Filed under: I'm thinking, Summer Missions, faith, the word, traveling, writing
I posted recently that I am one of many who are part of summer missions work with the North Carolina Baptist State Convention. I have found some friends blogs for the summer work. I have posted those I have found in the left. I found this really complex list of summer missions (Gwen would make a list). I wanted to share it on my blog for those of you who visit could keep us all in your prayers…
Appalachian State University
Lauren Allen – Boone, NC
Bruce Bentley – Los Angeles, CA
Andrew Blakeley – InVision (North Carolina and Toronto, Canada)
Nathan Bost – Malaysia
Rachel Brown – Johannesburg, South Africa
Thomas Chavez – Los Angeles, CA
Randall (that’s me!) – Cary, NC
Mandy Henderson – Kenya
Lyndsey Herring – All over Alaska
Maria Jarrell – Miami, FL
Kristen Johnson – InVision (North Carolina and Toronto, Canada)
Megan Keith – Sanford, NC
Josh Littlejohn – Los Angeles, CA
Amanda Mitchell – InVision (North Carolina and Toronto, Canada)
Kelsey Morris – Los Angeles, CA
Rebecca Steele – Thomasville, NC
Storm Stewart – Los Angeles, CA
Luke Summey – Los Angeles, CA
Laura Turner – High Point, NC
Katherine Wiggins – Johannesburg, South Africa
UNC – Asheville
Hunter Allen – Fayetteville, NC
Joe Lallier – Sanford, NC
Sam Riddle – Washington, DC
Sarah Sanders – Reidsville, NC
Jessica Walton – Beaufort, SC
Jonathan Wells – Rhiwbina, Cardiff (Wales)
Gardner-Webb University
Blair Early – Deep Impact
Tara Evans – Waco, TX
Stephanie Richey – Metro, NY
Claire Saunders – Deep Impact
Joey Waters – Deep Impact
Wingate University
Jennifer Grassmann – Siler City, NC
Krista Harbinson – Charlotte, NC
Sabra Hart – Thomasville, NC
David Little – Bear Creek, NC
Claire McCoy – Weaverville, NC
Campbell University
Nathan Brunson – Deep Impact
Courtney Chase – Asheville, NC
Elizabeth Godfrey – Yellowstone, MT
Michael Tyndall – InVision (North Carolina and Toronto, Canada)
UNC – Pembroke
Allisonjoy Fiello – East St. Louis, IL
Aaron Hollifield – All over Alaska
John O’Neill – Goldsboro, NC
Michael Smith – Mount Pearl, Newfoundland (Canada)
Mars Hill College
Britany Acosta – InVision (North Carolina and Toronto, Canada)
Kaitlyn Allen – Waco, TX
Kelli Elliott – Girdley, CA
Western Carolina University
Tosha Johnson – Kinston, NC
Ian Youmans – Ocean City, Maryland
Chowan University
Helen Anninos – Charlotte, NC
Liberty University
Kyle Daughtry – Beaufort, SC
Berry College
Katie Mitchell – Kenya
High Point University
Katelyn Rhodes – High Point, NC
UNC – Charlotte
Caleb Thurman – Asheville, NC
Pfeiffer University
Kaitlyn Mullins – Midland, NC
**disclaimer** I am a twenty year old college student. There is nothing official or grand about this review. I am a really big Disney/Pixar fan and I really like talking about art, especially art that I like. So take this review with a grain of salt. The Oscars will never listen to me anyway…
I was relieved when I left the theatre today. Watching the first trailers for Up, I was excited but at the same time fearful. Wall-E had just been released and, squirrel!…Wall-E had been released and, to me, that felt like the pentacle of Pixar (my personal favorite of their library thus far). In the trailers for Up, I couldn’t help but feel like the characters felt flat. Especially with Russell, his lines felt cold and not very emotional. I kept that in the back of my mind and just said “It’s Pixar! They can do no wrong!” Thankfully as I was watching the movie I was really pleased. Personally, I don’t think it’s their best, but it’s still a beautiful movie and I think everyone should see it.
As I mentioned, after Wall-E, I couldn’t figure out how they were going to top it. When I first saw Up my reaction was “Okay, they aren’t gonna try and top it. That’s good, right?” To me, Up pays homage to the classic Pixar movies (Toy Story/Monsters, Inc.); very clean, simple, and super child friendly. I will admit, I was taken aback at how dramatic Up really is. Especially at the dramatic parts, some of the kids in the room were crying because something bad happened (storytellers, that is the equivalent of two thumbs up’ the kids are in the movie). The movie had life & heart to it still and it’s those two characteristics (as well as marvelous storytelling and artistry) that make Pixar movies stand out above the rest.
At times the story seemed variant and there were parts that I really felt weren’t quite resolved (they probably did and I just haven’t come to terms with it), and yes the characters did have their moments of being flat, but overall it was a really pleasing experience and I can’t wait to see it again.
Oh, and if you are able to, see it in 3D. I got to watch it in 3D and, oh my gosh, it was absolutely breathtaking. Most of the times you forget you have the glasses on and you’re just lost in the movie! It’s amazing!
I posted this picture in my last blog and there is this brilliant Hollywood adventure story to go with it and I wanted to share it…
In the back of a truck leaving Matucana
In this picture is 7 of 18 people crammed in the back of a pick up truck. 10 of those were gringos (pale people) and they were all holding on to me for dear life (I was in the middle). Also note that we had all our luggage in the back of the truck as well. It was one of the most fun things we did on the trip!
If you don’t know, it tends to rain a lot in Peru, especially in the mountains where you are constantly in the clouds. Well, the last three days we were there it rained a lot. It never stopped! So come friday, the day we needed to leave, there had been numerous mudslides on the roads and train tracks so there were no vehicles of any kind coming up and down the mountain. We really needed to get down that day (our translators had other places to be the next day), so we did what any determined Gringos would do…we decided to hike down.
Let me give you our bearings. Halfway between Lima & Matucana, there is a town called Chosica and that was where we needed to be. On our way up to Matucana, we took a 1 1/2 – 2 hour bus ride the whole way up the mountain. So we had decided to cover that 1 1/2 – 2 hour bus ride time on foot. Get the drift…
Well we started out planning on being at Chosica by nightfall if we were lucky. We all packed up and started off (the group shot in my pics is us just before we headed out.) Immediately after we left Matucana we found a truck who was helping haul people as far as it could go. Go all of us and a few others (it was like the whole village of Matucana was walking down with us) hopped into the truck, 18 of us total, and we headed off. Now this wasn’t that big of a truck. Just think of a less-than-medium-sized truck and you have the right image.
That ride was so much fun! If you have ever been to the Safari Ride at Disney World, well it was just like that. We went swiftly around curvy dirt roads and over raging rivers that had overflowed their banks and were now moving across the roads. We were in the truck for around 30-40 minutes until it came to a point where it couldn’t go any further. I could barely feel my legs after it, but it saved us a good few hours of walking plus, if I haven’t mentioned it before, it was awesome!
After that we walked for a couple hours. Apparently it’s a sight to the locals to see a bunch of Americans walking in a pack down the roads. All traffic was at a dead stop so we just walked down the middle of it. We ended up on international television twice (2 times!) and we couldn’t help but notice the locals were lining up on the ends of the streets taking pictures of us. I guess they weren’t use to gringos in high numbers.
Anyway, after that hiking we ended up catching two buses and ended up in Chosica in time for lunch (we weren’t planning on getting there until nightfall).
God was definitely with us. Who else could have made it so awesome of a time! Never once did we argue or get tired. My whole team agrees that during that time was when we were working best as a team. Our leader mentioned he couldn’t get a single negative comment out of us during that. We all knew anything could go wrong (if someone twisted and ankle, we would be screwed). We were determined to overcome this and I truly believe that is what drives our memories of this event.
Don’t believe me? I just found an article talking about the mudslide here.
We crossed a bridge over the road to get to the beach.
Oh, and we ended up in Lima around 4:00. We got to walk down to the Pacific Ocean (our hotel was just a couple of blocks away). LJ (our leader) told us to go see the sunset, but when we got there the fog was so dense that you couldn’t even see the water. But they parted and things turned out beautiful. I got to go down to the water and clean my boots naturally (I just stood at the shoreline and let the beach to it’s magic. I should have mentioned earlier that since there was rain, there was mud. Most of us had mud up to our knees (including me).
Peruvian Sunset! On the Pacific!!
That was just one of many…many stories I wish to tell from the trip. Hope to share more soon.
Have a marvelous Day!
*edit*- I just added the link to REAPsouth, the organization I worked with in Peru, to the links to the right for you to check out if you wish.
If you read my last post, I quickly mentioned that I will be working videography for the Baptist Campus Ministry in NC this summer. I thought I would share a little bit about that and the bigger picture behind it.
Originally I wasn’t planning on doing that this summer. At first I was planning on going to Los Angeles for a summer mission trip. Now before you go “what the heck were you thinking?! Not going to LA?!”, I did the same thing. It was barely a few days after I got back from Peru that I was presented the LA opportunity. I was still on a Mission Work/Jesus adrenaline rush so I instantly started considering it. But the longer I thought about it the longer I begin to think that that wasn’t what God had planned for me this summer.
In the back of a truck leaving Matucana
While away in a foreign country, after you have left everything behind in your homeland, you begin to really discover who you are. I was able to spend plenty of time meditating with God about what his will is for my life and what my abilities mean to me. I quickly begin to understand that my love for art and creative thinking wasn’t just a hobby. I felt that God had a purpose and a way that he could use that to broaden his kingdom. So I began to contemplate what that might look like.
By the end of my Peru trip, my wish was to try and explore art ministries and do something where I felt my gifts and abilities would be more useful. Moving forward to LA, the more I thought about it the more I started to think that maybe that wasn’t where I was suppose to be this summer. Shortly after I declined the offer, I was presented with the videographer position and I instantly noticed something about it. It was an artistic position. The more I thought and prayed over it the more I started to think that this was where God wanted me to be this summer.
A month or two later and heaven knows how many pieces of paperwork later, I have the position and I am really excited about it. Even though it will mostly be siting at a computer working, I still believe that it will have a more profound impact, if not on others on my own life.
Please be in prayer for me and all my friends. We’re covering all the corners of the earth…literally! I have friends going to…
-Alaska
-Canada (two friends)
-LA (at least six friends)
-Kenya (already there)
-South Africa
-Some staying in NC
-Guatemala
-South Asia
There are probably more but I am so sorry I can’t remember them. Some of them are blogging so if I can find their blogs then I will add them to my list of friends to the left.
Sorry for vanishing over the past few months. I got back from Peru and I came back running. I really didn’t have time to sit and think, the second I got back school started back up and things have just been absolutely crazy. Thankfully I finished the semester a couple of weeks ago and am finally able to breathe for a while.
I wanted to share some stories from Peru but I have come to learn that there are so many that if I tried to throw them all into one blog it would go on forever. So here are some photos from the trip and I hope to share some stories occasionally as I continue to blog…
Again, I hope to share more in the coming days. Until then I am excited. This summer I will be working in Cary, NC at the Baptist Campus Ministry Headquarters. I will be the videographer. I hope to share stories from that and also have more presence here sharing my thoughts.
Until then, have an awesome day!
p.s.- Please continue to pray for Matucana. There were such wonderful people there and I have so many friends from there now. There are still people visiting to talk with them. Three of which have started a blog that you could visit here (don’t be concerned about the warning; I promise you it’s safe.)
my soul has been stained by dirt from the streets i walked
my mind has been jaded by the things i call my own
my home has become a foreign land
and foreign land is inside me
their faces haunt my memories; their stories stir my soul
their questions; their concerns; some i dare not discern
we showed up too late to help them all
just in time to watch the spirit fall
The ruins of the palace i built for me
you’re rebuilding, piece by piece, a sanctuary
the cross i bear is not made of plastic but wood
it reminds me of the streets where i once stood
do not forget the ones we love
do not forget our home
do not forget the ones we love
do not forget our homes abroad
Filed under: Art, I'm thinking, Music I Listen To, charity, faith, music, the word, traveling, writing
Sorry I haven’t updated much. I made it back safely in the states on Sunday from my Peru trip and have just been running wild trying to get myself back into my normal American system. The Peru trip went absolutely amazing!! I will be forever grateful for getting the chance to go. I hope to update more this weekend with stories and pictures but I can’t right now because I don’t have the pictures with me and I don’t have much time. I just wanted to say hello and draw your attention to this cool thing I found. It’s called Brite Revolution and it’s a group of artist who have come together to bring awareness to a wide array of different issues and organizations. For $5 a month, you get exclusive music from these artist as well as part of all proceeds go to support the organizations listed on the site (and you get to choose which one specifically you want to support and that can be changed at any time). Check it out here.
