A little about Sweden

100 years ago Sweden was noted for it's extremely high percentage of people who regularly attended church and professed Biblical Christianity. Now, just a century removed, less than 5% of the country attends church, and even fewer than that (somewhere in the 1 % range) profess Christianity. It is indeed a spiritually desolate place.

Sweden's universities are the clearest indicator of the change that has taken place. Where a belief in the triune God was once preached, a secular humanist dogma of human autonomy is now presented. Once a very important nation in terms of sending missionaries around the world, it is now a country that is very apathetic to having a realtionship with God. This has left Swedish students grasping for something that will serve as an anchor in the tide of popular culture.

Despite being one of the most educated and wealthy countries on the planet; with 99% literacy and a per capita GDP of more than 20,000 US dollars; Sweden is full of students who have no hope beyond this life. They have believed the lie that all thye have to hope in is their own ability, and their own riches, and it has led them into a spiritual cul-de-sac. They are ready to hear the gospel, the good news that Jesus came to save people who can't save themselves.

While in Sweden, we desire to build relationships with the Swedish college students so they may know the true freedom that comes from knowing Christ.

Look at that Pant!

This is hilarious...

Look at that Pant

While your at it, check this one out. It's so true...

What to Eat?

Sweden Update

I realized this blog was started to keep everyone updated on my Summer Project process and I want to take some time to do that.

As of yesterday, I sent off about 95% of my support letters. That was a huge weight of my shoulders to have those in the mail. Now I am working on getting my last few addresses and sending out those letters. More importantly, I am praying and trusting the Lord to provide the finances neccessary for me to go to Uppsala this summer.

Also, I am in the process of reading and researching. I am learning about the culture and lifestyle of Sweden. I am fixing to start Questioning Evangelism by Randy Newman today.

Prayer Requests:

That I would continue trusting in the Lord to provide the finances neccessary for me to go to Sweden.
That my heart would continue to develop for the people of Uppsala.
That I would find enough time to prepare for Summer Project - reading books, spending time in prayer for Sweden, etc.
That my family would be supportive and understanding.

Finally, if you or someone you know would like to support me in going to Sweden, please send me yours or their name and address to georgina.mclawhorn@gmail.com

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

I LOVE New York!

So, it's been a while since I've been able to blog. School has gotten crazy busy and it's only going to continue to get crazier until the end of the semester.

I had the opportunity to head to New York City for Spring Break with Campus Crusade for Christ. Our purpose was to help the Brooklyn STINT team out by meeting students on college campuses and making contacts. We went out and used Soularium (mysoularium.com) and Quest surveys as a way to initiate conversations. Soularium is a set of 50 pictures that are useful in creating spiritual dialogue. I was fortunate enough to help lead a girl I met, Sarah from Pratt Institute, to pray to receive Christ. It was so encouraging to hear how the Lord is at work in New York City through the testimonies of other student's conversations.

I am now in LOVE with New York City. I had so many misconceptions about the city and the people that live there. Everyone I met was so nice and so eager to talk to us. One day in Brooklyn, my group grabbed lunch at McDonald's and it was crazy busy, barely enough room to move around. Everyone inside was constantly saying "Excuse me, thank you, pardon me".

After nine hours in a Ford Focus with four other people (Sam, Brandon, Emily, & Avis), we finally arrive in NYC at our hostel. Driving into the city was SO stressful. There are no lanes and everyone is cutting each other off and horns are blaring everywhere. We got settled into our rooms and went downstairs to hang out in the basement where they had a pool table and couches. We had a brief meeting and pizza then our group took our first adventure on the subway towards Times Square. Times Square was lit up and so pretty. We took pictures and went to the M&M store and the Hershey store.


Sunday we spent the day at the Space for briefing and evangelism training. Monday was supposed to be our first day on campus, but we got a lot of snow the night before and public schools were cancelled for the first time since 1996, so our free day was moved from Wednesday to Monday. We decided to head to Brooklyn where we crossed the Brooklyn Bridge. It was freezing but an amazing experience!! We also went to the tip of Manhatten to look at the Statue of Liberty. Next, we went to the Empire State Building. We were able to go inside and tour some of the ESB because CCC owns a college, The King's College, and it meets in the ESB. It was so cool. I felt like I was in Harry Potter, the college had a house system with points and a common room. Plus it was really cool to see the classes and stuff. For dinner, we went to Tom's Restuarant (the restuarant from Seinfeld). The food was pretty good too!



Thursday we went to Top of the Rock. I took me all week to figure out what the heck Top of the Rock was. It was really cool to get an entire view of the city. We got to take lots of pictures. Here's one of Central Park.

The rest of the week was spent on campus initiating conversations with students on college campuses. It's amazing to see what the Lord is doing in NYC and I can't wait to go back!

Happy Valentine's Day!

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit - fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other."

John 15:9-17

HOTLANTA!!!

God's calling is a place where deep gladness and the word's deep hunger meet.

This weekend I was able to be apart of Preview Weekend with Campus Crusade for Christ. This was a weekend for students who are considering joining staff, interning, or going on STINT after graduation.

It started out by leaving Friday afternoon and driving six hours to Atlanta, Georgia. I traveled with Emily, Avis, and Aya. When we arrived we received our room keys and went and settled into our rooms. We met up with the guys (Mark, Brandon, Sam, and John) and went to the first seminar. The theme of the entire weekend was centered around Discovering our Calling and informing us of the opportunities offered by CCC. It was a great weekend to really think hard about my future. I've juggled with the idea of interning after graduation for about a year now, but have really been thinking hard about my future the past two months and this trip came at just the right time.

The staff at the conference were really able to answer questions that I had about joining staff after graduation. They discussed what it's like to raise support, what it looks like working with Crusade, how to talk to and tell your parents about joining staff, what are the benefits with working with Crusade, and what other areas of Crusade are there besides working on a campus.

Besides all of the seminars, it was amazing being able to spend a weekend in Atlanta! It was the first time I had ever been there, and it was crazy for my small town mind! For starters there were like eight lanes and my fellow passengers were oohing and aahing at all the sites that I am unable to see because I am trying to keep us alive and well. :) Friday night Brandon, Sam, and I taught Emily how to play spades and she did a great job! She was my partner and we beat Sam and Brandon. Saturday we were given a free afternoon. We were able to park at Underground Atlanta and walk like two miles to the Coke factory. Being the Pepsi drinker that I am, I can't say that the Coke factory was very exciting. Actually it wasn't exciting at all seeing that I had an anxiety attack after being there about forty-five minutes, yea, no fun. That subsided after getting out of the crowd. I will say the tasting room was pretty nifty. They had 64 different flavors of Coke that you could try. If you ever go there, make sure you try Beverly from Italy. After the session Saturday night, we were all pretty exhausted so we crashed and went to bed early.

Here are a few pics from Hotlanta!

The Varsity. World's LargestDrive-In Restaurant

The Underground Atlanta Parking

View of the City
Avis and the boys!