So this past week I had almost no contact with the outside world.
My job of working with Group Mission Trips as a red shirt summer staff has taken me many cool places; Colorado, Rocky Mountain National Park, a cross country journey across 9 states, the arch in St. Louis, the Carolinas, and even Niagara Falls yesterday, but it has also taken me places that are just a blip on the map. Last week my crew and I were running a camp in a small town of Seth, West Virginia, about an hour west of the captial of Charleston. We were deep in the Appalachian Mountains where we soon found out that there was absolutely no cell service or internet, all we had was one landline that worked part of the time and spotty wifi for our email for work that would kick us off every 20 minutes. Now you're probably thinking, how did I ever survive without my social media, without my texting, without calling anyone.....well I did, and this isn't the first time I have lived in isolation from the world. I actually survived for longer this summer without everything, when I was in Alaska for two weeks. It may be hard, but I recommend it to everyone to try!
Whether we know it or not, we are all connected by our phones or by technology in general; we talk with everyone instantly through email, phone call, or texting, we can share our photos of our experiences in a blink of an eye with Facebook and Instagram, and we can look up absolutely anything that we want to with easy access to the internet. So how is it that if we are all so connected with the use of the internet, that we aren't actually connected at all? I've seen people be on their phones while their friends are sitting right next to them, and instead of holding a conversation with each other, they are playing a game, checking facebook, or texting someone who isn't even there. We are all guilty , my self included, or turning to our phone or plugging into our music when the silence makes us feel awkward, or makes us feel like we need to be doing something. We need to constantly be doing something, but not always the right thing.
When I was in Alaska for two weeks, Sean, one of the FOCUS missionaries on the trip said this, "We are afraid of silence, but why? We are afraid of silence because we are afraid of what we are going to hear" God didn't always speak in the big events in life, 1 Kings 19:11-12 where God tells Elijah to go and stand on the mountain and the Lord will pass by.
"There was a strong and violent wind rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the Lord--but the Lord was not in the wind, after the wind an earthquake---but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake, fire--but the Lord was not in the fire, after the fire, a light silent sound. When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in the cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of a cave"
We need silence in our lives, and the best way to start is by not being surrounded by technology, not being surrounded by our phones and by social media, and by texting people all the time. While it isn't all bad, it is good to get away, and when we get away, we may find ourselves in some of the coolest places, or meet some of the coolest people.
In Alaska I was incredibly blessed to be surrounded by the locals and to have them show our group their land, their state. While we were there for them, to bring love, joy, and God into their lives, they were there for us. They shared their food with us; fish, claims, seaweed, and they shared their land with us; hiking, fishing, canoeing, boating, surfing, and exploring. We shared our lives with each other, fully submerging into the culture of the true native Alaskan and native Klinght people.
In West Virginia I was able to not only serve the community but also meet and talk with many of my staff and the campers as well. I met a girl named Emily who went to a rival high school or mine, plays goalie in lacrosse, and is going to CNU, a rival college of mine where she will be playing lacrosse there. At the end of camp she wrote me a note which said that throughout the week she really enjoyed talking with me and although she has been on multiple camps, this is the first one where she has really connected with a staff memeber and now really wants to become a staff herself in the next year or so. I was also able to connect with one of the residents that the campers served named Kimberly. Kimberly lives with her husband in Seth and is Deaf. I found out from one of the campers that she speaks American Sign Language so I was happy that I would be able to go and visit and communicate with her. I was blessed to go on Thursday where I stood and signed with her for about an hour. I then got to see her again on Friday night at our program, where all the locals are invited to join in and celebrate what God has done througout the week in the community. I again got to talk with her and found out that her husband doesn't know ASL and there really isn't anyone else in the town who does, so she has to lip read most of the time when talking with someone, which is really hard for her. She was excited to finally be able to sign with someone for the first time in several years.
Being disconnected and living in social silence can be very rough, but pulling away and just listening to God and submerging ourselves in the surrounding culture can be a very eye opening and life changing experience. Without even knowing, we can not only have our lives influenced, but also influence lives of others around us. Silence is one of the best ways we can improve our relationship with God. It is easy when you don't have an option to be connected, but even though we can be on our phones 24/7, try going without for at least 30mins a day. Turn off your phone, turn off theTV, turn off the computer, turn off your music, and just sit in silence. Also, turn off your mind as well, don't spend the time planning out your next day, or thinking about what needs to be done around the house, or who you need to call next time your phone is on...take that time to completely clear your mind and give all that you need to do to God. You are spending time with him, he will make sure that everything that needs to be done will get done in time.
Connect with God, disconnect from the world.
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