QA

Last Saturday I briefly alluded to the fact that I have been accepted as an RA at BFA in Aug of '07. I am now back to answer the 'flood' of questions I have received in a dandy little segment I call "Mr Answer Man".

Question: When did you decide to apply for this position?
Answer: I almost formally applied last May, but decided to postpone my decision until after I went to Switzerland for the English camp. I started the formal process in August after returning and spending some time thinking and praying to make sure I was making the right decision.

Q: Do you mind if I just use a 'Q' instead of the full word 'Question'? It was my nickname in high school.
A: As long as you don't mind me using an 'A'.

Q: So, what exactly is BFA? Buns For America? Bunnies Love Astroboy?
A: Heh, bunnies. Actually, it stands for Black Forest Academy, a boarding school for missionary kids. These kids, ranging in age from around 13-18, attend this school to get an education that is a bit more North American than they would get in the countries their parents are serving. It is also a way to prepare them for NA life as most of them will return to Canada or the United States for further education, or just work, once they are done high school.

Q: What did you do when you found out you were officially going?
A: I celebrated by getting sick. Not seriously ill, just one of those drain the energy and cause trouble sleeping due to excessive coughing sort of sick. I'm fine, but vaguely irritated.

Q: What is your greatest fear going into this?
A: Not having the money that I need. In an effort to keep the cost down for the students the staff is asked to raise their own support. There are many other things that seem like they should be frightening (moving to a country that speaks mostly not English, for example), but honestly, those are things that don't concern me overly much. I will be able to handle that, even if it takes me a few weeks/months. But to not be allowed to go because I simply don't have the necessary money, that is a real concern of mine.

Q: So how much does it cost?
A: I have to raise just under $1800 a month, which works out to roughly $21,000 a year, or $42,000 for two years, in Canadian funds, of course. That covers room and board, as well as things like insurance and stuff like that. It sounds like alot, but if I get 36 people to send $50 a month, then I am set.

Q: How does this work? Do I just send you money?
A: Yyyyeeeeessssss...that's it. Send me money.... *shifts eyes nervously*

Q: Why don't I believe you?
A: Maybe it was the shifty eyes.

Q: So how do I really support you?
A: The best way is to send money directly to Janz Team. I will be sending out support letters in the upcoming weeks that will have pledge forms included. You can commit to giving monthly, or a one time gift, whatever works best for you. If you do that, then you will receive a tax receipt for charitable donations, which always helps at tax time. If you really want to, you can send money directly to me, and I will either send it straight to Janz Team, or, if you tell me that I can, I will use it for some of the preparations that I need to make while I'm still here in Canada.

Q: Can I get one of those support letters?
A: Sure. If you happen to be reading this and don't receive a letter by the end of February, drop me a line and I will figure out how to get one to you. I would prefer to use as much email as I can because sending things through the mail costs money, something that I am not blessed with abundantly.

Q: Are you excited?
A: Extremely. This is one of those "step-out-of-your-comfort-zone" sort of deals. I've never done anything so big and ambitious before. There are times when I start looking at too many little details at the same time, as well as looking at the big picture and I start to feel overwhelmed. But then I realise that I am going to be living in a completely different country, doing work for God, and it makes me almost giddy. Tee-hee.

Q: When do you leave?
A: I have to be in Germany by August 4th. Or 6th. I can't remember right off hand, but I do have the information somewhere. I'll get it right when I book my flight.

Q: How long are you gone?
A: Two years.

Q: Anything else you want to say?
A: Yes. Keep watching this space for periodic updates. Also, if you want to know more about BFA visit their website at www.bfacademy.com. And if you want to know more about Janz Team Ministries, which is the ministry that runs BFA and is the mission that is sending me out, visit their website at http://www.janzteam.org/. And finally, if you have any other questions for me that I didn't answer here, ask them in the comments section and I will address them. My comments are set up to take anonymous comments, so you don't even need an account. Or a name.

Q: Thanks for visiting with us. Have yourself a great day.
A: Hey, that wasn't a question!

Fools Of Us All - Chapter 8 (see December 15th)

Seeing large men with guns pointed in my direction, I did what any man would do in that situation - I raised my hands above my head and peed my pants. Only a little, though.
I peeked over at Caz and saw that she was playing the whole situation totally cool. Lowering my hands, I tried to adopt a similarly cool poise, my arms crossed. I wished I was larger so I could at least try to look intimidating, but that really wasn't an option. I mean, sure, I'm tall, but there wasn't much of me to look at besides that. I played some sports, and was rather well co-ordinated, but I was nothing like the two hulking behemoths standing before me. One was easily six inches above six feet, and the other was only an inch or two shorter. They had muscles just bulging out from underneath their t-shirts, and they held themselves like they knew how to use them. Not that they needed muscles with the size of the guns they were holding. They had to be the largest handguns I have ever seen. Even their voices were intimidating.
"Well well well," rumbled the taller of the two. "It looks like we've found the strumpet we were sent to retrieve." He had a slight British flavour to his voice.
"And it looks like she's found a boyfriend." The shorter one's voice sounded like it was a powerful engine, idling underneath the hood.
Silence descended on the group. Finally I couldn't take it anymore, so I said the first thing that popped into my head. "Who in tarnation are you guys, and do you work out regularly?"
This seemed to startle them a little. Caz still hadn't said anything, hadn't moved in fact. She just continued to stare at them, betraying no emotion.
The taller one looked at his partner. "Hey Ike, the little bugger seems to think that he is entitled to some answers." He faced me again. "You aren't entitled to a thing little man. Now shut your trap before we shut it for you. Permanently." He turned and faced Caz again, obviously ignoring me. "Now missy, are you going to come with us quietly, or do we have to do what we love doing best?"
This finally provoked a reaction in Caz. She smiled. "I bet you wouldn't be nearly as confident without those silly handguns to hide behind." Casually she leaned against the window ledge, appearing relaxed.
Ike raised his eyebrows slightly. "Tank, it would seem that she doesn't want to cooperate after all."
"Ah, but she is right," Tank holstered his gun. "We don't really need them for her. Besides, I prefer the hands on approach." Ike shrugged and put his gun away as well. He pulled out a pair of handcuffs and approached Caz. "Now come along lady. We're not supposed to hurt you, but accidents do happen."
This is where I learned just how quick Caz was. Before I even realised what she was doing her hand whipped out and something flew across the room, smashing into Ike's forhead. He went down in a tangled heap, moaning softly.
Tank's gun was quickly in his hand and he squeezed off two shots, both missing by a hair. I dove to the side, taking cover behind a desk. I looked out from behind my cover and watched as Caz darted in close before another shot could be fired. She hit him with a flurry of punches and kicks that seemed to stagger him, but it wasn't enough to knock him down.
With surprising speed he reached down and caught a hold of her hair, lifting her straight up. Calmly he placed the gun right against her forehead. "You're going to pay for that. Oh I won't kill you. But I will watch you bleed for a while." He moved the gun down, sliding across her chest and pausing briefly on her stomach. "Now, this is going to hurt," he said with a savage grin on his face.
With a small sigh I leapt from where I had silently crawled. I knew that I could never take him in a fair fight, but I figured I would be able to do something if I got him by surprise.
I tackled low, hitting him right on the side of the knee. I could hear something snap and then all sound was drowned out by the scream of anguish coming from the large man. He collapsed in a heap around me, his gun falling to the ground. I untangled myself from him, feeling a little impressed by the success of my manouver.
Caz rose from where she had fallen and knelt in front of Tank who was now whimpering softly to himself. She carefully picked up the gun, holding it with distaste. "Who hired you?" Obviously, for all the disgust she seemed to hold for the weapon, she was also trained in how to use it, and more than willing to prove it.
Tank could sense it as well. "I, I don't know. It was a phone call, money deposit in our account, never met the guy." He spoke between gasps of pain.
Satisfied, Caz rose to her feet. "Tell him I won't be found again. Not that easy." With that she delivered a hard kick to his jaw, silencing him into a peaceful slumber.
Pausing only briefly to retrieve the mysterious globe that she had used to disable Ike, she went to the window. "Are you coming or not," she said before jumping to the ground below. I looked around and realised that I didn't want to be here when anyone showed up, so I followed. This had been a heck of a day so far.

Weiwd

I have discovered something interesting about myself in the past few years. My fingers are weird in that they spend most of their life absolutely frigid. Even in the warmest of weather it is entirely possible that my fingers are little sasauge shaped bits of ice. It has something with the nerves or something being too close to the surface of my skin or something. I have known about that since I was a kid, it's no surprise. What I have discovered is that they react extremely oddly to cold. Most people's fingers start out warm and slowly lose heat until they are really cold and hard to move. My fingers start out cold and get colder for a while. And then they warm up and are fine for quite some time.
It's not just a perceived thing, like when people get hypothermia and suddenly feel warm even though they are freezing. My fingers (and toes) will be cold enough that they almost hurt and suddenly they will warm right up. I can feel them fully, move them like normal, everything. They aren't cold to the touch, red or discoloured in any way, and even if I don't warm them up specifically for a long time they don't have any damage. They are absolutely fine. It is really quite bizarre. Now, this is only in relatively mild cold. When it is really cold then they turn to blocks of ice and don't warm up, but that's not terribly unusual or surprising.
I just thought I'd share that.
Oh yeah, I also have been accepted as an RA at BFA in Germany starting next August.
Bye

Aromatherapy

So here's a compliment that I have never been able to give without feeling slightly awkward, or at the very least a bit unsettled: "You smell nice." There's just something that just seems weird about that. I don't know if I could ever say that to another person without feeling like it came out all creepy. I like to give compliments, but I think I'll just let you know if you smell bad and you can assume what you want the rest of the time. Deal? Deal. Excellent.

Erik the Red was an enemy of the state!

Sometimes I look back in history and I see times that I just would not have wanted to live through. One such time is the whole McCarthy communist witch-hunts of the fifties. I understand that communism tends to be a political system that fails spectacularly, and I also understand that the 'enemies' of America at the time were mostly communist, but I just roll my eyes and shake my head at some of what went on. Could you imagine the paranoia that everyone had to living with at all times?
"Hey Bob, what's your favourite colour?"
"Red....dish Green. Reddish Green. In fact, it's more of a green. That's what I said, green. I think red is for sissies..."
I mean, how ridiculous is it that everything you do has to be very closely watched because if it's even just slightly misinterpreted you could be charged with treason.
Thankfully things are much more relaxed anymore and we don't have to worry about such pointless persecution.
And, um, just for the record, I've never been to the Middle East...

$$

I hate money. I hate not having enough to do what I want, I hate having to do stuff I don't want to do just to get more money, I just hate how everything seems to revolve around money. It gets to me sometimes. Ah well, life goes on.

Update: After I first put up this post (like five minutes ago) I went to do an online crossword puzzle, and the theme of the puzzle was "Money Matters". Stupid crossword.

Lettuce and slurpees....?

Well, I have now had my final interview for Black Forest Academy. I will be finding out in the next two weeks whether or not I am accepted as an RA, and then I can start preparing and fundraising. I don't even feel nervous about it. It sounds like things are pretty good for me to go.
In other news, I just finished working 41 hours in three days. My job is crazy.
Toodles