Moments of the Heart : 2015

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Pictures from September 12th

Rebekah my wonderful roommate and friend and I

Votive church

Inside Votive church

The ceilings in the Votive church were very large.

Mrs. Ellison, Emma #1, and I inside the Votive church

Program for the festival

The awesome sign at the flea market! :)

Rebekah hiding between scarves, ha ha!

Our choir in the program for the 13th

Emma #1, Kira, and I inside the concert hall

Inside the concert hall

One of the very large choirs performing for the festival

Some of the ladies at the Austrian restaurant

Kira and Sariah at dinner.

(Left to right) Emma #2, Abby, me, Sariah, Kira, and Emma #1 the morning of the 12th

(Left to right) Kira, Abby, Sariah, and Mrs. Ellison in the train to the Votive church.

Septemebr 12th singing in the Votive church and going to the flea market.

The morning of the 12^th I got up super early, got ready, read my special “love note” from my parents, had a fun special Skype time with my family, ate breakfast, had a wonderful practice time, did devotionals, prayed, and went on our way to the Votive church for the first day of the festival. It was so tall and large like the other cathedrals and it was so beautiful inside. It was hard to believe that our choir was about to sing in there!

The other choirs and orchestras sang or played before us. Our choir sang Amazing Grace second to last. All of the other choirs had maybe 30-50 people in it compared to our choir which only has 15 people in it. So we looked like a very miniature choir compared to them, which was fine. They all did a great job!

When we all got there I felt like Abba (Father) gave me shalom (peace) and I felt His light shining upon my head. When we opened up our mouths and sang, I felt like a choir of angels. When we started singing you could hear your voice go out and then come back and bounce back to you; it was amazing! You would be able to hear a pin drop. I am so overwhelmed that we had the opportunity to be able to sing in this beautiful church. We were singing about God’s love and His word in this amazing church across the world to people from all over the world. This was just an incredible experience. I am so thankful for that wonderful opportunity . Mrs. Auliee had come to support us and she brought her other son Max. Mrs. Auliee said she was very proud of us, which was good to hear, since she had helped prepare us when she came to Colorado. We praise Father for all He did to prepare us and arrange for us to be here in Vienna. I was very thankful to be able to sing in the beautiful Votive church.

After singing in the beautiful Votive church we all headed back to the hotel to change. We then headed to the flea market. I wasn’t very happy that we went out to shop on Shabbat (Shabbat is Sabbath on Saturday.) The flea market was PACKED!!! I knew it was going to be busy, but I didn’t think that it was going to be this busy. We went during lunch time so we each went to different food stands. Kira and I headed over to a Mediterranean food stand. I bought this really tasty falafel, pita sandwich. It was the best Mediterranean food that I have ever tasted. The sauce from the sandwich kept dripping from the sandwich so I was kind of leaving a “trail,” but not on purpose. Kira kept saying, “Oh, Kaila’s been here.” It was really funny. We went by this funny sign that said, “*No wi fi. *Talk to each other! *Call your mom! *Pretend its 1993! Live!” It was great.

After finishing our lunches, we headed over to a near by scarf shop. These scarves were all made out of high quality fabric. Some were made out of silk and they were only selling them for $5 dollars. I bought several scarves but after returning home, I wish I had bought more. We all split up into different groups afterwards and went our different ways. Mrs. Ellison, Emma #1 and I went to a souvenir shop. I bought some things there and then headed over to a tea shop nearby. We visited food shops and an antique store. I love antique, vintage things, especially antique cameras. I wanted to buy an old camera but I didn’t have enough space in my suitcase….or money! We stopped at one more place called the Billa. It is their local grocery store.

Our choir headed back to the hotel, changed, and got ready to head over to the concert hall. We walked over to the hall, which was only five blocks from our hotel. We wanted to support the other choirs and orchestras. They were all very talented and did a very nice job. We watched them for three hours. I was very glad that we had the chance to support the other groups in the music festival and I looked forward to perform the next night. All of the people performing in the festival were from Italy, Norway, Finland, Poland, Czech Republic, Macedonia, USA (our choir), and Slovenia. After their performance we headed over to a traditional Austrian restaurant very close to our hotel. We all had such a fun time! They had a lot of pork there, which I was afraid of, since I don’t eat pork… so I had the chicken instead. It was huge but very tasty. It was a lot easier not eating pork than I thought it was going to be, thank the Lord!

Youtube video for "Vienna missions trip serving the Refuges. "

This is the YouTube video that my choir director made about the day that we served for the refuges. I hope you enjoy and I suggest maybe having some tissues near by, ha ha! Enjoy!

If you would like to see more Choirfire videos or our choir singing Amazing Grace check out Claudia Porter's YouTube channel.

September 11th pictures

All of the carts of water at the train station for the refuges

Bread rolls that Emma #1 took from our hotel to hand out to the refuges

Where you sign in at the train station.

Us girls taking a short break at the train station raising money for the refuges.

Mrs. Porter, Lina (our translater) Kale, and Jackson. Jackson is holding the box that people would put their money into for the refuges.

This was a memorial in the center of town for all the people that died from the Plague that hit in 1679 killing between 75,000 and 150,000 residents of Vienna.

The center of town in Vienna

The St. Peters Cathedral

In side of St. Peters

The Judenplatz Holocaust memorial.

The memorial

Emma #1 and I

Description for the memorial

This was the description for the memorial in Hebrew. It says, "In commemoration of more than 65,000 Austrian Jews who were killed by the Nazis between 1938 and 1945."

Emma #1, Abby, Kira, Sariah, and I.

Kira and I with our Gelato.

Back of Hofburg Palace, it was much larger and longer than this picture.

Some of the side of the Hofburg Palace.

Lovely horse drawn carriage

Front of the Hofburg Palace,

A statue at the palace. The sun was just setting so the lighting was perfect!

Our choir at dinner in the hotel

My dinner on the night of the 11th. It was soup, salad, chicken, and a bread dumpling.

September 11th 2nd day of serving refuges

September 11^th, 2015

We did the usual that morning-- got ready, had breakfast, I Skyped with my family, and we had devotionals and worship. One thing I have loved doing when I get up in the morning on the trip was Skype with my family. It was great to see their faces, hear their voices, and catch them up on life over in Vienna.

At devotionals that morning Mrs. Porter felt led to go back to the train station to sing to the refugees again. After we all heard this some people decided to give them some of their clothing. Mrs. Porter encouraged us to give out our Choir scarves, which we were during our street and “lead by the spirit, impromptu” performances. I gave all of the five bags of food that my mom had packed for me to take care of my snack needs. Emma #1 gave a whole bag- (maybe 30) bread roll from the hotel.

When we arrived at the train station that day, a lady lead us to a donation area outside. I donated all of the bags of food. Some people gave them the clothes, and Emma gave up the bread rolls. Mrs. Porter got a name tag authorizing us to collect donations and the people at the donation area gave us a translater for the day named Lina. While our group was waiting outside to see what we were to do next, I had noticed six grocery carts full of water bottles, six seven foot high bins full of food, and 1 large bin full of blankets. It was encouraging to know that many people in Vienna were stepping forward unexpectedly and giving up unwanted items, donated food, and giving their time to help with the refugees there.

After we were ready to go, our group headed down to the lower part of the train station where arriving and departure trains were. We thought it might be a good idea to raise more money and sing where the flow of people was. There were a TON of people passing by to go to work or school. We immediately started raising money when we opened our mouths. Lina even sang with us, which was fun. There was a man selling newspapers near by. He came over and gave us all of the money that he had earned that morning. That money could’ve paid for his next meal or to pay his bills, instead, he gave it up to help the refugees.

There were a lot of people that stopped to watch and donate. There was one lady who burst into tears when she heard us singing Amazing Grace. Mrs. Ellison went over to see what the matter was. The lady had told her that her father had died last week and they sang Amazing Grace at his funeral. It just really touched her heart. You never can judge someone by how they act, talk, or look. You never know people’s stories. They could possibly be going through cancer, a death of a family member or friend, going through bullying, or even having a rough day at work or school. We can be a light of Christ and friend to anyone. We can be the ones that give them hope, joy, love, or even some sunshine. We have to make sure that we do not judge people on the outside. Love them no matter what, because that is what Yeshua (Jesus) did. WWJD. (What would Jesus do?)

*Side track for a moment* On the 8^th when we were singing Emma #2’s grandmother was handing out our choir fire cards that said in German, “ We’re a Christian choir from USA. We’re here to share the news of Jesus. Have a great day. God Bless.” When she was handing these out she met a man from Israel that was begging her to get our choir to come and sing to the people in Israel. How cool is that?!?! That would be a dream come true if we did that someday.

We sang for three hours straight again that day and Jackson and Kale raised $800 dollars! For these two days of singing in the train station, our choir has raised $1,200 dollars for the refugees! After singing for a while, we headed upstairs where most of the refugees were. The first part that we went to, they had 50 buses lined up ready to unload the full buses of people but there wasn’t any room at the train station. They couldn’t unload them until they cleared up more room in the station. I felt so bad for the people waiting to get off those buses. We were going to sing to the people on the buses but there wasn’t enough room for them to unload. What must have been going through their minds?

We went back over to the place where we were yesterday and we stood for two hours today. Our voices were very soar, but God gave us strength. While we were singing, three drunk people came up and asked us to sing certain songs. They were trying to sing with us and danced in front of us. I got really nervous and scared that they might do something. I kept telling myself though, that God has a plan and a purpose for everything. I also kept saying to myself that there were police men near by and God was by our side. It was really hard to try not to be nervous and to put my trust in Him, but He gave me strength.

We all wanted to go back to the children’s center, so we did. I tried coloring with a little girl, like I did yesterday, but the little girl just shook her finger at me and kept shaking her head no. So, I blew bubbles for the children instead and they all really enjoyed the bubbles. There weren’t as many children as the day before, which was good. There were a couple of boys and girls that were there the day before and on the 11^th which was so sad to see. It was hard to know that some of these families possibly didn’t catch a train to their destination. Since Mrs. Porter felt led to let our choir hand out our choir scarves, I gave mine to a little Arabic girl and her Arabic mother.

At the train station that day I didn’t feel like it was as empowering day as it was yesterday. However, but I am still very thankful that we were able to go, raise all that money, sing, give our scarves, and preach the news of Yeshua (Jesus.)

We headed back to the hotel after another long day at the train station. Some people stayed back at the hotel to rest but Mrs. Porter, Mrs. Nelson, Mrs. Ellison, Kira, Abby, Emma, Sariah, Kale, and I all wanted to keep exploring. We all left and went to the St. Peter’s Cathedral. In Vienna, they call it a hidden cathedral because it isn’t as tall like the other cathedrals and it is in between two buildings. It had a beautiful green roof and the lovely sound of bells were ringing because the bells were letting people know that the mass service was starting soon.

Even though none of us are catholic you can still go inside to see the cathedral. It was beautiful when you walk in because they had lovely paintings of stories from the Bible on the ceiling that looked like Michael Angelo paintings. There was amazing stain glass windows all around the cathedral. I think I liked St. Stephen’s Cathedral the best, but this cathedral was still really beautiful and amazing.

After going into the cathedral we walked around the corner to the Judenplatz Holocaust Memorial. If you have seen ‘Women in Gold’ you would of seen the Judenplatz. I was really wanting to go and visit this memorial, and I am really glad that we were able to go. When we walked around the corner I had tears that started coming down my face. The memorial was in a box shape --the Austrian’s call it a cube-- and there were 65,000 books that were made out of clay all around the “cube.” These books represented the 65,000 Jewish Austrians who were killed during the Holocaust. I got so emotional seeing this memorial seeing and knowing that that many Jews were tortured and killed. All around the cube were the 15 names of Nazis Concentration camps that those poor Jewish people had to be dragged off to and killed. In the front part of the memorial they had German, English, and Hebrew writing. In each of the languages it said, “In commemoration of more than 65,000 Austrian Jews who were killed by the Nazis between 1938 and 1945.” I was able to read some of the Hebrew, but I mostly read from the English one. I went around the whole box and took pictures of each of the Nazis concentration camp names. It just hurt me so much to know that that many people that we love and support were killed for their belief. Seeing this memorial it really made me think about the past, the present, and the future. It also made me grateful for my life. I am so glad and thankful that we had the opportunity to be able to go to the memorial.

He headed around another corner and there was a Gelato shop. Kira, Abby, and I wanted to get some; so we did. On this trip I’ve been trying to try some new unique Austrian foods. I got some gelato that was called Stracciatella. I first didn’t know what it was, but as I start tasting it more it tasted like one of my favorite ice-cream flavors: cookies n’ cream. It was really tasty.

Straight down the street we could see the Hofburg Palace, so we decided to go and see the Palace. This palace was so long and large! I couldn’t believe that this was the former Queen’s winter palace. There were horse drawn carriages everywhere, which made this experience feel more authentic. We didn’t have enough time to tour inside but the outside was still very beautiful.

We headed back to the hotel and the lobby was packed because all of the other orchestras and choirs were arriving for the festival. At dinner we didn’t have the dining room all to ourselves. Instead, it was packed with so many international musicians. Our choir was pretty much the only group that spoke English. The other groups spoke English but it was very broken up. At dinner I had beef soup, chicken, a bread dumpling, salad, and a special Austrian cake. It was all very tasty. We finished the night with stories and praying. At our devotional time that night, Mrs. Ellison had told our group that she didn’t really think this was really going to be a missions trip but when she saw us serving to the refugees and the light that we shone, she instantly knew that we were there for a purpose. I Skyped with my family, and some of us were tired but we wanted to just relax so we watched the Book Thief.

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Why I don't celebrate Halloween...

October 29, 2015 Why I don’t celebrate Halloween.

As fall is finally here, many things come to mind for the season. The beauty of the falling colorful leaves, changing colors, pumpkins, warm fires, and nice smells. For a lot of people Halloween comes to mind. For my family and me Halloween will pass by in a couple of days and we will have nothing to do with it. People always ask me, “Why don’t you celebrate Halloween?” You also may be thinking, “what’s the problem with a little candy and dressing up in costumes?” So many people think this is a harmless holiday on October 31st and some people think, “Oh, I’m not doing anything bad. I’m just dressing up and getting free candy.”

My parents decided to stop celebrating Halloween years before I was born. They didn’t want their children participating in a dark Holiday practically celebrating the devil and death. Everywhere you walk at this time of year there are caskets in people’s front yards, large spiders, witches, Frankenstein, mummies etc. My parents started a tradition with my older siblings before I was born and we continue to do it every year. Our family picks out our own candy, spends a night in a hotel, we usually go swimming, play games, and watch a movie. We try to keep our minds focused on Yeshua (Jesus) and happiness instead of dark, death, and the devil. We look forward to our fall family get away.

I have been reading on this topic of not celebrating Halloween and I have found a TON of things that I have never known before. The information that I am about to share is from several sources. Thank you to these wise women who are wiling to speak candidly, by going against the culture…even among Christians. One writer is a stay-at-home mom, Christian blogger and from her blog, ‘Raisingsoldiers4christ.com. She writes in her blog, ‘Why we don’t participate in Halloween’ “Why is it ok one day a year to dip into the dark side? To scare small children? To be in or place a casket in your yard? If these behaviors can’t be done every other day of the year why this one day? I am sure that most people who send their children out Trick or Treating, are not trying to get in touch with their dark side. However, one cannot escape the fact of what Halloween is, it’s roots, and what it stands for. The Bible tells us to stay away from all forms of darkness. It tells us to think on what is good and pure and lovely. We can’t be on both sides of the fence. Halloween does not match up to Philippians 4:8 or 1 Thessalonians 5:22.”

Albert Mohler, an American theologican wrote an article last year that really sums up many thoughts that people may have on this subject “ While affirming that make-believe and imagination are part and parcel of God’s gift of imagination. Christians should still be very concerned about the focus of that imagination and creativity… Christian parents should make careful decisions based on biblically informed Christian conscience. Some Halloween practices are clearly out of bounds, others may be strategically transformed, but this takes hard work and may meet with mixed success. The coming of Halloween is a good time for Christians to remember that evil spirits are real and that the devil will size every opportunity to trumpet his own celebrity. Martin Luther commented: “ The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to tests of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him for he cannot bear scorn.” Lets put the dark side on the defensive.”

My dad shared with me the other day when I brought this topic up with him that he heard something recently, “ We’re always telling our children not to except candy from strangers and not to walk up to people they don’t know and yet on October 31st we tell our children to go up to complete strangers and except candy from them. What is wrong with this picture?”

My other resource is from heartofwisdom.com from Robin Sampson. “God and His Word are referred to as light. Halloween is in darkness and mischief, and false parading about under disguise, often evil and scary costumes. Halloween is not just a time for cornstalks, pumpkins, apples and cute and not-so-cute costumes. There is much, much more. Our God is a jealous God demanding exclusive devotion (Exodus 20:5.) Do you think He cares if you encourage your children to partake in a holiday that honors Satan, the god of this world?

Halloween’s History: Halloween’s roots come from the ancient Colts, a tribe living about 2,000 years ago in the areas that are now Ireland, Great Britain, and northern France. Halloween was their main holiday a festival that honored the end of the harvest. The celebration marked the season of cold, decay, and darkness. The custom of wearing costume and masks, was an attempt to copy the spirits or placate them.

Yearbook of English Festival by Dorothy Gladys Spicer says:

“ All Halloween, with its tradition of witches, ghosts, hobgoblins and spirits, its games and incantation, still is a gay time for pranks and parties in many North country homes. Fun-loving Americans have borrowed from their British ancestors many Halloween games such as apple-bobbing, nut roasting and tossing of apple parings. Transplanted to the New World soil, the old practices have become revitalized, and currently are observed with more enthusiasm than in the country of their birth…

Halloween in the United States: Because of Christianity among so many of the Puritan settlers, Halloween celebrations were not celebrated until the 1800’s when several immigrants from Ireland and Scotland introduced their Halloween customs. They brought various beliefs about ghosts and witches with them. Other groups added their own cultural influences to Halloween customs. German immigrants brought a vivid witchcraft lore, and Haitian and African peoples brought their native voodoo beliefs about black cats, fire, and witchcraft. All Saints Day, a day the seventh century church set aside for remembering early Christians who died for their beliefs, was first celebrated in the month of May. By the year 900 the date was combined with the pagan rituals to be celebrated November 1. Another name for All Saints Day was All Hallows. October 31 was known as All Hallows Eve which was shortened to Halloween. The church made a grave mistake trying to combine pagan worship with Christianity. This is not scriptural! Because of that unwise decision, Halloween remains a holiday in America today. Scriptures warn us that the sins of the fathers are visited upon the third and fourth generations. This pagan belief, even celebrated by Christian churches, celebrates the union of gods and a goddess in the universe that supposedly control the seasons, bring fertility to crops and animals, and bestow magical powers on their followers.

What does the Bible say about celebrating Halloween: Although the Bible doesn’t specifically mention Halloween by name, it makes it very clear that the origins and practices of Halloween (adapting pagan customs or borrowing the ways of those who worship a false god and using them to worship the true God) are detestable to God. Deuteronomy 12:29-32. The Bible clearly teaches us to say “no” to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age. Ephesians 5:1 tells us to be imitators of God. Our Lord Jesus would not go to a party to honor the feast of the Samhain. Moses did not come down from Mount Sinai and combine the Israelites Passover holiday with the idol worship that was going on. Allowing children to dress as witches and sorcerers or hanging evil decorations in our windows is imitating that which is evil.

Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people. Therefore Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.

The verse says, “come out from among them, says the Lord.” Does that mean come out from among them–but don’t deprive your children from all that fun and candy — celebrate the same pagan ritual in your church building? The Bible is very clear about Christians being involved in such celebrations.

Halloween is more than childish fun. Witches have eight special holidays during the year. Halloween is their day above all days. Witchcraft is not child’s play. It is an abomination to the Lord. Johanna Michaleson, former occultist and author of The Beautiful Side of Evil said, “For a true Christian to participate in the ancient trappings of Halloween is as incongruous as for a committed Satanist coming from blood sacrifices on Christmas Eve to set up a nativity scene in his living room singing Silent Night, Holy Night with sincere devotion to baby Jesus!” One thing Halloween should not be for the Christian is a time of fear. It should be a time to rejoice in the fact that The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8). This is a time of spiritual warfare. October 31 should be spent in prayer for the community and children; a time of worship by singing praise to the Lord. This can be a good time to teach our children to sacrifice by not sharing in the rituals because you love the Lord. Whatever your family decides to do on this day, ask yourself, “Does it glorify the Lord?”

…they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons. Leviticus 17:7.

I know this is a lot of information about this ungodly holiday on October 31st, but I hope that it will open your eyes and give you a new perspective on the subject. My biggest concern is that Christians have accepted this holiday without questioning it, and asking whether they should take part, even with less scary activities. Thank you for stopping by and reading my thoughts and many other people thoughts on this. Feel free to comment down below on what you think about Halloween. I hope you have a blessed day.

With Love,

Kaila