the world is a strange strange place.....

well hello people. Ive become quite the traveller, right now im in england seeing the sights and hanging out with the team from bradford. Traveling around london is a real shock after being in Jokkmokk for so long. Its quite fast paced, and its got me thinking how much ive enjoyed being a nice slow paced area. Peaceful with time and places to be by yourself. We get nearer and nearer to going home, there are times when we wont talk about it because its to hard to think about and other times we cant seem to stop talking about it. Anyway a schedule update. we get back from england on the 2nd of july then we are at the lappis convention (kinda like convention back home) till the fifth. Then we are in jokkmokk till the 13th then we helping at a camp till that friday. then we are in jokkmokk till we go home. I know this isnt the most exciting entry but i thought i should write.

Singing freedom is where you think it is

So i know its been awhile for the sweden team to write in there blogs and my mother is rather persistent in telling me i should write here more often so this is my effort. The team is good, the weather is nicer then it was in the winter but mostly its been cloudy and rainy. We are getting use to the fact that schools over this week and yet we wont be here when it starts up again. Im alittle heart broken to leave though i miss home often. Yesterday i drove my friend magda and her band to volurim which is a town about 45 mins away from jokkmokk to play a gig. Afterwards we stopped at the gas station and a guy with a really big back pack came up to us and asked if we spoke english. Well the short version is we picked up a hitchhiker hahaha. Nice guy from belgium name of bart and he s my age so thats pretty cool. But yeah hes been traveling for ten weeks just hitchhiking around europe before he goes to college. He looked like he could use a good shower and a hot meal so i offered to let him stay at our place. Ive never seen a more grateful look on someones face. Its funny how life works because first we were going to take a small car that just fit everyone but then we got the van. Then we were going to stop for gas but then decided not to but magda wanted to stop and get food. Just alot of things worked out in a funny way. i spent most of yesterday just hanging out with friends walking around and talking. It was just so nice and more so now that the sun never goes down. Im excited to go back home but im sad to leave all the friends we made here. But such is life i guess. Anyway we are going to england the end of this month for vacation so yeah. Hope your day is filled with joy and good company wherever you may be reading this from,
Blessings,
Samuel

Things we dont see

Well the other day i went with alyssa to murjek to pick up her grand parents. We left around six thirty got there at seven then waited for the train scheduled to come it at 7 35. Turns out there was a train accident somewhere and all the trains were stopped so they ended up bussing people around so me and alyssa sat at the bus station till eleven. It made quite an adventure but we had no major plans for the day so i didnt mind. The day before i was hanging out with my friends zacke and jennie, and me and jennie waited outside zacke's house while he went to go get something. Jennie looked at me and asked me if i believed in god and i said yes. She seemed to have a hard time with that she said that we are so normal, she thought that christians were only people who try to talk to you about god and try and convert you because thats the type of christians she said she knew. I found this rather encouraging because we are showing that christians arent boring are strange but that we have faith. We cant always see the impact we make with people. Then two nights ago i was talking to magda about how i was afraid that when i get home that it wont look like home anymore because its not how i left it. " you know i was thinking that about the other day," she said, " the longest ive been away from home is like two weeks for work for school but you voluntairly left you homes for a year to live in strange new place and help". Apperciation! it about brought a tear to my eye. This gives me hope and confidence that we are making a difference and helping.
from sweden,
Samuel J. Miller

The day Jokkmokk stood empty

Well im back from easter break and i never thought id say this about school in general but it missed school. I found out something very interesting about this town last week. The good people of Jokkmokk go to there cabins during easter break and the town empties. On friday the only thing open was the gas station. So now i ve seen Jokkmokk in two very different ways from when market was here and we went from 2000 people to 50000 people and then last week from 2000 people to about 20 people. But i have to admit it was kinda cool, gives time to just wander by yourself. Well we are now down to the final stretch in our stay here, the 16th marked 100 days till we fly into chicago. Im alittle torn because im so use to living here and ive made alot of good friends here. It will certianly be a new emtion when the day comes when we leave. The other day i called alyssa keturah (my little sister) so i can feel my homesickness grow. I m going to ask for prayer for patience with myself cause i dont like being homesick alot it takes away from my experiances here. Hope where ever you are that your all doing well and that god is blessing you in some way,
Samuel J. Miller

As far as the eye can see

Last sunday i went with a friend on a little snowmobiling adventure. The day was beautiful, sunny and warm with not a cloud in sight. We went to the top of this hill and we lit a fire and just sat around and talked. I love being out there on the top of the hill where you can see the tops of mountains all around as far as the eye can see. Its beautifully silent, where you can appericiate the beauty god bestowed to us. I ve been graced with a few moments like that here, once two days before christmas where i saw the most clear northern lights i will probably see in my life time. Green danced in the sky and everyone around the fire was quiet and just looked up to admire it. When i signed up for this program they never said it would be easy and not everything has been but moments like that make it all worth it. This sunday is easter sunday and for the first time i will be taking communion someplace other then my church. But sitting around with all the different people from all different places its a reminder that community isnt just with the people who live around us but all people in world. I hope that everyone is blessed with a safe and happy easter and I hope those of us who are away from home find that we have family in where we are now also.
In peace,
Samuel J. Miller

Whats going on

Well i dont really have much to write about so im just going to write about kinda whats happening here like weather and what not. Well the weather is getting nicer, today was about 50 out so that was really really really nice. Some of the snow is starting to melt though it did snow alittle bit for like two days. Easter break is coming up next week but im not really sure what to do but im sure ill think of something. THE SUN GOES DOWN AT 8. i never thought i would ever see that again. it is beautiful. Though sadly i am still pastey and pale but hopefully that will change and can catch up to the teams in south america though they had an unfare headstart. We are going back to stockholm in may so im really excited about that. its really nice to be in a city plus the snow will be gone down there by then. School is going ok its still kinda difficult to get some of the kids to talk but our relationships with the kids are alot more developed so we get along better i think atleast. I hope who ever and where ever your reading this your are well and happy.
Blessings,
Samuel.

socialism

To my dear readers,
To those who know me well you know that i am a ranter, thats why alyssa and bethany wont ask me questions about the vietnam war. But since i ve been gone theres been alot of talk from back home about socialism so im going to shine some light on my findings meow (here) Since i am living in one of the last socialist countries. One big thing i noticed was when i was in stockholm a few weeks ago, when you walk around you see1. H&M´s across the street from each other 2. Street muscians 3. Lots of taxi´s. This sounds like a normal big city in the states except there is no homeless on the streets at all. Its not that they moved them all out its simple there are none. Back home we live in constant fear of if we will have enough money and insurance. I wont lie im scared of getting hurt and needing sugery or something. Here theres no fear of that. Now im not saying its perfect because no government is but its nice to see people taken care of whether they have alot of money or not. Theres a feeling of peace of mind here that is wonderful. Now to bring this to a point not just a long political rant for my own amusement. I think as christians this idea of we all take care of each other is wonderful. Something to look at is the hutterites. They share everything they have, if someone needs a hammer someone has it and they let them use it because it belongs to everyone. They kinda remind me of the people in the village with out the whole scary monsters thing going for um. Please remember this is all opinion, not hard stone cold fact.
blessings,
Samuel j. Miller

Because i really dont know

well hello everybody. March is upon us in fine style here in sweden, the past few days have been sunny and in the 40´s and we can even see patches of ground! very exciting i know. Well two weeks ago we had break and my girlfriend kristen came to visit me! It was really nice to see her again and have her meet the friends ive made here, it was a good time. We went to stockholm the weekend before last, it was really nice to be in actualy city again with things open past 8 hahaha. We just kinda walk around and enjoyed ourselves. I drove kristen to the airport early monday morning, i was rather heart broken to see her go but i know i will see her again in 4 months or so. But its also made me miss home and make me look at what we are doing here. The past few days ive felt rather put off. I guess i feel like i should be doing more here, i read other blog posts from the other groups and they all seem to be doing alot all the time. We just are shifted from class to class and for the most part i feel like we are more of a fill in. After school we just go home, we dont have a youth center to help out with or touter anyone we have to keep ourselves occupied. This all perspective and i may just be alittle homesick since kristen left but i just am going to look around here for something more i can do.
-Samuel j Miller

its been awhile....

I always am unsure of what to say on these things so i do apologize once again for my lack of writing. Anyway alot has happened since my last post. We had jokkmokks market which was really cool to see all the handicraft stuff people had and all the cool sami outfits but having so many people in this town and to have alot of noise was like living in chicago again kinda so im happy to have it quiet again. I actualy just got back from english camp with the ninth graders last night. the first group was great, they praticipated and had fun and tried really hard to speak english. The second group was a bit more of a hassel. But i actualy feel alot of empathy with these kids, they seem to get no encouragement and feel ignored so they act out. I often catch glimpses into my friends lives here and often i m sadden by their sitiuation and amazed by their strength to endure and be good people. I dont think the so called trouble makers are bad kids i just dont think they really know how to get attention in a positive way. One of the kids who the teachers had worried about because he tends to be a trouble maker and doesnt speak alot of english was in my cabin, and before he left i told him i was proud of him cause i thought he did try his hardest to speak english and thanked him because he didnt give me any trouble. I wish i could describe the feeling we shared at that moment but i think we both felt respect for each other and gratitude. Even though it was slightly trying i felt my self stretched but i didnt break under aggravation. I feel like that was a moment that showed i have truly grown in some way.
may god be with you till we meet again,
Samuel J. Miller

May god be with you till we meet again...

my apoligizes for not writing for awhile but in all truth i didnt know what to write till now. Theres a song that sticks out in my mind and as i listen to it now it moves me in a great way. Christmas in the trenches by john mccutcheon, about on one christmas day in world war one when the germans and the british soliders spent one day in peace and harmony leaving there trenches and spent time as friends. So many times we all have been angry at one person or another, or judged someone for what they wear or what they say. But we may we never forget that we are people at the core. We all have seen moments of human kindness between two different types of people who dont get along. These are the things of people that show me the beauty god bestowed on people. Tonight we went to the old church for prayer service and two elderly ladies walked up to the front to light candles. They kissed each other on the cheeck and talked as they lit the candles at there own pace simply happy to see each other and to be together. As i sat in wondering fondness i could feel god in that place, like he sat next to me and watched with watery eyes as well, at the love by these two women in fellowship. I recall a lady at church telling of a birthday party for a women who had turned 90 and as she was hugging her friend good bye the women said this is what i think heaven will look like, surrounded by those i love. Compassion shines bright in everyone of every religion but if we dont take time to look we ll never see it. And i pray that we all remember that when we are angery or upset. May god bless you and keep you, may his face shine apon you and be gracious to you. The lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.Amen.
-Samuel Jacob Miller