Chicago

Our first stop on our adventure was in Chicago, IL. 

I have heard such amazing things about Chicago and just saw a group from church go to Chicago to do a marathon. It has always looked like a wonderful place and I was really excited that we were stopping there. 

Our first stop in Chicago was at a fellow student's dad's office. (did you follow that?) We got to put our stuff down and see Chicago from the like 70something floor (I don't actually remember how high up it was) but look here...

It was pretty incredible to see the city from up here.

Then we had some free time to explore the city, like an hour or two, before lunch. So, we decided it'd be fun to go to the Navy Pier. We saw it from up there and thought it wouldn't be too bad, we could just walk there and take a taxi back if we ran out of time. Here is what we predicted from...

see it on the left in the picture? 

Well yeah, it was a bit of a further walk than we anticipated. Plus, it was SUPER hot. Plus, we just kinda walked in the general direction hoping that we would get there eventually. Well by the time we decided we should probably get a taxi for real, we could see it. However, we could not see a way to get to that street. So then we went to ask a taxi how much it would be to ride over there and got fussed at for not asking the first taxi in line. Then we asked the first one and he was trying to be smart with us. 

In the end we got to Navy Pier and it wasn't as extravagant as I had in my mind, but still pretty neat. 

Then the rest of my group decided to ride the ferris wheel. 

We went back to the office, had some lunch, and went to the airport to catch our 10 hour flight to Poland! 

Overall, Chicago was neat as much as I could see of it. However, I do not feel I got an adequate  representation of the city and hope that I can go back some day to fully experience it. 

Mercer on Mission

Hey there, 
I have been back for some time now, about 3 weeks-ish now. 
It was an incredible experience. I had some really fun times with my fellow students, made a new friendships, saw parts of the world I would have never seen otherwise, met amazing, caring, loving, hard working people, and experienced three different countries and cultures that I will never be able to forget. 
I'm going to be working on blogging about my experience now that I am back. (I couldn't really do it while I was there because there was very limited access to internet) I hope you are still interested in hearing stories from this trip. 
I thank you for supporting me in this and praying for me. I am so thankful for everyone involved who gave me this opportunity. It is something that I will never forget and will always be grateful for. 

Preparations

I haven't blogged in forever. I'm not that interesting I suppose. 
However, I am going on an awesome trip to Armenia and Georgia for three weeks starting this Thursday. They say we may have internet access and so I may or may not be able to blog about it. If I can't while I'm there, I may do it when I get back. 
I'm going to finish getting a few things tonight, prepare for my class presentation, and try to prepare my mind for what I'm about to experience. 
So, I was trying to write a note to explain to people what I'm doing. I never actually put it up, so I guess I'll put it here: 

I have a couple of days left till I leave for Armenia and Georgia!

I just wanted to write this to tell you a bit more about what I’m doing and why.

I have been telling people I am going to Armenia and Georgia for some time now and I have gotten plenty of different reactions. Some people simply stare at me, some think I am transferring to UGA, some tell me I’m not going abroad if I’m going to Georgia, some simply ask where that is.

I’m going to be honest I had not heard of Armenia before we discussed going here, but I have been amazed at what I have found out about it.

I’ve also had people ask why am I doing this, why Armenia? This is one of the biggest questions I want to answer.

So…

Where am I going? –Armenia and Georgia….where is that exactly? Well it’s in eastern Europe. The border countries are Russia, Turkey, Iran, and Azerbaijan.  

What am I doing? – Well I am participating in what is called Mercer on Mission, which is half study abroad and half mission trip. I am taking two classes (which is why I had to do homework) and they are Leadership & Service classes. And to clarify, this is not a religious oriented mission trip. This is through the school so it is a service-learning study abroad trip.

We are working with the Fuller Center, which is similar to Habitat (interesting story there) for 2 weeks while we are in Armenia and then we are working with the Evangical Baptist Church of Georgia for 1 week while we are in Georgia (not sure what they have planned for us).

When am I going? –THIS WEEK! Ahhh! I leave on Thursday, July 21, fly to Poland for a couple days (we get to see Auschwitz), then Armenia for 2 weeks, and Georgia for a week. I come back August 14.

AND, the biggest question, Why am I doing this?

This has two answers:

1. It is part of my program, Mercer Service Scholars. As a Service Scholar, we all take a trip between our sophomore and junior year to another country and do service there. There are 14 students in my year. We spent months trying to decide what country to go to. We knew we wanted to work with the Fuller Center. Armenia had one, so that’s what we decided on. Our professor is familiar with this area of the world since he has lived in Moldova and has done several other trips back. I was realllly hoping we would go to Eastern Europe. Service is so important to all of us and we are excited to do what we can to help in these countries. 
2. America has a really good relationship with Georgia and it is a really good opportunity to work with the Baptist Church in Georgia since we are from a Baptist tradition based university. Our professor says they do amazing work in the community. 
3. Armenia, like I said, is not talked about much. However, it has been through great tragedy. In 1915, 1.5 million Armenians were killed and 500,000 others were evicted from their homes. The Ottoman Empire eliminated ¾ of the Armenian population through the Armenian genocide. Did you know this even happened? Most don’t. We talk about the Holocaust all the time in schools, but I never learned about the Armenian genocide. The bigger issue is that the Turkish government still is adamant about saying it never happened and making sure the rest of the world says the same thing.

So, we may not make that much of a difference by working on a house, but I feel we can make a difference through the relationships we make with these people and by recognizing the pain and struggles the Armenian people have gone through and continue to go through today. I hope that through our experience we are able to educate more people about the atrocity that truly happened so that Armenians are not forgotten and Turkey's claims will not reach everyone. It is also a really big help for them to have native English speakers. Many are trying to learn English, especially in Georgia, so it's good practice. I hope that even though we will not speak the same language, that love and friendship will speak louder. I hope to see God's love in a new way as well. {cool facts: Armenia was one of the first official Chrisitan countries and Mt. Ararat in Yerevan is where they think Noah's Arc landed (still cool even if it's not true)}   

I cannot wait to share my experiences with you when I get back. I am getting very excited now and cannot wait to meet the people and experience the culture. I'm a bit worried about some things and I know there are going to be tough times, so I ask that you keep me and our group in your thoughts and prayers.

I won’t have much access to forms of communication, but I hope I can update you from time to time.

I will miss you. I love you and thank you for your support.

-Lorin