Things seen, things learned
05 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
in Thoughts, Tour Stories, YFC Danish Tour Tags: Culture, Denmark, Youth For Christ
If you haven’t traveled to a far away country, you really should.
It’s an amazing thing to be immersed in a culture that is in some ways very similar, but in most ways completely different than the culture we are familiar with. It has, for me, brought me out of my North American culture box and has really opened me up to how another 5.5 million people live.
Denmark is a really interesting country with LOTS of history and a really neat culture. I thought I’d tell you a few things I’ve found really cool and different than Canada, and maybe some things that are similar.
1. State Church. Denmark has an evangelical lutheran church run by the government, which has lots of implications, both good and bad. All kids around age 13 take part in Confirmation classes to learn about the history of the church and most of the politics of it. It’s an amazing opportunity for the church to show God’s love to the young generation, but unfortunately most churches don’t take this opportunity and kids grow up thinking that church is just a religious duty and have no idea of what it’s like to have a relationship with God. We’ve been able to connect with a few churches who are using the confirmation classes to teach kids about having a relationship with Jesus, and share about how our faith has affected our life and how we live it out on a daily basis. Usually the kids we speak to are quite shy, so it’s hard to know what impact our words are having but we’ve had some good conversations with some of the kids and I’m trusting that we’re planting seeds that will be watered by other YFC bands or by the teachers and leaders.
2. Bicycles and Fashion. One thing’s for sure. EVERYONE here owns a bike and there are almost as many bikers on the road as there are cars! It’s actually crazy. Aaron’s been loving it because he’s a huge proponent of bikes as sustainable transportation and I also think it’s pretty neat. We’ve gone down a few walking streets (outdoor mall type streets) and outside stores and in the squares are SO many bikes. And lots of really cool looking ones too. It’s like hipster paradise. 
ALSO, people who ride these bikes, and people in general are so well dressed. I guess that’s what happens when there are FOUR H&Ms in like 1km. It is definitely inspiring. Unfortunately, everything in Denmark (and Europe) is more expensive so I don’t know if I’ll be purchasing anything.
3. Boarding Schools. We’ve played at a few boarding schools so far and have a few more to go to this coming week, and it’s been one of our favorite places to visit. Boarding schools (or efterskøles) are quite common in Denmark for grades 8-10, and sometimes 11 and instead of being something dreaded, where the “bad” kids go, it’s something Danish kids look forward to. They get the experience of living away from home, and they get a really great learning environment because they get to build relationship with their fellow students and teachers.
4. History. In our first week of tour, we played in a church that was built in the 1200′s, and stayed at a house that had a straw roof! It’s crazy to see such an old history still apart of the day to day culture. There’s LOTS of brick, everywhere you look, and lots of very old churches with bell-towers. It makes for a very romantic looking country that kind of brings you back in time.
5. The Danish way of life. I heard once that Danes are the happiest people in the world, and after being here for two weeks already, I can see why that is. Contrary to North America, life is slower and people are in less of a rush. I would say that more than once, that’s frustrated us while on tour because we’re so used to things getting done instantly. It’s an interesting thing to have to adjust to. Full-time schedules are also only 37 hours a week, and people usually take an hour or so for lunch, and get 5 WEEKS of holidays, even in their first year of working for a company.
Those are just a few things you might not have known about this lovely country. I could talk more, but I’ll save that for other blog posts. I promise photos are coming soon! Zoltan’s making them look pretty so it’ll be worth the wait.
Love to all our friends and family, near and far.
We’re going to Europe!
03 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment
in Thoughts, Tour Stories Tags: church planting, Czech Republic, Denmark, missions, Next Level International, support, tour
Grettings friends, family, and internet surfers. I hope you’ve been enjoying our sporadic writings and pictures from throughout the summer! I think I’ve been getting better at being more on top of my blog posts, but there’s always room for improvement.
So you probably all know that Zoltan and I have been touring a LOT this year, in fact that’s pretty much all we’ve been doing, besides recording a new album. We’re on a tour right now with a duo from Nashville called Handsome and Gretyl and so far it’s been awesome! If you read my last post, you’ll get the background of how we met up with them and it’s been really great touring with them so far. This tour finishes at the beginning of October, and then we have a few really cool things happening.
In the middle of October, we’ll be leaving for Europe! We’re doing a tour for three weeks with Youth For Christ, all throughout Denmark playing in boarding schools, churches and venues. We’re really excited for the opportunity to go to another country and play music, but also to do it a bit differently than we’re used to and to hang out with more youth.
But what I really wanted to tell you about is what we’re doing after that. We’ll be heading over to Czech Republic for a month to work with Next Level International in various towns in eastern Czech Republic. We’ll be starting our journey in Ostrava, and from there we will travel to six different towns and work with church planters in each of those towns for about five days each. Czech Republic is a beautiful country, full of history and culture, but also very spiritually dark. I was looking up a few facts on the World Factbook, and it tells me that Czech Republic is 27% Catholic, 2% Protestant, 12% Other, and 59% unaffiliated. People there need hope. NLI has been working in the region for a few years, and have seen some great things happening through the local churches, and we’re really excited to be apart of that.
I’ve always had a passion for missions and exploring other countries, and since we got married we’ve been waiting for an opportunity to open up for us to work with an organization somewhere in the world. In thinking about missions, we’ve always wanted to go on a mission trip that’s more than just a week or two, so we can really invest our time into what we’re doing and build relationships with the people we’re working with. The only thing about that is that it brings the cost up quite a bit. We thought we’d let you know what we’re doing and if you feel led to, be part of this with us. We are definitely looking for prayer partners as we start organizing the trip and getting ready to go, and of course as we travel and minister throughout the country. As well, if you feel led to, you are more than welcome to help support us financially. Touring doesn’t give us much opportunity to save money, but we know this is something we’re called to do so we’re stepping out in faith and believing that God will provide the way as we continue to work hard at what we’re doing. The amount for the trip is $3200 plus the cost of traveling to Czech Republic from Denmark and back (we will be flying out of Denmark), which works out to about $50 per day, per person, and it includes all the food, transportation, lodging etc.
If you would like to help support us financially, you can send cheques payable to NLI Canada to:
PO Box 21157
Maple Ridge, BC V2X 1P7
Canada
With a memo for Lauren and Zoltan. If you’re not able to send a cheque, you can pay with credit card by calling the Canadian office: 1 604 505 1205, also with a memo for Lauren and Zoltan. You can also send money electronically through paypal (you just won’t get a tax receipt from NLI) to zoltanfoxx(at)hotmail(dot)com. If these don’t work, send me an email at laurenszoges(at)gmail(dot)com and we can work something else out.
If you’d like to keep us in your prayers, here are a few specific things you can pray for:
- that all the logistical details would get sorted out without complications
- that we would know how to prepare for the trip practically and spiritually
- ease in communicating with the people of Czech despite the language barrier
- safety in traveling to, through, and from Europe
- health while we travel
I’d like to also say how much we appreciate the support everyone has given us as we’ve been travelling this past year, whether it be a place to stay, giving us food, buying CDs and t-shirts, coming to shows, or just keeping in touch with us while we’re away from friends and family. You are all such a blessing to us and it means so much to have friends and family all across the country that make us feel at home wherever we are.
Well, I guess that’s all for now! We’ll keep you updated with how things are moving along, and of course I’ll continue blogging while we’re on tour and sharing stories with you!
Much love to you all,
Lauren and Zoltan.
In all my spare time…
16 May 2011 Leave a Comment
in Thoughts
This past fall, Zoltan and I were living at a camp called Circle Square Ranch in Ontario. He was working full time and I, after trying to get a job in town and just getting frustrated, ended up with lots of time on my hands. I found a pair of knitting needles in my mother-in-law’s basement and a bag of yarn in the camp’s program office, and decided to give it a go.
I learned to knit quite a few years ago while being homeschooled, but after taking a really long time to make one scarf, I put it aside and never picked it back up. I had forgotten most of the basic techniques, but after a few youtube tutorials I was good to go. I started knitting scarves, and really enjoyed it because it was easy, and used up lots of the scraps of yarn that I had, and I could do it while Zoltan was working on the computer or while watching tv.
Then I started looking at knitting patterns, and envisioning all the different things I could make, and I think I’ve become addicted. I made my first pair of slippers while on tour this past winter, and a coffee cup sleeve, and just yesterday I finished my first cowl. They’re all really simple projects, but I’m getting more and more familiar with the process and the yarns and everything.
And so, I’ve started a blog. To tell you what I’m up to, maybe post some pictures of projects I’m working on, and maybe even share some patterns, if they work out. And someday when we are in one place for a little bit of time, maybe I’ll even branch out to other crafty things. I’ve recently been perusing blogs about “refashioning”: taking thrifted or other pieces of clothing and altering them to make them really unique pieces.
But anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself. I just wanted to let you know what you can expect from this new little venture; it’s all about things I ENJOY. And I hope you enjoy them too.
- Lauren.
14 Jan 2011 Leave a Comment
in Thoughts Tags: "On The Road", books, Jack Keroac, Quotes, travel
“The only people for me are the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes ‘Awww!’”
Jack Kerouac, On The Road
