Vander Winninghams

Back on the Horse

2010-02-05T19:16:00.003-06:00

Well, it's been so long. So many good ideas gone by and no posts, which is perhaps a small commentary on our lives since moving to Holland. We've been busy. We've been having fun. Sorry to those of you who actually read this and wondered what we've been up to.

Rather than put too much pressure on myself to write niftily, I'll just post a picture.

While it's still near Epiphany if you grant me some liturgical elasticity, here's my nativity scene that my parents help me make as a kid. The added flair is compliments of some European traditions [Southern France, Italy] in which they put townspeople surrounding the stable. We saw one at Meijer Gardens that had bakers bringing bread for Jesus, and other such things. So, I thought Alf and Homer would want to worship Jesus too.

busy - quick update

2009-07-28T20:33:00.002-05:00

Wow. We moved into Holland a month ago tomorrow. Yikes. Time has escaped us.

It's been a great month. We're loving being back in Holland. Things have gotten going pretty quickly for me at Zion. Here are a few highlights of the past month. I'll try to put pictures of Ordination and house up soon.

- 4th of July w/ Menzes at Kollen Park
- Party with my beach house boys from Hope
- Saw fellow staff member and good friend, Joseph Byrd in Room Service at
Hope Summer Repertory Theater
- Biking
- Ordination & Installation w/ many friends and family there
- Friday mornings at Donutville

On the Edge

2009-06-27T22:27:00.002-05:00

We're sort of on the edge. Tomorrow we move into Holland, Michigan, where I'll be Associate Pastor for Youth and Christian Education. Tonight we sleep at my folks in Lansing; Tomorrow we'll sleep in a parsonage. Tonight I'm my parents children, bumming food and shelter; Tomorrow I'll be a responsbile, grown-up, pastor-like person...maybe ;)

Since the last post we've had eventful times. Here's just a few notes:

- Graduated from Concordia Seminary May 22, 2009. Yay!
- Amie finished teaching at Missouri School for the Blind. Already misses her kids. They are some of the sweetest people you'll ever meet.

Vacation: 2 weeks out east visiting fam, friends, and seeing the sights

- Hiked, camped, rafted in the Smokies
- Drank Mt. Dew in Appalachia (sp?)
- Toured Monticello & Univ. Virginia. got caught in huge storm at The Rotunda.
- Waterskied w/ Uncle Jeff and cousins Adam & Ethan in Maryland
- Saw DC United practice
- Visited Independence Hall, ate Cheesesteaks, visited cousins and Steve Miller in Philly
- Was in audience at Letterman
- Caught a game at the new Yankee stadium...had to work the scalpers hard to get a deal.
- Wandered cool streets of Brooklyn

Sleep time. Big day tomorrow. Have to grow up overnight ;)

Tour de Sem

2009-05-17T23:52:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was the annual Tour de Sem, the 90-mile bicycle ride down to the original Concordia Seminary in Altenburg, Missouri.

It was a good time. My power breakfast surely gave me an unfair advantage. Custard-filled donuts pack on calories better than anything I know! The ride was quite fast as we all enjoyed a strong tailwind.

After 90 miles in the morning, I thought I'd lay rather comatose on the couch in the evening. Hardly! I went out for 11 more miles yesterday evening to make it a century ride for the day. Oddly enough, I felt pretty good for the 11-mile cool down...much better than the hills of southern Missouri around mile 80.

Then I had a pumpkin pie for dinner.

Top pic is Concordia Seminary. Bottom is the original log cabin, built in 1839, now covered by a shelter.

My Preaching Idol

2009-05-04T23:20:00.002-05:00

I thought and thought about how I could possibly follow up a post about being called into full-time ministry. You know, brilliant little thoughts. Nothing of the sort came to me. So, I give you a glimpse of my great aspirations in life: the farting preacher. You may have seen it already. He's pretty popular.

Ok, so really, he's a kook who's been investigated for bad money stuff.

Call Day - We're Going to Holland, Michigan!

2009-04-23T22:18:00.005-05:00

Five years at Concordia Seminary led to a climactic service last night in which the fine young men in my class received our Calls to serve in churches in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

I received a call to be Associate Pastor at Zion Lutheran Church in Holland, Michigan, where I will focus on areas of Youth and Discipleship/Education. Amie and I are really excited to be going back to Holland.

Michigan is a wonderful state, Holland a wonderful city, and Zion a wonderful group of godly people. We feel blessed/lucky to get to go there. Before we can go, I still have a month until graduation. So, I better keep up the (good) work, passing exams and writing papers!

Here are some pics with family who came.

the 'rents

Aunt Dee, Cousin Hannah & (husband) Dustin

Joseph Byrd - good friend and staff member at Zion

Waiting Game

2009-04-19T14:03:00.002-05:00

Once again, all my brilliant ideas for fun posts just go to the wayside amidst my busyness and/or laziness.

But we do have exciting news! Well, not yet, exactly. On Wednesday, I will officially be called to a church to serve as a pastor. So, the exciting news up to this point is that I have successfully completed all the requirements to be a pastor in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. I "passed" the certification interview with 2 faculty members, and then was recently approved by the entire faculty. It's not as glamorous as it sounds. I think they just go around the table, looking at our pictures in the directory, and give a thumbs up or down. I got a thumbs up, either do to my amazingly good looks or my theological astuteness. Either way, I'll take it!

Until Wednesday, we play the little waiting game. The "higher ups" in the church body that do the actual assigning [by the direction of the Holy Spirit] met this weekend to sort it all out. So, Amie and I just do what we've been doing for a while: pray, trust, pray more, trust more, wait. Wednesday at 7pm CST is the service at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri. Feel free to watch on the internet. My folks are coming down. It'll be an exciting day. We just have to play the waiting game until then.

2009-03-17T21:50:00.003-05:00

Apparently, St. Louis has the 5th-ranked St. Patrick's Day celebrations in the nation, behind Chicago, Boston, DC, and New York. So, today I decided to go down to Dogtown to check out the parade and festivities. It's just over a mile from the dungeon, but I managed to do an "endo" on the bike, paying more attention to people-watching than the curb/pothole combination that did me in. Just a scrape and a bit embarrassing.

I sort of felt lame, walking around by myself, but I couldn't get any friends to come along. The people watching was entertaining, but I came away with more questions than I went with. I wonder why it is that people take such a liking to the day? It's like every one wanted to be Irish for the day. Irish music was blaring. People were wearing, draping, and waving Irish flags all over. It seems that people want to connect themselves to something beyond American, beyond a few hundred years of tradition, and latch onto something deeper. Perhaps this says something profound about our culture that the church needs to realize, namely, that people are looking for roots, for meaning, for history, for something to live their life by.

Another thought I had was that maybe St. Patty's Day is like a wedding. Many people get married at a church because it seems "right." They have a pastor do the obligatory message and marry them, but they really don't care, because they just want the pomp and flair of the day without the greater significance of being married before God?

Many folk I saw enjoying beer after beer most likely do not know the story of St. Patrick, other than he chased away some snakes. Today is the church's day of celebration for the man who boldly shared the message of Jesus with Ireland, and we honor him by getting piss-drunk and then doing who knows what other stupid things? Just seems a bit odd.

St. Patrick was an outstanding person of faith boldness, and his name has always been unique to me, being that my brother's name is Patrick (without a "St." in front of it).

Here is St. Patrick's famous prayer:

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.

Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, and in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

Fish in my Orange Juice?!?

2009-02-08T20:56:00.002-06:00

So, there's fish in my orange juice. That's just plain weird. We got a carton of OJ - free - from the Seminary Food Bank. It was only slightly past the "best used by" date. It claims to be high in Omega 3's. Investigative Amie curiously looks at the ingredient list and finds the source of those Omega 3's: Fish Oil. Not that I can taste it but it just seems weird. I mean, the day I have an Orange-Fish Smoothie...

Homage to Detroit

2009-01-08T18:34:00.005-06:00

Although I am not technically from Detroit, I’m proud of it. It’s dawned on me in recent years that even though I grew up in the metro area, I’ve never really spent much time downtown. Our family would go to a Tigers game about once a year. Sometimes field trips to some Disney movie on ice took us to Cobo Center or somewhere else downtown, but so much has changed and I’ve been so far away for so long, so it seemed like the right time to get reacquainted with “home.”

Over Christmas break, Chris Jung and I had a good time being tourists in our own city. Here are some pics for your enjoyment. I was surprised and yet not surprised by downtown. There were some nice buildings, new construction, and things that looked promising, but then there were still drug dealers [we saw an exchange right downtown] and urban decay. I love that city and hope it can get itself back on track.

Renaissance Center [Ren Cen]...GM World Headquarters. For all their troubles, you'd never know it by the inside of that place.

My alias is Michelle...Joe Louis never knew what he started.

Greektown. Despite all the hype, it's more like Greekblock, but it's still nice. The Astoria Bakery surely made me lust after food. Then I just walked down to Old St. Mary's to confess my sin.

Dtown from Hart Plaza.

Let's be honest. The city still has a ways to go.

Happy Crappy Happy New Year

2009-01-02T14:40:00.002-06:00

I like New Year's. Strangely, it's one of the holidays I like a lot more than others. I like celebrating fresh starts, new beginnings, a chance to reflect on your life as it is, and where you'd like it to go. Each day God gives us a fresh start through Jesus, so I enjoy the time when everyone starts to think about the fresh starts they would like in life. Unfortunately, this time, I didn't do much reflecting.

I was sick. Perhaps the Plaka Cafe in Greektown, Detroit, did me in. Or, the flu. I can't decide, but I had a fever, headache, and "intestinal distress" for a few days. I didn't even make it until midnight. Loser.

Nah, I don't really feel bad. I just felt crummy for a little while, and now, much better. We still had a great time with my mom's side of the family. Time with the Meyer's is always filled with good stories and great meals.

Tomorrow, we head back to St. Louis to get back to the real world of work & school. We enjoyed this Christmas break especially, knowing that it will be the last time when I have 2 weeks off for Christmas. We spent a lot of time with family, mine and Amie's, and enjoyed it all.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T21:32:00.004-06:00

Wow, once again I nearly let months go by between posts. Trust me, I had brilliant thoughts since my last one, and I even had brilliant ways to communicate those thoughts. Mostly I'm just impatient with the time it takes to put together a post worth reading. But the heavy hitters since the last one:

- Fall Quarter at the Sem ended.

- Visited Andrew Lick in Chicago for a few days...his roomie Jeff Snyder was out of commission in Dtown w/his face surgery. I think it was so he can breathe or something.

- Thanksgiving w/ family in Indy and Michigan.

- My birthday. I'm 27 and awesome as ever.

- Weekend in Kansas City w/ Michael Clown Brown. Saw his "promised land." Aaron Laatch came down from Cheeseland. Great time. Also saw Brad & Elizabeth Carter, friends from our Echo Grove Camp days.

- White-knuckle drive from St. Louis to Indy on Tuesday, Dec. 23rd. Rain + Sleet + Ice = 4 hr
trip becomes 10 hr trip w/ Ryan and Amie doing all we can to say kind things to each other as
we're both understandably tired and frustrated at 2am still on the road.

Christmas Eve and today we're at my folks in Haslett, MI. Yesterday and today worshipped. This afternoon Dad, Amie, and I went X-country skiing nearby.

Hope you have a blessed Christmas.

Free Alert!!!

2008-11-02T20:52:00.003-06:00

Life's been busy, but how can you not report F-R-E-E?!?!?

Many of you might know this already, but if you vote on Election Day you are entitled to:

(1) A cup of freshly brewed coffee at Starbucks

(2) A festive election donut at Krispy Kreme

(3) A scoop of ice cream at Ben & Jerry's between 5pm and 8pm

So, go get free stuff, uhh, I mean, go vote.

Chicago Marathon!!! ...exhausted yet satisfied

2008-10-12T23:36:00.007-05:00

You could say I sorta looked like that at the finish line today...except for...well...anyways.

Today I ran the Chicago Marathon. That's exciting. It was a great run through 29 neighborhoods all around the city. It was, though, hot! It was not quite as scorching as last year's, but still I read on one news site that it was 84 degrees by 11am. No wonder I was sweating and dumping cold water on my head.

The bottom line for my race is: I ran smart, didn't take any chances, and finally broke the 4 hr mark, finishing at 3:57:10. If that's all you cared about, ok, but below I'll tell you how I got there.

Yesterday.

Yesterday I'd like to forget...at least part of. Before a marathon you need lots of rest and to stay off your feet, so that was the plan...was. I slept poorly Thursday night. Slept poorly Friday night. Saturday morning, we had to take the "el" [train] downtown to the marathon expo to get my race packet and to try endless free samples of gooey sports food and nasty healthy smoothie wannabe drinks made from trees in the Brazilian rainforest. Seriously, I tried one with that resume. After a few hours on my feet at the expo [bad] we headed back for River Forest, where we were staying. We got back to the parking lot to find our car missing. We got towed. ugh! Then, we had to walk about a mile in the hot sun back to our room and Amie and Sarah Steiner borrowed a car to go get ours. The pricetag? $170 yikes!

Today.

5:10am wakey wakey
5:45am Amie took me to the "el" to catch the train downtown
6:25am Arrive in Grant Park to figure out where to go...do "business," etc.
7:15am line up for marathon
7:45am hop over fence to pee in a bush

Just over 33,000 people ran the race. Let me tell you, that is a lot of humanity crammed together. For the last 15 minutes before the start, I was crammed body to body like a rock concert.

8am Official start...we start moving slowly forward towards the starting line at 8:04ish
8:05am hop fence to water a tree
8:09am Begin running

For a while it felt like I was just running through body heat. After a few minutes we ran under an underpass and it just felt like a humid locker room. So, I was weary of the next 4 hrs.

I didn't feel all too good in the first 3 miles. I think my body was working out some random aches and settling in. I just watched my heartrate like a Michigander on a white-tail deer. I noticed my heartrate wanted to climb pretty quickly in the warmth, so I kept an eye on it and rn accordingly. All race - especially early on - I kept telling myself, "Ok, Ryan, just don't do anything stupid." So, I resisted the urge to dart in between people to keep my pace and not slow down at all. I resisted the urge to get going to fast, etc.

I managed to run the first half [13.1] while keeping my heartrate under 160 bpm, which was great. After that, I knew it would eventually climb, but I just ran a steady pace. My first half was 1:58:42. So, I kept up my pep talk to myself...and it worked. I kept a pretty steady pace the whole time. Near mile 20 my hamstring showed signs of cramping but I was able to ward those off. Then, at about 24 my right calf started tightening up, and, from 25 on, it was cramped with every step. But, by that time I knew I was 12 minutes or less from the finish. I kept kicking and crossed at 3:57:16 on my watch and 3:57:10 on the official chip. Considering the heat and everything, I'm pretty stoked with that. Previously I've run a 4:09 and a 4:02, both in heat, so I finally broke 4 hrs.

12 noon Finish!

Amie was my big fan. She and our good friend Sarah Steiner, who was also in England with us but lives in Chicago, took the "el" all around and saw me at the start, finish and 5 times in between! So, thanks Amie and Sarah! It was a big boost. And, Amie got to show off her rainbow bright umbrella so I could find her.
We also caught up with my cousins Corey and Kendra. Corey ran the marathon as well.

Well, those are the most of my thoughts from the day. Hope it makes you want to run a marathon sometime.

Up for Air

2008-10-04T00:00:00.002-05:00

[btw...this would've been up Thursday, but the internet was down in the dungeon]

I can't believe it's October. I've been a blogging lame-o. Oh well. Can't be oh-so-energetic about everything I do. Life has seemed pretty non-stop since classes started. Now in my fifth and final year at Concordia Seminary I was hoping for easy cheesy courses. Anything but! Nevertheless, I'm enjoying them [usually, most of the time, maybe].

Despite busyness and feeling swamped, there was reason to come up for air, that is, to post.

Today, I wrote my very first text message. Yep, I finally took the plunge. All last year I told high schoolers that I had never sent one, usually inciting a reaction that amounted to, "Dude, is Moses, like, your uncle?" But, today, my cousin Corey, just sent me a message asking about meeting up at the Chicago Marathon next weekend, and I wrote back, clicked "send," and that was it. Done and done...now, the bill might be kind of hefty, since I sent 2 more and texting is not included on the plan.

And...today was also the VP debate at Washingon University, less than a mile from our apartment. People at the end of our street were wildly cheering various political candidates, ideals, and platforms. I wanted to check out WashU campus, but they had put up temporary fences on the perimeter, and only allowed students with ID to be on campus. Plus, there were enough police folk around you could've mistaken that place for the Krispy Kreme shareholders meeting. [btw, check this out...totally gross!!]

But, since I live here, I tried a few back options and was able to walk right on in with a group of students, past the fences and cops, because they assumed we were already checked out. I just had to pretend like I knew what I was doing. So, I milled around some buildings filled with politically charged students, nervously trying not to act nervous the whole time about looking 6-8 years older than everyone else! But, I was proud of myself for managing to set foot on campus.

Movin In...Redneck Style

2008-08-19T22:33:00.010-05:00

Deals are my dream and couches are my currency.

When we left St. Louis over 2 years ago we decided to donate all our furniture [with the exception of our mattress]. None of it would have been worth paying to either move it or store it. Now that we’re back in St. Louis we have to make something of our cheap downstairs apartment affectionately dubbed “The Dungeon.”

So, a hunt for anything cheap was in the cards, and, the first fantastic find was a couch…a $5 couch! And, Amie and I had to lug that heavy thing from the Seminary Re-Sell-It shop all the way to our apartment, nearly ½ mile!

Now, everything is measured in couches. So, we have a “nice” couch and bought a cover for it that cost 9 ½ couches. “Nice” means it was old, cheap, comfy, has a pull-out bed, obligatory old couch stains, but with the couch-cover you’d never know.

Dad came down with me from Lansing to help us hunt, stalk, and drag our kill back to the cave. The van definitely earned its keep. We hauled some tables from the "ghetto garage sale", a personal fav filled with all sorts of stuff that we stumbled across deep in the heart of the hood. St. Louis’ neighborhoods change oh-so-quickly, and seriously, we stuck out bad. Good thing it was noon.

After a week of furnishing the dungeon and making it look good, I think we’re there.

Dad on his throne in the back of the van

dungeon...in progress. a good shot of the infamous couch.

our "hallway"

a dungeonous celebration from amie

Time to Say Goodbye

2008-08-13T21:23:00.002-05:00

not a bad song...and describes our last week.

I'm officially still employed by Bethlehem Lutheran Church through tomorrow, but we've moved out and are trying to get settled into St. Louis. Our year in Denver was great. No complaints. Only thanks. The last week was rather hectic. The Mexican Mess [you figure that one out] still lingered. I had it for over a week...lost 10 lbs - it was ugly.

I preached all weekend [6 times], then we loaded up our car, and I mean LOADED. We said goodbyes to everyone and thanked them for such a great year, then headed out Monday morning.

I drove 350 miles straight to Hays, Kansas. Amie then drove 4 hrs straight to Kansas City with 1 abrupt stop for the Mexican Mess. I left the bathroom as abruptly as I entered upon seeing an inmate at the urinal next to me.

Made it to Columbia, MO, to stay w/ cousin Tim. Up early Tuesday to get to St. Louis to get in our apartment affectionately termed "the dungeon."

The Dungeon is nicer than I expected. We'll have pics when we make it look nice. Last night I flew up to Michigan so that I could haul most of our stuff in dad's minivan back down to St. Louis. Tonight we're in Indy with brother, Pat.

Mission Trip - Nogales, Sonora, Mexico [Pt. 2]

2008-07-30T21:06:00.006-05:00

Before I continue with the week I just have to say that I have been quite reticent about short term mission trips in recent years. I wondered about their effectiveness, the cost, etc. This trip really challenged me. Seeing how thankful the Mexicans were as well as seeing the impact on young people's faith both challenged me. If you want other good reading on the issue, read this from Andrew Jones, a famous UK Emerging Church blogger.

Tuesday, July 22

Went to bed feeling crummy; woke up feeling a million bucks better! Today, we served the city of Nogales in the morning. We were taken all the way across town to a street – a paved one – and were told to pick up the garbage and sweep. I admit, it seemed a bit ridiculous. “There’s trash everywhere in Mexico; why’d we have to drive 20 minutes across town to pick it up?” Nonetheless, we each were issued a broom and work gloves. It didn’t take long for my initial bad attitude to be broken down. A lady came out of the house I was in front of and asked…[really nicely], “What are you doing here, you’re gringos?!?” That was a wide open door to tell her about the love of Jesus and why we were there. I guess picking up trash and sweeping streets makes a difference.

In the afternoon we were putting on a Vacation Bible School [VBS] for children up by the city dump, where Pastor Lopez has another ministry. And, for some reason, the Mexican church ladies wanted 4 of us to dress like clowns for this. I didn’t say, “No,” so suddenly I was a clown….but not a friendly one. All the youth called me the creepy molester clown. I can’t blame ‘em. I made a little girl cry…twice. I went up to her 2 separate times [forgetting the first] and smiled at her to be friendly and funny. Next, “WHAAAAA!!!” as ran towards mommy.

Then, after if was over, we had to perfect the Mexican Carpool. The church bus had broken down and we were at the mercy of the church people around to get us back across town. No kidding, we crammed 21 people into a Dodge Dakota-like pickup. 9 people in the cab [2 benches] and 12 in the bed. Painful, crammed, sweaty, and awesome! I love memories like that.

Wednesday, July 23

…and I thought picking up and sweeping the streets was a bit trite. Today, we picked weeds. WEEDS!!! We were supposed to paint at a city park, but the powers that be thought it might rain. Instead, we picked weeds from a field and playground that had an endless supply…and the sun baked down on us. Don’t get me wrong. I am not complaining. I was in my mind that day, but the impact of us just being there and serving alongside of the Mexicans made the most trivial worthwhile. So, I picked as faithfully as I could…and waddled through the slide. Feeling at full strength today with the normal digestive issues.

Led another VBS session. I led Spanish kid songs on guitar. Fun. Wasn’t creepy molester clown….even more fun. Oooh, I do have a good story though. So, there is no bathroom at the mission by the dump. There’s just the road that continues up the hill. When I asked to use it, Barbie told me to take the toilet paper and take a walk. I had to hike up to the top of the hill/mountain, do my business at the top of the mountain, and come back down. I kind of felt like Moses, ascending the mountain to experience God…ok, well, I won’t push that too far, but it was a cool experience.

Thursday, July 24

Another day of street sweeping. HOT day of street sweeping. One of our kids, Krysta, got heat exhaustion. I had conversations with many people that lived on the street. Two of them had been deported from the USA for drugs and various criminal activities. For lack of more wisdom to offer, I just said sternly, “Don’t do that anymore!” At the Oxxo – 7-11ish store in Mexico – I got a glorious Magnum bar with white chocolate on the outside and strawberry ice cream in the middle. Gotta celebrate the little things in life.

Had our closing ceremonies. Little service where we all shared positive things about each other and how we are different as a result of the week. Uplifting, encouraging, and truly memorable. Got to sleep at 3am…having to wake at 7am.

Friday, July 25

Went to shops in Nogales. Let me just say that those shops are such a horrible first impression to such a beautiful country. Most Americans just walk across the border and that’s all they see, and that forms their opinions about Mexico. I wish I never spent those 2 hrs walking around. The shop owners were pushy, sleezy, liars that didn’t seem to care when I caught them lying to and trying to rip off one of my kids. I ended up buying a bracelet for Amie, some vanilla, and a license plate.

After shopping we were off to the city pool. It was remarkably nice. 4 diving boards. High dive platform. Lots of fun. It’s surprising what you do and don’t get in trouble for in a Mexican pool. We got whistled at for getting on each others shoulders, but not for routinely jumping 3 at a time off the high dive. I even landed on Mariah, trying to help her jump in. Sore for a couple of days…but well worth it. We had to evacuate for lightning, but we swam happily with lighting in the air for the previous 20 min.

Party at Juan’s house that night. Juan lives across the street from the border…the fence. So, we made some good pictures pretending to escape.

Saturday, July 26

Another 4 hours of sleep…ugh. Early morning. Cross border. Leave Mexico. Fly home. Remarkable trip is now over. Great relationships formed w/ youth kids. Great faith experience. For me, this trip being over signals the beginning of the end of my vicarage. Only 2 weeks left. As kids were mourning the end of such a wonderful, life-changing experience, I was sad because I knew I was leaving all these relationships I had formed, not only with the youth but at Bethlehem as a whole. Change is necessary, but it still hurts.

...me pretending to drive the bus off the cliff

Bethlehem Youth Mission Trip - Nogales, Sonora, Mexico [Pt. 1]

2008-07-27T21:52:00.007-05:00

After a week in

Mexico

, with all the sights, smells, people, food, and strange bowel movements, trying to put it all into concise thoughts is quite a challenge. I will try anyway.

The past 8 days [July 19-26] I spent on a mission trip to Nogales, Sonora, Me xico with 15 energetic high schoolers from Bethlehem, with a few added from Connecticut and California, as well as a handful of adult leaders. We spent a week serving the city of Nogales and the Iglesia Rios de Agua Viva [River of Living Water Church].

Like most formative and influential life experiences, I didn’t want the moment to end. Life seems to suspend itself in such special moments that you wish it to last forever, but like all of life, change happens. We had to come home. Judging by the emotions and reactions of all the youth I was with, we all felt the same, so then the question becomes, “How do we return differently than when we left?”

Two things come to mind for me. 1) The way Mexicans are portrayed in our culture is not always positive and my similar judgments and attitudes were absolutely shattered. We spent a week with some of the most loving, hospitable, and faith-filled people I have ever met. They gave generously and loved recklessly. And, 2) I have a much broader perspective on the issues of immigration and border control. Being on a border town showed me the complexities of border life. Many people legally cross the border daily, even multiple times in a day, like Pastor Lopez, whom we worked with, who pastors churches in both Nogales, Arizona, and Nogales, Sonora. Nogales gets a bad wrap in the media because of drug cartel violence and immigration problems, but the vast majority of the people are wonderful, beautiful people who want to make a difference there. On both accounts, I’m thankful my previous judgments have been challenged.

Now that I’ve had enough of my more philosophical rambling I’ll get to the details:

Friday, July 26

Met early…5:30am early at Bethlehem to get to the airport. Everything ran surprisingly smooth. Arrived in Tucson later in the morning. The hotel was alarmingly nice to us. The let us check in way early and sleep/swim all day. They were so nice I was waiting for the catch. Seriously, I though for sure I’d lie down to bed at night only to realize the hotel was haunted. During a break in the afternoon, Mike Milner and I caught a bus for $1 to downtown Tucson to explore. A rather gritty town with many creepers around the bus transits. We saw a dude’s bike get stolen right off our bus. If we were 10 seconds to realize, we totally could’ve mauled that guy. Admittedly, it was funny to see the owner chasing after his bike in despair. At night we prepared Spanish kid songs and skits for the week…and watched the Deadliest Catch marathon in our spare time.

Saturday, July 27

Crossed into Mexico. Strange customs experience. Out of 15 in my van, the Mexican customs guy made me get out, took my to a bare warehouse-like room with luggage things for searching. He took me to what looked like a traffic light with a crosswalk button and in broken Spanglish said what amounted to, “Push button. Red, all searched, Green, all go.” Oh great. I pushed, and the green light lit up, so he took me back out of the lonely creepy room and away we went. Drove maybe 10 minutes to the church. Surprisingly, if you get beyond the first 10 blocks or so, no Americans traverse the rest of the city. Nogales, AZ has about 20,000 people and Nogales, Sonora has upwards of 300,000+. Got settled into church. Slept on hard tile church floor on my pool raft I got at Walmart for $1.88, which, I have to say, sucked. Worst night sleep in a long time...but delighted to be able to shower once a day...even if it's only a pipe in the wall surrounded by garbage. The rat also had to be evicted.

Church bus and the street we lived on.

Sunday, July 28

Loooooong day of church. I’ve had long days of church in my life, but today, records were set. Got bused to border and walked across to Arizona to go to a church Pastor Lopez pastors. It was about 2 hrs, but many of our youth have never been to a Pentecostal-like church. So, needless to say, we had a healthy debrief session afterwards. I was excited to sing 1 song I knew in Spanish, “Tu Nobre Levantare” [Lord, I Life Your Name on High]. Then, we had just enough time to get back for more church. No kidding, it was over 4 hrs long. I left the service for an hour to go help w/ the kid stuff and still came back for hours more. I gave the pool toy another chance, and she didn’t let me down. Slept well until…

Monday, July 29

Woke up at 5am to what I can only describe as Colonic Hemorrhaging. For 30 minutes I sat on the can in agony. Welcome to Mexico! Needless to say, I was dehydrated all day in the blazing heat. My head throbbed. I was conniving ideas to make my escape. We had a tour of the city courtesy of the mayor of Nogales. Pastor Lopez knew him from school. Pastor used to be a lawyer and judge. And, border tensions were a bit raised because of something stupid the USA did, and we had an opportunity to make amends, so to speak. Basically, the US realized that drug traffickers were using the sewers to do their work, they put a grate on the border, without consulting Mexico. Since Mexico has garbage most everywhere, it clogged the grate. The sewer line was pretty much a river underneath a street on the border. It couldn’t handle the volume of water and exploded the entire street, swallowing cars and all. And…the US hasn’t really done anything to help, so, like I said, it’s a bit tense. So, the mayor was delighted to see Americans willing to come help clean the city and serve it, making a statement of unity in a divisive time. We were carted around in a city bus with our personal driver and were shown all the housing projects and improvements around the city…and met the mayor later in the day. He’s a good man who wants to fight the drug cartels and make Nogales a better place. But, for me, it was miserable. Head throbbing, HOT sun, packed like sardines in a bus. Ugh. But, I lived. Imodium plugged me for the time being.

first time EVER!!!

2008-07-08T16:48:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, at approximately 8:01 p.m., with the entire game on the line, I, Ryan Andrew Winningham, hit my first home run in my entire life.

I know, I know, you'd think I would have, since I played baseball since I was 6 up thru high school, but, it was in the high stakes of Coed Low Rec Softball at the ripe old age of 26, I finally tagged one.

Ok, not really a tag, but it was momentous. Our team, Elisha's Bears [Don't make fun of bald people or bears will eat you" is our slogan...read the Bible story], was down 10-1 early in the game due to a horrific 2nd inning of fielding, but clawed back into it late in the game. Down 12-5 in the bottom of the 6th, with time running out - literally, because when the 1 hr game clock is out and the inning ends, it's over - we mounted a comeback.

There were 2 outs, 2 runners on, the score was 12-9, and I stepped up to the plate literally as the clock was at 0:00. Do or die, Ryan. I did. The 1-0 pitch came - slowly, like all softball pitches - right down the middle, I turned on it and sent it flying over the right fielder's head. And, in Coed Low Rec Softball, OverTheOutfieldersHead + RunFast = Home Run!!! Tie game 12-12.

Pretty exciting for me...and the team. We went 2 extra innings and won 13-12 in the 8th.

friends, friends, and more friends

2008-07-03T15:42:00.002-05:00

I just counted up how many people have come visit us. Since last November, we've had 24 people stay at our house overnight [with 2 more to come in a few weeks] and we've met w/ some friends who were passing through. That seems like a lot of people over in the past 9 months, but Amie and I love people, well, most of them. We love people close to us, so we're thankful to see close friends and family.

Almost right away after returning from vacation, Nick came and visited. This is a page I found for Nick Hopwood, but anyway, he's a longtime friend of my brother, and subsequently, my family. Since he has a bunch of degrees from Oxford he gets flown around the world to go to conferences, which brought him to Denver. But, despite his brain of Oxford porportions, he convinced me to risk my life for some stupid rollercoaster which I call the Lakeside Deathtrap [Lakeside Cyclone], which appears to have been operating seamlessly since 1940, despite the closure for repairs directly prior to our ride. All in all, it was a fun ride. Amie, Nick, and I all climbed a short and easy "14-er" Mt. Bierstadt [14,060 ft, 4285 meters], about a 7-mile roundtrip, which is pretty short for getting up to 14,000 feet. We had a great time with Nick and were able to reminisce a bit about our time in England last year.

In other news I bottled my first batch of beer with Lewie, a guy from church who taught me how to brew the batch.

I went to Michigan last weekend for Jon Bolt's wedding. It was good to see old friends from my Concordia days. My flights were, thankfully, uneventful, unlike the day after I returned.

After getting hardly any sleep while in Michigan hanging out with friends, I was exhausted. My eyes burned and my muscles were about to revolt if I made them do anything else...but I had to get up at 5:15am Monday morning to do a hike with the pastors at Bethlehem, and it was a hard one - a dang hard one. If I knew I would still pass my vicarage if I didn't show up, believe me, I would have slept in. And, I paid dearly. Long story short: underhydrated + underslept + large elevation change = altitude sickness for RyRy. Made it up and down the steep difficult 4,000ft+ climb in 3 miles, got to glissade down the ice fields...and ultimately threw up in a bathroom in a nearby town. Oh well, I like good stories, so now it feels worth it.

Glorious Vacation [part 2]

2008-06-15T22:11:00.009-05:00

7 days
6 national parks
5 states
4 corners
3 good friends seen
2,492.1 miles driven
1 unforgettable vacation

SEE OUR VACATION PICTURES!!!

It came and went...and it was good. It's just sad that it seems like I just got in the car to head to Salt Lake, and now we're back home getting into the routine again. Nevertheless, the trip was, well, unforgettable.

Here is a picture of us at 4 Corners Monument, straddling Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, and Colorado. Pretty cool place. Well, pretty cool to have the picture. The place is just a Navajo tourist trap in the desert.

After we left Barb in Salt Lake, we briefly drove around Brigham Young University's squeeky clean campus with their squeeky clean students. It was pretty, nestled up against the Wasatch mountains. Then, we whirlwinded through Bryce Canyon NP, Zion NP, briefed Kanab, UT, before making it to a scuzzy-on-the-outside-but-happily-B-rate-on-the-inside hostel in Page, AZ for the evening. Can't beat $35 a night for a private room, living room, and kitchen.

The short hike down into Bryce was remarkably rewarding. Looking up at the hoodoos as well as giving you a different perspective was well worth the steep hike back up. Then we zoomed over to Zion NP, where I got to drive windy mountainous roads that make wifey carsick...so I speed up! We "ran" a trail there up to some pools in Zion Canyon. "Ran" means I convinced Amie to jog the 3 or so miles, but she passed on the steeper parts.

Page, Arizona surprised me. I like Glen Canyon/Lake Powell a lot. I had to go swimming and it was worth it. Amie humored me by taking pictures.

From Page we made way around to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon detour. About 70 miles south of Page there was an accident shortly before we arrived. A truck obliterated 2 small cars and the road, we were told, would be closed for 3-4 hrs, potentially more. Yikes! We were supposed to meet friends at the Grand Canyon in 1 hour. We started eyeing the desert next to us. Over a ridge there was sand and somewhat flat leading up to a tall cliff. We noticed some cars and trucks navigating their way around the accident. So, we got interested. Turns out, the old highway - now somewhat washed out - was over there. We got more interested. And, the German friends we had met standing around our cars got interested with us. Long story short, they said they'd do it if they could follow us, I think because they've never even seen a dirt road, let alone off road on the sandy desert in a sedan.

So, we did it. My heart pounded. We asked the few people who had come the other way. One guy in a truck remarked, "Absolutely not in that thing." Another car said, "No way in that car." But, a mini van dad said, "Sure, you just might scrape a little." Well, my heart pounded the whole time, hoping not to sink into the sand like the unsuccessful FedEx truck a few hundred yards over. In the end, the road wasn't all that bad, if you can negotiate a few dips and sand pits. Us and the Germans did fine and off we went, right around the accident. You gotta love off-roading in our 2000 Camry. See the video at the bottom of the post.

At the Grand Canyon we met Ryan Drevlow, friend we spent last year w/ in England. He's a vicar in Phoenix. Ryan, Laura [girlfriend], and the two of us hiked a bit down the canyon on the South Kaibab Trail. Great veiws; Great experiences. It was good to be w/ old friends, again.

From the Grand Canyon we checked out Flagstaff & Sedona. Flagstaff was a great town with a beautiful old downtown area. Sedona not so lucky. It is a tourist trap of highest proportions. I couldn't leave soon enough. The rocks are definitely the reason for the side trip.

Having canceled our reservation for a hostel in Flagstaff, we headed east for New Mexico. We got sidetracked into yet another national park, we spent an hour...an hour too much in Petrified Forest NP. Perhaps the museum would've been cool. Or the illustrious farthest south part of the park, but I'm sorry, after the Grand Canyon, Bryce, and Zion, stumps in a distant field are a snooze, even if they're now rocks.

We lived it up in Gallup, New Mexico, staying in the Ramada, complete with pool, hot tub, wireless, and breakfast.

Then, we changed our plans that night. We opted for 4 Corners and Mesa Verde NP, which has ancient Indian cliff dwellings, something I've wanted to see since I saw them in my grade school social studies book. Long day, but totally worth it.

On the road at 6:30am, we pulled into our home in Denver at 9pm with a ton of memories and great week of vacation enjoyed.

Oh yeah, and now I've been to all 48 Continental states.

Vacation!!!

2008-06-10T17:28:00.003-05:00

It seemed like it would never come, but, much to my surprise, I am on my 1 week of vacation. The first day of official vacation I have had since I started Vicarage August 15. I know, people work more than that, but hey, I don't like to, and it's been a big adjustment from having 10 weeks on, 4 off, 10 on, 4 off last year. Vicarage is great, but I love vacation too, so I'm glad.

So, after preaching 6 times all weekend, I barely got my robe off and we were hightailing it for Salt Lake. My arms got a workout wrestling w/ the high winds on I-80 across Wyoming. We had a brief relatively unsuccessful diversion to try to see the edge of Flaming Gorge, then rolled to Barb's at around 8:30 pm.

Yesterday [Monday], Amie and I headed up to Park City to check out the Olympic Park. There we saw the bobsleigh/luge/skeleton track as well as the ski jumping facility. I couldn't believe it, they are set up to jump all year round on on the main jump. They just hosed down rubbery material and the guys jumped, eventually slowing down on the green grass flat area at the bottom. Next to that is the world's steepest zip line, at approximately 33%, 1/4 mile long, and 50 mph. We had to partake. Assessment: fun, not too scary 'cuz you were essentially sitting in a cloth seat and there was no freefall drop off, and perhaps worth the $20 they charge.

Then we went to downtown Salt Lake so Amie could have the Mormon experience. Recalling my vast memory, I told Amie to can any questions because they'll just have some cute young fluffy girls doing the tours and they barely know anything other than the fact that they're supposed to be a good looking face for the LDS church. The Mormons even 1-upped my assessment. Not only were they fluffly young cute ladies, we didn't even have girls that spoke good English. They had all internationals working Temple Square tours with their home country's flag pinned under their name, as if to say how international they are...barf. Just get me someone who can remember the dates the Tabernacle was constructed...and speak English. Oh yeah, my cover was blown right away too. I wore my "Cerveza de Gallo" shirt - the national beer of Guatemala - and guess where our tour guide was from...good, Ryan, they know you're not Mormon pretty quickly.

Another notable to the tour was when someone asked about the gold Moroni on top of the temple. Answer: "He is heralding the second coming of Jesus, and he is facing that way because we believe Jesus will come back from the East." The East...nice. Translation: You think Jesus is coming back in Indpendence, Missouri, but that sounds to corny to say outloud.

Today, we went w/ Barb to Antelope Island, which sits in the Great Salt Lake. We saw Bison and smelled the gross lake water.

Have good pics but can't load them...will try sometime.

Relationships, not Consumers

2008-05-23T13:01:00.002-05:00

Other than the Jr. High lock-in last weekend that undoubtedly fried some brain cells that would have been helpful later in life, things are going smoothly. So smoothly that I've gotten to pick up a book that had been on the shelf for a while. On the plane coming back from Indianapolis 2 weeks ago, I got back into The Forgotten Ways, by Alan Hirsch. In chapter 4, entitled "Disciple Making," Hirsch poignantly writes about something I've been pondering for sometime:

Consumerism

...not just any kind of consumerism, but church consumerism.

Hirsch thinks that biggest obstacle for the church in our day may not be other religions, or competing ideologies made equal in our society, but, plain and simply...consumerism. Why? Because we are so surrounded and infected by marketing and so driven by consuming that it affects all aspects of our life...even church.

The thought seems provocative, but also seems quite true. I can see it in myself. I have been drawn to churches in the past that put out a good product to consume, and I consumed it well. Usually, I put it in more spiritual terms: "I really enjoyed the worship. The band/organist/musicians/sermon/etc. was really great." But, churches that I've only "consumed" at I never got deeper involved in. I never formed meaningful relationships nor became a part of the community of believers there. Furthermore, Hirsch, trained as a marketer, thinks that consumerism has filled the void left by religion in Western countries. For example, "If the role of religion is to offer a sense of identity, purpose, meaning, and community, then it can be said that consumerism fulfills all these criteria [p.107]."

I can see at the church where I work. People love coming to worship there. People enjoy the product. People remark about music and sermons [not mine, of course]. But, what about those who do not get further involved? What about those with the "country club" mentality who do not wish to enter into deeper community with others? Is the church responsible for just letting them consume in the pews? Or, should the church be a little tougher on people becoming disciples, becoming more like Jesus?

Now there is nothing wrong with having a great band/organist/preacher/you name it. In fact, those are good things that we should strive for. But, I'm thankful to Hirsch for his insight. He says that the danger is that think we can consume our way into discipleship. In reality, I've noticeably grown as a follower Jesus not when I consumed, but when I was in close community with others that wanted to be like him too.

Weekend in Indy

2008-05-14T10:30:00.002-05:00

I have no pictures, but Amie and I went to Indianapolis last weekend for the baptism of Patrick and Katie's 2nd daughter, Amelia [Mia] Allison Winningham. Although the trip was short, it was good to see family. Now, back to the grindstone of Vicarland.