat. I’m excited about the view, which will be incredible. Be sure to look for pictures (here and on Facebook).

So What Is This For Anyway?

2009-05-18T21:34:00.004-05:00

Welcome to my blog!

My name is Peter Schulte, and I am going to be traveling to Argentina this summer. Many people have requested to be updated on what I am doing, and I figured that this is the best way to accomplish that.

I am an Aerospace Engineering undergraduate student, and just finished up my first year at the University of Texas at Austin (UT).

This summer, I will be in Argentina for two months (May 21 through July 24). I am studying abroad, spending the first summer session at La Universidad Nacional de Córdoba in Córdoba, Argentina. I will be staying with an Argentine host family and taking two classes, Professional Spanish (SPN 303) and Engineering Computations (ASE 311). Professional Spanish (SPN 303) will be taught be a local professor at the university in Córdoba. The Engineering Computations class is going to be led by Dr. Linda Hayes, a UT professor who will be spending the summer in Argentina with us. This is technically a Spanish Language and Culture Program, but there are about 10 engineering and computer science students going as well.

The Córdoba study abroad program lasts from May 22nd to July 2nd, and after the program is over, I will be spending three weeks in La Plata, a college town outside of Buenos Aires. I am going to be staying with Chris Young, a campus minister with the Navigators at La Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Chris, his wife Flor, and their daughter Valentina will be taking me into their home, showing me around Buenos Aires, and allowing me to learn from them and assist in their minstry.

Although this is technically not a "mission trip," I am a follower of Jesus Christ, and I feel that he calls me to live my life missionally wherever I go (Matthew 28:18-20). As a result, I am going to be making efforts to reach out to all the students and other people I meet (both in Córdoba and La Plata) by getting to know them, loving them unconditionally as Jesus would, serving them, and sharing with them the Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, through both my words and my actions. If you share my convictions to see the whole world reached with the Love of Christ, please pray for me and the people I meet. God's Word says that "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective" (James 5:16) and that God "is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine" (Ephesians 3:20). I am extremely excited for all the amazing things I am going to see him do this summer, and will relate as much of them as I can in this blog.

I'd like to close with a passage that God has placed on my heart this semester as I have been learning about reaching out to others. Read it. Think about it. Pray it for me, for yourself, for those around you. And allow God's Word to change your life.

Colossians 4:2-6
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim in clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

I am flying to Argentina this Thursday, May 21st from Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport (by way of Miami and Santiago, Chile). Be sure to check in frequently for updates!

--
Peter Schulte
1 Corinthians 13