First of all, I'd like to start this by thanking all the people who supported me along this trip, whether it was through prayer or through financial means. I am incredibly thankful that I was blessed to be able to go on this trip and get my life changed even further. Second, I want to apologize for not giving any updates during my trip. In my defense, we had a lot of work, and the time went really fast. Still, there was probably enough down time to work on a few updates.
I'm going to try to keep this short, but knowing me, that probably won't happen. Anyways, these past few months have been incredible. So, without further adieu, let's begin. (p.s. if you are not caught up with the small details, check out my previous post)
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| Our SBFM school! |
This is my school! We're a diverse bunch, hailing from America, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Finland, Britain, Switzerland, Norway, Ireland, and even the Big C. Our school sent out two teams: one to Nepal, and the other to Asia. However, outreach was optional, and so there was also a number of us that went home (fyi, I was one of them. In case you didn't know).
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| Weekly Schedule |
Alrighty, I'm doing this from memory, so wish me luck (except, there's no such thing as luck, and I've already written this, so let's just hope that my memory serves me well. My hopes are not high.) So, the first week was an introductory week. This week consisted of teaching on critically thinking, and a brief Bible overview. This was all setup for the next week.
Week number two was taught by our Base Director, Tom Osterhus. This week was entitled the State of the World. He started out by explaining how we need to have the right worldview, or else there will be negative results (in other words, ideas have consequences. This was the foundation for the rest of the school.). From here, he went into various examples where the manifestations of different worldviews have impacted people/society. This was a wake-up call, and revealed how influenced I have been by the world, but also how much influence God is on a society that rejects Him.
Week number three was about Handling God's Word, and was taught by Elizabeth Fischer. This week went into why it's important to study the Bible, and how to go about studying the Bible in order to really understand it. This week was really valuable in learning how to approach the Word (not exactly a light read), and get as much as I could from it.
Week number four and five marked the return of Tom Osterhus as he went into the Biblical Foundations for the Biblical Christian World View. These two weeks went through most of the historical books of the Old and New Testament, and explained how everything points to Jesus and the Cross. These weeks were incredible, not just for all of the explanation, but also various nuggets of wisdom spread around. These weeks really sparked an academic side of me that hadn't been fully awaken since sixth grade. Pretty refreshing, and really good preparation for college.
Week number six brought the legendary Francis Schaeffer into our classroom. Well, not in the flesh (as he passed away many years ago), but in the form of his video series, How then Should We Live. Throughout this series, Mr. Schaeffer goes through history, explaining different ideas that impacted society, and what kind of effect each had on society. He finishes the series, saying that it is important that society be based in Christian values, or else the pressures of the world will cause the society to collapse. It was an incredibly informative week, done by one of the greatest theologians of our era. However, at times it was difficult to understand his points, so our school leader Mike took after each video to further explain, and clarify Schaeffer's points.
Week number seven brought Rick Thompson to talk to us about worldview. This week was a tough one, as Rick sought to break down our current world views, and build a Christian World View. One of the most challenging/convicting (not sure if this is the word I'm looking for) questions that Rick posed to us was, "Why do we believe that what we believe is true?" I really had to check myself, and challenge myself to search for a faith beyond 'faith in faith'. I needed to base my faith strictly in the Bible, and find reasons for my faith.
Week number eight saw the arrival of Jonathan Sherwin, who taught us about apologetics. During this week, we were taught apologetic principles, classical arguments, and saw different approaches for some of the most difficult questions.
The legendary Ray Badgero came to teach us for week nine about Cross-Cultural Communication. This week was about how to communicate to others from different cultural backgrounds, but beyond that, helped me to understand my family better. I may be Korean, but, having grown up in America, I see myself more of an American, than Korean. So, understanding my parents was difficult growing up. Anyways, the reason why I describe Mr. Badgero as legendary is because he has so many stories to share where he has trusted God in crazy situations, and has seen God pull through. Definitely one of the most Godly men I have met, and I hope to know God as he knows Him.
Alright, week ten is where my notes do not help me much, and my memory is shady. I believe that we started this week to talk about public speaking, and the important parts of that. Then, the next two days, we strapped in for the long haul. We read through the entire New Testament out loud. Now, before you start imagining a room of thirty people chanting the entire New Testament in unison, let me say that it was not at all like that. We each took turns reading a page or so. For certain books, we cast different people to read different parts. In order to keep it interesting, some of us read in different voices/accents. It was not easy, but a lot of fun spending twenty hours between two days going through the whole New Testament. Then we had Thursday and Friday off for Thanksgiving, which we had a base-wide Thanksgiving dinner (which was AWESOME. and DELICIOUS. so tasty.)
During Week 11, we shared a class with the DTS, and learned from Jason Carlson about Competing Belief Systems. This was really informative, and helped me to learn a lot about the tenants of various belief systems. This continued to spark my intellectual curiosity, and I hope to learn more about these different world views in the future.
Week 12 was the last week, and was crazy week. During the last five or so weeks, we were working on group research projects. My group researched Marxism, while other groups covered Secular Humanism, Animism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Each group had to write a paper that covered certain criteria, and give a presentation that was around two hours long. I really enjoyed this project, and learned a lot about Marxism.
We also had various readings due throughout the school. Our books included (in the order that they are on my bookshelf) Truth and Transformation, by Vishal Mangalwadi, Ministering Cross-Culturally, by Sherwood G. Lingenfelter & Marvin K. Mayers, Knowing God, by J.I. Packer, The God Who is There, by D.A. Carson, When Skeptics Ask, by Norman L. Gesiler & Ronald M. Brooks, The Compact Guide to World Religions, by Dean C. Halverson, and Celebration of Discipline, by Richard J. Foster.
Well, I guess this just about wraps up my SBFM experience. It was an amazing time (I miss my friends so much), and prepared me well for college, and whatever steps lie ahead that God has planned. YWAM Maui is truly special place, and part of me hopes that God will call me back there. However, I know that wherever God calls me, that it will be extraordinary, and so I will trust in Him, and thank God for the amazing time that he has blessed me with. Thanks for sticking in there, and reading all the way through. Here are a couple of pictures that I didn't know where to put in this post.
Week number two was taught by our Base Director, Tom Osterhus. This week was entitled the State of the World. He started out by explaining how we need to have the right worldview, or else there will be negative results (in other words, ideas have consequences. This was the foundation for the rest of the school.). From here, he went into various examples where the manifestations of different worldviews have impacted people/society. This was a wake-up call, and revealed how influenced I have been by the world, but also how much influence God is on a society that rejects Him.
Week number three was about Handling God's Word, and was taught by Elizabeth Fischer. This week went into why it's important to study the Bible, and how to go about studying the Bible in order to really understand it. This week was really valuable in learning how to approach the Word (not exactly a light read), and get as much as I could from it.
Week number four and five marked the return of Tom Osterhus as he went into the Biblical Foundations for the Biblical Christian World View. These two weeks went through most of the historical books of the Old and New Testament, and explained how everything points to Jesus and the Cross. These weeks were incredible, not just for all of the explanation, but also various nuggets of wisdom spread around. These weeks really sparked an academic side of me that hadn't been fully awaken since sixth grade. Pretty refreshing, and really good preparation for college.
Week number six brought the legendary Francis Schaeffer into our classroom. Well, not in the flesh (as he passed away many years ago), but in the form of his video series, How then Should We Live. Throughout this series, Mr. Schaeffer goes through history, explaining different ideas that impacted society, and what kind of effect each had on society. He finishes the series, saying that it is important that society be based in Christian values, or else the pressures of the world will cause the society to collapse. It was an incredibly informative week, done by one of the greatest theologians of our era. However, at times it was difficult to understand his points, so our school leader Mike took after each video to further explain, and clarify Schaeffer's points.
Week number seven brought Rick Thompson to talk to us about worldview. This week was a tough one, as Rick sought to break down our current world views, and build a Christian World View. One of the most challenging/convicting (not sure if this is the word I'm looking for) questions that Rick posed to us was, "Why do we believe that what we believe is true?" I really had to check myself, and challenge myself to search for a faith beyond 'faith in faith'. I needed to base my faith strictly in the Bible, and find reasons for my faith.
Week number eight saw the arrival of Jonathan Sherwin, who taught us about apologetics. During this week, we were taught apologetic principles, classical arguments, and saw different approaches for some of the most difficult questions.
The legendary Ray Badgero came to teach us for week nine about Cross-Cultural Communication. This week was about how to communicate to others from different cultural backgrounds, but beyond that, helped me to understand my family better. I may be Korean, but, having grown up in America, I see myself more of an American, than Korean. So, understanding my parents was difficult growing up. Anyways, the reason why I describe Mr. Badgero as legendary is because he has so many stories to share where he has trusted God in crazy situations, and has seen God pull through. Definitely one of the most Godly men I have met, and I hope to know God as he knows Him.
Alright, week ten is where my notes do not help me much, and my memory is shady. I believe that we started this week to talk about public speaking, and the important parts of that. Then, the next two days, we strapped in for the long haul. We read through the entire New Testament out loud. Now, before you start imagining a room of thirty people chanting the entire New Testament in unison, let me say that it was not at all like that. We each took turns reading a page or so. For certain books, we cast different people to read different parts. In order to keep it interesting, some of us read in different voices/accents. It was not easy, but a lot of fun spending twenty hours between two days going through the whole New Testament. Then we had Thursday and Friday off for Thanksgiving, which we had a base-wide Thanksgiving dinner (which was AWESOME. and DELICIOUS. so tasty.)
During Week 11, we shared a class with the DTS, and learned from Jason Carlson about Competing Belief Systems. This was really informative, and helped me to learn a lot about the tenants of various belief systems. This continued to spark my intellectual curiosity, and I hope to learn more about these different world views in the future.
Week 12 was the last week, and was crazy week. During the last five or so weeks, we were working on group research projects. My group researched Marxism, while other groups covered Secular Humanism, Animism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Each group had to write a paper that covered certain criteria, and give a presentation that was around two hours long. I really enjoyed this project, and learned a lot about Marxism.
We also had various readings due throughout the school. Our books included (in the order that they are on my bookshelf) Truth and Transformation, by Vishal Mangalwadi, Ministering Cross-Culturally, by Sherwood G. Lingenfelter & Marvin K. Mayers, Knowing God, by J.I. Packer, The God Who is There, by D.A. Carson, When Skeptics Ask, by Norman L. Gesiler & Ronald M. Brooks, The Compact Guide to World Religions, by Dean C. Halverson, and Celebration of Discipline, by Richard J. Foster.
Well, I guess this just about wraps up my SBFM experience. It was an amazing time (I miss my friends so much), and prepared me well for college, and whatever steps lie ahead that God has planned. YWAM Maui is truly special place, and part of me hopes that God will call me back there. However, I know that wherever God calls me, that it will be extraordinary, and so I will trust in Him, and thank God for the amazing time that he has blessed me with. Thanks for sticking in there, and reading all the way through. Here are a couple of pictures that I didn't know where to put in this post.
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| During the Road to Hana (Fun fact: my leg got infected shortly after this hike) |
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| Definitely should have gone surfing more |
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| Our class in our classroom, ready to study |
I loved this update, Tim! Thanks for writing - and now I sort of want to do SBFM, lol.
ReplyDeleteHaha, if you manage to get a few months off from work, then you totally should lol
ReplyDelete