November 14, 2011

Student Blog by Ken Edge: The last few weeks

These last few weeks have surely reminded me how blessed I am to be able to study with AMBEX. I decided I’m not much of a traveler, meaning I don’t enjoy traveling just to travel. Of course, no one really travels just to travel, but many can come close to that. I’m not saying that it’s always a bad thing to do; some people play chess just to play chess or go fishing just to fish. That’s totally fine, but in that sense, I’m not much of a traveler. I love to travel in order to further my understanding of life and culture and Christ; that’s what this semester is about and that’s why I have been blessed. I can’t believe how much I have been able to see and experience with such great people as are here.
In short, after Romania we had two weeks of class studying the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a brilliant German theologian who stood up against the evils of the Nazi leaders. It was wonderful to learn about such a devoted, godly man. Our professor, Prof. Scott, was also great to learn from. He loved going “birding.” Some of us went with him on a couple of excursions to spot flying creatures around the area. It was delightful. I can definitely say that my appreciation of seeing different kinds of birds has increased.

the birding group after a successful excursion

we went to Liechtenstein on the weekend
After class was over on Friday the 4th a few of us jumped on a train to visit the memorial at the Dachau concentration camp. It was, like the others, a cold place of death. This trip to a concentration camp was different from the rest in that, since there were only four of us, we were each able to walk through it alone. That was a good thing for me. There really is so much more to Germany than the short period of terror from 1928-1945, but it is nonetheless a period of history which should be intently considered and learned from by all.

This is the room where the prisoners in Dachau, mostly Jews and those who were unfit to work, were told to wait to take a "shower." They may or may not have realized that the next room, made to look like showers, was really meant to murder them with poisonous gas.
This last week was my last free travel week. I didn’t really know what to do or where to go so I thought, “what the heck, I’ll go to Africa!” Actually, I never said that, but that’s what I and five other wonderful people did end up doing. We spent a few days in Porto, Portugal first. Random fact: the biggest wave ever recorded hit somewhere on the coast while we were there – 97 feet! Anyway, it was a most splendid city. It was cheap, the people were friendly, the weather was warm, and the river and oceanside were beautiful. After a few days were spent there, we headed off to Marrakech, Morocco and spent the rest of the week there.

The Morocco group.
There is much to tell about everything that happened, but to elaborate on all of it would be too much to write. This next week we will be going to Salzburg, Austria (where The Sound of Music was filmed) and then to Italy. That wraps up my recent and future travels.
One more note: Romans 12 and 1 John tell us to love with a genuine heart. Jesus notes that our love is proven genuine when we love our enemies or, more specifically, those who won’t love us back. Christians often do a great job of loving and accepting other Christians who will quickly return the love, but I have been convicted that we – and certainly I – are so slow to love those in the world. What does it look like to love the world? The same thing it looks like to love fellow believers – to accept them for who they are; to buy them some ice cream; to pray for them; to encourage them, etc. Our witness to the world lies in love and nothing else. The greatest love is to bring the gospel to people, both Christians and non-Christians (for all always need it), so that it will be accepted. Sometimes that looks less like preaching and more like serving. Just a thought.
May God make your good works abound more and more as you rely on Christ (Eph. 2:1-10),
Ken

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