Saying Goodbye

As everyone says, "Saying goodbye is never easy."  

I had to say farewell to a close friend today as we met for the last time before he leaves for the Middle East.  He has been mentoring me over the years, challenging me in my faith and encouraging me in many ways.  Today was certainly a bittersweet time as we reminisced on all of our conversations over the years and then talked about our futures as they physically grow apart.  We both know that although he will be living across the ocean and getting together for breakfast at Panera will be exponentially more difficult, we will be together in Christ as we labor for Him.  He is moving his family overseas in a direct response to the Bible verse above: "Therefore, GO and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you and surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:19-20).

I want to take a brief moment here to share with you some of the things my mentor and I discussed.  We talked about the Christian Wheel, a diagram representation of how to live an obedient Christian life, centered on Jesus Christ.

via: http://bible.org/seriespage/wheel-general-presentation-session-14

This diagram is such an excellent reminder of how to focus our lives because in order for a wheel to roll smoothly and effectively, all of the spokes must be an equal size.  Likewise, in our lives as Christians, we must spend equal amounts of time in the Bible, in prayer with God, in fellowship with other Christians, and in conversation and relationship with non-believers.

This leads in to another one of our major conversations: memorizing scripture.  We took a lot of our time together to talk about and unfold the benefits of memorizing scripture.  Two major reasons we focused on were: 1) we are commanded to do so in Joshua 1:8 and 2) we are promised love through our obedience in John 14:21.  In this knowledge, he encouraged me to walk through the Topical Memory System, which I am still in the process of doing.

He left me with a book that a mentor of his passed one to him.  Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper challenges Christians across the globe to live intentionally and passionately for God.  I am excited to take the time to read this book, especially since it has challenged two men to move from their comfortable lives in America to share the story of Jesus to the unreached.  My mentor leaves for the Middle East soon, his mentor is currently sharing the gospel in Indonesia.

Let me know if you would like more information or resources on any of these things, and join me in praying for my mentor.  I'm sorry for not giving a name or destination for him, but seeing as he is moving to a muslim nation, security of his name and intentions for going are vital.

Baltimore Street Church

The past couple of Sundays, I have been going to the Baltimore Street Church with some friends.  It started with Brian and I fulfilling our jobs as interns with Serve Greater Baltimore.  We were asked to check out this movement at Old Town Mall that's been creating quite a stir in the Christian circle in Baltimore.  Before we knew it, we were worshipping with the church community (above) and serving breakfast (below).  The job responsibility quickly became a personal desire.

I missed the past two Sundays and am not liking it!  The community there is extremely deep.  Members of the street church open up about their personal relationships with Jesus every morning, crying out for support from God and their brothers and sisters in Christ.  As many of the people there support each other through their struggles as Christ followers, they also help each other through their struggles with addiction, homelessness, and poverty.

The Old Town Mall area was once a lively location, full of businesses ranging from hair cutteries to grocery stores and customers ranging from old to young.  As time progressed, the surrounding area changed.   An apartment complex was built at one end and a methadone clinic was built at the other.  This created unwanted traffic and eventually the strip was deserted.

(click to get directions)

Every Sunday, rain, sleet, snow, or shine, the Baltimore Street Church is there speaking truth about the redemptive spirit of Jesus Christ up and down the strip.  Passer-byes either avoid the group, walk past the group, or join the group, looking forward to the occasionally served breakfast after a 20 to 30 minute sermon.  Several times I witnessed the ones that hung around for food get a lot more than a full stomach- they left spiritually filled as well.

Kingdom Work

I wanted to thank everyone for the amazing amount of support over the last seven years.  Here is another update and another chance to partner with me in following God's plan.
2011 Update

Proposal to the University of Maryland

My final proposal from the upper-level English class is below.  This is truly something that I am passionate about and am excited to continue to develop.  Let me know if you have some more insight or thoughts.

Serve the World

State of Africa Caused by...

Causal Argument

Please let me know if you have further thoughts on this subject.

Dear Mr. Julius Malema

That last essay I received a fairly decent grade on and was given some very good feedback from my professor.  With the feedback and the next assignment, I developed this next essay.  We were required to target a specific audience and extend the length of the essay to five pages.  It would be great if Mr. Julius Malema actually read this essay:

Again, if you have any additional information you would like to pass on, please email me.  I am in the process of writing a seven page essay on this similar topic and will have a 12 page essay to write later in the semester.  Thanks for reading!

Categorical Proposition Assignment

I just turned in an assignment for my upper-level english class.  The prompt asked for a categorical proposition.  Not gonna lie, I had to look that one up.  After reading a couple things on the internet about what a categorical proposition is, I was able to write this essay:

click to read

Please post your comments below.  If you have additional information or would like to correct me in my assessment of the South African situation, comment below or email me at trevin.hoekzema@gmail.com. Some of my claims may be a bit brash as I am purposefully taking a stance in one direction.  South Africa is certainly not better off under apartheid, but the economic situation of many citizens has yet to change.  I will continue to develop these thoughts and arguments as the semester progresses so please pass along any information you would like to part with.  Thanks!

Six Months!

I can't believe its been more than six months since I've back from South Africa.  So much has happened since!  I completed the fall semester at UMD and just this week applied for several internships.  If you aren't aware, I am pursuing a major in International Development and applying for internships that deal with sustainable aid, specifically micro-financing.  Two of these micro-financing organizations are:

Both of these organizations are Christian-based, micro-financing, non-profit organizations.  HOPE is located in Lancaster, PA and Opportunity is in Oak Brook, Illinois, but has an internship opportunity in Washington, DC.  Feel free to click on their logos and check out their websites.

On a totally different topic, I just received news that the township that I spent most of my time in South Africa just got hit with a fire yesterday night.  By the time the fire was put out, 36 shacks had burned down.  They said about 100 people are out of a home right now, stranded in the heat of the African summer.  Below is a picture of the aftermath; clicking on the picture will take you to the site where Lourens describes the tragedy in greater detail and respectfully asks for our assistance.  Please join me in praying for them and sending them financial support.

Thank you for your continuing your interest of South Africa with me.  I definitely still feel like my heart is being drawn back there and hope to find myself in a long-term commitment there after I graduate from college.  If you would like to keep up with South Africa through the eyes of another college-aged American, feel free to follow Michelle Klassen's blog- she just arrived in South Africa and will spend the next 6 months there.