Snuggling in Cold Brussels, Belgium

My team made it safely here on Monday and we are enjoying a day of rest from our busy schedule. We have done creative worship (painting, singing, dancing) on the streets, in the metro, and in the train station. It has been very fun and rewarding.

There were some technical difficulties with the visas for our leaders, Margret and Gabby, so the 15 of us students went on ahead without them.We are having a great time here serving the people and worshiping on the streets.

I gotta run to do some laundry now and enjoy a cup of tea with the woman hosting a couple of us in her home from the team.

I will post more stories and pictures another time.

Take care!

Departure Day! Belgium, France and Rwanda... Here I Come

Hi everyone!

It is departure day! My bags are packed, my room check is completed and I am finishing the last few details before my team leaves the island of Hawaii tonight.

A few technical difficulties with passports and visa have caused the team to not be able to travel all together today. The first group of us - me and 12 other students will go today. Two other students will follow on Monday. And our team leaders will hopefully be set to go in a week.

So, with that said, Wes and I, the two student-leaders for the team, will be leading our team to Belgium for a week, then to the south of France, and finally to Rwanda. Hopefully Gabby, Margret and Hero will be approved to come to Europe to meet us for some of our time there and then the flight down to Rwanda. As student leaders, there are a lot of things that we will be learning and praying about as we go. Your prayers for widsom, confidence in Christ, and unity for the team are greatly appreciated.

I hope to be able to post something on the blog every couple of weeks while I am out of the country for the next seven months.

Here is a little taste of what the language sounds like. The Rwandans speak kinyarwanda (or sometimes called Rwandan). I would love to learn this song as a team to sing while we are there. We have another song that Margret taught us also. The team also learned some dance moves to

http://blog.speakrwanda.com/category/music/

Thanks! I love you all!

Less than a Week...

Time flies by! I have been in Hawaii for 11 weeks already and will only be in this paradise for 5 more day. I already started packing for my 7 month journey that will take me to Belgium, France and then Rwanda.

Our team is doing a lot of preparations right now. Yesterday we started to learn the dance moves to a worship song called "Above All" by Michael W. Smith. We are also learning the lyrics to a Rwandan song. Tomorrow we are going to practice 3 skits that we can perform for people we meet along the way.

Here is a bit about a wonderful day about 3 weeks ago. Sorry I am so slow to post about it :(

A couple of weeks ago, three of my roommates and I borrowed a car and drove to a couple places around the island. My favorite part was at the end of the day. We drove to Mauna Kea which is a 13,000 ft inactive volcano with an incredible star observatory near the top. As we set out, God blessed us over and over again with beautiful sights:


an incredible sunset,




a rainbow so close we could almost touch it,

and then a night sky without a cloud in sight. They had telescopes set up for the visitors to check out the best star gazing on earth. I took this picture through one of the telescopes with my own camera. WOW God is amazing.

So, the part I didn't share yet, was a little blip in our plan. Exactly as we reached the driveway of the visitor center at 9,200 feet on Mauna Kea, steam/smoke started coming from the hood of our borrowed car. Ericka pulled over and a couple men from the visitor center came over to check things out. Turned out we had totally blew the radiator - cracked right up the side. Well, with a van that couldn't be driven we had to trust God for a different way to get back to campus - a 2 hour drive away. One of the men looking at the car offered to take us back to town. He didn't have any room inside his car, but there was space for the 4 of us in the back of his pickup truck. We were in the mood for adventure and had brought lots of warm clothes and blankets with us for the trip, so we gladly accepted. God gave us 2 more hours to enjoy his beautiful stars singing praises to him from the back of the truck. WOW!

DTS Update - 7 weeks in

Aloha! I want to start this update by thanking the Lord. He is gently revealins so many new things to me personally and through our speakers. I am slowly beginning to learn who He is. Tankey Papa God.

Now I turn my gratitude to all of you – my family, friends, church family, former employers, teachers, professors, and more. Thank you for your prayers, your encouraging words and for financially making it possible for me to come to Hawaii for this incredible time of learning, devotion, and intimacy with God. These past six weeks I have been soaking in every bit of wisdom and revelation from our speakers. I know it will absolutely change the way I walk with Christ for the rest of my life.

Our lecture phase here in Kona is more than halfway over. We leave for outreach in 4 weeks and 3 days. I am so excited!!!!! I can’t believe how quickly this time has flown by. Though I am leaps and bounds further than where I was two months ago, I can see more of what I need to know that I don’t know yet. I guess that is the continual excitement of learning. The more I know and experience, the more I realize I don’t know yet and haven’t yet experienced. There is still so much more that I don’t even know that I don’t know. Think your way through that one. :)

Here is a little promotional video we made last week. Each student on campus starred in his or her own video and I was selected to do the voice over for the whole thing – for all the videos. It is only 2 minutes long and shows the campus here in Kona, Hawaii. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxZiO9k_1xk

God is becoming so much more real to me each day. I am much more aware of his presence – often I will feel a warm sensation in my stomach and though I originally thought it was just too much delicious food I have since recognized it as the presence of the Lord. I am stepping out in prayer and have been baptized by water and in the Holy Spirit. My first experience with filled with the Holy Spirit revealed to me that He is fun! I was literally on the floor laughing for at least an hour. This stuff is real! AND God can have a good time!

I am recognizing that God speaks to me in the languages I understand – pictures and mathematical equations. How cool is that! Just this weekend God showed me that His love for me is eternal. Therefore the domain of God’s love for me is (-∞,∞). That means God has loved me forever in the past, totally loves me now, and He will love me forever into the future. Forever is a long time, so God must have a lot of Love! An infinite capacity to love! WOW! I can’t even wrap my mind around that one.

I am also seeing that God is calling me for more than just this 6-month honeymoon. The 15 students in my outreach team were presented with an opportunity to stay in Rwanda for 4 extra months. Myself and four other students have committed to stay in Kigali, Rwanda with our two leaders and their 2-year old son, Hero. We will rent a house until July 7^th and continue with the ministries that we start in December. AMAZING! I knew that I wasn’t going back to Colorado when my school was done, but I had no idea that God would keep me in Rwanda sharing his love with a war torn nation for 4 extra months. This is so much better and more exciting than what I could have ever dreamed myself!

Just today, our leaders shared with our team and incredible opportunity that has come up. They feel God is calling our team to a special role of praying and intercession within two countries that have had a negative influence on Rwanda in the past. Belgium reigned over Rwanda from 1918 to 1962 and caused the previously united people groups to turn against each other. To learn more about the skew of ethnic relations during that time, please see http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/5918/Africa-Belgian-Colonies.html#ixzz0Wce96MTD

France has also been involved in Rwanda’s history. There is speculation and belief among many Rwandans and others worldwide that the French were involved and possibly financed the genocide that took place in 1994. Check out this article written 4 years ago for more details.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article782536.ece

So the surprise that our leaders finally shared with us today, is that our team will be spending a week in each France and Belgium prior to landing in Rwanda around the 29^th of December. I don’t know details of what our time in Europe will look like, but I know we will definitely be praying for the healing of the relationships between the nations of Rwanda and Belgium and that between France and Rwanda.

We are not entirely sure what we will be doing while we are in Rwanda either. Our team is praying about different skills or trades that we can teach to the people to help them start their own businesses in some way. God is reminding me continually of the African inspired paintings that I did last year and how they touched so many people’s lives. So, though I am not certain, I may be teaching the local Rwandans to make greeting cards with a similar look to my painting series and then selling the cards back in The States. Also, African patterns are very beautiful (and mathematical) so there may be some cards or paintings coming out of Rwanda too! God is that Good!

As I am writing this and recognizing how much God is speaking to me mathematically lately, I wonder if God will present an opportunity for me to tutor others in math. I am in awe of how God wants to use each of the gifts he has given me. God made me just the way he wanted. That is incredible. It is even more incredible when I think about how hugely enourmous the universe is and how he is even bigger than that. I am just a speck on a speck on a speck, and yet God chose to create me and continually chooses to love me. Check out my blog today for a reminder of how HUGELY ENOURMOUS God made the Universe - it is the posting previous to this one.

So, as I look forward to these wonderful plans God is revealing, I am recognizing my need and desire to have a team backing me. My immediate need is for financial support. I am about $1,800 shy for the final payment of my outreach fees (due next Friday the 20^th. I know God is good and he is BIG, so this is not a problem for him. I request that you ask God if He wants you to help in this manner. Because of the short timeline, I don’t think mailing a check is the best option. I have set up a PayPal account for my supporters to use conveniently online. I think you have to create an account, but it only takes a couple of minutes. If you would rather give a different way, please email me and I can explain other options. The Donate button is on the right side of this blog.

Another need I have is for art supplies. I would love to bring some supplies with me to Rwanda so I can jump right in with the artistic activities and lessons. If you have paints, brushes, art paper, etc, please email me so we can discuss details and how you can send them to me here in Hawaii before I leave.

Of course my greatest need and desire is to have a support team backing my venture. Just like any other adventure I have taken through the world, it is so much more exciting when I am able to share it with others. My support team would be the group with whom I have a continual relationship, sharing stories, struggles, prayer requests and praises. I am still praying about what this God desires for this group. I would like you to pray about how God may want you involved. Look for details about the future support team in another email.

This update shows just a glimpse of how God has been working in my life. As you can see I have a lot of exciting stories and new revelations to share. I will cut myself off here as it is already the longest email I have ever written. If you have any questions, comments, encouraging words, or prayers for me, please send ‘em my way. I miss all of you and am greatly looking forward to adventures God has in store. I am still in awe that He has called me to live such an exciting, outside-the-box life!

Thank you God! Thank you friends and family!

Much love, Logan

God is BIG!

Today we dove into the difference between the nature and character of God. In order to understand the character of God (Intimacy with God) we need to get a grasp on the Nature of God (Reverence). Why are we to bow down to God, trust God, respect Him fully, etc? What makes him deserving? So, to start, we looked at how BIG God is.

Here is an article I found online that gives a great summary of what I learned in class today. WOW! At the end of my "tour" of the universe I felt very small and insignificant in the grand scheme of the universe. And yet, God still created me and knows the number of hairs on my head (Matthew 10:29-31). He chose me when He planned creation (Ephesians 1:11-12). He created each of us with specific plans, hopes, and dreams. God must be VERY BIG!

How Big Is God? by David F. Coppedge

http://www.icr.org/article/2821/

Most people know the universe is "vast," but until we visualize it, we shortchange ourselves of some healthy awe. The heavens glorify God, but should also humble us—as should become apparent in the following mental journey.

Recently, the New Horizons spacecraft blasted off on a ten-year express flight to Pluto. (A manned flight to Pluto, at the maximum speed of the Apollo astronauts, would take about 17 years.) Since Mars (1/26 the distance to Pluto) seems at the limit of our reach, human travel to the stars beyond must remain a dream for now. But Pluto is very near compared to the stars; if the Sun-Pluto distance were represented by a one-foot ruler, the nearest star would be over a mile away.

Movies mislead us with their talk of warp speeds; real interstellar travel is limited by the speed of light—186,282 miles per second. In our imagination (and ignoring relativistic effects) let's aim for the nearest star at light speed. First, we would be disappointed at how slowly the scenery changes. Only after 4.3 years would Alpha Centauri appear larger than a pinpoint of light. Star-hopping within our galaxy, we would be amazed at how much is empty space.

Turning up out of the plane of the Milky Way, it would take 100,000 years for the full spiral of our galaxy to become visible. Though stars at our sun's radius orbit the center at nearly 500,000 mph, the galaxy would appear motionless. A whole human lifetime would pass with no apparent change except for the rare supernova. As for the earth—if the galaxy were represented as the size of North America, our entire solar system would fit in a coffee cup somewhere in Idaho.

Astronomers estimate that there are as many galaxies outside the Milky Way as there are stars in it. The Hubble Ultra Deep Field, taken in 2004, imaged 10,000 galaxies in a cone of space so slim you could cover it with a grain of sand held at arm's length. Integrated over the entire sky, that would mean there are more than 100 billion galaxies in the visible universe, many with more than 100 billion stars each. According to Psalm 147:4, God calls them all by name.

Contemplating such things is humbling, but also raises questions. Can a God of such a vast domain really care about us? It's important to understand the Biblical doctrine of omnipresence in answering this question. Learning that God is everywhere does not mean that part of Him is here, part there, and part in a distant galaxy, as if His love were spread thinly across all of space. No; omnipresence means that all of God is present at every place, at the same time.

This means that no matter how large the universe, and how many beings reside within His kingdom, each of us can have His full and undivided attention in our own hearts. Let us pray with the spirit and with the understanding also (I Corinthians 14:15). As the country song insightfully claims, "How big is God? He's big enough to rule His mighty universe, yet small enough to live within my heart."

* David F. Coppedge works in the Cassini program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

I am experiencing more of how real God is. I hope to have time on tuesday to catch up on blogging. Thank you for your continued support and prayers

Week 4: Glory, Worldview, and the Kingdom of God

Last week was another exciting week with lots of new information and revelations. So, be warned, this blog is longer than my previous weeks. I truly believe the information I learned last week is vital to living as a follower of Christ. I pray that you take the time to read over some of my notes and if you have questions, I am happy to attempt to expand on my understanding or I can put you in touch with the speaker.

Last week our speaker was Don Stephens (the Kingdom Don, not the Mercy Ships Don for all you YWAMers). He shared incredible insight on God's Glory, worldviews as well as the Kingdom. I am going to focus most of my blog this week on the Kingdom, because it is a totally new concept to me.

I will start with the Glory of God. This is a Christian phrase that is used constantly in conversation, prayers, songs, etc, but I have never really understood what the Glory of God is. My NIV concordance defines glory as: the grandeur and majesty of God. That definition feels like more arm waving and not a whole lot of substance.

Don summed it up as "God's glory is His invisible character made visible." citing Romans 1:20

Everything is about God's Glory! Don explained a Circle of Glory.

1. God creates man for his glory. "... those whom I have created for my glory." Isaiah 43.7
2. Man discovers God's creation to the glory of God. "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; but the glory of kings to search it out." Proverbs 25.2
3. Man imitates God through creative activity (for the glory of God.) "Make tunics, sashes, and hats for Aaron's sons to express glory and beauty." Exodus 28.40
4. Man's creative activity fills the earth with more of God's glory. "Whether you ear, or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." I Corinthians 10:31

As a visual person, the diagram helped me to understand it better.

The Glory of God is written on our hearts. That is why we enjoy the things we do: children playing, fairy tale endings, beautiful sunsets, loving relationships, etc. They all reflect the Glory of God.

Suddenly it everything matters. When I make my bed in the morning, it's aesthetic nature will reflects the Glory of God's beauty. When I help the elderly woman over the rocks into the ocean, that loving interaction of community reflects the Glory of God's relationships. WOW! Our role is to restore and reflect the Glory of God.

Now, I understand also, why I cry during the love scene in a movie, or at a beautiful orchestra concert, or am stopped in my tracks at the sight of the sun setting over the ocean. All of these things reflect God's Glory. And the most fantastic part is that when we recognize and respond to beauty, then we see more beauty. And seeing more beauty is recognizing more of God's Glory all around us! INCREDIBLE!

Here is an example of a loving relationship that entirely reflects Jesus' love for us and his constant desire to bring us back to his loving arms and relationship. This clip is taken from the movie Blood Diamond with Leonardo DiCaprio. Warning: you may need a Kleenex for the next two minutes; I definitely did.

OK - I could go on for pages more, but I want to get to the other gems from the week:

WORLDVIEWS: Why are worldviews important? Because ideas have consequences. Worldviews are formed without us even knowing it, so we are often unaware of the ideas we believe and therefore also unaware of the consequences we are heading toward.

Jesus wants us to see the world as it truly is. Don used a great visual to help us understand. As a person who grew up attending Buddhist Meditations, I received a tint of New Age Worldview to my glasses. I also am part of the Post-Modern Generation, so I have an additional tint to my glasses. All of the media, books, newspapers, church, school, family and friends that I am exposed to through my life tint my glasses too. So, what I am left with is a skewed vision of the world. Jesus want me to remove my glasses and when I refocus my eyes, I will see the world as he desires: the Kingdom worldview.

Don was great with sharing video clips to demonstrate the points we was making. They impacted me so strongly, I wanted to tell you about them too. I couldn't find this exact clip on youtube but maybe you will have better luck. Check out the scene in The Truman Show when Jim Carrey's character is on the boat and comes to the edge of his world. There is such a strong statement about our "reality" which can be said as the tinting on the glasses that we see the world through.

THE KINGDOM: During class one day, Don asked us what we believed was Jesus' main message was while He was on earth. What is the central theme to the four Gospel books in the Bible? My response - LOVE. Other responses varied from forgiveness to truth to repentance.

Then Don got out his stats and blew us all away.

These are some of the the typical responses Don hears from people when he asks them the same question. Each word is followed by the actual number of times Jesus used the word in the New American Standard version of the four Gospels.

• Born again: 2 times
• Salvation: 8 times
• Sin: 17 times
• Forgiveness: 24 times
• Truth: 28 times
• Satan/the Devil: 28 times
• Money: 29 times
• Love: 43 times
• Heaven: 71 times
• The Kingdom: 117 times - (The Father: 226 times!)

Jesus' first message preached is recorded in Matthew 4:17.

"From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."

Jesus is telling us to take off our "glasses" and smash them. Everything is changed (Jesus dying for our sins) - come see the world the way I see it!

The notes in my NIV study bible describe the Kingdom of Heaven = Kingdom of God as:

"the establishment of God's rule in the hearts and lives of his people, the overcoming of all the forces or evil, the removal from the world of all the consequences of sin - including death and all that diminished life - and the creation of a new order of righteousness and peace. The idea of God's Kingdom is central to Jesus' teaching and is mentioned 50 times in Matthew alone."

That description is still very abstract to me. Our speaker put it into words that my mind can grasp.

What is the Kingdom of God? “May thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.”

• It is every place where God’s will is being done.
• It is everything gone wrong in the fall being made right again in Christ.
• It is God’s dream for His creation.
• It is the Father, Son and Spirit extending His life into all of creation.
• It is the “perichoresis” the circle dance of the Trinity embracing the human
race.

The Ways of the Kingdom:

The purpose of the Kingdom is the glory of God.
The constitution of the Kingdom is the Word of God.
The ruling principle of the Kingdom is love.
The language of the Kingdom is story and picture.
The reach of the Kingdom includes all of the universe.

What was the “Gospel of the Kingdom” that Jesus preached?
(From Darrow Miller: Discipling the Nations.)

• The Kingdom of God is revealed in a person. Col. 1:19
• God's rule is here and now. Now, and "not yet." Matthew 6:10
• The kingdom is comprehensive, touching every area of life. Col. 1:20; Rom.
8:18-23
• The kingdom is open to all. John 3:16 Matt. 5:3-10
• The kingdom of God sanctifies the common. 1 Cor. 10:31; Zech. 14:20-21
• God's kingdom is unshakable. Heb. 11:10
• The kingdom of God is offensive. It assaults the gates of hell. Matt 16:18

A Different Kind of Fairy Tale
It is a world where terrible things happen
and wonderful things too.
It is a world where goodness is pitted against evil,
love against hate,
order against chaos in a great struggle
where often it is hard to be sure who belongs to which side
because appearances are endlessly deceptive.
Yet for all its confusion and wildness it is a world
where the battle goes ultimately to the good
who live happily ever after, and where in the long run everybody,
good and evil alike, becomes known by his true name.
This is a fairy tale of the gospel with, of course, one crucial difference
from all the other fairy tales,
which is that the claim made for it is that it is true,
that it not only happened once upon a time
but has kept on happening ever since
and is happening still.
~Frederick Beuchner