A gun, the semester, and photojournalism

Random story from the Central Asia trip:

We had just finished seeing where the Soviets trained for Figure Skating up in the mountains. It was a lot of fun and we were tired. Some of us were spending a bit of time with the guy with the horse, when we became aware of two very drunk guys. One of them was even waving a gun around. So we tried not to draw attention and keep to ourselves. When the bus came to ride back, we hopped on. So did they. One of the guys was so drunk he looked barely able to stand, ready to throw up at any minute. Our team moved a bit more towards the front of the bus, but Chris and I stayed near the back. There were several children, and we wanted to keep a close eye. As people got on and off the bus, we slowly and passively herded the two guys nearer the back of the bus, and were able to get between them and the children.

The experience was pretty crazy, but it was also really cool. The danger probably wasn't as high as we prepared for, but there was something very exciting about just trying to protect the kids and the rest of our team. Like we were doing something we were created to do.

Last night I had a meeting with the photography editors of The Tech, the MIT newspaper. It was pretty cool to see their setup (computers are all Macs, I might add) and meet them. I am going on some sort of a field trip tomorrow morning, but don't really know what it is just yet. After I showed them my quick portfolio, one of the editors replied, "I think you are more than suited to be shooting for us. Would you like to be a photography editor?" She asked me a couple more times before I left, which was encouraging. Either they are hard up for editors, or they liked my work. Or maybe something in between, which is probably most likely. Whatever the case, it was nice. Did I tell any of you I am thinking of pursuing photography as a career when I graduate?

I worked 12 hours today on the Real Life Boston website. None of the changes are up yet, but they will be by the end of the week. Quite a bit of rewrite going on, transitioning from Perl to PHP, which is MUCH faster for this kind of application. It was fun to work so much in a single day. I'll probably put in between 50 and 60 hours this week in order to finish up everything I can before the semester starts next Monday.

Oh right, the semester. I'm trying to decide whether to take a Photojournalism class or Russian. The photojournalism class is always oversubscribed, but since I am now a Tech photographer, I am guaranteed a spot in the class. It also looks like some people from the Central Asia trip might be taking Russian as well, so it would be fun to take a class where I finally know people. Lots to think about.

Things are a good deal better now. There were a couple of really rough days recently (ask me if you want the full story), but through the very kind and encouraging words of many people, things are getting better again. Pray that I would be ready to tackle the semester next Monday when it starts. Still much to take care of before classes start.

Entry posted by byscuits at 11:49 PM | Comments (0)

Turning into a Photoblog...

Here are a few select shots from the many new photos of days recent. I think I am going to start pursuing photography full time when I graduate.

Fort Awesome, Harvard Yard - this is a fun album. :)
 
Kemp Playground, Cambridge Common
   
Cambridge Common
 
MIT

Ego

Things have been really rough in days recent. I think it's the result of coming back to the states, among some semi-obvious other things. Life seems to have less meaning. Feels like I am risking less. Probably am. And I have so much work to do...

We had about 30 inches of snow today. Crazy.

Entry posted by byscuits at 09:51 PM | Comments (0)

a prayer

give me strength
to walk as a man
not because i am
but because You were.

Entry posted by byscuits at 12:09 PM | Comments (0)

Photos Galore

Today is one of the happily-often-photo-updates. I have three new albums with quite a few new photos. Here are a few of my favorites.

Central Asia
 
   
   
   
 
 
   
 
   
Little Green Men
 
Ego

Make sure to check out the Central Asia album, as it has the best 60 photos of the 2000 taken on the trip. And as always, I would love feedback.

Thinking more about photography and filmmaking overseas. Could be very cool.

Entry posted by byscuits at 12:21 PM | Comments (0)

Go

I had an odd experience one night while traveling in a taxi around Central Asia. I realized I could no longer see myself living in the United States. It just didn't make any sense to me. I don't want to stay longer than necessary anymore.

Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people.
-Ruth 1:16

Go.

Entry posted by byscuits at 10:39 AM | Comments (0)

Life Before Death

Yes, LORD, walking in the way of Your Truth, we wait eagerly for You. For Your Name and Your Renown are the desire of our souls.
-Isaiah 26:8

Lufthansa 422. That's the flight we're on, heading from our stopover in Frankfurt. In an hour, the plane will touch down and the trip will be over. Done. I want to tell you guys about every last bit of it, but I know that's even not possible. So ask me things, because I will never be able to begin writing all that has happened.

Fire.
Let's start there. Fire. Best fire. The only real Fire. The kind that consumes. The fire of creation. If I were to hear myself tell this story a couple of years ago, I would think I am a bit of a nutjob. This is not an everyday story. This was not an everyday trip.

But I need to back up a bit before the Fire. We had a 14 hour train ride, and one of the things I love to do on long trips is to talk and listen. I love good conversation. I love finding out about people, love to understand them. The sleeper car seats four. A fifth individual stopped by the car, and we started sharing our testimonies. Not just the part where we came to Christ, but the part where our world was rocked the most. Where Christ became clearest.

The first four of us spoke of some very hard things from our past, and how God had used it for His glory in and through our lives. Then our visitor shared. I can't even write about it. I really can't. I could never do it justice, and I don't think I would be able to even see the screen through the tears it would bring back. But her story wasn't just a story only of sadness. It was a story of redemption. He made something beautiful from the ashes of her past. He raised her from the dead and created life before death.

While she told her story, the Spirit began to fill the room. By the end, the only thing we could do is pray. And as we prayed, the Spirit continued to fill the room. More and more and more, until we were laughing and crying and praising the Name. It was the sweetest experience of my life thus far. Unreal. Utterly Blessed.

Patience
This is something I have been learning about. The value of waiting in faith. Even though in recent years I believe I have been shown an understanding of grace, I still had gone back to the old ways. Believing in a formula. That if I just seek God, honestly looking to submit my heart to Him, He would bless me. An if-then. But it doesn't work like that. God chooses when and how to fill us with His spirit. It isn't up to us. None of it is. I understand a bit more of patience now because of that experience in the sleeper car.

Photos
I have a few photos to post. Somewhere between 400 and 500. There will be two galleries, one of the absolute best stuff that everyone can access, then another album with everything. Since the everything album will show the city and some of the national believers, it will be password protected. I'll send out a notification to everyone when it's ready along with the password, but keep it on the DL. Don't pass it around at all. Really. People's safety could be at stake.

You have redeemed my soul from the pit of emptiness
You have redeemed my soul from death
You have redeemed my soul from the pit of emptiness
You have redeemed my soul from death

I was a hungry child, a dried up river
I was a burned out forest
And no one could do anything for me
But you put food in my body
Water in my dry bed
And to my blackened branches
You brought the springtime green of a new life
And nothing is impossible for you

You have redeemed my soul from the pit of emptiness
You have redeemed my soul from death
You have redeemed my soul from the pit of emptiness
You have redeemed my soul from death

-Waterdeep

Called
I told some of you all that for the first time in my life, I felt specifically called to go on this trip. I can see so many things that have happened, so much fruit. But the story is not yet over. Be praying about that. Some decisions and events are out of my hands, and they really need prayer.

Pray that above all, God's Will would be done. Because He is good. If you don't Know or Understand that goodness, please ask me more. There really is life before death.

Entry posted by byscuits at 11:15 AM | Comments (0)

Orphanage

Today we went to an orphanage. The process for adoption in the country is quite simple compared to Russia or China. It takes a total of just under a year and one visit to the orphanage. We ran into an American couple from Vermont today as they were finalizing the papers. Here are a couple of the shots taken, with many more to come.

 

We had to wear masks in order to keep the children from getting sick. With so many people visiting, they needed to be careful with the children's health. We were only able to be there for an hour, but we certainly didn't want to go when we had to. Tears were indeed shed.

I think I am getting over my cold, so thank you for your prayers. We have a time tonight to hang out with guys we have met so far, and then tomorrow is our last day of meeting and sharing. Seems like time has flown by.

I have another prayer request if you guys could pray. There are some things I am really thinking about, and I just need God's guidance and wisdom. Pray that I would utterly cling to Him, especially during this process.

I've taken thousands of photos so far, but have about 300 keepers. I can't wait for you all to see life over here.

Entry posted by byscuits at 05:55 AM | Comments (5)

Ninth Floor Apartment

Our apartment is on the ninth floor of a nine floor apartment building. Luckily, we have an elevator that services our needs quite nicely, even though it is the smallest elevator I have ever seen. Above the first floor entrance to the elevator is a sign in Russian. I can't read Russian. But apparently it says that the elevator only works between certain hours, those being from 8 am to 11 pm. Last night I got in at 11:20 pm, but the elevator was still working. I successfully avoided the 8 story climb.

Tonight, however, was a blessedly different story. Let me back up a bit to tell the semi-saga.

About the same time I was blissfully riding the elevator to my ninth floor apartment, our guy team leader was experiencing a different emotion. Each apartment has only been provided with one key, and Eric, being the kind of guy that he is, gave it to one of the other guys staying in that fifth floor apartment so they could have more freedom. But Eric couldn't get ahold of the guy with the key, and no one was answering the now continually ringing apartment phone. By midnight, they were getting really worried about the guy with the key, since he really is quite the reliable fellow. Hoping he wasn't "face down somewhere" in the city, Eric started to get pretty worried. So Eric woke up the apartment manager and had him open the door. But it was dead-bolted from the inside. Turns out the guy with the key is a bit of a heavy sleeper. And by "a bit of a heavy sleeper," I mean he slept through pounding and banging on the door along with the ringing of the airplane-volume-phone, which was literally next to his head, ringing off the hook. But they eventually managed to break into the apartment and two hours later started to get some sleep. But it was rough for Eric, since he is a team leader responsible for safety. For a while, he didn't know what to think. It could have been a scary situation.

So on to tonight. I stepped into our building at 11:30 pm. I push the elevator call button (no up or down, just one single call button), but no dice. Power off. So I begin the ascent up the many stairs. Nine floors is a long way. It got me thinking. If we look all the way to the end of our lives, it seems like a long trip, impossible to navigate. But if we look to God each step along the way, he orders the path. Just like my stairs. Praying over each one, I hit the fifth floor. There, sitting on the cold steps next to his apartment, was Eric. He asked if I had seen either of the guys staying in his apartment, and I told him I had not. He dejectedly looked back down to his book. Admittedly, I was not terribly sympathetic to his plight the night before. Not because I didn't care, but because I had been woken up every 5 to 10 minutes for two hours the night before by knockings on our apartment door and ringings of our apartment phone. But this time somehow, my response was a bit different. I offered him a spot in our apartment to sleep. I then convinced him to take my bed, as I would be up writing on my computer as I am now. After changing into some of my shorts, he laid down and immediately achieved his current sleep state.

I want you guys to pray for him right now for a couple of minutes, if you would. As a team leader, he doesn't get as much contact with the students but has to spend a good deal of time just planning the uninteresting details of the trip. Those details are what allow us to go out and share the Gospel. Not having any way into his apartment really seems to be taking its toll on him. Dejected really seems like the right word. Pray that God would fill him, and that he would be energized inexplicably when he awakes tomorrow morning.

Also, please pray for my health. I've had what seems like a cold for several days now, and have taken Dayquil, Nyquil, and some native concoction I don't wish to ever taste or smell again. Pray that it would just be a cold, and that I would be able to get over it. But it isn't all that terrible. Other than being quite tired at the end of each day and trying to deal with my new status as a snot factory, it hasn't been rough. Continued strength would be another good thing to ask for if I am to remain with my new cold friend.

It's been two years since I've been Filled like this.

Entry posted by byscuits at 01:34 PM | Comments (3)

Short update

It's midnight here, so I'll keep this brief. Things are going really well here on the Central Asia Winter Trip, better than expected. All except for one aspect. Here is an example:

No that isn't white mascara I'm wearing on my eyelashes, it's snow. It's that cold. The air I exhale has enough moisture that it condenses and freezes on my eyelasses. Today it was twenty below zero without the windchill.

It isn't totally unbearable. The winter gear I got for Christmas helps out enough for what I need. Quite tolerable. :)

I'm actually typing right now from our apartment on the ninth floor. I can't remember the last time I used dialup... Well okay, I can. But it was at least a couple of years ago. They sell internet cards here kind of like phone cards in the US. So I have about 3 hours of primetime internet use before the first card runs out. Not too bad, and much cheaper and more convenient than an internet cafe.

Maybe more to come later this week. Don't want to spend too much time online.

Entry posted by byscuits at 01:10 PM | Comments (2)

Safe in Central Asia

Just a quick note to let you all know I am safe in Central Asia. Will post a picture tonight along with a bit of an update.

Entry posted by byscuits at 07:00 AM | Comments (0)