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.