"Convinced Jesus is Just for Religious Types? Or Can He Change A Mafia Boss?"

Today, I met a man who used to run one of the biggest mafias in Yugoslavia.

Each month he'd garner millions of dollars from his vast web of casinos and entanglements of gambling. He was a mafia boss. He took money from people, because he thought money could satisfy him.

But it didn't.

Instead, he found what truly could satisfy him.

Tonight, in front of hundreds of students on a wintry January evening in Greyfriar's Church in the middle of Edinburgh, Slavko shared his story.

As a teenager, he grew up making bad jokes about God, cursing him, and doing away with any form of religion. He dropped out of university to take a job at a casino, which then snowballed into working for the mafia, being hired by the big kahuna, and then eventually becoming the big mafia boss himself.

He tried to find satisfaction in money, power, prestige, and influence. He tried to find satisfaction in the things of this world.

I can empathize. It's so easy to try to find fulfillment in careers, relationships, fame, fortune, appearance and reputation.
That used to be me: trying to find my worth in what I do instead of in what He has already done.

But God is the God who is able to change the hardest of hearts.

Slavko is not the same man he used to be.

Today, he is a big jolly man with a quick wit and unabashed sense of humor.  On fire for God and filled with the Holy Spirit, Slavko imparted wisdom about the Lord to us students, and gave us encouragement to grow deeper in relationship with God.

When war broke out, he remembers the day he stepped inside a church, and guess what: he just started talking to God. He asked God, if you're real, please help me believe.

And God answered.

 

Even though he needed special permission to cross the borders and leave the country to flee the war, Slavko was able to escape because the policeman at the border waived him through. Slavko attributed that to God.

Slavko said prayer is powerful. When his daughter was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, he prayed. When he had to undergo chemotherapy not just once but twice for cancer, he prayed. In all things, he prays. Slavko knows that God always hears our prayers and answers them --- God may not answer them in the way we want Him to or the way we envision it to be, but we can hold onto God's promises that He is with us always. In every trial, in every part of life, God is with us. God is enough. God satisfies our hearts.

old dude behind photobombed me & Slavko haha

So.

Is Jesus just for religious types?

Or can Jesus change the heart of a mafia boss?

Week 3: Great People & Doing Spontaneous Things With Great People

It's crazy to think 3 weeks have nearly gone by, WHEREDIDTHETIMEGOAHHHHHH.

This past week, I traveled to St. Andrews on an International Student Centre trip. A lovely coastal town right on the beach, St. Andrews is the home of golf, a castle, and yes the love story of Will & Kate. We had a lovely time wandering round the whole town (it's small and fairytale-like). Memorable moments include searching for a famous bridge, only to arrive and find a really tiny one in the middle of a (busy!) golf course...then running through the said busy(!) golf course trying to avoid getting hit by (multiple) golf balls... then running through the sandy beach a la "Chariots of Fire." It was brilliant.

Sunday was another great day of worship, connecting with the church community, and eating yummy food at someone's house! So thankful for the people in Edinburgh.

Tuesday, I ate lunch at "Patisserie Valerie" with a friend, whom I had met rather funnily - waiting in line at the Visiting Student Office. It's funny how God orchestrates new friendships :). That night, one of my flatmates (thanks, Marta!) took me out round town and then we spontaneously decided to hunt for a deep-fried Mars Bar...the hunt was successful. So gooey, so delicious, so many calories (but I tell myself I walk so much in Edinburgh, so all those calories burn off immediately...right?...right?...).

look of approval

Wednesday I spontaneously (notice a theme here...) hiked another part of the Salisbury Crags (thanks, Kirsty!), and walked round a beautiful swan lake (literally, a lake of swans). For dinner, Chan-Mi, a wonderful sister in Christ who lives on my floor, cooked a delicious meal of Korean food for us (thank you!)...then we ate Haagen-Dazs strawberry cheesecake ice cream (thanks, Becca!) in the dead cold of January, because it's strawberry cheesecake ice cream. Wednesday night was also "Scottish movie night" at my flat. My flatmates and I watched "Friends" first (not Scottish, but nonetheless a great TV show), then segued to "Sunshine on Leith." GO WATCH IT it's absolutely brilliant, just think of Mamma Mia with ABBA songs except it's Sunshine on Leith with all Proclaimers' songs.

the lovely Liv serenading us in the kitchen flat

Thursday night, my 3rd ceilidh since landing in Scotland. (I must confess I still don't know my St. Bernard's Waltz from Strip the Willow...)

Friday was amazing, 1) because no class 2) tea with a friend at this cute place called "AnTEAques" (#britishpuns)

violet jam, where have you been all my life

3) someone cooked a delicious/masarap Filipino dinner (thanks, Jansenn!)

tinola in Edinburgh = happy stomach

 and 4) spontaneous bus ride(s) to watch a Rugby match for the first time ever. I may not be the biggest sports fan ever (except when it comes to the Cincinnati Reds, Federer, & Manny Pacquiao), but watching Rugby was something I wanted to do while in Scotland. (Shout-out to my flatmate Amy for helping me retrieve something from my room before leaving for the match!)
Before trekking to Murrayfield Stadium, there were two sweet Scottish granddads who directed us which bus stop to take, and which stop to get off...thank you God for orchestrating that as well, because we would have been so late to the game if we didn't know where to go haha.

cheerin' on the hometown team

(btw I know I'm forgetting tons of people so thank you to those people I forgot!)
Giving thanks to a lot of people, this week and in the future.
Signing off til next time,
#John15:12-15

What Is "Home"?

I see slices of heaven in the friendly faces of two old Scottish granddads giving us directions to the right bus stop to get to the rugby match. I see slices of heaven in the rays of sun glittering through windswept trees, in my flatmates for singing along to all The Proclaimers' songs while watching the movie "Sunshine on Leith", and in the joy of dancing (terribly yet unabashedly) at ceilidhs.

I see pieces of paradise when in Edinburgh my mom reunites with her friends from medical school in the Philippines, and laughs hysterically with them. I see pieces of paradise when I call home and hear my brothers' voices, when I pause to say thanks to God for the sun, when I pause to say thanks to God in the rain.

This world is not perfect. There's a lot of suffering and dying and hurt and pain. But we can hold onto the hope that we were not meant to live in this world, but in another. We were meant to live in our true home. It may not be now, it may not be tomorrow, it may not even seem like it will ever come...

But I trust and hope and know that it will.

5 SCOTTISH THINGS I'VE DONE/HEARD/EATEN/SAW/DRANK

1) KEEP CALM AND CEILIDH ON

A "ceilidh" (pronounced cay-lee, not sea-lid, as I myself some cuckoo said), is a traditional Scottish dance. I danced with a man in a kilt, not just once, but twice! A dream fulfilled.

2) Turned on BBC radio while driving through the Highlands and heard the majesty that is the Scottish Gaelic language. (Surprisingly, I also heard Beyonce)

3) Ate the "great chieftain o' the pudding-race!" aka HAGGIS. 'NUFF SAID.

4) Top o' Arthur's Seat 
Trekked up a 251-meter-high volcano (extinct, thankfully). ASDFJKL;LKJFDSA AMAZING PANORAMIC VIEWS.

5) Last but not least... IRN BRU. 
I think it's possible that this orange drink might actually banned in America (lol). Tasted a bit like medicine, but then like bubblegum, so it's sort of growing on me! #stapleofScotland

Like A Swirling Storm

Let me give you a clue...

THE WIND IS HOWLING

ALLDAYERRDAY

This week, winds reached 35+ mph, but it felt more like 100 mph. I'm not exaggerating! (Ok maybe I am just a wee bit exaggerating, but still!! I felt like I was gonna fall off this giant, extinct volcano 251 metres high!)

The wind is perhaps the #1 thing that has surprised me so far during my time here.

And it ain't a gentle summer breeze. It's more like the I'm-holding-onto-the-ground-and-rocks-for-dear-life.

So while standing at the summit, literally literally literally afraid for my life (heights are a bit of a phobia), this scary yet enlightening experience sort of compelled me to think about the analogy of how God's Spirit is like the wind. I've heard it before and read it in the Bible before, but I didn't really understand it. Only recently have I started understanding a bit more.

(PS in no way am I a theologian, nor am I a very knowledgeable person, so I did a little more researching and thinking and reading about this, and here's what I found...)

If you look at the original Hebrew, ruach means "air in motion". AKA breath. AKA wind. AKA spirit.
Similarly, the Greek word pneuma also means "a current of air." Breath, wind, spirit.

As I read more, I realized this image of spirit + wind appears a lot in the Bible.

We can't stop it.

Powerful
Captivating

It's a force to be reckoned with
And in various ways it manifests

From a cool, gentle breeze
To a stormy cyclone roaring,

We don't know where it's coming from
We don't know where it's going.

Powerful
Captivating

We can't stop it.

So too, it is, with God's Spirit.

God works in different ways and reaches people in different ways, but all with the same loving spirit, his. He sometimes calls us to listen to his still small voice (check out 1 Kings 19:12), while sometimes he gets our attention in other ways (like when light flashed around Paul on the road to Damascus!).

Ultimately, the wind subsided and I climbed down the volcano and gingerly trekked to the bottom and walked on the streets and sang songs of joy, but it's funny to me because earlier that day I had prayed I would meet God in an unexpected way that day.

He's both rushing wind and a still small voice saying do not be afraid for I am with you, always.

Beside Quiet Waters...

where, or in whom, do you find rest?

Week 1 Reflection: Living in the Land of...

Sheep.

There are more sheep than people in Scotland.

Scotland has 5.3 million people, and 6.57 million sheep.

That's a lot! (No wonder woolen scarves and haggis are popular).

the (in)famous haggis

This got me thinking of how we ourselves are called to be like sheep.

I love the relationship between the sheep and their shepherd.
Just as sheep know the voice of their shepherd, so too must we listen, hear, and respond to the voice of Jesus.
He's not just a shepherd, but the Good one, the best.

Psalm 23 reminds me that
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 
     He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters, 
     he refreshes my soul.

During my time abroad, in foreign places, in unexplored territory, I'm pretty sure I'm going to encounter challenges and fears (like loneliness and getting lost)... every day I hope to reflect and remind myself that in all the green pastures, beside all the quiet waters, through all the darkest valleys, I trust and know and believe that he is with me, always.

Saw lots of sheep, but no Nessie (yet!)

As I begin my semester abroad in Edinburgh, Scotland, I'll be far from my comfort zone and I'll miss family and friends back home.

But I'm hopeful and excited to see where the Shepherd leads me.