It's Not Nearly as Cold as You Would Think.

Please do forgive the delay in posting. I guess I didn’t realize how many things would be taking place all at one time. I would have preferred to let you know I was heading to Iceland before I was actually here. But now I guess it is too late for that. I now write to you from Reykjavík (I arrived early morning on January 3rd.) Yesterday was my one-week anniversary with Iceland.

Some technical information:

Reykjavík is the capital city of Iceland, though it is not a massive city. The greater Reykjavík area is home to about 200,000 people (there is somewhere around 300,000 in the entire country).


In land area, Iceland is approximately the size of Kentucky.


Temperatures? Actually it’s not that cold right now. I hear it does get cold here, but since we’ve arrived, it’s usually in the high 30’s Fahrenheit. This week they say the temperatures are dropping, but we’ll see. I saw in the newspaper yesterday that it snowed in Madrid, while we are without snow here in the much more northerly latitudes.


Another oddity is the amount of Darkness. If it’s a cloudy day there will be about five ours of light, and if it’s clear, maybe around 6 or so. Most of the time here it’s been cloudy, but it’s gradually clearing up. When it is clear, the sky seems to be in a state of constant sunset, which I find to be quite nice.



Language. Icelandic is certainly the most used language in everyday life, but most Icelanders, especially the younger generations, speak in English quite often. At least when us English speakers are present, they will switch between the two languages with ease.

After arriving here last Saturday morning, and taking advantage of scraps of time in which we could catch up on sleep, Jeong-Heon (whom I will now refer to as Koala) and I attended three different church services last Sunday. The churches were gracious enough to allow us to introduce our project, even though they met us only very briefly before their services. We didn’t by any means show the entirety of our project, but it was good to be able give a brief picture of our project and start telling people what we plan to be up to here in Iceland for the next couple weeks.

And it certainly isn’t of our own accord that Koala and I have been able to just walk into these churches to share. In planning for our time in Iceland, we have been blessed with some amazing local contacts (with whom we are now friends) who have been planning, organizing, and facilitating different venues in which to exhibit our materials. Tinna Schram, and Elizabeth Ingólfsdóttir have each taken an extensive amount of time to help Koala and I as we begin to arrange venues to share our book, photography, and experiences. They were each involved in the past with different photogenX Discipleship Training Schools in Kona, and so they’ve participated in similar photography projects and advocacy work.

(the book, for sale in Café Glætan)

(elizabeth, tinna, and koala.)

This week we started to set up different events, mostly around Reykjavík. As we have walked around town with Tinna and Elizabeth, proposing the publication and other material to different café’s, venues, and galleries, we have been surprised to see people’s openness to allow us to share our project on such short notice. Much of this tour has involved stepping forward, even when we haven’t always had scheduled events, and it is cool to see even this early on in the tour that things are still able to come together in such a manner. It is evident that the Lord is working - opening doors where we would otherwise not be capable.

(cafe rot, where much of our work gets done, thanks to stefan and the cool atmosphere.)

This last Thursday, we were able to have our first official exhibit, in a café in downtown Reykjavik, called Kaffi Hljómalind. My small advert: It is a cool place, with an entire menu of organic, fair trade coffees. They had a cool community space, in which we were able to set up an exhibit of our photography. We were also blessed with some amazingly talented musicians (there seems to be a plethora in these parts) who played music while guests came to see photos. As we announced in the café that we were having a photo exhibit towards the back of the shop, we eventually had many new acquaintances, which whom we were able to share more about the issue of human trafficking. It was beautiful to see what God is already placing on the hearts of individuals for the issues of this world, and it is a privilege to share with them something that speaks of hope.

(sharing about the book in kaffi hljómalind.)

(kristo and einar provided a wonderful musical atmosphere.)

(elizabeth's father, ingolfur.)

So, for the week to come, we have an increasingly busy schedule.

Monday it looks like we will be heading to the eastern side of these lands to small village by the name of Egilstadir, home to about 1,800 people. Tinna has contacts with a guesthouse/church in the area, so we will be sharing our project in a smaller, more personal sort of setting in the Icelandic countryside.

After we return to Reykjavik on Wednesday or so, the schedule is as follows:

15th: Thursday: Photography Exhibit in Café Rot: 8:30 – 11:30 PM
16th: Friday: Presentation at Islenska Kristkirkjan: 8:00 PM
17th: Saturday: Café Glætan: Photo Lesson+exhibit: 1:00 – 6:00 PM
18th: Sunday: Presentation in Vegurinn Church: 2:00 PM
20th: Tuesday: Exhibit at Local Youth Center: all day

It’s exciting to see what God is enabling us to be a part of for the short time that we are here in Iceland. We would value your prayers for these events, and even for the various interactions we have throughout our time here. Pray that the Lord will use this project to direct people to ways that they can actively begin seeking His Kingdom, a Kingdom marked by Faith, Hope, and Love.

We Are People But He is God

I write to you all from a drizzly and cloud covered Kona. The weather here is reminding me of home. Those of you in beautiful Washington State may already be at odds with the blustery weather conditions, but strangely enough, I often find myself missing those blustery weather conditions.

The last couple weeks, our class has spent largely focused on preparing for our upcoming distribution tours for our book, Sex & Money: A Global Search For Human Worth. Rather than the normal lectures we would usually have during the week, we have received some much needed time to devote to getting next quarter’s outreaches going in the right direction. So far, my team (Koala and I) has finalized a majority of our promotional information that we will be sending to venues (churches, cafes, galleries, and the like.) In addition to this, we have been working on other logistical aspects of our tours, such as budgets, itineraries, and other details of getting from place to place. Fairly dry subject matter to discuss in written form, but I figure it is good to keep everyone in the loop.

In addition to the all-American celebration of Thanks that is to be celebrated this next Thursday (I am thankful for purple Hawaiian sweet potatoes) the next couple weeks will be mostly the same. In the days to come, Koala and I, in addition to our class, would greatly value your prayers. Specifically:

-We are currently working with our contacts in the various countries to arrange speaking arrangements, exhibitions and such. We have been blessed with contacts in each of the places we’ll be visiting, but we could use your prayers to get the right events finalized at the right places and times.

-A lot of times, I feel a bit overwhelmed with the amount of coordination that is necessary for two people to take this project through six countries in three months. I know it is possible, but it is evident that my know-how and abilities only go so far. I guess you could say I could use an extension of faith and wisdom.

-With this project, I feel like I am now a place of preparing “to step out of the boat.” I have been to the third world countries, I have seen various instances of need, but to now portray these needs to the western world in a way that will motivate people to act will be something new, and certainly challenging.

I appreciate the partnership and interest you have taken in this project. I believe this upcoming time of new-ness will be fruitful, both as something that increases action in opposition to injustice in our world, as well as something that will enlighten my heart more to the character and competence of our God. I am already becoming more aware of my humanity in contrast to His divinity.

FYI: This last week marks the celebration of the purchasing of my ticket to Reykjavik, Iceland. I think this is cause for celebration. {!} I shall embark for the far north on January 2.