May 28-30, 2014

The mountain in the background it the one I climbed last
week.  See how it looks like the back of an elephant!!!

Wow.  So much has happened in the past three days.  And boy am I tired.  But anyways.......

Wednesday was a pretty uneventful day.  We met for action group(or our small studies we have with a staff member and a couple of other girls) and went out to go sharing.  I was partnered up with my friend Eric, and we ended up doing decent in being able to have two 30-45 minute conversations back to back.  After that, I was just physically and mentally exhausted.  So, we prayed for a while and then went to find a bus to take us home.

This is where Wednesday was not uneventful.  We were looking at the map and trying to decide which bus to get on.  There were a couple that were going in the direction we were heading, so we hopped on the one that stopped at the stop first and started to ride.  After riding for a few minutes, we don't think we are going in the right direction, but we figure it would all be fine.  We ended up at the end of the line all the way on the north side of the city.  Fortunately, we figured out what had happened and ended back where we needed to go.  It turned out that the bus we had gotten on had its route changed and they hadn't changed it on the maps.  Therefore, it was not our fault we got lost on the bus in Ljubljana.

Anyway.  We arrived back at the hostel an hour after we had gotten on the first bus, and just in time for dinner!  Taco Salad!  And afterwards was a super fun project fun night where we put our euchre skills to the test in a double elimination tournament.  Me and my partner Sofie did really well until we were both too tired to play.

Thursday, on the other hand, was such a good day.  We have an extended quiet time with God scheduled for that day from 9-12 and it was super fun getting to utilize that.  I went with a friend to the Skyscraper(a thirteen story building that is the second tallest building in Ljubljana) and enjoyed a bela Kava(coffee with milk) as I contemplated God and looked over the beautiful city.

Sharing went really well too.  I went to FDV(The Economics and humanities part of campus) with this super cool guy named Brad.  We just got to hang out and we ended up having the first super good dialogue with a guy who we would ask question to and he would ask us questions.  It was a super long conversation and it was just a seriously cool way to experience God.  Afterwards, we just got to seriously pray for the movement and for everyone involved and who would be involved and just got to know each other better.  It was such a fun time.

And, since there was no planned dinner on Thursday night, what did we ladies do again...That's right.  We grilled out again!  The guys were so jealous.  It was so much fun just being able to help these girls out with their cooking and just having a blast putting it all together.  And of course It was absolutely delicious!!!  We were so stuffed by the end that we didn't want to go anywhere else.

But, we had to.  We had an outreach event happening at a cafe nearby and therefore, we headed out on another adventure.  It was actually a book reading in which we talked about the concept of Transformation and how it played a role in books and scripture.  It was really fun and we got free coffee which was great!!  I also found a new cafe that I really want to go visit more often.

And, then there was today...an interesting day in itself.  This morning started out fun because a small group of us went to my favorite tea shop and I got their famous Almond Cookie tea that was delish!  After spending some wonderful time with God and that tea, we had a training time in which we are learning and utilizing new Bible study methods.  It was really awesome.  There was one part where we took thirty minutes and we meditated on a verse.  At the end of the thirty minutes, we were supposed to have written 30 things that we learned from that verse, either about God or ourselves or anything.  It was such a cool thing.  I have never thought about looking at a verse like that for that long.  But it really did work.

Afterwards, my friend Zack and I went sharing.  We walked around for a little while, but since most Slovene students go home over the weekends, there weren't people there really to talk to.  So, we decided to go to a different building.  However, on our way, we ended up talking for an hour with a Grecian and a Brit.  It was such a cool conversation, and really encouraged us.

After sharing, we came back and ate enchiladas for dinner and went our for, you guessed it, gelato!  Tonight it was a chocolate one called Muffin, which has the texture of a muffin, and an Orange Walnut.  It was delicious.  As we were sitting in the Center enjoying our gelato, a bunch of random guys in Mechanic outfits came over and started talking to one girl in Slovene.  After they finally understood that we spoke english, we found out that it was this guys bachelor party and that for 1 euro he would pull a cart with you in it.  Their bachelor parties are pretty legit.  So, after pulling many of our group, we got a group photo and they went on their way.  It was so much fun!!!

May 27, 2014

Waking up this morning was pretty nice.  Our whole room decided that we needed some good sleep so we went to bed pretty early.  We woke up refreshed and ready for the day.  After a quick trip to the supermarket for the food we needed for dinner, we all were ready to start the day!

Talking to students was good too.  My friend Katie and I got to talk to a couple of girls for a good hour.  While the one girl I was talking to didn't really want to talk about spiritual things, the other girl was extremely interested and we believe was actually a Christian.  In the end, she got some really good clarification on what she believed and I made a new friend!!  It was pretty neat.

However, our time was cut a little short because my group had to help cook dinner that night.  We were cooking honey soy glazed chicken with an apple and carrot salad and zucchini (with bananas and Nutella for dessert!)  After helping was veggies and starting to chop them up, I was drafted for onion duty and ended up in the main kitchen with Julie and Chris (The older staff members on the team and the ones in charge of cooking.)  As things in the kitchen progressed, I ended up helping to cook the chicken and make sure it was doing good!  And it was quite a successful meal.  Other than the electric skillets not cooperating so that some of the glaze burned to the chicken and pan (although Julie and I thought that was the best part, the burnt glaze) it was absolutely delicious!

After we finished cleaning up, a few of us decided it would be fun for a bike ride around the city.  So, we grabbed some bikes and off we went!!  It was so much fun!  We ended up in the center just riding around for a while.  Then, someone wanted coffee.  So we locked our bikes up in a nearby ally and went to this cute cafe on the river called Lolita.  Even though it was over run with pink, it was still extremely cute and had delicious coffee and tea.  The only guy in our group thought it was too girly and went off for some man time by himself while us ladies enjoyed each others company and our coffee/tea.

Right about as the sun was setting, we decided it was time to head back to the hostel.  As we arrived at our bikes, we realized that the supposed ally we locked our bikes in was actually a weird hallway inside an apartment complex that had locked front doors.  We were slightly panicking as we were trying to find another way in to get our bikes.  Fortunately, someone went into the complex and opened the door and we were able to get our bikes out.  After much fun, a race down the empty backstreets of Ljubljana was the perfect way to end the day.

May 25-26, 2014

After having such an active day on Saturday, Sunday ended up being so relaxing.  I got to wake up late, and I just stayed in my room all day just recharging.  It was really nice because in a little bit of that time, I got to be completely alone.  It was so nice to just be by myself to study God's word and to just be able to relax a little bit.  Very nice.

Later that evening, we went to church.  It's a tiny church with only a handful of members, but still a nice church.  Through praise, worship and prayer we heard about God and his glorious ways.  It was quite nice.  But also, we got to grasp a reality of this country.  As we celebrated the union of 6 new churches across the country, we also saw the statistics behind it.  In a country of a little over 1 million people, there are only about 40 evangelistic Bible believing churches that run about 25 people each service.  That's only about 1,000 people.  And that's why we're here.  To be able to share truth to a dark country.

But anyways, after a lovely church service, we ate Chinese and then proceeded to the Center for, yes, more gelato.  Although as we arrived, we received a pleasant surprise.  There by one of the bridges, was a fantastic cello and guitar duo.  After grabbing a quick gelato, we sat a listened for quite a while.  It was absolutely beautiful.  After enjoying ourselves immensely, we headed back to the hostel for a relaxing evening  and spontaneous tea party.  Quite a nice finish to a day if I do say so myself.

Monday, on the other hand, was quite different.  It was the first day it was overcast and rainy, and it didn't help at all that I woke up so tired.  But, we are here for a purpose, so I tried to make due and keep focus.  After some morning training and encouragement, we split into groups and headed out to talk to students.  My friend and I ended up somewhere I had been wanting to explore since we got here, the Mathematics building.  As exciting as that was for me,  we only got to talk to a couple of people the entire afternoon.  It was kind of discouraging, but it just made me trust God more about the true meaning of successful evangelism, taking the steps of faith to initiate and leave the results up to God.  While I know I didn't see any fruit today, because I stepped out in faith, I know God had a purpose for that conversation and I know he will use it in his way and time.

Afterwards, I got to relax a bit and do a little bit of word analysis on the book of Ephesians (which if you don't know is the book we are studying all during project.)  Then was an incredible dinner of čevapčiči, which is a type of Balkan comfort food, bread, and salad.  And then we went to our weekly meeting with the other Slovene students on project here with us.  It is so cool to be able to hear some of their testimonies as they share their spiritual journeys with us.  And it's so awesome to be able to see God moving in the hearts of these Slovene students.  After the meeting we went to the center and got, yes, more gelato and then headed back to the hostel for a relaxing evening and an early bed time.  All in all, even though the day started off kind of rough, it ended up being a pretty nice day.

May 24, 2014

Let me tell you a story.  In the quaint little Slovenian town of Ljubljana, there lies this mountain.  It is nicknamed the elephant mountain because it looks like the back of an elephant.  Legend has it that on the peak of this mountain lies a mysterious doughnut shop that serves the best doughnuts and tea in all the land.  Only those who can conquer the mountain can receive the blessing of these marvelous gifts.

Well.  That was no legend.  And today, I, Rebekah Swartzwelder, climbed a mountain so I could get those doughnuts and tea.

It started with a long bus ride across the city in which we transferred only once.  Our spirits were high as we arrived at the base of the mountain.  We had to take a couple of pretty grown over trails in order to get to the base of the mountain, but it was pretty cool and there were so many flowers everywhere.  After a couple of pictures taken by yours truly, we started to ascend.

 Right off the bat, the group started going full ahead and I soon realized that there was no way I was going to be able to keep up with them.  Within the first 10 minutes, I was already completely out of breath and needing to sit down.  Luckily, one of the staff ladies and my discipler for the next few weeks stayed with me till I could catch my breath.  And very, very slowly, we started making our way up the mountain.  We met up with the group twice as they were pausing to rest and to make sure we were making it and then were off again.  But after much controlled breathing, frequent stops, lots of water, many words of encouragement, and beautiful scenery, I made it to the top with the rest of the group.

And what a sight to see.  This mountain is a lone mountain on the outskirts of the capital city of Ljubljana and once at the top, you could see for miles and miles around (or kilometers as I should say since I'm in Europe.)  It was absolutely beautiful.  On one side of the mountain, you could see the gorgeous city of Ljubljana, and on the other stood the majestic Alps.  Just being able to see the beauty that God has created in this land just utterly stunned me and made me stand in awe.

Speaking of beauty, one of the most beautiful things I found on that mountain...the doughnuts!  They were hand made pieces of artwork that were just absolutely delicious.  My only regret is that I didn't have anything to be able to take more of them back down the mountain with me so I could continue to enjoy them for days to come.  And not only that, the delicious herbal tea with a touch of peppermint and honey...I could of drunk that every day for the rest of my life and have been satisfied.  It was so good!

Not only was the view and the food good, I just got to hang out with so many fun people on project.  There were lots of laughs and we all just had so much fun being in everyone's company.

After all the food, scenery, and merriment, we headed back down the mountain.  This was much easier on my breathing side of things, but going down that path was just about as hard as hiking up it.  With so many loose rocks, large smooth rocks that you had to walk on, roots, and giant stairs, it was super easy to trip or slide and fall.  (After one fall I ended up bruising the palm of my hand pretty bad.  At least that was the worse injury for the whole trip.)  Fortunately, we emerged from the woods with our shaky legs and deliberated on what to do next.  And we all decided that instead of going back and letting our tired bodies rest, that we wanted to go play in the river that was at the base of the mountain.

So we all went and played in the freezing cold water of the river.  The water was so clear.  I couldn't believe it.  All the rocks were so smooth and rounded and there were so many colors of them.  The guys all jumped all the way in and we all had such a good time just being with each other.

And after that, what better way to end your afternoon that with.....McDonald's...yes...McDonald's.  (Not me, I had something called a Kebab that was absolutely delicious.)  Then, a nice cold shower and a fun conversations with the roommates and it was time for dinner.  Delicious pizza with a group of people I hadn't gotten to really get to know a whole lot yet, mainly because most of them were from OU, a fun time making fools of  ourselves on bikes in the Center (which is their town square), and some delicious coffee and crepes ended the night with a great mood and lots of new friends.

Although this is not everyone who came on project,
this is everyone who hiked the mountain today!

Me and my roommates!!!

All in all, today was pretty sweet.  I got to hike a mountain, experience the best doughnuts I've ever had, play in crystal blue water, eat so much good food, and be in constant fellowship with God.  It's so hard to think that one week ago I was getting ready to meet 30 new people that I would be spending the next six weeks with and that God would be able to move so quickly in our community.  Even though we have only started in our evangelistic mission here in Slovenia, it has already felt like a lifetime of fun, fellowship, and a focus on God so intense that it just radiates from the group.  I can't wait to see what God will do in the next 5 weeks of this project!

May 22-23, 2014

Wow.  So much has gone on in the past few days.  It has completely worn me out.  But I guess that's what happens when you share the Gospel with so many people and get twelve times more exercise than normal because you have to walk everywhere.  Oh well!!

But anyway.  Yesterday was such an incredible day.  In the morning I woke up and went to Caina Hisha and got myself a coffee and just spent a good time just diving into the word and learning more about a new style of studying the bible that we are trying to master during this project called a synthetic study.  I am so excited to keep studying this method because it seems like this is the method I would constantly use to study the Bible.

Anyways, later as me and my friend Taylor were sharing, we got to talk to three girls.  Each one of them were extremely interesting and had very interesting viewpoints.  It was still heartbreaking to hear about why they wouldn't believe in God, but we were able to talk to them in depth about what they did believe in and were able to share part of the Gospel with them.  Although we didn't see results of any sort, I am still trusting that because I stepped out in faith, God will provide the results, whatever they may be.  After we shared, Taylor and I had a little bit of time left and we just prayed.  We prayed for this wonderful country we are in, we prayed for the people that their curiosity would be sparked and they would seek what God has for them, we prayed for our team and all the other teams in all the other countries that are or will be sharing the gospel with the nations.  It was so encouraging to be able to do that and it just made the day that much better.

I honestly love these girls! Including Stormy who is
taking the picture!

After going back to the hostel, navigating our way through a foreign Aldi, and returning from the store with our goods, the staff had left for dinner at another Staff members house and the guys were all going out to eat, so all of us ladies on the project decided it would be a wonderful idea to have a ladies night together.  So, we all chipped in and started to create a wonderful home cooked meal that would make the guys jealous.  However, we didn't have any sharp knives to cut anything with, and all the large pots and pans were locked in a staff members room.  Butter knives were our solution to the cutting issues and as for cooking our meal, we had a grill!  It all worked perfectly right until we had to light the charcoal.  For 20 minutes Riley, Stormy, Katie and I stood around the grill trying to get some sort of flame going.  (It was only later when I found what we actually needed in order to light the charcoal.  Oh well!)  After so much frustration, we all linked hands around the grill and prayed that God would grant us fire.  And sure enough, after a few minutes and a burning washcloth that was covered with hairspray, we had a fire going to light the coals.  The chicken was cooked and a fantastic meal of cajun chicken, salad, fruit salad, and grilled asparagus and pineapple was consumed.  After dinner, we all went back to the center and indulged in gelato from Cacaos and spoke words of encouragement to everyone.  I am so thankful that I get to spend the next few weeks with such wonderful women of God.

Today was a little bit of a different story however.  First off, the morning was quite interesting.  The night before, my roommates convinced me to go running with them a little bit at 7:45 in the morning since we had to get ready and be at our meeting by 10.  So, the next morning rolls around and I wake up feeling pretty rested, but still slightly groggy until I look at the clock.  It read 8:30 and every single one of my roommates were still sound asleep.  So no running for me!!!  After a chill morning in the room, I was ready for the day.

Because most students travel home on the weekends, not many students are on their respective campuses therefore, sharing is a little harder.  So, instead of doing normal outreach, we had invited students to come to the local park and hang out with us.  It was a long afternoon of volleyball, conversation and fellowship with our project people and a few Slovene students that came to hang with us!  It was so much fun, until it got super cloudy and started to rain on us, although it wasn't bad.  Afterwards it was a nice afternoon and evening of just chilling at the hostel until we had to go to our weekly meeting, where we studied part of the book of  Ephesians and got to worship and interact with some Slovene students involved in the ministry here.

But of course, after the meeting we just couldn't go home.  No.  For night number 3 in a row, I got gelato with friends!  After we all go gelato, we walked around and found a gazebo where they were playing fun music and a bunch of couples were swing dancing.  Of course some of our people joined in and were soon followed by some extremely drunk guys who dropped their glass vodka bottle right on the stage and stumbled (literally stumbled) off soon after.  After hurrying to the bus stop, we had another interesting interruption with a man that was completely plastered, stumbling everywhere, holding an unlit cigarette, and was wiping blood off of a large gash in his forehead.  Thankfully, we had some great guys who distracted him and our bus came quickly and we were able to get away before anything had a chance to happen.

So all in all, a very interesting couple of days.  Stay tuned.  The next post will be about how I climbed a mountain just to get donuts



!

May 21, 2014

Today was again, another fantastic day.  I don't think that I'm going to have a bad day here....Well...Maybe it might be an odd day when it starts raining next week.  But until then, it was another fantastic day here in Ljubljana.

It started out with a wonderful study time at this really cute tea house in the Center.  With an Indian tea in one hand and my Bible in the other, it was a wonderful way to start the morning.  Afterwards, we went back to the Office and had training.

When we shared today, we ended up at the Humanities Branch of the University.  There we encountered a few people and their view points, although they were extremely interesting, just broke my heart.  There was such a cynicism towards the church and God in general.  (Note that whenever I mention the church, I am referring to the Roman Catholicism that is a traditional part of this countries culture.)  It was radically different and like nothing I have ever heard of as I've shared in the states.  It was just a new and completely different viewpoint that I had never processed before.  Ideas, traditions, rituals, and hypocrisy throughout the church causes a few really fantastic girls to look at God as a God of evil and not personable if he even exists at all.

We ended up finding a couple of OSU students while
we were doing our scavenger hunt we did today.

As I was thinking about how much of these ideas are shared in students throughout the country, I feel really saddened, but also slightly encouraged.  I was reminded of how great my God was and that in a world that thinks it has no hope, I know I can have hope in God and there is hope in people coming to know the wonder that is God.

May 20, 2014

Wow.  All I can say is Wow.  Slovenia is such an amazing place.  It's absolutely gorgeous on so many levels and it has such an interesting culture.  After Being able to see the entire city from atop the highest building and then taking a late night stroll through the city back to our hostel, one can really appreciate the beauty of the buildings and the surrounding countryside.  Just absolutely amazing.

Speaking of amazing things, such incredible coffee.  I think I'm going to end up spending all my money on coffee while I'm here.  SO MUCH GOOD COFFEE!!!!  And it's not just the coffee that's good.  All the food I've eaten on this trip has been absolutely delicious.  Every last bit of it.  FOOD!!!!!

And then there was our first interactions with Slovene students.  It was pretty cool.  Everyone we talked to today was super nice and we were able to get a look at what students think and how some of their culture works!!!  So amazing!!

And THEN there was our first Action Group.  We basically went to a coffee shop on the tallest building in the city and talked about the Bible and got to know the other girls in the group.  It was so fun to be able to dive into these other girls lives after only 3 days and be completely comfortable being able to share my life with them without fear of rejection.  It's just so amazing!!  :)

Travel Days!!

For someone who has never been on a plane before...an 8 1/2 hour trip on a plane is just terrifying.  I didn't know what to expect, and people kept freaking me out with their what to expect stories.  It was kind of funny that the people who were trying to help me just kept making things kinda weird.  It amused me.

However once on the plane things went fantastically.  I ended up by a window so I seriously got to experience all the awesome views the plane had to offer.  The sky was always so blue and the sunrise was just absolutely gorgeous. I absolutely loved seeing clouds from above and flying over the Atlantic was so massive!!!

Speaking of massive, the plane we took from Chicago to Munich was HUGE!!!! There were so many people with no space anywhere.  It was nuts.

After we landed in Munich, our trip was far from over.  We still had another 6 1/2 hours by bus to our destination.  The fantastic thing was that we got to spend 4 of those hours driving through the Alps.  THE ALPS!!!!!  It was AMAZING!!! They were so huge and much more majestic than any mountain I've ever seen in America.  But seriously.  And we drove through the mountains, literally!  We literally went through 10 or so tunnels that went from one side of a mountain to another.  My mom definitely couldn't handle that drive if she had been with us.  We would drive out of a tunnel and there would be a new sight for us to see, including Castles!

All of everything traveling just kept reminding me of how incredible God is.  The enormous mountains, the oceans, the culture and beauty of Europe.  All of this just reminds me that there is so much God has for us in this world and that we need to be reaching all the people in all the reaches of every corner of the world.  And that God put so much beauty here for us to enjoy.

Day One!

Oh my gosh!!! I can't believe it's here!!!! Slovenia Summer Project is here!!!!  I am soooo excited for everything to start.  This blog is just going to be a way for me to be able to communicate what I'm doing and how I'm feeling about everything.

So, let's get started!!!!!!

May 17, 2014
Briefing....
A long day of rules, regulations, and meeting people.  Just having to sit in my chair for 6 hours while we went over everything we were to expect out of our trip, I just kept getting antsy and excited for the coming weeks.  However, ending the day with relaxing fun games to get to know other people was great!!!