Hey guys just a very quick post...

I would like to ask for your prayers. At the moment i am struggling wiht one other person on the course here. He is a great leader and more vocal than i am. Unity is something that is very important, because with unity we can prevent the devil entering in and attacking us. Also i think that by this guy being such a good leader and more vocal than i am, my pride is being challenged. Please pray that God will help me not to be so proud, as this produces divitions and again provides the devil opportunities to attack. Also please pray that God will give me the words to talk to this guys. I know that i have to talk to him, because unity is something that is very important and if i cannot be honest with the people around me then how will i be united with them.

Thank you for your prayers
Take care
Alex

Here are some pictures of different outings of mine. the first two are of me kiteboarding, of trying to. the others are of our climbing outing yesterday...

Hey guys...

Well i thought that this post would be something that i have learnt over the entire time that i have been here. it is about spending time with God personally. it is something that everyone should be doing. it is somehting that is really important for personal spiritual growth. now you may say "yeah i know". but jsut to emphasis it i want to share with you what it has really ment to me.

At the moment i find it hard to spend time with God by myself. when things kick off here, they really kick off and i struggle to get away. i enjoy peoples company and so when others are around i want to be with them. however i have started to feel that i don't spend enough time with Him. actually i have felt that for a considerable amount of time.

Before God would reveal small things to me that i thought nothing of really at the time, they just bothered me. later on i would find out, if i had not said anything, that what i had seen played a vital part in whatever was happening. now, i haven't noticed anything for a while. at the time it frustrated me cos i would have to step out of my comfort zone and speak up, but now i really feel that something is missing...

well that's all folks...
Alex

HEY, HEY, look what Faraz sent me... this picture is about 3-4 years old. This jsut made my day that much better...
Alex

Week in Southall...

It has been a while since I have updated my blog, the reason being that I have had one week in London and then another week doing crazy outdoor stuff. I will write about both but first I want to share about my week in London...

The trip to London was an educational trip. The aim was for us to learn about different religions, specifically Islam, Sikhism and Hinduism. During the week we had classes in the morning about these religions and then in the afternoon we would be taken to one of the temples to have one of the leaders of the specific religion tell us about it.

Day one was Islam. I chose not to go in; it scared me a little bit. I felt more peaceful when I stayed outside. I was very disappointed about not hearing the imam speak about Islam. I felt oppressed and I now have a real desire to learn more about it, and to really look at what they believe. A friend of mine was given a koran, and because it was a little too big for him to carry with him, he has given it to me, which I will read and look at.

Day two was Sikhism. I felt a little better about going into the temple, but I also felt scared because I knew even less than what I did the day before. However, I decided to go in as a step of faith that I felt I had to take. The temple was big and impressive, but it felt sort of empty. After listening to the guide talk to us I was a little bit confused about Sikhism.

Day three was Hinduism. I was pretty sure that I was going to enter the temple. We were told that the Hindus have about 33 million gods. When we got to the temple I took my shoes off and went up to the gold doors to enter, but I found that I felt really uncomfortable and was not able to walk through the doors. Two other friends came out just as I was putting my shoes back on. One of them told me that the person who would be leading them round told them that the deities were sleeping, which really scared me.

That week was really beneficial to be able to see which religion I am most interested in learning more about. I have realised that I am really interested in Islam and would really like to learn more about it. It was a tiring week, mentally, physically but also spiritually. I was continually trying to be aware of what God may be telling me and wanting to follow Him. I really enjoyed it but I was really glad to get back home to base.

Some more THOUGHTS...

Dear readers, friends and family, today we went to a church, as it is sunday, and this was like no other church service that i have been to before. it was in a small room with leather sofas and stuff. there was a drum set and a bass and a guitar or three. it was really small quarters, which made me feel uncomfartable, as well it didn't seem to fit, i am not sure why really, but it was another experience. in about 3 weeks, the church will be moving back into their chapel which they are renovating.

However, something that i realised today in the service was something that i realised that i need prayer about. being a leader. i am finding it really hard cos there is someone else here with us who is also a leader, and is louder than i am. last year i think or at some point in time i went through a book about leadership and it was talking about being a dispencable leader. someone who trains others to become leaders, so that the "followers " will not be dependable on that one leader. so please pray, thanks

Well...
Take care
Alex

A few pictures of our trip to London Southall...

A picture to sum up our experiences so far...


Take care...
Alex

The Girls...

I thought that i would put some pictures up of the gilrs so that you could see some of the other people that i am with for the next few months. From the left it is Rosie, Erika, Helen and Hannah, hannah has already done the training and now is jsut working in Llanelli and hanging out with us



The picture on the right is of (from left) Karen, Jemima, Rosie and at the top is Rachel.

Ninjas




Ninjas are everywhere. You can see these two fine ninjas trying on new outfits. From the left it is Jon and then me. If you have any ninja photos of yourself por of friends send them in to alex.santamas@gmail.com and possibly you may see it posted.

The Great Unknown...

Being out in the world by yourself, you soon find out that you do not have your parents to stand by you, to tell you what to do, to do your washing for you and all that other good stuff. However, now that i have been out for about a full two weeks i think that i am very knowledgeable about what to do...

During the service on one Friday in Cairo, we were singing Surrender. Pastor Dave, i think it was, told us all not to sing the words unless we really ment it. After that i found it really hard to sing that song, because i wasn't sure that i really surrendered all. However, when we first sang this song here, i found that i could sing it and not only that but that i really wanted to sing it. I wanted to surrender all to God, to the God that holds my future in His hands, to the God that loves me unconditionally and knows what is best for me and takes care of me. I thought that there was nothing else for me to do but surrender all.

I just want to share with you a couple of verses that we have been meditating on and what they have ment to me. the first one is Exodus 3:14. This verse is where God tells Moses that "I AM WHO I AM". That to me really just says it all about God. It is as if God is saying I AM all-powerful, I AM all-knowing, I AM your God, I AM the only true God... It is just sort of all God needs to say, I AM that I AM.

Also today i was reading Deuteronomy 30 in verses 11 and onwards where it says that He has not made it impossible for the Israelites to follow His commands. This made me think also just how He does not set us impossible challenges.

Well i think that this is enough deep thinking for one night, i hope you all sleep well...
Alex

Being a Stranger...

Hey guys and girls, how are you all. Well don't worry about answering. The internet has been down here in Wales, as some of you may already know, but what you do not know is that now i have to quickly look through a lot of emails.
Well i just wanted to write you all something to let you know how i am feeling. Well to be honest i am really enjoying my time a lot, but i think that today and yesterday i have felt a bit home sick, or at least sick of being around strangers 24/7. Everyone here is pretty much on a one week basis. It is not too hard to be with the people here, because we are all here to get to know God more and get deeper in our faith, but me being me, am wanting to see some familiar faces and have a coffee with a friend that i know for more than a week.

On another note, the place is great, with the town a 5 minute walk away. The weather has been great, with the only time that it really has rained and has not been at night, being today, when i went to town.

we have had a few sessions, actually we have had a lot. For the past two days we have had 4 sessions on the biblical basis of missions and now we have to write a five hundred essay about why our God is a God of misions.

Well guys and girls i think that this is it from me, because i am really tired and i have probably talked too much already.

take care,
Alex

i thought that you would like to see of our, or at least my first time kayaking. since then i have been kayak surfing. same principles of surfing, but in a kayak.

and this is a picture that Jon took, which i thought descibed the way we are, rather random. i am happy to see this picture cos i have now found someone who also likes taking really random pictures

hey guys i thought that you would appreciate to see something that the guys get up to. the guy in the white t-shirt is Jon and the other one is Josh. the four guys that are doing the gap year are called, Jon, Josh, Joel, and then Alex. yeah i am the odd one out

WALES...

Have you ever been to Wales. I now can say that I have. The journey over was interesting. I have a five hour flight, very boring, apart form the move that came on half way through the journey and at first i could only watch it in a foreign language with arabic subtitles. Then I realised that if I changed the channel that I was listening to then it would be in english.

Well you all know about my other six room mates. Supposidly, one of them, which would be the third one leaving another three to arrive, has come, but I haven't seen him, they must be LIARS. NO, NO, i am joking he may be round here but I can find him, not that I have really looked.

The area that we are staying at is right on the sea. It is at a very beautiful area. BEAutiful.

I had failed to mention in my previous entry today that my room mates and I stay in a room with no window. Please pray that we do not kill each other from our beautiful odour. While you are praying for that please also pray that I will be willing to be molded by God, and that He will really challenge me and get me ready to face the world head on.

Take care
Alex

Ladies and getnlemen...

Ladies and gentlemen, friedns and family, who have nothing better to do than read what I write, I am truelly touched by your kindness. I wanted to inform you that I have arrived safely and am getting to know a lot of people. Last night had been a bit daunting. I am the first of the gap year students and so there isn't really anyone arround. I mean there are a few but you know what i mean. I thought, oh dear where have I come so far away. But today and last night it was good. I met two of my six room mates and they are great. One american and one brazilian.

Enjoy your day, as will I, and please ask the Lord to send me every now and then some sunlight, so that I can feel nice and warm on the outside too.

Alex

Just want to see how long it takes to upload a picture of Loukios and me.

Well not too bad but only for this size, I will have to add some more and show you all.

Till next time

The beginning of the summer…

At the beginning of the summer I came to Cyprus to partake in a camp that the youth group here in Larnaca get to enjoy each year. Every year a team come and help with the youth group. This year two of my friends, Tony and Loukios would be part of it. They would also be the only two guys on the team. The team was made up of another four girls, two of which had come on the team last year. Therefore out of the six that were to come and lead the camp and other youth activities I already knew four of them. The names of the team members were Tony, Loukios, Kaitlyn, Jenny, Bekah and Laura. I was really looking forward to going to camp because I knew that it would be a lot of fun and it may hopefully be cooler than Larnaca. To our joy it was much cooler and the fun, well I will attempt to describe it below.

I had been asked to help out at camp by being a camp leader. The role came with the responsibility of being in charge, with another team member, of one of the four teams that the youth had been split up into. I was to be partnered with Jenny and we were responsible for the Green team. It was the first time that I had been given such a role at camp. Other times I had gone along as a camper and had a great time. This time I was going as a leader and I still had a great time.

Up at camp I never knew what we were going to be doing. I would take the day as it came. Some of the campers would ask me, “So Alex, what are we doing next?” or “What game are we going to be playing?” I had no idea the answers to these questions. I friend of mine that is here on holiday enlightened me on how I could have used that to my advantage. For example “So Alex, what are we doing next?” The answer could have been “It is time to make me and the other leaders a nice cup of coffee tea or hot chocolate, whatever they each prefer”

We would start off the day with breakfast at about 9am and then have our camp meeting, where we sang hymns and had a devotional from one of our team members, followed by our quiet time and then a talk by the BIG camp leader, Cliff. For the rest of the day there would be lunch and dinner with a bit of free time, a few games and another talk in a certain order. The games were of course team games, where there would be points awarded to the winning team.

This year the team system was new, and with it came coloured t-shirts for each team member and a point system. This is where being a team leader had its advantages. As a team leader I was able to give points for anything I thought should be awarded points, to any team apart from my own, that being the Green team, but could only take away points from my team. An example is when I awarded points to a camper for letting me and another leader both take showers before him. This system was great. The campers lived in fear of the words “watch it; I’ll take points off…” It was a way of control, which worked.

One of the games that we played was a scavenger hunt. The evening before, the team stayed up to try and get the clues ready, and I joined them. We sat under the stars and started to plan. Well we didn’t all start to plan. Bekah was the one that was trying to get us to help. Laura and Tony we the most helpful followed by Jenny. Loukios, Kait and I stayed with them and although we offered, we received no cry for help so we continued sitting there saying stupid jokes that later we would not find amusing. I had brought some biscuits that my grandmother had made, and at that point I got them out. Kait and Jenny were all to willing to eat them. When offering them seconds, I wasn’t able to finish my sentence. “Would you like….” “YES!”, thirds, “Would you…” “YES!”.

Well apart form staying up late trying to get the next days games and other activities ready we had good talks, good food, a hilarious variety night, where the girl counsellors did a skit making fun of the guy counsellors and only after watching it on the camp video, did we realise that they were really making a lot of fun of us.

All that to say that we had a lot of fun and I am looking forward to next year where I will be doing outdoor activities with youth and camps.

Thanks for reading
Take care
Alex

Dear friends due to a few technical problems I have found that I am unable to upload any pictures at this point in time. The problem is that I do not have a fast enough internet connection and I don’t want to spend most of my day uploading pictures. Therefore when I go somewhere, where there is a faster connection I will be sure to upload some pictures.