Life in Smallville

Last time I blogged about this, I was just saying how I have been avoiding MySpace as long as possible and the only reason I joined was to keep in touch with one friend. Well, that has shifted, and I am ok with that.

Since joining MySpace earlier this week, I have been able to connect with over half of the students who are on my mission team to Germany. That has been a fantastic addition and benefit. Thank you GER1 for being amazing.

On that note, we are leaving tomorrow to fly to Germany where we will be for 2 weeks! I am so excited, and I know it will be a fantastic time. Please keep us in your prayers. I am sure you will be flooded with updates and pictures when we get back, but if I don't respond for the next two weeks, well, you know why. Please allow me some grace, I have been incredibly busy and life has been throwing me all kinds of interesting situations this week before I leave. If I have not responded to you, I am sorry, but I do care about you ... you wouldn't be my friend if I didn't care. (I'm am only accepting friends of people I know, talk to, & care about. I am not trying to just get friends for the sake of friends.)

Thank you again for your support and prayers; this trip would not be possible without that!

PS visit my MySpace here if you like

Posted by supermn at 5:04 PM | Permalink | Comments

Social Networking. By now, most of us have heard of (or even use) websites like MySpace, TagWorld, Yahoo 360, and a variety of other sites that facilitate 'social networking.' There is no doubt that is becoming a buzzword for 2006. For years now we have all been able to keep in touch with each other virtually instantaneously through a variety of methods: cell phones, email, instant messaging. So, now why is social networking becoming such a big deal?

Recently a friend of mine and I had a discussion about it. I, nor him, have been a huge fan of social networking, specifically MySpace, and so we have joked back and forth about the absurdity of it all. This particular discussion went a little different though, because it started with me saying "Dude, I on the fence now about whether or not to get a MySpace account." To which he quickly replied "If you do, I will never speak to you again." Through the conversation we discussed the aesthetic quality of MySpace (read: it is ugly), how that plays a role in the popularity of it, and a few of the pros & cons. The reason this all came up was due to an interaction I had with one of the high school students I have gotten to know over the past couple years. This particular student has moved away, and I asked him what the best way to keep in touch with him would be. I even threw out a couple suggestions "Email? Text? Cell?" Without skippign a beat, he said "MySpace." Now, the reason this puts me in a dilemma is that the reason I gave for holding out on MySpace was that I keep in touch with everyone I want to trough seeing them, calling them, emailing them, etc. And I told people the only reason I would get MySpace was if it was beneficial, instead of for the junior high popularity contest that it is. Now that this student has indicated the best way to keep in touch with him is MySpace, I am on the fence...

The reason this caused and issue with my friend though, is that he didn't see how the student couldn't just reply to an email if I sent that; and if I stop responding to my friends emails, he will disown me. So, this brings up two issue. The first being why this student couldn't/wouldn't respond to my emails. Without having discussed this with him, I am assume the reason is he does 99% of his communicating with friends through MySpace, so it is easier to keep in touch that way. A one-stop-shop if you will. So, that point is a bit understandable. I took the side of social networking and told my friend that its just a different generation. Just like with our generation (Gen X), and the generation before us. When email and instant messaging was introduced to us, we jumped on it, though some of the generation before us didn't really understand and said "Why don't you just call them?" Even though we embraced chat and email, it didn't mean we stopped talking to them on the phone. So, I told my friend I would never stop corresponding with him on email. This is just an opportunity for me to keep in touch with a student I have mentored for a couple years, and that is a worth while reason.

So, this brings us back to the original debate. Do I get a MySpace account to keep in touch with a student/friend? Or do I hold out longer, ignoring this student?

Posted by supermn at 4:13 PM | Permalink | Comments

Well readers, I am back to post for the second time in two weeks! I know it's real exciting huh? Thanks again for your feedback on the popularity of the blog topics at hand. My debut blog about The Girl seemed popular, thanks for all your great comments. There will be more to come about her, but for now, as the time is drawing ever so much closer, let me talk about my upcoming mission trip to Germany. My post months ago, "Go unto all the world..." covered much of my mission trip and some basic information about it. So, my hope is not to repeat too much of that information, but give you a less formal view.

In 11 short days, I will be getting on an airplane with 19 high school students that I am responsible for and traveling across the pond that separates the Americas from Europe. We will be landing in Frankfurt, Germany the next day and jumping right into the business (and busyness) of things. There we are partnering with YWAM and the local YMCA to expand the Kingdom of Heaven. The practical way we will be doing this is to interact with the locals and the other tourists. As you may know, the 2006 FIFA World Cup began in Germany this last Friday (June 9th) and will continue through July 9th. Germany is expecting literally millions of visitors from around the world; what a strategic opportunity for us to witness to so many people from so many different backgrounds!

From what I understand, the YMCA we are partnering with, has been commissioned by the government to hand out information about the World Cup to the visitors. This is such an incredible opportunity, as it will give us access to just about every part of the city. As soon as people get off the subway, we will be there to give them information about the games which has been intermixed with the Christian players testimonies. There will be printed pamphlets, DVD's, Bibles with the World Cup logo on the cover, and so much more! Since soccer (or football in Europe) is so big to the entire world, other than the States, people will be camped in fields and open areas to watch games on projection screens setup by the city. Our opportunity there will be to hand out water to hot and thirsty people, giving us the chance to just strike up conversations with them and serve them. Additionally starting a pick-up soccer game with some of the locals or visitors will give us a chance to involve ourselves in their lives.

Though I think it is a wise choice, we will unfortunately not be going to any World Cup games. If you have ever watch these, there can be mass rioting among other things, which makes it a safety and security hazard, which is why we wont be going. After all, trying to keep watch over 19 high school students in an arena that holds tens of thousands probably isn't too fun ... I might not enjoy the game at all.

The first two-thirds of the trip will be spent there in Nurnberg, and the remain third will be spent back in Frankfurt. When we are back if Frankfurt, we will be working on refurbishing a castle for a ministry there until we leave to come back to the States on the 7th of July. There were pictures on the web of the castle, but the only one I can seem to find now, is the background of this banner:


I don't know too much else about this part of the trip, but believe you me, when I get back there will be a plethora of pictures and stories for you to see.

The next post will be more about planning for this trip, and leading a missions team full of high schoolers.

Posted by supermn at 2:30 PM | Permalink | Comments