The trip with Al

Hi again. Yesterday, we left Franz Glacier and took a bus to Greymouth to meet Al. First, we met an englishman named Carl who was our age and who became great friends with us. He was also staying at the glow worm and was headed to Greymouth. so, we chatted the whole bus ride and he told us how he too is a "doctor", or PhD, shall i say. he has his phD in microelectronics. he showed me all of his video on his camera and it looks like he's hit the adventure scene here by swinging down in canyons, etc. the coincidental thing about carl is that he is possibly going to move to Austin, TX from England. considering that both julie and i are from Austin, he was in the right company for getting information.

at greymouth, we switched over to Al's bus. it was truly nice of him to take us back. it was just the three of us heading to Christchurch. i knew where the conversation was headed and julie and i were just waiting. al had already brought up our faith and how we seemed different from other backpackers and i had a feeling the conversation was headed back that way. it did. i was glad. he asked us a lot of questions about being a Christian and why we "believe." he wanted to know if it was about "fear" or "reward." no, to both. i tried explaining basically from the beginning and he was really open and a considerate listener. he was raised in a Christian home but became agnostic later. he is actually 25 y.o. now. at some points, i would stop talking and he would ask for me to go on. the mission trip was definitely not over! i was thankful for the opportunity to share about who I am and what I believe, considering miracles have happened for a major reason like this. i truly see Al one day as a youth minister. he has the passion for younger people in him, he just needs to get back on track. after we finished talking, i asked what he was thinking and he said he was stunned. why, i asked. he said b/c he was stunned at how passionate we were about believing in the Lord and how we wouldn't waver. he was also shocked b/c this was not the typical scene he'd expect christians to be doing. i asked what he meant and he referred to the scene of tourism and how tourism can lead to debauchery. hmm. i agree i have seen it for sure, but i don't view the way i travel like that. we were showing him that it is possible to defy stereotypes. he said i have defied every stereotype he can think of. good, maybe that should be my life motto! :) anyway, we had the option of doing what Carl was doing which was taking the Alpine train through the scenic ride through the mountains. we chose not to, because we knew we were supposed to ride with Al. i'm so thankful for that ride and we told him we are going to pray that God reveals Himself to Him. julie is going to pray that it's through a dream. will you join us in praying for Al? it's short for Allen. he is an awesome guy and i know he will turn around with a bit more time and prayer. the interesting thing is that he must have found credit to what we were saying b/c he wants us to talk to other Kiwi Experience drivers. i asked him why and he said b/c one guy was a strong Christian but slipped into the corruption of tourism, as he puts it. wow! sure we'll talk to him. i can see how someone can slip in tourism, but we know that it's totally possible not to as well.