There will always be things that we hold on to. Whether it be a sad or happy experience. Like, losing a loved one or having eating ice cream for the first time in your life. Coming to Canada taught me one thing. These things never change.
I pretty much have moved into my accommodation. Have a room mate who is thankfully a course mate of mine from Taylor's. This blog is still dedicated to be a sort of a guide for those planning to study overseas. So here it is. How to survive in an alien environment while being Christian.
Religion. Truly a touchy subject in some places. But here it is. Since I am a Christian, I shall explain the best I can.
1. BIBLE
2. Bring at least one devotional material.
3. Rip all your Christian worship CD's into your external HDD if you have one or bring them with you.
4. Locate a church ASAP.
5. Keep in touch with your church mates / AP
I really do not need to explain the first point because that should be obvious enough. A christian without his or her sword is rather pointless no?
The second one is also important. The only reason is quite simple. You do not want to go a month without something to feed your spiritual need. It also helps to keep up the habit. (or start it)
3. You have no idea how helpful this was for me. Having not been to a church for a month, worship is hard to come by. So why not worship using mp3's?
The reason I say find a church is because you cannot rely on your own prayer and devotional material to sustain you. You will likely if not surely die out in a few months. That, and we as Christians live in a community. Correct?
Keeping in touch is also good. The reason is that you will be reminded that people are still watching and praying for you. So don't let them down. They want to see you in heaven and some are even look up to you as a figure.
Now, if I may (but then again, it is my blog), I would like to share something. As I have mentioned, I have not been in a church for over one month now. I do not profess to be a very good practicing Christian (I struggle to do devotional/read the bible) and I started to forget something really important in my life. Remember what I said at the beginning of this post? Going to church has always been something I love doing. Even though there are times where I just want to lay in bed for the morning. Worship was something I ALWAYS looked forward to. All these feelings started to hit me. I missed being in a community of Christians and I really miss worshiping God. Seriously, being in God's presence really shows you something. Which is why all the songs I had really saved me. It reminded me that God is still there and that He is the whole reason I am here. Not because of chance, not because my parents wanted me to be here (they wanted me to be in Australia... =.=) but because I saw how God led me here. As to why He wants me here, that is another question and hard to elaborate on. I just want to encourage all you Christians out there who are struggling that you are not alone. We all face the same struggles and there is definitely someone out there facing the exact same problem that you are going through right now. This is something which I have learned.
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Aside from all the above, here is a random tip as well...
GET A PERSONAL FRIDGE
and then buy things like juice and water to keep. As well as red bull if it works for you. If you have a communal fridge, there is a really high chance that they will disappear before you even get a chance to take a single sip. Hah!