Le Chocolat

I have some serious chocolate updating to do! I'm living in chocolate capital of the world (I don't care what Belgium says) and I've been trying tons of different kinds of chocolate, but I've been terrible about writing about it. There is quite a variety of chocolate to be tried here and I've even sampled some other Swiss & European specialties.

The Japonais bar was a bit of a let down from the expectation I had when I found it in the store. It's milk chocolate with Japanese-style honey cookie crumbles and creme as a sort of filling with the chocolate. First, I have no idea if there is anything Japanese about it. Second, it basically tasted like Crunch bar with better milk chocolate. Okay for flavor but rather disappointing.

The Europeans love their chocolate with nuts. (Insert crude Europe joke here). The milk chocolate filled with pistachios was very good, but VERY sweet. The milk chocolate is already sweet and there is a caramel-y filling along with the nuts. I think pistachios are probably an acquired taste, which I happen to like, but I probably wouldn't give this one as a gift.

Nothing flashy or fancy about the Splendor bar - just high quality milk chocolate. It was creamy and full of flavor and had great texture. Eating milk chocolate like this makes it nearly impossible to go back to a Hershey bar.

I think it's impossible to come to Switzerland and not have a Toblerone bar at least once. I had the classic bar of milk chocolate with honey and almond, and I finished this one quickly. Normally, I'm not a fan of honey and chocolate, which is popular here, but the almonds add some saltiness to keep it from being too sweet.

In terms of major Swiss chocolate companies, I think Lindt is the best Switzerland has to offer. Fortunately for us, there is no shortage of Lindt products in the U.S. And yes, a Lindt Chocolate Truffle is just as magical in Switzerland as it is at home.

I was intrigued by chocolate filled with champagne truffles and ended up being disgusted after one bite. It had Champagne in the name, it smelled like Champagne, and somehow I thought it wouldn't taste like Champagne. Genius. The worst thing about this bar was that it tasted bad even after I swallowed it. I ended up giving away most of it to some people who were big fans.

I have a new favorite chocolate chip cookie. Nicole made this one night for an event we were having and they were AMAZING. The cookies were thick and they had big chunks of chocolate in them and I think I had about six. The best part about these babies - she's making them again tonight!

We stumbled upon a high-end chocolate shop in Geneva a couple weeks ago and were blown away with how fancy it was. It was a very tiny store and there was only one person working but they probably had a hundred different types of truffles. The employee put on a satin glove before touching any of the chocolate and everything was very precise. It was way out of our budget, so we got the smallest piece of chocolate we could find - milk chocolate with pistachio. It was delicious and you could tell it was very high quality. The flavors would fill your mouth as you chewed and it was something where you literally savored every bite.

Nicole surprised me with treat from the grocery store. I don't know anything about Movenpick, but they seem to be the Haagen-Daaz of swiss ice cream and they have many bizarre and creative flavors. We got the Swiss Chocolate flavor and it met my expectations. It even has shavings of chocolate blended in to add some texture.

God bless the French. We spent a day in Annecy, a French town near Geneva, and sampled as much of the local cuisine as we could. We knew we couldn't go to France and not have a crepe - so we stopped at a street vendor and got a nutella crepe, a grand marnier crepe, and a gauffre, which is a heavenly French waffle that is covered in powdered sugar and tastes like a funnel cake. I pigged out on the gauffre and Nicole liked the nutella crepe so much she went back and got another one.

Ovomaltine seems to be the European version of Chips Ahoy or Oreo. Nothing special - although it might be good in a Blizzard or milkshake. Someone notify Dairy Queen!

Apparently, this is the Swiss drink. There is no shortage of Coke in this country, but Rivella is more local. It's a carbinated drink that tastes similar to coke but has a citrus sort of flavor to it as well. It's not bad - but it's also nothing special.

I bought this at the store but I haven't opened it yet. I've had it before at the Coke Lounge in Epcot and I think I remember liking it. It's a type of Coke that Coca Cola sells in Europe and it has an orange flavor to it.

There's many more crazy things I've tried but I think that'll do for now. Looking forward to trying some South African food in a few weeks!

I-C-Y-U-R that way!

In our class this week, we are talking about personality types and how people interact in groups. It is to help prepare us for the outreach phase of our program and to figure out the best ways we can function in our outreach teams. In order to identify our personality types, every one took the Myers Briggs Personality Test and we received our results today. According to the test and it's terms, I'm an ISTJ, which means I'm an introvert, who works through my senses and feelings. Our results included a lengthy description of what a person with the given personality type usually acts like and some of the points stuck out to me with how accurate they are:

-"usually have an offbeat sense of humor"
-"They're not comfortable with breaking laws or going against the rules. If they are able to see a good reason for stepping outside of the established mode of doing things, they will support that effort."
-"They resist putting energy into things which don't make sense to them, or for which they can't see a practical application."
-They are not naturally in tune with their own feelings and the feelings of others. They may have difficulty picking up on emotional needs immediately, as they are presented."
-"Likely to be uncomfortable expressing affection and emotion to others."
-"Have difficulty understanding a theory or idea which is different from their own perspective."


And according to the test results, I share the same personality type as Clint Eastwood. Just what I always wanted!

Here is the link to take the test if you're interested: Personality Test. It really is quite interesting to see the results and see how it affects our interaction with other people.

Hi Bear

In my Bible reading from this past week, there was a verse from Proverbs that stuck out to me as both awesome and profound. Proverbs 17:12 says, "Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in his folly." I think there are times when we breeze through the Bible because we know the big ideas and we think most of the Bible is basically saying the something - love God & love others. It's true those are the main things we are commanded to do, but there are so many other great principles God wants to reveal to us through the Bible if we are willing to look for them.

How great is the image of a bear being robbed of her cubs to show the danger of a situation? After watching a disturbing amount of Animal Planet and the Discovery Channel in the past year, I can tell you that a mother bear being separated from her cubs is not a pretty sight. Some of the most vicious attacks on humans have occurred when people accidentally came between an adult bear and her cubs. It's believed that nearly 80% of fatal bear attacks come as a result of a bear protecting her cubs. If the mother bear senses a potential threat to her young, she will attack the threat and usually won't stop until the threat is completely destroyed.

So try to picture being attacked by an angry animal that weighs over 800 lbs and is over nine feet tall when it stands upright! And the Bible says it is better to be in that situation than to associate yourself with someone who is being foolish and making unwise decisions. Wow! When it comes to thinking about the people I want to spend time with, I usually make that decision based on who I like, who is funny, and who do I have a good time with. The issue of whether or not that person is making wise decisions usually isn't a big deal unless I think their decisions will affect me. The problem is, their unwise decisions and unwise actions will affect me because their character will have a subtle influence on me. As I continue to meet new people and find myself in new situations, I need to continue to remember the angry bear protecting her cubs.

Sacrifice

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing, and perfect will." 

Romans 12:1-2

I don't know if there's a verse I've heard more in the past year. It's a favorite verse of our pastor and it seemed like he tried to include it in every sermon we ever heard him give. It was painted on the wall of a random church we visited in Haiti. And it was referenced in our school during last week's teaching on sin and repentance. The more I hear this verse and reflect on what it says - the more it challenges and encourages me and the more I want my life to be a reflection of this verse.

We aren't really sure why God led us to Burtigny. There can't be more than 300 people in this town; this is a small YWAM base; and everything is primarily French. YWAM has many other bases around the world and I don't know why God led us here instead of one of the hundreds of other bases. Yet, we made the decision to offer our lives and our time to God and trust him. We had other plans that probably would have been easier but we knew we needed to make a sacrifice. Living in Switzerland at the foot of the Alps isn't a huge sacrifice, but living on a base with 30 other people and having little independence or "alone" time has been a big adjustment. Yet, I am beginning to see the verse in Romans 12 being experienced in a practical way.

There is no conforming to the pattern of this world here. The biggest shopping we get to do is visiting the grocery store on Saturday afternoon. The only TV we watch is an occasional movie. The reading is mainly the Bible and an occasional extra book. And there is little talk about making money or buying things because none of us have any money anyway. It's easy to not conform to the pattern of the world because living in Burtigny feels like we're in a different world.

As we've been here, it feels like it has been an opportunity for God to transform our minds. We have been able to focus on reading God's word and have had many conversations and heard different points of view on who God is. And through this process, it feels like we are testing God's will for our lives - his good, pleasing, and perfect will. So as we try to figure out why we're in Burtigny, our hope is to continue to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God and he will reveal his good, pleasing, and perfect will for bringing us here.  

My Life is a Box of Chocolates

I've had a tough time adjusting to the food here. We went from choosing our own food and having the freedom to be really picky and really healthy to eating food on a base. Lots of starch, lots of red meat, very few fruits and vegetables, and lots of butter and oil. It's tough to shop at the grocery store because everything is very expensive and it's hard to tell what you are buying when everything is in French. However, I have decided that I won't miss the opportunity of enjoying the chocolate while in Switzerland. Swiss grocery stories have entire aisles for chocolate and there are all sorts of chocolaterie shops where you can try different things - so I'm going to try as many as I can! Here's some of the stuff I've sampled so far:

I picked up the equivalent of chocolate pudding at the grocery store - and the Swiss have this stuff figured out! It tastes like a Frosty from Wendy's and it's rather cheap. 

This is actually a brand of chocolate from Latvia. The company is called Laima and someone gave me a dark chocolate bar with hazelnut - which goes great with a shortbread cookie.

This next one is the Nestle brand that's sold in Switzerland and it's called Cailler. Nestle's headquarters are based in Switzerland and I tried their classic milk chocolate bar. Very good and very similar to the milk chocolate from Ghirardelli.

When we were in Nyon today, we stumbled across an awesome chocolate shop called Rapp. They had an amazing selection of pastries, truffles, and chocolates, and I couldn't resist trying one of them. This was a chocolate mousse cake with white chocolate shavings. It was a great mid-afternoon snack and it reminded me a lot of the chocolate mousse from the Cheesecake Factory.

The latest addition to the menu is a Caramel Milk Chocolate Bar. The brand is Frey, which is considered to be one of the most popular and best value in Switzerland. I haven't tried it yet but I have high hopes for this one.

I'll be sure to update when I try more different flavors and brands!

Choices

My Choice

by: Bill McChesney

I want my breakfast served at "Eight,"

With ham and eggs upon the plate;

A well-broiled steak I'll eat at "One,"

And dine again when day is done.

I want an ultra modern home,

And in each room a telephone;

Soft carpets, too, upon the floors,

And pretty drapes to grace the doors.

A cozy place of lovely things,

Like easy chairs with innersprings,

And then I'll get a small TV -

Of course, "I'm careful what I see."

I want my wardrobe, too, to be

Of neatest, finest quality,

With latest style in suit and vest,

Why shouldn't Christians have the best?

But then the Master I can hear,

In no uncertain voice, so clear,

"I bid you come and follow me,

The Lowly Man of Galilee."

"Birds of the air have made their nest,

And foxes in their holes find rest;

But I can offer you no bed;

No place have I to lay my head."

In shame I hung my head and cried,

How could I spurn the Crucified?

Could I forget the way He went,

The sleepless nights in prayer He spent?

For forty days without a bite,

Alone He fasted day and night;

Despised, rejected - on He went,

And did not stop till veil He rent.

A man of sorrows and of grief,

No earthly friend to bring relief -

"Smitten of God," the prophet said -

Mocked, beaten, bruised, His blood ran red.

If he be God and died for me,

No sacrifice too great can be

For me, a mortal man, to make;

I'll do it all for Jesus' sake.

Yes, I will tread the path He trod,

No other way will please my God;

So, henceforth, this my choice shall be,

My choice for all eternity.

The following poem comes from Making Jesus Lord by Loren Cunningham. The poem was written by Bill McChesney, who was an American missionary to the Congo. McChesney wrote this poem before he left for the Congo and was killed in the Congo uprising in 1964. He was 28 years old.

Straight Path

"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

This passage was part of my Bible reading today and it really struck me. I've heard these verses quoted numerous times and it's always a popular choice in Sunday school classes and youth groups about letting God have control of your life, but it jumped off the page at me tonight and I'm beginning to see what this truly means.

When I read the phrase, "lean not on your own understanding," I realize that I do this ALL THE TIME. I go through most days completely leaning on my own understanding and relying on my own ability to figure things out. Now, I believe God has gifted each one of us with creativity and problem solving skills that he wants us to use on a regular basis, but how many times do we make decisions and say things without even considering whether or not we are trusting in God? Let alone trusting in God with "all your heart"!?

In these verses, I particularly like the word - understanding. One of the dictionary definitions of the word understanding is: mental process of a person who comprehends. When I think about that definition and the fact that we are currently living in a small farming village on a mission base in Switzerland, I learn what it means to lean not on my own understanding. We live in a French speaking village, and we don't know French! It's normal for the temperature to be in the 30's & 40's here and we've spent the past year living in a place where people freak out when the temperature gets below 80! We've both lived in towns where there is lots to do and lots of people around and now we live in a one road village with only a couple hundred people! Leaning on my own understanding? By all logical thinking, I'd have to wonder what on earth I'm doing in Burtigny, Switzerland?

That's where the rest of the passage takes over - "in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." Almost a year ago exactly, we felt God calling us to Africa. We weren't sure where we'd go in Africa, or how we would get there, or what we'd do, or who we'd go with; but we told God to stop us if he didn't want us to go. Instead of stopping us, God put us in touch with a little base in a tiny village in Switzerland that offers a six month discipleship program with 3 months of training and 3 months of outreach. Out of all the places in the world where this base could do their outreach, where do they go? Africa. So here we are, leaning not on our own understanding and acknowledging him in our ways.

Sometimes he makes your path straight down a one-road Swiss village.

Skipping Towns!

Friday is almost here! After months of planning, praying, and packing, we leave for our Discipleship Training School on Friday afternoon.

We'll drive here:

Atlanta, GA

We'll leave from here:

Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport

We'll fly to here:

Short layover in Chicago, IL

Then, we'll fly to here:

Another short layover in Copenhagen, Denmark

And then we'll fly over these:

The Alps

As we enter into:

Switzerland

And land here:

Geneva, Switzerland

Then, we'll take a train along this:

Switzerland's Lake Geneva

And eventually stop here:

Burtigny, Switzerland

Where we'll live here:

YWAM Burtigny - Home!

Daily Tragedy

Today, Nicole and I had the opportunity to attend the Georgia vs. Arkansas football game. We weren't planning on going to the game because we couldn't afford tickets but were given an unbelievable opportunity when someone we don't even know gave us their extra tickets and said "Merry Christmas." Although the Dawgs lost in heartbreaking fashion at the end of the game, we had a great time and savored the experience of getting to attend a game at Sanford Stadium again. Yet, as I sat in the stadium and looked around I was stunned at how many people fit into this massive stadium. And, I was convicted because seeing this many people put a tragic statistic into reality for me.

Sanford Stadium holds 92,746 people. It is the seventh largest stadium in college football and the Bulldogs sell out most of their home games. According to UNICEF, 24,000 children around the world die each day because of poverty. What does this mean? It means that right now Sanford Stadium is empty. And if you took this example and filled it with 24,000 children per day over the next 4 days - by Wednesday you would have a stadium full of dead children. In the next 4 days, 96,000 children will die because of poverty! If something had happened today and the 96,000 people at Sanford Stadium had died, it would be considered one of the worst tragedies in history. There would be investigations and people would be demanding explanations. There would be major reforms and changes to ensure that something like that would never happen again. Sadly, a Sanford Stadium full of children (and then some) die EVERY week from poverty and we go about our normal lives like nothing is wrong. Our lives don't change. Our attitudes don't change. Our time isn't spent differently. And our priorities are still focused on our own selfish desires. That is the true tragedy.

Radical - Chapter Eight

It's tough to narrow down my selection to five quotes from every chapter, but here are my five from chapter eight:

"What if we began to look at the design of God as the most dangerous option before us? What if the center of God's will is in reality the most unsafe place for us to be?"

"To everyone wanting a safe, untroubled, comfortable life free from danger, stay away from Jesus. The danger in our lives will always increase in proportion to the depth of our relationship with Christ."

"How far we have come when we paste the symbol identified with martyred brothers and sisters in the first century onto the backs of our SUVs and luxury sedans in the twenty-first century."

"We seem to have organized ourselves, not to engage in battle for the souls of peoples around the world, but to indulge ourselves in the peaceful comforts of the world."

"When we consider the promises of Christ, risking everything we are and everything we have for his sake is no longer a matter of sacrifice. It's just common sense."

Radical - Chapter Seven

Here are some quotes from chapter seven of Radical:

"If people are dying and going to hell without ever even knowing there is a gospel, then we clearly have no time to waste our lives on an American dream."

"There is not one verse in the book of Acts where the gospel advances to the lost apart from a human agent."

"God clearly has decided to use the church - and only the church - as the means by which his gospel will go to the ends of the earth."

"Some wonder if it is unfair for God to allow so many to have no knowledge of the gospel. But there is no injustice in God. The injustice lies in Christians who possess the gospel and refuse to give their lives to making it known among those who haven't heard."

"The will of God is for you and me to give our lives urgently and recklessly to making the gospel and the glory of God known among all peoples, particularly those who have never even heard of Jesus."

Radical - Chapter Six

Here are some quotes from chapter six of Radical.

"If there is no sign of caring for the poor in our lives, then there is reason to at least question whether Christ is in our hearts."

"What is the difference between someone who willfully indulges in sexual pleasures while ignoring the Bible on moral purity and someone who willfully indulges in the selfish pursuit of more and more material possessions while ignoring the Bible on caring for the poor? The difference is that one involves a social taboo in the church and the other involves the social norm in the church."

"Regardless of what we say or sign or study on Sunday morning, rich people who neglect the poor are not the people of God."

"Are you and I looking to Jesus for advice that seems fiscally responsible according to the standards of the world around us? Or are we looking to Jesus for total leadership in our lives, even if that means going against everything our affluent culture and maybe even our affluent religious neighbors might tell us to do?"

"There will continue to be millions and millions of people who do not hear the gospel as long as we continue to use spare time and spare money to reach them."

Radical - Chapter Five

Here are the five quotes that stuck out to me from chapter five of Radical. Chapter five featured some great perspective about the importance of discipleship and how we are commanded to make disciples.

"Disciple making is not a call for others to come to us to hear the gospel but a command for us to go to others to share the gospel."

"We will multiply the gospel only when we allow others to get close enough to us to see the life of Christ in action."

"When we take responsibility for helping others grow in Christ, it automatically takes our own relationship with Christ to a new level."

"What if we changed the question whenever we gathered to learn God's word? What if we began to think, How can I listen to his Word so that I am equipped to teach this Word to others?"

"In a culture where bigger is always better and flashy is always more effective, Jesus beckons each of us to plainly, humbly, and quietly focus our lives on people."

Radical - Chapter Four

Here are some quotes that stuck out to me from chapter four of Radical. I'm slowly prodding my way through this book but it's a great read.

"How many of us are so settled in the United States that we have never given serious thought to the possibility that God may call us to live in another country?"

"Jesus himself has not merely called us to go to all nations; he has created us and commanded us to go to all nations. We have taken this command, though, and reduced it to a calling - something that only a few people receive."

"We have unnecessarily (and unbiblically) drawn a line of distinction, assigning the obligations of Christianity to a few while keeping the privileges of Christianity for us all."

"What if anything less than passionate involvement in global missions is actually selling God short by frustrating the very purpose for which he created us?"

"God is committed to providing abundant resources in support of those who are living according to his purpose."

Radical - Chapter Three

Here are some quotes from chapter three of Radical. This has become a book that I hate to read but I also love to read because of the challenging and humbling perspective that is offered.

"While the goal of the American dream is to make much of us, the goal of the gospel is to make much of God."

"God puts his people in positions where they are desperate for his power, and then he shows his provision in ways that display his greatness."

"We have convinced ourselves that if we can position our resources and organize our strategies, then in church as in every other sphere of life, we can accomplish anything we set our minds to."

"We can so easily deceive ourselves, mistaking the presence of physical bodies in a crowd for the existence of spiritual life in a community."

"A church could have all the man-made resources that one could imagine, but apart from the power of the Holy Spirit, such a church will do nothing of significance for the glory of God."

The Return

Christ Fellowship is taking a second trip to Haiti from July 27-August 3 and Nicole and I have decided that we will be returning to the island. Our feelings are best summarized in this famous scene in Lost.

Well said, Jack. Well said.

We will be returning to Gonaives, Haiti and working with many of the same people we fell in love with in June. We can't wait to get to hang out with Pastor Maula, Christopher, Claudine, & so many more of the precious people who call Gonaives their home.

and if our God is for us

then who could ever stop us

and if our God is with us

then what could stand against

Our God is greater

Our God is stronger

God you are higher than any other

Our God is healer

Awesome in power

Our God, Our God

Radical - Chapter Two

I was hoping to get this posted much quicker, but we've had some trouble with our internet that finally got resolved today. I've read through the first three chapters of Radical by David Platt and it continues to be an eye-opening and challenging perspective about how I live out my faith. Here are five of the quotes that stuck out to me from chapter two.

"What if we take away the cool music and cushioned chairs? What if the screens are gone and the stage is no longer decorated? What if the air conditioning is off and the comforts are removed? Would his Word still be enough for his people to come together?"

"In the American dream, where self reigns as king, we have a dangerous tendency to misunderstand, minimize, and even manipulate the gospel in order to accommodate our own assumptions and our desires. As a result, we desperately need to explore how much of our understanding of the gospel is American and how much is biblical."

"We are afraid that if we stop and really look at God in his Word, we might discover that he evokes greater awe and demands deeper worship than we are ready to give him."

"We have taken the infinitely glorious Son of God, who endured the infinitely terrible wrath of God and who now reigns as the infinitely worthy Lord of all, and we have reduced him to a poor, puny Savior who is just begging for us to accept him."

"One Christian in India, while being skinned alive, looked at his persecutors and said, "I thank you for this. Tear off my old garment, for I will soon put on Christ's garment of righteousness.""

Best Thing I Ever Ate: Thai

I'm a big fan of The Best Thing I Ever Ate show that comes on Food Network and decided I want to have my own version on the blog. The show features chefs from the Food Network and other people in the food industry and they talk about the best thing they ever ate in a particular type/genre of food. So...I'll pick a type of food and share the best thing I've ever had in that genre and hopefully provide a link and recommendation for the restaurant where I had it. What's our first type of food and the inspiration for this project? Thai!

Surin Baskets - Surin of Thailand, Atlanta, GA
I don't think we would have tried the Surin Baskets when we had dinner at Surin this week but the appetizers were half-price and we decided to give them a try. Thank the Lord for 1/2 price apps! Before we'd finished the first plate of them, I had already ordered a second plate! Surin Baskets are this incredible combination of chicken, corn, shrimp, cilantro, onion, & spices in a mini pastry basket. There's nothing in that list of ingredients that I don't love so I was in culinary heaven. The pastry had a perfect crunch and the flavors blended together wonderfully. And to make it even better - they serve a honey-peanut cucumber sauce that you put in the little basket. There was depth of flavor in the spices and combination of all the ingredients and everything tasted incredibly fresh. They serve 6 of these baskets on a plate and I'm pretty sure I could have ordered 60 of them and finished every one. So if you're ever looking for some great Thai food in Atlanta, stop by Surin and have some Surin Baskets.

Radical - Chapter One

A couple weeks ago, I began reading a book that is receiving a great deal of attention in Christian circles. The book is called Radical and it is written by David Platt, a pastor of a church in Birmingham, AL. and a graduate of the University of Georgia! I'm not very far in to the book, but I can already tell you that it is incredibly eye-opening, challenging, and convicting. There seems to be a growing movement in parts of the church that are talking more about consumerism and the American dream and giving everything up to follow Christ and David Platt is becoming an influential voice in this movement. While this might sound like a new topic for the American church, this movement is coming from following the teachings of someone who had it all figured out a long time ago, Jesus.

I have been taking notes as I've been reading through Radical and I've underlined/highlighted/pulled out a number of quotes that really stuck with me. It's tempting to post all of those things but I want to give a snapshot of some of the things from the book that really stuck out to me and I'd encourage you to pick up a copy. I'll be putting 5 statements that really jumped out at me from each chapter I read in the book and posting them on here. First up - Chapter One:

"I could not help but think that somewhere along the way we had missed what is radical about our faith and replaced it with what is comfortable."

"Followers of Christ are not guaranteed that even their basic need of shelter will be met."

"We do have to love him (Jesus) in a way that makes our closest relationships in this world look like hate. And it is entirely possible that he will tell us to sell everything we have and give it to the poor."

"The price of our nondiscipleship is high for those without Christ. It is high also for the poor of this world."

"The gospel does not prompt you to mere reflection; the gospel requires a response."

As I said, those are just 5 statements that stuck out to me and there were many more. I look forward to providing some highlights from the next chapters and the journey of reading through Radical. Here's a promo that was designed for the release of the book.

Radical by David Platt from Taylor Robinson on Vimeo.

By George

When I've come to Athens in the past, I've thought all about the fun things I want to do, the people I want to see, and the places I want to eat. It's one of my favorite places to visit and I love coming back and seeing all the places where I hung out when I was a student at the University of Georgia. However, this is the first trip where I have felt more aware of the reality of many of the people who call this city home.

This past Thursday, Nicole and I went and walked around the UGA campus and also walked over to downtown Athens for a bit. As we were walking away from the arch, we passed a man sitting at a table who started up a conversation with us. His name was George and he sounded like he'd fallen on some tough times - being a Vietnam War veteran and having some health problems. He told us that he wrote a newsletter about current and historical events in Athens and it was certainly an interesting read for many various reasons. As we finished reading his newsletter (scrambled sentences/thoughts on a piece of paper) and began to head down the street, George asked if we'd be willing to buy him a hamburger from Five Guys, which was right beside where he was sitting.

I'll admit, I've never felt compelled to buy things for people that are homeless/unemployed/struggling and I have always looked down on people for asking. I act like I have the world figured out even though I've been dependent on my parents my entire life and have never really had to deal with difficult circumstances. But, I've started to realize that I'm not living out my faith in a biblical way when I care about helping the people that are struggling in Haiti but I don't care about helping the people that I come across on a daily basis here in America. If I really believe the gospel and I believe what Jesus talked about in Matthew 25:37, then I need to really think about how I respond to situations like what we had with talking to George. So God brought George our way when we were walking around Athens and he wanted a hamburger for lunch and God knew that was something we could help George with - and I think George has good taste for wanting Five Guys! I'm hoping God will remind me more and more of these opportunities that he constantly provides.

Shots of Haiti

I spent some time last weekend putting together a video of our trip to Haiti and I decided to upload it on here. I've also linked the video to YouTube and put it on facebook and I'm hoping the quality is just as good on blogger.

It was an incredible week and it is difficult to put much of what happened into words, which is why I'm hoping the pictures will tell some of the story. We were able to share the gospel to over 300 school children, we provided new shoes for 30 orphans, we hosted a medical clinic where we were able to pray and diagnose people, we distributed Bibles throughout the community, we put a roof on the 3rd floor of the ministry center we were staying at, we had the opportunity to pray around a voodoo compound, and so much more. Haiti is the most fascinating culture I've ever seen and it was an experience that completely rocked my world. I hope this video helps share some of that experience.

Faces & Stories

Less than a week ago, I was in Gonaives, Haiti trying to communicate in any way I could with people who speak creole. It was an incredible experience and I'm still trying to process much of what happened during my time there. I was wrecked in how comfortable my life usually is and I hope much of what I saw in Haiti leaves me disturbed and uncomfortable for the rest of my life.

I want to update and unpack more of what happened in Haiti in the next couple weeks on this blog, but I want to be able to post some pictures along with it. I'm hoping to download many of our pictures this weekend and I'll be able to provide some images to go along with the stories. Stay tuned...there's more to come.

Send us to Haiti!

Destination: St. Marc, Haiti

Dates: May 10th-16th

Partner Ministry: Youth With a Mission (YWAM)

www.ywamhaiti.org

Statistics about Haiti:

• 9 million people
• 80% unemployment
• 80% live in poverty (less than $2 a day)
• 90% of the children suffer from water born illness
• 30% of the children reach the third grade in education
• 1% of the people control nearly 50% of the wealth

On Monday, May 10th, our team of 17 men and women will be flying into Port-Au-Prince, Haiti and making the two hour drive up the coast to St. Marc. Still recovering from two years of brutal hurricanes and floods, St. Marc has become a relief center for many of the hundreds of thousands of refugees from the January earthquake. YWAM has become a strategic partner, assisting the government and other organizations in the relief and restoration of this devastated nation.

Mission Objectives:

Relief: Distribution of relief supplies (food, water, hygiene) to the thousands of refugees in St. Marc.

Construction: Assisting in the building of permanent homes and tents.

Medical: Helping with the clinic in St. Marc, as well as bringing aid to remote areas.

Children: Loving on the many street kids and orphans who are in such desperate need of hope.

Gospel: Sharing the love and message of Christ through compassion, scripture, and prayer.

Recent Activities at YWAM, St. Marc:

• Registration of over 12,000 refugees! Thousands have received food, medicine, and resources.
• 73 containers full of food, medicine, & building supplies have been distributed to the needy.
• 3 Tent Communities have been formed in St. Marc with a fourth and fifth in process.
• "Homes of Hope" is establishing the urbanization development of rural areas for refugees.

Please consider participating in this outreach through your prayers and financial support. Our team's remaining financial goal is $13,000. Donations may be made online or by mail. All donations will go directly towards this outreach. Please make checks out to "Christ Fellowship" with "Haiti Trip" in the memo.

Christ Fellowship

Attn. Outreach Department - Haiti

5343 Northlake Boulevard,

Palm Beach Gardens, FL, 33418

Click here to give online

Fried & Healthy?

Thursday - Nicole made something for dinner tonight I don't think I've ever had - a healthy version of fried rice. She used brown rice and then loaded it up with vegetables and it actually ended up being very good, and colorful too. We used a bell pepper, broccoli, peas, carrots, onions, egg whites, pineapple, & soy sauce and had a very healthy dinner. I was impressed and full and didn't feel gross afterwards.

Game On

Wednesday - Now that my grandparents have gone back to Virginia, Nicole and I will be getting back into the Grocery Game. We've been collecting coupons but we haven't worried about it for the last few months because my grandparents did all the grocery shopping and we just put whatever we wanted on the list. It was nice to not have to worry about paying for anything, but we enjoy looking for deals and grocery shopping and we're looking forward to getting back into playing the Grocery Game. Nicole got us back in the game in strong form by going to Publix and spending $7 while racking up over $24 in savings!