Das Ist überkrank

Spending the last week in Southern Germany with Jannik and his family turned out to be one of the major hight lights of this entire trip!! I am so glad I never changed my plane ticket and came home early like I contemplated for a while. Jannik is my Germany Buddy (if you didn't know) who is awesome and took 10 days off work to hang out with me. We met at his parents house in Bad TӦlz where his mother Claudia had wayyyyy to much food prepared for us. It was really good to see the entire Harrer family again, and just a traveler tip, if you want to experience some real German culture give them call before you go to Europe because staying with them is better then staying at any 5 star hotel.

My German Foster Parents and Brother

The first day I got there Jannik had the whole week planned out. What seemed like an entire months worth of activities he had squeezed into a week worth of "Awesomeness" as he called it. In six days we visited Europes largest water park, ski toured UP a Baviaran mountain, rock climbed in Munich, play Battlefield with his cousin Kirby and hiked in the Austrian Alps. I'm not sure Rest & Relaxation is the best way to title this blog update because right now I feel soar all over and just want to go home!

I don't know who thought it was a good idea to go up the hill when there is a perfectly good chair lift on the same mountain!!!

But I couldn't think of a better way to spend my final days in Europe then with an amazing family who gives me so much joy, love, food and Wienershitzel. Being this busy did have another advantage I didn't realize until now. Dispite being so close to flying home, getting emails from all my friends, and making arrangements with the family I never had any time to be home sick. The last week usually is the most difficult and longest but in less then 2 days I will be home and haven't really thought about that yet! It's nice to know I went hard right till the end and made the most out of the 7 plus months away. So to all my friends and family in Europe thank you for everything. You are welcomed and expected to come visit me on the farm in Smithers - if I am not in New Zealand or South America of course. And Melissa I've seen your facebook status and yes your Brother is coming home soon. I just have a few more place to go and people to see but I miss you too Suey!!!!!

Kevin

Reverse Culture Shock!!

I don‘t know how many of you - my faithful readers - have ever travelled overseas and spent some time living in a developing nation, but I suspect some of you that have can relate to what I am about to write. When preparing for an adventure that I have just returned from much time and effort is spent into learning what to expect when you land and get your first exposure. You talk for hours about culture customs, languages, food, greetings and relationship styles. You can even go as far as I did and read books specifically on cross culture living. So when you finally arrive in this foreign country you kind of have an idea of how things work.

But one thing that doesn‘t get addressed as much is what to expect when you return home! You may think this is the easy part of the trip, but ask many long term travelers and overseas missionaries and you‘ll hear the same thing, its not “Home Sweet Home“ like in the movies. After adapting to a new country and their way of living your body forgets what was normal for you a few months back. I know 3 months isn‘t a long time to you but when you focus and prepare so much to adjust your lifestyle it is easy to forget how it used to be.

It‘s hard to explain in words just what I mean by this so let me use some stories and examples to put my thoughts into your head. The most obvious thing I noticed when returning back to the west was the fact that I am no longer a minority. I became so used to being the only white person around that when I saw another one outside our team I would get excited and what to go talk to them. So once I was back in Switzerland and living in the community here on the YWAM base I was very overwhelmed by all the Buzungus (white people) that I had to go find my buddies Pappy and Moses (from the D.O.C. and Nigeria) and eat dinner with them.

Another instant where I noticed change was on the flight from Nairobi to Zurich. I had a seat beside a little African Swiss girl and her mother, I had no trouble starting a conversation with them and getting the little girl laughing. Because of the night flight the little girl eventually feel asleep with her head on her moms lap and her feet stretched out on mine. Without thinking I just slipped a pillow under her feet and continued working on the letter I was writing. Sometime later the mother noticed her daughter sprawled out and invading my personal space. I made the motion that it was alright and not to worry. I could see in her face she didn‘t know how to react. Just before we landed I took a minute to explain that I was a missionary and had spent the last 3 months in Africa working with street kids and Orphans. At that moment I realized how comfortable I was with little African kids coming to me for affection, and how normal it was just to respond to them in love and give them attention even just for a few minutes. Thank goodness this mother was born in African culture and not some housewife from California. Because by western standers you don‘t let you young child fall asleep on a strangers lap. So moral of the story is remember you can‘t treat every kid like the ones from Rwanda.

Apart from hot showers, laundry machines, and dishwashers one other thing that I‘ve been seeing in with new eyes is how many screens we have in our life. Everywhere I go it seems I am staring at either a computer (like right now), T.V., Ipod, or alarm clock! I just spent the last hour outside writing a rough draft of this with pen and paper just to get away from it. I realize this is a can of worms but I want to scratch the surface just to get some reactions. So without trying to sound like an anti-technology zealot who lives in the forest and never gets visitors how much good is all of this txting, messaging, skyping, and e-mailing actually doing for our relationships. In todays day and age we have the ability to be in constant contact with everyone we know at all times! Is this really helping us be better friends and more socially capatible, or are we just shooting ourselves in the foot and becoming dependent on a mediator for our communication. I am searching for some kind of balance here, and after spending 3 months on the other side of the spectrum I don‘t think complete withdrawal is the answer. But could it help us a little to focus more on one person at a time and spend some quality time with them face to face. I am as guilty as anyone but who else feels like after chatting with someone on facebook you feel like your relationship is growing? Minus a few exceptions I still crave the real things, all these methods of communication are just a tease when it come to being in the same room at the same time and looking that person in the eyes.

Thats all I really wanted to say about that, and don‘t get me wrong I am so very grateful that I have the ability to share my stories and photos with you online but are we getting a little carried away sometimes?

Home Sweet Ho... oh wait its just Switzerland

Well the next leg of this adventure called life begins. I have not only survived Africa but came out off it a better and wiser man with the facial hair to prove it!! The last week had a few events worth mentioning. On Tuesday we took an overnight trip to Lake Kivu on the Congo border. It was a small village/city in the shadow on an active volcano. But we lucked out and made it out off the town without having to dodge any lava. The last two days on the Continent we spent at the YWAM base packing and reflecting on our time here. It was a good thing we stayed close to home because in our last 48 hours in Kigali 5 hand grenades were detonated in the main market. Scary stuff thinking I spent many days off bartering for souvenirs there.

Photos from the Safari

On March 6th we said goodbye to all our friends in Rwanda and flew to Nairobi, Kenya. We experienced a flight delay and had 7 and a half hours to spend in the Airport twiddling our thumbs. I used my time to write down some of my feelings and reactions from the past three months while they where still fresh in my mind. Its crazy to think my time in Africa is done, I really didn't feel ready to leave. I was still thinking about Uganda and didn't have a lot of closer on that situation. But I know that I will come back to Africa to visit the kids at the Smithers Orphanage one day, just not on this trip.

This Bike is called a "Cowasaki"

But now I am back in Europe for 2 more weeks. We are doing some intense debriefing and having our graduation ceremony this week. Then after that I plan to visit my German buddy Jannik for a week before I fly into Vancouver. I am really enjoying the hot showers, good breakfasts, flushing toilets, road signs and cool Swiss winter. I've been praying a lot "Lord help me not to lose this appreciation I have for the little things" My life will be that much better if I can always remember how much I have, not what I'm lacking. So anyway if anyone would like to Skype or chat I will have some time this week. If not just wait a dozen more days and we may just meet face to face! Hope everyones getting excited for Spring and miss you all a lot. More posts to come as Germany is never without its adventures.

Time to Say Goodbye to Switzerland

Well its about time to say GOODBYE to Switzerland and HELLO to Rwanda. I had a great time here in the land flowing with Cheese and Chocolate but its time to keep this adventure called life rolling. The next step is going to be big, not just because it will be the 2oth country I've traveled to, but because it will also be an entirely new continent. A continent that is so jam packed with a unique history, culture and people! I am very stoked and a tad bit nervous.

A lot of exciting things have been happening in the last few days, first thing to mention is that I got my Flickr account up and running. That will be the place to go to catch all the photo evidence of the DTS outreach. There is a link on the side bar to the left or just click right HERE! I am the official photographer on our team so I hope to develop my gifts a little with limited resources - a 50 mm lens mounted on a Nikon D40.

Secondly there is some exciting news geared towards all of those that are going to be in Smithers area for the holidays. My amazing friends and family back home are planning a special event scheduled sometime around the festivities. I don't have all the information at this time but what I do know is its going to be a benefit concert with the proceeds going towards the work I am trying to do as well as the Smithers Orphanage in Uganda. I will definitely give all the details once I know exactly what they are. But if you are thinking that you may have some time to celebrate the holidays by supporting a good cause, then stay tuned.

I also want to say thank you so much to the friends and family that have supported me through prayer and with their finances. It has been such an encouragement and blessing for me to have those that are closes to me step up and show me how much they care about me. Just getting your emails and messages makes such a different in the tone of this trip. Knowing I have people back home behind me keeps me accountable to what I am trying to do here.

Well thats all I've got to say at the moment, but I believe the stories will be getting a little more exciting in the next week, so stay posted for some tales. Again check out the photos on the link because that is where all the photos will be for the entire trip. Tomorrow is going to be a day full of packing, laundry and praying, so I better get to bed! Goodnight everyone.

3 Days From Deportation

The retired and the rookie passport.

As many of you may not know I had a little problem with my passport recently, I choose not to advertise the story for security reasons. The small problem was this, I entered the European Union September 1st via Amsterdam. After traveling Holland, Germany and Scandinavia I entered into Switzerland on October 1st planning to spend the 81 days here on a 3 months travelers Visa. Little did I know that Switzerland has changed its laws so that it is a part of the European Union travel restrictions. So long story short I would have to leave the EU on December 1st if I could not get a new passport by then. Knowing how long it can sometimes take for us to get passport I got my application in in mid October. By November 18th the only thing I received was a phone call saying my passport application was denied, because of a very different and confusing requirement. With this as an issue I had to drive to Bern, 2 hours away, to sign a piece of paper at the Canadian Embassy. I told them to please "rush, rush, rush" the application and had to pay an extra fee for the trouble. As I waited nervously as the days counted down to the 27th of November. Thankfully I received a Canadian Passport in 7 days and only 3 days until being illegally in the country. Also my passport was given a new 90 days to be in the EU. So after we return from Africa I am able to stay until my scheduled flight March 23rd.

So not much to report this week, still just planning and preparing for the next step. Really praying for patients as I JUST WANT TO BE THERE! But I know it will come soon enough and be over probably before I know it. So just trying to enjoy Swiss life while I can and very excited to reach over 20 counties visited in 9 days!! Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season and will appreciate the snow for me.

Also if you would like a printable versions of a news letter I made, I can email it to you on request for MAC and PC. kevinhuisman@live.ca

Thanks

Nathan's Last Days

Lets just hope my flight home is a little more mobile

So I just got word from Nathan that he is back in Canada safe and sound. I never thought we could have as much fun as we did in the last 3 months. The history of this blog shares only a few of the adventures and experiences. It was difficult at times but I have learned lately that the thing we do that are the most difficult in life are usually the most meaningful. So Nath I'm glad you decide to travel half way around the world with your older brother, but now you may have to change the title of this blog! Haha Even though Nathan has gone back home and will be starting on a new adventure of his own I want to share one last story the two of us had. Lets call it the "Nathan's Last Days" story. It was the last weekend Nathan and I would be together here in Switzerland, so we decided to play a little basketball to finish this trip off. I want to say it was a nice clean game of ball but it wasn't, maybe "Prison Rules" is called prison rules for a reason. Needless to say someone got hurt, and it was Nathan. After trying to dunk on his bigger brother he went down hard and may have cried a little. Twisting his ankle really bad it started to grow. After giving the massive ankle a day to see if the swelling would subside we decide to use that BCAA travelers insurance. So we went to the Hospital on monday at around 2:30 in the afternoon, thinking it would only take a few hours because the Swiss are so efficient. We where mistaken, 9 or so hours later we finally where hobbling back to the car with Nathan and his possible broken ankle in a cast. Still needing to pack for his 24 hour journey back to Canada he did his best. And the tuesday morning at 6:30 we where on the road one last time to the Geneva airport. It was a little difficult seeing him off but I was so excited for him to start using all the things he learned here in Burtigny. Nath if your reading this I love you buddy and Im sorry I booked us the cheapest flights which made for such a long voyage home. Get that ankle healed up proper and I miss you.

Kevin

Im sorry if this disturbs you, but I had to see it in person

Birthday in Burtigny

Representing the Great White North with Nathan's Jays Hat

Hey every one! How is the snow treating you back home. Its getting really difficult to hear all your stories about snowboarding and snowmobiling so I would appreciate it if you STOP IT. This will be the first time I will have Christmas without snow, but I think I'll manage. In different news I turned 22 this past week on Nov. 24th and lets just say I don't feel a whole lot different. It was great that Nathan made it back to Burtigny in time to have ice cream and chocolate with me and my class. Its very cool we both got to have our birthdays here and make those memories together. It was also really funny to think back to my 21st birthday and see how different this one was. (Those of you that were there can understand) But non the less it was a great day and an even greater week. I got a lot done with Nathan here and we managed to set up a facebook application called "Causes" I sent all my facebook friends an invitation so if you get a chance to check it out its really well done with some videos and great information. Message me if you never received an invitation online.

Our Photographer Cliff Thought these Would Bring some Unity to the Group; 

 Visa Photo Mergers, Tanja/Kevin

Haha and yes I am going to talk about Africa again. Its been a ton of work planning this trip and I have something I really want to share with you. We are going to the Smithers Uganda Orphanage in February!! Very excited. As a continent Africa has been given more money in aid then any other on earth. With this money you would think the standard of living and effects of disease would be subsiding, but the true and unpleasant answer is Africa is poorer now then it was 50 years ago. This is the tragic reality of our world today. A solution to this problem that I agree with is that we need to approach these poor and desperate countries not with our check books but with our hearts. We need to teach and train the people of Africa to run their governments and schools with integrity and accountability. Demonstrate compassion and mercy to their sick and poor by helping them in the most practical ways; teaching them to be healthy and how to be self sustainable with the resources around them. To truly make a difference we need to actually go and serve them, I am asking for your support in my decision to go into these hurt and suffering counties where people are living on less then it costs to buy a cup of coffee a day at Tim Hortons.

Svenja/Jose

I will need to raise $4000 in support by January 2010. This financial support will fund everything from my flights, visa and vaccinations to building and medical supplies for the people and orphans at Smithers Uganda. I especially ask if you would include my trip in your daily prayers, there are so many areas that need prayer and guidance. Being united with you back home through prayer will bring great encouragement to me in the missions field. I will consistently update prayer concerns on my blog. Another big help to me is that you tell others about what I am doing overseas and spread awareness for need in these countries. If you would like to give financially you may send a check to my mother at 7996 Yellich Rd Smithers B.C. V0J 2N2. Or you may simple click on the “Donate” button on the top of this page. (It uses Paypal to give securely by Credit card or bank account directly to m cause) If you would like to commit to praying for me through out this trip or have any questions or comments please feel free to email me at kevinhuisman@live.ca Thank you very much for reading this blog and I hope to hear from you soon.

David/Deborah (These are all but one of my Classmates, Benjamin)

Nathan's Rome Excursion

Hello, It's time for the younger brother to step back into the spotlight on the blog. As Kevin mentioned earlier I took off last Sunday for Italy. And the plan was for me to fly back into Geneva tomorrow night, but sometimes things don't go as planned. Heres why.

A self-portrait taken inside the Colosseum in Rome.

My planned touched down in Rome on Sunday evening, I took the 45 min train to the central station where I was supposed to meet up with my high school buddies. Luckily I found them in the station fairly fast which was awesome 'cause I may have been there for hours looking for them in that massive place. I was stoked to hear that they were able to get us a sick hotel, not hostel, for only 19 euro a person, with breakfast. That just made my day so much better. So Monday morning we went out and got ourselves open bus, hop-on-hop-off passes. We used these to transport ourselves from site to site and see which ones we were really interested in seeing. Over those two days we saw a few of the big names in Rome tourist attractions: Colosseum, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Roman Forum. The weather required us to wear shorts and t-shirts, but I wasn't going to complain (*note the sarcasm). So those sites filled up our first 2 days. We then set aside a few days for the Vatican, because it's so huge we knew that it would require 2 full days of touring. One day we set aside for mass and St. Peter's Basilica, it was a really good day we were lucky enough to see the Pope, but you have to reserve tickets, for free of course. Also we used our awesome tourist skills to get a free tour of St. Peter's Basilica. We had the best free tour ever, the leader was from American and was studying in the Vatican for 2 years. His knowledge of religious and Vatican history blew us all away it made the experience that much better. It was pretty awesome experience and a highlight of my trip for sure and now I can watch The DaVinci Code and Angels & Demons (both very interesting films by the way) and say I've been there. The next day in the Vatican was spent at the museum and The Sistine Chapel. Not as exciting as the previous day but interesting none-the-less. By this time, the guys wanted see more Italy and put their Euro Rail's to work before they expired, but I had a flight out like a week later. So I was in a dilemma, stay in Rome alone for a week, or ditch my flight and travel Italy, I'll let you guess what I did.

A statue at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, an incredible tomb/monument, located downtown Rome.

Pisa was the first stop on the list, we got there and hit up the leaning tower. I think you could see that town and the sites in an afternoon. So we left the next day and got up to Venice (The Romance City), totally not the place for 6 dudes to hang out and expect to have a good time. So many couples and romantic little things to get for your hubby. The entire city is like a maze, with canals and boats everywhere it's so easy to get lost, which we did, multiple times. But then on Sunday, 3 were itching to go up to Germany to visit our friend and use up their Euro Rail before they expire on Friday. So they had to get on that, and then the other 2 were planning to go over to Spain/Portugal for the remainder of their trip. So there I was again, in another dilemma. Go back to Rome by train, stay for 4 nights and fly back. Or train it to Geneva and stay at the school for cheap. So again, I did the later. So on Monday morning we split up and all went our separate ways, I took the train to Geneva where Kevin picked me up and I came back to the school, were I am currently residing.

Went wondering at night and came across this fountain in this square. This is where they were having the Italian premier of "New Moon" for all you Twilight fanboys (and girls).

I had a great time in Rome, as well as the Vatican. Both are highlights of my trip, but it was unfortunate that it didn't last as long as scheduled. But it's good to be back at school and just getting geared up to go home. I have been keeping slightly busy with some projects for Kevin and helping out a guy in my SDC class. That's why you may have noticed the blog acting strange over the past few days. I made some small changes and people are now able to make donations to Kevin for his missions. It looks like that is all for now; I can't believe this trip is almost over, but I have enjoyed this experience and won't forget it. I fly back to Vancouver on Tuesday and will stay there for a few days before returning home. Ciao for now.

The Ancient Roman Forum, you can see the Colosseum in the background if you squint just right.

PS. I took a ton of photos down there and am using this time at school to edit some, so keep your eye on my Flickr. Thanks

November 22nd Update

Well looks like I have sometime on this sunday night to update you guys on the past week and weekend. Although Nathan's only been gone a week I am starting to miss the big guy and am excited for him to come back so we can spend a little more quality bro time together before he heads home for good. It will be interesting to hear how his last week of travel went and I will make sure he updates you on it. As for my life this week it was a good mix of school and exploring. Our great speaker this week Ryan really challenged and encouraged us to think with a biblical world view on 8 different domains; Economics, Government, Education, Arts & Entertainment, Communication, Family, Science & Technology, and Religious Instruction. It is amazing to see how much God has to say in the Bible about all these practical areas of our life, and how much we can influence the world around us if we don't live a dualistic lifestyle. A highly recommended book on this topic is The Old Testament Template by Landa Cope.

Nathan taking on the Ex-Swiss Military Claude-Eric

More on the exploring side of life there was definitely a lot of firsts on Saturday. As I left Burtigny to see the City of Lausanne with two Chinese classmates and one Swiss local we stopped at the first ever YWAM base founded by Lauren Cunningham in 1969. After that stop we played tourist and saw the very impressive Cathedral Notre Dame of Lausanne, which was a big part of the Protestant Reformation. Also directly beside the Church was a the very first Protestant Bible School. So after getting all filled up with knowledge we sat down at a cafe to have Hot Chocolate Pudding, not kidding it was actually just warm runny chocolate in a cup. I really don't think this Swiss lifestyle is setting me up for an easy transition to Africa. 

Learning a New Style of Climbing, Bouldering

Well thats all thats really been happening around here, It's been busy but good planning for Africa, trying to learn as much as I can, and exploring the countryside a little. I also am putting together a large book list for Rwanda as I think they may be some long trips and waiting around for buses that could use a good book. So please any recommendation would be great.(you can email them to kevinhuisman@live.ca) Also if you would like to see Nathan's photos the link is HERE. The photo below is from a few weeks ago but thought it was worth sharing. It is a performance at the local Swiss night where we ate fondue and did a trivia game about you guessed it, Switzerland. One more thing I forgot to mention in the last few posts is that No Shave November aka Novembeard aka Movember is still underway, photos may or may not appear in the next update. Stay tuned.  

This Traditional Performer is my Roommate Jose

Bern or Bust

Its been a crazy week here in Burtigny. Lots of things going on, people coming and going, vaccinations, road trips, the works. Well to start of from where we left off begins with Nathan finishing his school and packing up to leave. On Saturday morning Nathan and I took off driving to the Geneva airport in this beautiful European sports car located below. After a somewhat heart felt good bye I sent him off to Rome with some good advice from the older brother who has had a few adventures of his own in that city. So with Nathan gone the Canadian population fell 50 % in 1 day here at the base.

Our private chauffeur, Pappy.

So being just the only Canadian around I figured I needed to add some excitement in my life. And what could be more exciting then answering the phone and finding out you need to drive to Bern because your passport application got denied. Yes denied, its hurt a little hearing that, but its a good thing all the girls turning me down in high school had me mentally prepared for this day. So with flying to Rwanda happening in 30 days I decide to just jump in a car (the 3 tone one above) and drive 1 and a half hours to bern. A Solo Swiss Road Trip. After getting lost downtown in a German speaking city I met a pretty Swiss girl that had enough english to get me where I needed to go. Dealing with the embassy was not as pleasant as I was hoping. I thought they would have the Canucks game on and maybe have a moose head on the wall... but no, nothing truly great white north.

Im not sure if we are fighting or flexing Debbie?

So with that little adventure done and over with there was just one things left to do. Get 6 vaccinations for Africa. Its seems like a lot but I am not taking any chances with malaria or yellow fever or any kind of life threatening diseases over there. Although I have not even left safe and sound Switzerland I have already realized how fortunate I am to be able to get medicine that can and will save my life.

Pictur-esque photo of the big man.

So although its been a busy and stressful week not a lot of new information has come in about our trip. This weeks speak who's name is Ryan Wiens has a ton of great things to say about the topic of world views. He has taught on a lot of stuff that was said by Mr. Steenhof but with some great experiences by living in China. The rest of the week is scheduled to be productive but there may be time to get another update soon. As always I love the comments and question so please feel free to get involved and send me an email, kevinhuisman@live.ca. Thanks again and have a great day!

Kevin

Rwanda for Christ

Well I think its about time we talk about Africa. Its been a crazy journey so far but I don't think the real adventure has even begun. The Republic of Rwanda is a small country in central Africa that is bordered by 4 much larger countries. Called the "Land of a Thousand Hills" Rwanda is a fertile and hilly country with a lot of international attention. In 1994 just under 1 million people were killed by there countrymen in 100 days. This was a tragic and devastating time for the people of Rwanda but the country has been heading forward and not looking back. A 4 year trade agreement between Rwanda and 3 leading countries will bring in 30 million dollars into the countries economy. This is huge for Rwandans because 3 out of every 4 people live below the poverty line of 1.25 US a day. You can't even get a large coffee at Tim Horton's for that amount. Yes, I admit I stole most of that paragraph off of Wikipedia but its very informative website alright!

Flag of Rwanda

Now that you know a little more about where I will be going on my missions trip, I want to tell you what opportunities for ministry and aid are available in Rwanda. For the majority of my 3 months overseas trip our team will being staying in the capital, Kigali and working with street children and orphans. There is also church run hospital and house building projects that need attention. I cannot wait to help the people there and really learn from them. To think of how much we have and still complain is amazing. I know this experience will be life changing and am counting down the days until we leave. Although most of our focus will be on Rwanda and its people, Uganda and Tazinia, both neighboring countries with there own story of disease and starvation are good possibilities to visit. The people of Smithers, B.C. have started a orphanage in Uganda that is in need of a fence being built. There are plenty more needs in Tazinia as well. Our team (a team photo is coming) of 7 has been praying God give us some direction into where and how we are to use are time and money.

Map of Africa

As for life on the YWAM base in Switzerland we are spending the next week studying world views and cross culture living with a speaker coming all the way from China named Ryan Weins. It should be a good week to really think about how we need to behave and act in a country so unlike our own. This weekend most of the class is going to France for an overnight trip while I am staying behind to take Nathan to the airport Sunday afternoon.

A very alarming film about Rwanda during the genocide is Hotel Rwanda and a interesting book written by a Canadian General is Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda.

Life in Burtigny

Welcome to Youth With a Mission Burtigny! (aka the nunnery)

Hello everybody welcome to my school. This is a photo of the front of the base with my back facing towards Geneva, Switzerland. To give you a more formal understanding on Kevin's life in the missionary community I will answer the What, When, Where, Why, and How questions of my adventure.

Starting off with Where? Well my official address is YWAM, 1268 Burtigny, Switzerland. It is a small farming village located 30 minutes north of Lake Geneva and Italy. The base that I am staying at for the training part of my trip is an old orphanage/farm that was donated to YWAM over 30 years ago. The base's website is www.ywamburtigny.com if you would like more information.

Next we have the When? It's been almost 3 months since Nathan and I left Smithers to travel the world. He is flying back to Canada on Dec. 1st but not until he explores one more country in Europe. I won't tell you which country it is so his photos will be a little more of a surprise. On the other hand, as of Dec. 16th I will be headed toward the opposite side of the world, all the way to the capital of Rwanda, Kigali.

The What? This question is a little complicated, but please let me explain. At this very moment I am completing a missionary training school within YWAM call a DTS. (discipleship training school) This DTS is designed to train young adults in the area of ministry with a large focus on personal growth. Every week we have a guest speaker who teaches on a specific topic. The topic vary from relationships & communications to cross culture living & evangelizing. After this lecture phase our class will head into both Jordan and Rwanda as two teams to live out what we have learned.

My Great Leaders! One couple is Dutch and the other American.

Why, you may ask am I doing all of this? This is not a simple answer either. One reason I traveled half way around the world to learn about ministry is because I love to travel. YWAM has bases all over the world and even Canada. But I chose Switzerland because I love to meet new people from different countries and learn new things. Adventure is part of my nature and getting out of my comfort zone is very important to me. Lastly and most importantly, I really felt a call by God about a year ago to go to Africa and be a part of the solution there. I believe just experiencing the pain and hope of the people will deeply impact my life.

The room I share with 2 Swiss and a Chinese roommate.

How am I here? I owe most of the impact of my decision to do a DTS to my close friends that have already done the school in other countries. (you know who you are) But also from my family, who has supported my decision since I told them 6 months ago. Another source of inspiration was growing up in Smithers of who's occupants have support a orphanage in Uganda, and praying for Rwanda every night before dinner in 1994 when the genocide was taking place there. Its amazing how everything has come together and really lead up to this moment. I am very thankful for all of that. Well that just about sums up my life at the moment, but as most of you know it won't stay that way for long, so stay tuned.

-Kevin

The DTS classroom, where all that learning gets done.

Don't Think I Didn't Care!

Photo of my Bilingual Class.

Hello Everybody!

I figured it was about time the older brother spend a little time doing his part on this blog. Like the title says, don't think I didn't care, because I did spent a lot time looking over Nathan's shoulder making sure he was keeping you guys posted. Over here in Burtigny Switzerland I just finished my 6th week of lectures in my Discipleship Training School. We had two speakers this week talking about finances. It was a great week that ended with a report due on a book the founder of YWAM Lauren Cunningham wrote. With the lecture phase halfway through we were told last week the locations of the outreach. Jordan and Rwanda where the two countries the school picked based on many reasons. I was blessed with being in the Rwanda group, Africa was something that was placed on my heart almost a year ago so I am very excited to go. Also because french is a official language of the country, and I speak the least french amongst my peers. That will really force me into learning what I resisted so well with Mrs. Betty Bandstra. In the next couple of weeks we will determine what kind of ministries we will help with. I am looking forward to helping at some orphanages and maybe do some medical work. We are also looking into some neighbouring countries to do some work in as well. So if you know any places that need some help or some people already placed in neighbouring countries please e-mail me.

The Volleyball Tournament, I'll let you guess which Brothers Team Won?

The school has been going really well and I am definitely learning a lot of important stuff I wouldn't have learned in another year of paramedical studies. Tomorrow we are having an off campus day in Lausanne to hear a special speaker talk about the difficulties of ministering to todays society. (Tony Anthony) It should be really informative and if not it will be nice to get out of the village and spend some time in the city. With the weather getting a bit more wet it can get a little slow around here. I think the rock climbing and volleyball season is over and the basketball court is getting rained out more and more days. But I mean it is Switzerland and it has to snow sometime so I guess I can wait a little longer for my favorite season. I hope to keep this blog updated on the progress towards my outreach and beyond so keep coming back for more. My email address is kevinhuisman@live.ca. Thanks for reading and enjoy the photos.

Rock climbing with the Americans.

Enjoying a Swiss Cheese Fondue Dinner.

Nathan with his SDC teacher, Cliff as well as his South African buddy, Pappy Orion in Nyon.

Well Over Halfway. 64% to Be Exact.

Well. Its official. Im over the halfway point of this trip. 64% of the way to be exact, since I left Smithers. We are starting web week in class, Kevin is learning about relationship in his DTS. Things are simple and repetitious. I have to help Kevin make a presentation for his DTS class about Canada, so we can give them a good representation of what we Crazy Canucks are all about. Since we've left Canada we've been pretty much been like tourism promoters, talking up the great country of ours. And besides that, there has not been much happening beside people singing on Skype right next to me. Not going to mention any names. And we've also starting to play bball. A lot of bball. So I'm gettin stoked for the Alumni games in Smithers when I get back. Also I am starting to plan my 2 weeks before I fly back as well as what to do in Van before I go home. So if you are in VanCity and wanna hang out, you know where to find me.

I am putting all of my foto's on Flickr. Just because of the quality and community on there. So if you want to see some stuff check it out.

As well as my teacher, Cliff from New Jersey, has a great photostream his stuff is here. It really shows what kind of town we live in.

Click on the links and check us out.

Chow for Now.

Nothing new on the Home Front

Okay. Been a while, but not much has happened. School weekdays are generally pretty busy, which is good. Lots of mixed events to feed my ADHD. haha. Weekends can get boring if you dont find stuff to entertain but its okay. The course is going pretty good, sometimes I dont learn as much as I want to and it can get frustrating, but other than that its good. I've made a few really good friends here, which has been nice to find people I can relate too and we share common interests in design. But I've been trying to have a sit down with each guest teacher (at lunch) and really pick their brains about the freelance business and the career itself. That is something I enjoy almost more than learning new tools in the software.

I had my birthday on Monday this past week. Finally 18 now, WOOO. When I get home I'm joining the army...just kidding mom! The day was very chill, same thing as any other week, just a few of the guys went to the only restaurant/pub and had a few birthday brews (root beer for me mom!) and it eventually turned into an arm-wrestling competition. Then a movie before bed and that was it. No crazy "gnar-b-q- and jib jam" like when Kevin has a birthday party, but mine was just right.

I feel like I am really getting into a rhythm here, which makes time fly of course. I've starting thinking and planning my last two weeks in Europe before I fly home. I wanna meet up with some of my buddies who I grad'ed with who are doing their own EuroTrip. Possibly hit up Italy, Greece or Spain. Who knows, still undecided. Then I fly into VanCity on December 1st. Still looking for a way to get home from there, anyone know of a ride heading north let me know. And I think that basically covers everything, chow for now.

As usual, my Flickr is getting some attention too, so check that out.

School: Week 1

So you know that we arrived at school last Monday, and you know roughly where we are in the world. So what else is there to say? I guess I'll have to dig deep. Classes officially started on Wednesday, our first unit or program was Illustrator. I don't really wanna bore you with the details, but it was only a short 3 day course with a guest speaker from the U.K. He was a good instructor and although a lot of the course was repetition for me I still learned a thing or 2. The weekend brought some boredom, although the past week was busy there wasn't much to do on the weekend. The town is small and people usually go to the nearest village during Sat, but I stayed at base because I had to do my work duties. Oh ya, we all are required to have work duties while we are here, I got stuck with lawn care and Kevin's got some slack cleaning job or something, I dunno haha. But on the weekends you have free except every once in a while when you have to do it again. But it is nice to get outside and enjoy this sunshine streak that we've been having. It has been really clear and sunny for the past well... since we got here. Its like June weather back home, here in October! You really start to get into a daily routine with classes and work duties and meals. So the days sort of have been flying by. One thing that I will comment on though is the amount of chocolate we've been eating since arriving in Switzerland. And most of it has been in the form of Nutella, or the equivalent over here. Like minimum of 2 times a day, and then they have this cereal with chocolate chunks in it and to top it off, hot chocolate mix right by the microwave so anytime I'm feeling like a lil Canadian coco I grab a cup. I haven't felt any side effects yet so I have no intentions to stop anytime soon. But anyways; that about sums up week one. I'm getting to know a lot of the guys here better, the are pretty nice out going guys which is never a bad thing.

Oh a side note, I bought myself a pro account on Flickr for my bday. So I am planning on uploading everything and anything up to that site. Link to my photostream here I'll try my best to keep it updated. Stay tuned!

Heres my first project for the week, it was supposed to be an identity project.

Zug & YWAM School

After our stay with Harrer's in Bad Tolz, Kevin and I moved onto another friends place. Both Carole & Conny Bo. are from Switzerland, they came over to Canada last year as exchange students, both Kevin and I met 'em and we all had to hang out again. Carole came to Zug from Basel the same day as we did so we could all hang out for the weekend. It was a really nice time together. They were great hosts, and we were able to relax and have a really good time before our school started. They introduced us to a ton of their friends, so it made things all the much better. We went to the toboggan place just outside Lucerne, and know we can check that off the "been there, done that" list. Haha, anyways it was probably the best way to end our trip, per say. Monday morning we boarded the train to our school just outside of Geneva. The University of Nations (UoN) is part of YWAM and teach courses mainly surrounding Discipleship Training (DTS) which is what Kevin is taking for 6 months. The building is in an old orphanage which was given to the school about 30 years ago located in a very small town, Burtigny (I'm talking one store with a main road under 100 meters small.) We arrived in time for lunch and met a lot of the students and staff, the school really is an international school. There are kids here from Nigeria, Chile, Korea, and the Congo. It is really neat meeting all these people and hearing so many different languages. We start class officially tomorrow and I'm very excited. The course I'm taking is a Design and Communication course for 6 weeks. Basically spend a lot of time with software but also design foundation and what not. I am really excited to see if this would be a possible career choice. And the staff here really seem like they know some stuff, I was just talking to the guest teacher for this week from England and it's really nice hearing about their design background and the things that they did to get to the point where they're at. I never really hear any of these kinds of things or meet these types of people back home. So this is a really nice change. But its time for me to get of this Mac, the blog will probably be slow seeing as the excitement may die down. Ill see what I can do to keep everyone updated though. Chow for now.

Munich & Oktoberfest

Its been a few days so I shall try my best to fill you in on the past week of activities. We left Kiel on Tuesday morning and were bound for Munich (Munchen). We were able to get train tickets the night before for a steal of a deal, only 21 euros per person but... it was a 15.5 hr train ride with 7 change overs along the way. Not a fun way to spend a day, but we saved a tonne of coin. We made it to Munich later that day, actually the next day at 1230 pm. There Claudia & Henier Harrer were waiting for us at the train station in Bad Tolz. It was very nice to see them again and we were very happy when we found out that we could sleep in some real beds for the next few days. We had a solid nights rest and when we woke up we headed to Munich to a exhibit that was being held in town. It was based on media and photography called something along the lines of "Images that Lie." It soul purpose was to warn or inform viewers of the way that media can manipulate and change the way that we see a photo. Making something that looks innocent and caring into something that appears to be evil and threatening. It was interesting for both Kevin and I to say and we enjoyed it. Annika took us touring around the city, which was busy due to an election speech giving by a candidate for the upcoming elections. We headed home for some super and relaxation. On Thursday we met up with Johanna and Lisa, her friend. they took us, along with Annika and Andy to Munich for Oktoberfest. Me and Kev were a lil bummed when we found out that we couldn't get ahold of the traditional clothing, but were stoked anyways. We headed to the big tent first, in hopes of being able to get in due to the fact that it was before the rush. Luckily we were and had a fun time inside seeing all the action and events inside, so many people were in such a big tent, it was really exciting and fun to say the least. So a ton of sites and did a lot of very cool and traditional things, it was a good time for sure. And now I can say that I have been there and done that.

Oslo to Gothenburg to Kiel

Spending to much time on the road means this is gunna happen at least once, ROCKOUT ROADTRIP PHOTOSHOOT!

It's been a few days since this has been updated. Ill try to fill in as many details as I can remember. We spent a day in Gothenburg where we planned to go to the oldest amusement park in Europe there, but it was closed for the day. So we had to find some other touristy things to do. Jannik wanted to visit this Maritimes Museum, which I thought wouldn't be that exciting, but we went. I was pleasantly surprised there, they had a legit Swedish Destroyer and Submarine. WE toured both and it was super cool seeing one in real life, beats seeing them on TV by a mile. After we left Gothenburg we went up to Oslo, Norway. Tried to get into the city early to see some sites but that really didn't work out for us. We were able to find a campsite and then had to haul to get to this 630 hockey game in a nearby town. We watched Oslo's team, Valerenga take on Lorenskog (it would be the equivalent of Smithers playing Houston). The game was pretty good, it was really good to watch some hockey again. We were cheering for the Oslo team cause we read that there were some Canadians playing for them, so we got a lot of glares from the people around us when they scored. But they ended up losing and we bailed early pretending to be really upset that they lost. Spent the night and had to head back in the morning, kinda wished we could spend a few more days there in Oslo. It was a nice port city, very scenic and all that jazz. But then we made it back to Gothenburg on Friday night and booked us a hostel, for the first time in a week we weren't all sandwiched in a 2 man tent with no mattresses. Went out and hit the town that night, went to the amusement park we weren't able to go to before and hit all the rides, it was a good time. Bunch of good roller coasters there that really scared Jannik, haha, okay maybe just one but we all had a blast. Then we went out to hit the town but it turned out to be a disappointment and I ended up in Subway watching some recorded 2005 playoff hockey. Haha, it made my night though. The next day we had a few hours to kill before our ferry left to take us back to Kiel so we went to this Universeum. Like science world meets a zoo. I think Kevin and Jannik had WAY to much fun there. Anyways, we jumped on our 5 o'clock ferry and realized we had to be the youngest people on that entire ferry. But we made the best of it I guess, haha old boogie dancing was the only event open so we had some fun. Arrived back in Kiel at 9 am and then headed over to Jannik's pad for some much needed rest. It was good to just hang out without having to stress about finding campsites and cooking and stuff. But now we are getting ready to head out again, fun trip overall.

Sweden Baby, Sweden

First things first, you go to Sweden, you stop at IKEA. It's mandatory, haha. We got a few funny looks but we would have gotten more if the store wasn't under construction.

Okay, so we left Copenhagen on Monday afternoon and headed towards Sweden. It was only a 30 min drive after taking the 11km bridge/tunnel, which was nice. The first city was Malmo which is in the south, we found some information and then heading up north a ways to find out campsite. We really lucked out cause the site that we found must have just shut down for the season and there were only a handful of campers there. We found this killer spot by the beach on the ocean and when we arrived the sun was just setting and I was able to snap off some killer photos of it. I'll upload them later when I get a chance of editing them properly. Jannik made friends with this German fellow and his gf who where on a biking vacation, they came over to our site for some socializing. It was a really good start to the Swedish leg of the trip. Then yesterday we had to put in a few km if we wanted to reach Gotenburg today, so we made it aways and then set up camp. But this wasn't as easy as we hoped, we drove around looking at so many sites that were closed and had no camping signs posted, it got super frustrating and we had to settle for this place across the street from a campsite. It wasn't to bad and we were able to make the best of it, nothing really exciting happening.

Boredom at Night + Fancy Camera and iPod = A pretty cool picture!