Germany Final Installment - Heidelberg

After Worms, we visited Heidelberg. Known as a university town and pretty central during the protestant reformation, it was a wonderful place to visit. We strolled around the grounds of the castle's gardens (the castle is mostly a ruin), which I video-ed for you to see below. It struck me how Germany was the center of learning for the whole world for quite a while.
We then went on to Rothenburg ob der Tauber (quite a long name for a town, which actually just describes the fact that it's on the Tauber river), a town that has preserved its historical walls and remains much as it was during medieval times. We walked along the walls and toured a museum of medieval torture devices and law practices and punishments. It was interesting how much shame and public humiliation was used as a method of punishment. Very similar to village life in Africa - in the west now we would rather lock someone up than parade them on the street with a headdress and manacles that showed what they were being punished for.
Well, that's pretty much it for the Germany videos and blogs. I hope you've enjoyed following along with me!

Vlog Day 56 - Grandview

I wandered around Grandview, Missouri a bit today - had lunch with my friend Phil, visited IHOP's prayer room, which has teams that keep prayer and music going 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It's pretty cool - you'd have to experience it for yourself. The facilities are a bit spread out within the town of Grandview (part of the sprawl that is Kansas City), but part of the land is located across the street from the Truman Farm, which is where President Harry Truman spent part of his life, learned to farm, and 'gained his common sense', according to his mother. I stopped at what is left of the farm and was able to take the cell-phone guided tour. Pretty interesting, and not super involved, which was nice.

Vlog Day 52 - Tulsa

My friend Ben Walker is a fellow Wycliffe MK (PNG) who graduated from Houghton and lives in Tulsa at the moment, where he's finishing up a master's degree. He connected me with a group that he is involved with that has a lunch every Thursday for international students who go to the University of Tulsa. They invited me to come play for them, so I was able to stop by and play a few songs, which people really connected to - I think I've found my niche. =)
Ben showed me the newly renovated library on campus and then I wandered around the town for the afternoon. I visited Gardner's used book store, which is one of the biggest I've seen, and discovered the golden 'oilman' accidentally before Ben took me to Tally's Diner on Historic Route 66. It was a beautiful evening, so we meandered through downtown and walked along the river while Ben told me a little bit about the oil-rich history.

Vlog Day 50 - Peel Mansion, Wal-Mart Museum and Steakburger

I visited the sights of Bentonville, Arkansas today - saw a really neat old house built by Colonel Sam Peel, who was a soldier in the confederacy before moving back to Arkansas and becoming a statesman. It was recently renovated with the help of Wal-Mart and is a pretty cool place. Some really pretty gardens and one of the oldest oaks in the area. The largest sycamore is now in pieces, and they have a giant ring from the trunk sitting against the house.
Sam Walton's original 5-10 has now been converted into the Wal-Mart Visitor's Center, which acts as a museum for the company and catalogs its growth from a small variety store to the incorporated international company that it is today. The museum is really interesting, and shows how Mr. Walton's company grew through a focus on people promoted and exemplified by the man himself - this guy was really committed to providing decent goods to people at the lowest price possible, yet his passion for this was combined with a care for the customer and the people that worked for him, as well as a sense of humor. He was not a person that was wrapped up in himself, and I think the world has benefited from his efforts, for the most part.
Right next to the museum is The Station Cafe, which claims to have the best steakburgers in Northwest Arkansas. I have to admit they are pretty good - as are their chocolate malts. All in all, a great day!

Vlog Day 43 - Chattanooga

I wandered around Chattanooga today for a few hours - quite a nice downtown area. A lot of history has come through here: as the beginning of many people's journey along the Cherokee Trail of Tears the site of a couple major battles in the civil war, and one of the first areas to benefit from hydroelectric dams. Just kind of wandered around and took it easy..

Vlog Day 39 - to Kennesaw Mountain

I traveled from Loganville to visit some friends north of Atlanta in the Marietta/Kennesaw area. Joe, Zeb, Andrea, Bethany and I graduated from Houghton College together, and now they are all living and teaching in this area. It was really good to see them, and the guys climbed Kennesaw Mountain together. This large hill was a pretty big battleground during the civil war, and the north and south duked it out with tons of cannon fire.
After climbing the mountain, we headed back to Zeb's house for dinner and played some Cornhole (with beanbags and boards) while Zeb's wife Lindsey made some excellent honey mustard chicken with rice. We followed dinner with the game Things and passed the time with laughter and fellowship. Good times. Oh yeah, I didn't get video of this, but there was a tornado warning - we watched two groups of clouds converge just south of us and start spinning around before they broke up and headed further south. It was pretty crazy - first time I've seen that up-close.

Vlog Day 31 - Wycliffe Tour

Today I took a tour at Wycliffe, led by my friend Chris who is also a connector/facilitator at Wycliffe. She had some interesting things to say about the work that gets done here at the office and around the world.

We were also able to meet with a national translator from the Brazilian Amazon who is here to develop relationships and partnerships with Wycliffe. You can hear some of our conversation in this video. There is much more about the tour that doesn't fit in this short video, though, so I recommend that you visit the office in Orlando yourself. You can also find out more on their website. Everyone is needed to accomplish the task of Bible translation.

Vlog Day 28 - St. Augustine

The title today refers not to the saint who penned the well-read 'Confessions', but rather to the oldest city in the US (which happens to bear his name). St Augustine (just south of Jacksonville, FL) was founded by Spain to protect its interests in the West Indies, and their fort, San Marcos, was never taken by force, only by treaty. We drove there today from Micanopy (the second city in Florida) on a gorgeous spring day. Spring has truly arrived here in Florida, though some would say it never leaves.
St. Augustine is also the home of Flagler College, which remembers Henry Flagler, a magnate of the early 1900s who (like his contemporaries the Rockefellers) built a lot of buildings and bequeathed a lot of money for the benefit of posterity. The college is a small liberal arts college that has a strong deaf education major.
On the way back to Ormond Beach, along A1A, we took a detour through the Tacoma swamp to visit the oldest Live Oak tree in Florida. This tree is huge and is over 2,000 year old! It's a pretty amazing sight.