roadie journal #2

so, my visit to seattle washington was really sweet. this was the first time i had been to the west coast and the first time i had been furter west than minnesota. it was quite a venture. first, i went alone, so there was not any company, other than my iPod. the plane ride from detroit was 4&1/2 hours, which is a long time to be on a plane, stuck in a tiny little seat. nonetheless, it was good and safe traveling.

the culture of seattle is quite different than my normal culture of the south. seattle is a "post-christian" culture. it is not normal to "go to church." most people are against any sort of organized religion, so churches and christians are often ridiculed and even hated. this is so different from the south. down here everyone has been to church before or is open to church because there's a church building on every corner. so, in seattle, the "shot in the dark" approach of evangelism (tracts, door to door, street witnessing, etc) is not effective at all. it truly requires christians to be missional in their daily lives and let people experience a relationship with someone who has been radically changed by the gospel.

as far as the nature and climate of seattle go, the evergreen trees are cool like the ones you see in paintings. there's a lot of water and boats around because of the Pugit Sound that surrounds the city. it seems like everyone has a boat. they're everywhere! it's also very mountainous with mountain ranges on every side and Mount Ranier in the distance. every day it was about 35 degrees, and it snowed while i was there too. one afternoon the bottom fell out w/snow and in 2 or three hours there were 3 inches of snow on the ground. it was sweet!

all in all, i loved seattle and the people and the culture and the nature. it was an amazing trip that will be influential for the rest of my life.