CURRENT MISSION

i'm addicted to people

ABOUT ME

I love people. Pretty much my only hobby is travel. It's so much fun for me to plant myself in culture and context I'm totally unfamiliar with and to just dive in. I was just in the middle east and I spent 5 nights in Jerusalem. One night I went out and met some Muslim college students and hung out and had coffee. A couple nights later I met a Jewish bartender and his friend and hung out all night and I introduced them to Irish carbombs. On the plan ride home I sat next to a 30-something guy who was going to Denver on business and we talked and laughed and I told him about some of the awesome places to go in Denver. Looking back, I just love people. I love meeting new people (there's no greater rush) and I love how some pretty huge barriers (as huge as, say, the Israeli / Palestinian conflict) are really broken when you simply take an opportunity to get to know someone. There will always be prejudice against groups of people because of the "us/them" mentality. But when you start meeting people--whether Muslim or Jew, man or woman, friendly or angry--you can't stay prejudiced against peopel when you get to know them.

PHILOSOPHY

I think that ina lot of ways I'm a paradox. Let me give you an idea of what I mean. I'm a 27 year old (though I know I look like I'm 18...I get carded EVERYWHERE) and I live in Colorado. I'm a pastor of an awesome church comprised of a lot of people from every age group. We've got lots of elderly people and middle-aged people and young families and 20 somethings and tons of kids and youth. I love my church and can't believe I'm a pastor at such an awesome place! I really love it. I love that my job allows me to serve the elderly (that's really enriching for me personally). I also love that I am priveleged to stand by people through all the different stuff going on in their lives. I've done several funerals and I've prayed with countless people in the hospital. I've held newborn babies and I've held sobbing teenagers. I've taught a lot about the Bible and I've learned SO MUCH about God. There's so much left to learn. I love my job.

At the same tiem, I almost hesitated to mention that I'm a pastor. I'm an evangelical pastor and I know that there's a lot of stigma against people in my line of work sometimes...in fact, I OFTEN see or hear comments from other pastors and get so upset. I hate when our own political views or fears or whatever get in the way of expressing the beauty of Christ. I just really love Jesus and his teachings and I find those things often obscured by petty religious arguments.

So I hope you know that I'm a pastor and a regular person. I no one will skip over getting together because of my profession. A lot of the time when I meet new people and they find out I'm a pastor they're really surprised. I think I'd like to redefine what an evangelical is. And I hope you'll find that no matter what you believe or how you live, I'm still interested in getting to know you, hanging out, and sharing our lives.

我为什么加入 Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

With or without the help of CS I really endeavor to cultivate relationship with people no matter the barriers. I'm super interested in hanging out. I want to welcome people to my city and help them experience it. I want to meet people in other cities and experience it together. I think a lifestyle of loving people is how I participate.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I haven't had any yet! I'm brand new but I'm csing for the first time in Costa Rica this month and I can't wait.

兴趣

I'm into travel of course. I love different cultures and people. I LOVE food and I have the strongest stomach on earth. I've eaten a ton of weird stuff (like grubs in Peru and raw beef in Ethiopia) and I love to try new exotic foods. I also love the reading and watching movies. I'm into philosophy and spiritual life. I read through the Bible a couple times a year and I've also read a ton of religious writings from lots of different religions (Islam, LDS, Buddhism, etc).

• arts
• culture
• beauty
• dining
• coffee
• movies
• reading
• traveling
• socializing
• christian
• muslim
• buddhist
• jewish
• business
• divinity
• religion
• volunteering
• mountains

音乐、电影和书籍

I love Donald Miller and especially his book Blue Like Jazz (non-religious thougths on Christian spirituality). I've been reading a lot of books about leadership lately because I really want to be a good leader (not just a good manager). Also, I love reading new fiction. I go to the Tattered Cover in Denver all the time to see what the employees there are recommending and I've come across a ton of great books. If you're English or you've done some travel in England and France, you'd LOVE the Stephen Clark series starting with A Year in the Merde. I've read a little philosophy, a ton of theology, a bunch of psychology and leadership stuff. I've read many of the classics and I'd love to complete the whole great books list. I cried really hard when I read The Kite Runner--I mean like full on tears and hard breathing and wimpering--and I was sitting inbetween two businessmen on a flight to London. That was embarrasing.

I love movies. I love indies and foreign films. I go to the movies only like a couple times a month and, to be honest, I'm usually disappointed. Some of my friends tell me that I hate every movie BUT I don't! I love movies. I just have really high expectations. On the bright side, when I see a movie I love, I REALLY love it. I thought Slumdog was incredible. So I Married an Ax Murderer is one of my favorites and I also watch About a Boy, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Dumb and Dumber, and Tommy Boy a lot.

As for music, I basically get a man crush on one band at a time. I listened to Coldplay nonstop for a few years. I love Mutemath and Copeland and Hillsong United. When I was younger I followed Five Iron Frenzy and MXPX.

我做过的一件不可思议的事情

One of my greatest experiences in life was volunteering at an orphanage in Ethiopia a few years back. I took a team of 20 teenagers from my youth group and we served in an orphanage in the mountains there for two weeks and it was a seriously transformational experience. I've done work in orphanages all over the world, but this one was different. There were 150 boys in the orphanage and it was the happiest, healthiest orphanage I've ever seen. Most of the boys' parents died from starvation. A lot of them were AIDS orphans. Spending the time there playing with them and teaching English and praying for them was priceless. I've been back to Ethiopia a few times since then and I've become close friends with a guy there who was on the board of the orphanage. People who give their lives wholly to serve other people really inspire me.

教，学，和分享

I can definitely teach about Christianity, Christian theology, how to study the Bible, that sort of thing. I could also teach about how to mentor people / get mentored. I think mentorship is an art that's getting lost. I can offer guidance about frequent flyer miles and some of my travel tips--and I'd love to learn from other peoples experiences too. I'm a coffee lover and I'd love to hear about tastings and the best coffees and stuff like that.

我游览过的国家

Albania, Austria, Canada, Costa Rica, Croatia, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Palestine, Panama, Peru, Poland, Russian Federation, Singapore, Slovenia, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State

我居住过的国家

United States

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