Some recent cross-cultural adventures...

The last few weeks we have had the opportunity to take Nazgul to some places around San Diego county. We have attempted to give her a taste of our culture and expand her horizons a bit.


Here she is at the San Diego Zoo. She was impressed with how neat and clean everything was. Her favorite animals were the tigers. When we were there--amazingly enough--they were out in the water playing with a tire. That was certainly the best view I have ever had of them too!





Last Friday we picked up my mom's twin who was out visiting, and my grandfather and headed up to Julian to pick apples and walk around the shops. The colors aren't very vivid yet, but we still enjoyed it. Nazgul misses the beautiful fall colors they have in her village.

Friday night we took her to the opening night of the symphony. It was her first time, and I think she enjoyed it. At least she didn't fall asleep! I tried to explain a little bit what the pieces were about, etc... I am getting better at putting things simply, but I think a lot still gets lost in the translation. :)



Nazgul attends Engish classes each morning at the Foothills Adult Education center in El Cajon. This Saturday they hosted a rose show. Since we both loves roses, we enjoyed looking around there together. Speaking of roses--here is a picture I took of the first nice rose in our garden since we tore everything out last fall to make way for the guest house. Isn't it beautiful?! Red roses are my favorite flowers.

Our Church's New Website

Our church is in the process of creating a website. Check it out today, but be sure to check back later as we continue to add more information. I am in charge of the mission's pages, so you can check those out in the next week or so when I have them finished. :)
www.faithsd.org

Oktober Fest

For the past two years I have had the opportunity to work at our church's booth at the La Mesa Oktober Fest. For those of you not familiar with this event, let me explain. For Oktober Fest, they basically close several blocks of a street and set up booths selling arts and crafts, advertising businesses, or selling food. Our booth--along with a couple of others--would be the exception to that. We weren't selling anything, but rather provided free literature to anyone interested. Several banners posted prominently with questions like "What is the bridge to eternal life?", "Why is there death and suffering?" and "Is there really a God?" brought many seekers as well as agnostics by to talk with us. Our assistant pastor, Mark Robinson, came up with this idea and put together a schedule for those who volunteered to help.
I was given the time slot of Saturday from 11AM until 3PM--along with another couple from our church. The morning hours weren't very busy, but after lunch there was a steady stream of people passing. Most people sped up or looked away when they saw our booth, but a few stopped to look and a few of those actually were willing to talk with us. Some believers stopped to take a few tracts to share with unsaved friends or just to say "thanks for doing this", or "keep up the good work."
I was grieved to see many people who weren't even willing to consider what the Word of God had to say to them, but also encouraged to see people really seeking the truth. I just pray that those who listened to us share the gospel will take it to heart and read the literature we gave them. No one got saved--as far as I know--but I know that many seeds were planted. God will give the increase and only eternity with show the effects of our efforts this weekend.