Hey all!
I can not believe it's been over a month since I've last blogged, time's been flying by. Well I only have 5 days left on this beautiful Island, and as often happens I have mixed feelings about this season ending, but mostly I am so excited about coming home.
It has been the most incredible journey, I have gone through 12 books of the bible, an overview of the Old Testament and an overview of the prophets. I have learnt how to use the Inductive Bible Study Method at studying the text, which involves looking at what the text says for the original readers and hearers, the reason it was written and learning about the culture and context of the time before interpreting how it can be applied today. It has shown me how bad I was at reading the scriptures with my eyes only, wanting to know how it can speak to me. But the books and the letters in it wern't meant for me, they were meant for people 2000+ years ago. And learning what it meant for them and how it applied in their life and their context has brought so much light to difficult passages and put so much more meat on the rest of it.
I have fallen in love... with sushi, the ocean, big leaves, warm nights, kareoke Asian style, thai food, and mountain top views. I have been snorkeling, hiking, night scrambling, night swimming, surfing (clean, warm waves!), wathced many sunsets, experienced 4th July, seem tropical beaches and much much more, and through it all have had some pretty awesome people to do it with. Best of all I have had the chance to get to know a little more of God, and am so thankful for him bringing me here. You will all know that I am a Christian, and I came to study the bible, but it didn't mean I was someone without questions, and I am relieved to find that some of them have been answered, some of them havn't been, of course, but I now think about them in a different way. Mainly that the Bible needs to be taken with it's context in account, and if we want to understand it, study and seek to apply it to our lives and our world then we need to understand where it has come from. Christianity does not have all the answers, and neither should it pretend to, it is made up of imperfect people worshipping and trying to understand a perfect and humungous God! Personally this whole experience has just left me more in awe of him and what he has done and continues to do for us. I am grateful to serve him and honoured to be called his.
I don't think my accents been contaminated to much being here, though I do catch myself saying the odd thing that annoys me, like 'pants' instead of trousers. Mostly I'm just going to have to stop calling people 'dude'! But I am really looking forward to be surrounded by the post English accent again and not have to repeat myself three times when I want to say something. I am also really looking forward to proper food and a proper bed. But mostly I just can not wait to see you all again. I have listed some wonderful and amazing things here, but my heart is not sad to leave this place. I will miss it, of course, I will miss the colours, the smells, the people and the prices(!), but coming here has shown me how lucky I am to have so many awesome people back home and I am so excited! I am also really stoked about the future and what's going to happen next. Nothing is set yet, but God has been growing a vision in my heart, a big and scary and exciting one, but for now I am taking it a step at a time in faith. And the next step, well tomorrow I have my final exam (I hate exams!) a beach day with the whole class, a camp out on the beach sat, maybe another surf sesh, graduation on sunday and then leaving the base at 5.45am mon morn! From there I have a month of friends, family and weddings, a youth camp and lots of traveling around. After that, we shall see...
Thank you again everyone who has supported me through this,
See you on the other side,
Kas xx
