Blend

Basking under the Italian sun with the Colosseum in the horizon and thousand year old ruins behind me was a memory to hold. As I shiver now in the damp cold of England I can hardly believe that only 2 days ago that was my backyard, then 2 days before that it was the water streets of Venice and a day before that it was giant statues of Hungary, before that, Romanian, and before that, Ukraine. You get the picture, its been a blend of countries in a blend of days. Looking back this morning it all seems to blend together in a mixture of culture, languages and confusion. It was hard to leave Josh's comfortable Polish apartment but with every new adventure comes a slight sacrifice. After a long night on a smelly hot bus of Ukrainians we arrived to the thriving metropolis of Le Viv. We soon found out that unlike the rest of Europe Ukrainians don't bother to learn English in their schools and the the Ukrainian alphabet unlike most world languages uses completely different letters so as we stood in the bus station looking blankly at the sign in front of us it was difficult to decide where to go next. Well as always the good Lord was looking out for us and we met a translator after some time and went back to the bus station to get our ticket to Romania. Then we spent the day eating authentic Ukrainian borscht and having our own personal Ukrainian tour guide who was also our much needed translator so thanks to Nadia for being a sweetheart to 3 homeless bums in our time of need. The days really did blend together now that I think back and I know looking back that it was all by God's grace of where He has brought us today. A bed become a luxury and a shower a weekly activity as we toured Europe in what seems like only a few days. 12 months ago I think the Dan I used to be would have whined and complained and wished for a bed but it seemed to be part of the journey and I wouldn't trade it. I remember one vivid night where we slept in a train station for lack of anywhere else and we soon found out that it wasn't really a waiting room for the train but rather a haven for the homeless. The smell quickly faded but the weirdo's came in and out. This one man sat next to me around 3 in the morning gave me a look and grabbed my hand and shaking it profusely he rambled on and on in Ukrainian. I tried to motion that I didn't understand but I soon learnt that he wasn't really talking any language and wasn't too understanding of most coherent things around him. He soon pulled out a deck of cards and would have played all night had I not finally refused and curled up on my wooden chair to make it through the night. He periodically shook me through the night and would try to tell me something but with time came the morning and we got out of there as fast as we could. Europe is beautiful and the time left is short, its hard to describe the emotion I feel being so close to the end, so many stories, so many lessons spinning in my head and heart. The anticipation of familiar soil fills my dreams but I thank God for every waking moment in these next days and weeks as I am filled with His grace to be here. Daniel

A Warning To Humanity

Auschwitz concentration camp has transformed from a place where people would never want to go, to a place where all of us should go. It is a reminder of what humanity can and has done to its self. Perhaps this plaque shows the vastness of terror and evil that took place here, but until I stepped foot in these two Auschwitz camps I wasn't aware of the horror that took place. The people who were brought here were not only killed they were tortured and stripped of the things it means to be human. Jordan and I did an extensive tour of the camps and Dan also saw a lot of what they show. We gained a little bit of perspective of why those men who fought in that war, who saw these horrors and then came home are not wanting to talk about their experience. I can't imagine wanting to tell people about the things that happened here if I was a true witness to it. There are rooms here that display some of the items taken from the prisoners: Shoes, suitcases, and toothbrushes. They even shaved their entire bodies and gathered the hair to be sold and made into socks for the Nazi soldiers. We saw a room with 2 tons of hair left behind not yet packed. We were also shown the gas chambers where the most killing was done. It would be an underground bunker with 3 major rooms, one would be a room that was where all the prisoners were told "to undress themselves, and remember where they left their clothes so they would not be lost after their 'shower'". They would then move into the next room where they could fit 700-2000 people tightly depending on which camp they were at. At this point when they were all tightly squeezed into this huge shower room, a few cans would drop through the roof into the room. The cans were opened and filled with crystals that give off a gas that stops the oxygen circulate in your blood. This caused the people to internally suffocate, causing a very painful 20 min death. Often they left a loud truck running outside the building, to muffle the sound of the screaming. Then the bodies would taken out of the room into the third room where they were incinerated. Several incinerators all very easy to use would burn the people quickly afterwards. Those last rooms even had tracks in the floor for carts to load bodies and push them with ease straight onto a metal table that could slide into the fire and out with just the ash remaining. All of this would be happening to about 80% of the people who got off the train their first day, because they were 'unfit to work', and that was decided in a three second glance. Those who were fit to work were doing jobs like shaving the new prisoners, sorting their things, and even hauling the dead bodies to the fire. Those who did that particular job were considered to be dangerous because they were the strongest and they knew too much, so as a result these workers would be killed and replaced every two weeks. The short life for these prisoners was very terrible, often working them to death, sometimes with that exact purpose. Even time on the toilet was limited to 10 seconds twice a day. The people in this camp were tested to see how far they can be pushed before dieing. Experiments were done to see how little air a person could live with in their concrete cell, or some were made to stand in a cell too small for sitting for the night, all while being forced to work the next day. Many were starved as experiments, or cut open to have their living organs examined. The horror of it all is sometimes more than I can comprehend. I find the more I hear about what happened here, the more I tend to separate myself from it. It doesn't seem real to the life that I life today. But just being here... seeing faces... looking at their hair, I see it's not a movie. Its very real. And the evil mastermind who put it all together, The King of lies, still wanders to and foe in this world causing pain and suffering. And it is only by God's grace that His power came through and has restored peace in this place. I imagine that Auschwitz concentration camp was very close to hell on earth, but one thing Satan didn't take from those people was that... 'to live is Christ, and to die is gain'. That's a promise we all have from God. Kenton

Adventure Outlook?

The intoxication of sleep deprivation had fully settled upon both kenton and myself. We arose from the well lit storage room that was accessible from a stairwell at the back of a catholic church. It was a room full of spiders, scorpions and other creepy crawlies I am sure we only imagined. But it also contained some hard Styrofoam that took the chill from the cold concrete and was the perfect setting for us to get out of the rain and spend the night. As we hit the road again to try and make it to Cieszyn and meet up with Dan and his brothers friend Josh we hoped for better luck during the early hours of the morning than we had the previous night which led us to that dungeonesque accommodations of the previous night. Until then our journey had been splendid, we were privileged with a ride that blessed us with twenty euro, an especially large sum of money for a backpacker on a tight budget and many miles still to go! But maybe what goes around comes around for real. Although as we stood on that road side in Poland now where the euro was not accepted and no one would exchange a dime with us or even point us in the direction of an ATM, our stomach's growling and minds still hazy from the lack of sleep we were blessed yet again. A chief prosecutor walking by stopped to help us, over coming the fear that had held so many others back from talking with us. He helped us to get to a ATM where we took some currency out and then helped our selves to a hardy breakfast from the super market before hitting the road again. This last short jaunt was cold but we thankfully did not have to wait overly long before a ride and then another getting us to Cieszyn in time for lunch! Now as I sit writing on this wonderful Mac laptop, smelling a wonderful meal cooking in the other room and having a bed close by to chill in for the night that's warm and safe from scorpions, I laugh! During adventure it can suck, but usually the greatest trials make the best stories and through them we can always look back and see what a rad God we journey with! Be blessed. Lehmann

Intimidation

As Karstin drove away in his German station wagon I stood at the gas station with nothing but the open road ahead of me, I wouldn't admit it then but I felt nothing less than intimidated. I walked around the gas station is hopes of finding English and friendly Germans which combined would get me a ride. I gotta admit I didn't want to leave my homeland of Germany. Staying in the home of Patrick and then Kathrin and Karsten was just a little too comfortable. Sleeping every night in my own bed, delicious German breakfast's every morning....mmmm. I had to chuckle as I stood at that gas station preparing to leave Germany, I just spent the last week with two amazing Germans and their families, people 11 months ago I didnt know existed. We met them 10 months ago in the tropical mountains of Costa Rica and now to cross paths in their home was almost sereal. Germany did indeed treat us well, from Suzie's cappaccion's to chilato's with Patrick followed by what felt like 2 sets of grandparents and a big brother and sister with Kathrin and Karsten, it was... about perfect I would have to say. It wasn't long until I found English and a friendly German and I was on the east bound road. I spent the day in a lot of random fast German cars driving whatever speed they were comfortable with on the famous Autobon. And when I wasn't in a car I was waiting, bundled up in everything I had; at exits, at gas stations and wherever I could find slow traffic. Eventually I made it to the Czech city of Prague, a beautiful city of rich Christian history. Unfortunately the only Christianity in Czech is just that... History. Being on the open although intimidating at times was a feeling like no other. Its the feeling of freedom, like I can do anything and go anywhere and no matter what happens it will be an adventure. There was times standing on that road with the sun going down that I didnt think I would make my destination but somehow I just knew that something bigger than me would get me there at just the right time. I got to Poland late Monday night and met the man my brother talked so highly of and I am thankful to find out why. Looking back on these few days of travel, of hitch hiking on the open Highway in a foreign country with foreign languages I know that the Daniel who left Canada 11 months ago could never have done it. There's something about stepping out that makes all of the following steps seem just a little bit easier, all of a sudden the world doesn't seem so big anymore, language barriers don't seem to matter as much and no matter where I go or what I do somehow I know that God is in fact leading my steps as I go. I think stepping out in faith will always be intimidating, but to let intimidation alone hold me back would be robbing myself and the world of what could have been. With only 4 weeks left I pray I will step boldly into the intimidating moments and to experience all that this small world and the Big God who controls it has to offer. Daniel (oh and this last pic, is us busking to make some extra cash... 1 euro 63 to be exact)