Best travel day ever

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My best travel day ever was when I was in Šiauliai, Lithuania in May 2016.  I had just got done seeing the Hill of Crosses and made it back to the bus station.  It was only about 11AM and my bus to Riga departed at around 4:30PM.  So I had an entire afternoon to myself with no worries and only a couple of attractions left to see including the Cathedral of Šiauliai and Iron Fox.  I had plenty of time to see these attractions and causally walk around the city.

Sometimes I feel like I get too much in a desire to check things off my list and slow down and enjoy life.  I look back on that day in Šiauliai as relaxing; introspective and a chance to reset myself.  I wish I had more days like this.

How not to evangelize

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The above video is making the rounds on social media. It appears to be some candid footage of two Christian evangelists going door to door. It’s caught the attention of social media because no one likes to be told they’re lost. Instead people genuinely believe that no matter what religion you are, as long as you are a good person, then you won’t be going to hell.

Meanwhile Jesus said
“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” – John 14:6

Enter these evangelists talking among themselves about how they really feel about the souls they are reaching out to. In an effort to motivate themselves they imagine the person they’re talking to burning in hell. This message was meant as an intercompany message among evangelists. The resident feels slighted as being judged before the door even opens. One thing people don’t want is to be judged. The other thing people don’t want is to be told how to live.

My church does a door knocking campaign every summer and reaches out to a unchurched community. I’ve never really had a strong desire to participate. Maybe it’s the fear of having a door slammed in my face. Maybe I’m an introvert and prefer to share my faith among close friends.

The video above illustrates how careful we need to be when sharing the gospel. We never know who might be watching and for now the one who videoed the evangelists is now totally turned off of their message. Be meek and gentle and when sharing your faith. Don’t go ahead and prejudge people. Instead let God do the judging on the day of reckoning. We are only obligated to share the gospel and use it as a barometer on one’s salvation status.

Georgia On My Mind

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I’ve been doing alot of research on the Caucuses – that is Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan.   I would love to go there, but I do believe it is further down the road until I have gained enough experience traveling before trying to go to these places.  The Amazing Race featured Georgia and Armenia, so I figure they couldn’t all be dangerous.  It’s just a little bit daunting, since their language and script (with the exception of Azerbaijani) seems so different than the rest.

I have a friend from Georgia who never really speaks of Georgia.  I do believe most of his friends must think he is from Russia.  It’s the American lack of geography that causes this.  Georgia looks like an amazing land full of culture and picturesque sites.

It did, however have a Russian intervention in 2008 in two breakaway areas of Georgia: Abkhazia and South Ossetia.  The conflict lasted 5 days, but it is something to keep a watch on.

Georgia is a Christian nation and seems a bit more friendly toward tourists compared to Azerbaijan and Armenia.

How would I get there?  We’ll there’s a direct flight on a low cost airline, Baltic Air, from Riga, Latvia, a country I am familiar with.  The only problem is that if I were to go to Armenia or Azerbaijan I would have to transition through Georgia as Armenia and Azerbaijan are hostile toward one another and have their borders closed.  So if I fly direct into Tbilisi, I would have to be doing some backtracking if I tried to visit the other two countries on the same trip (A very daunting task as I would likely have only a week there).

Georgia requires no visa.  An Armenian visa can be purchased at the airport / border.  For Azerbaijan I’ll have to get an e-Visa in advance.

To get to either, I’d have to fly or travel by train, minibus. or fly.  The minibus from Tbilisi to Yerevan is 6 – 7 hours while the overnight train takes 12 hours.  This is the same case with the overnight train from Tbilisi to Baku which takes 12 hours and can a bit more harrowing.  I’ll need to make sure my e-visa is valid at the time of crossing the border into Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan is a Muslim majority country, but secular.  It would be my first Muslim majority country.  Citizens do dress conservatively, but without burkas.  The Wikivoyage article stated that many Azerbaijanis do not smile or show emotions. This would be difficult for me to blend in because I do not have a poker face.  I’d likely be smiling in awe once I got there and want to let the locals know I was excited to see their country.

I don’t know much about Armenia, only that they seem to have some disastrous earthquakes.  It is a Christian nation and looks stunning like the other two nations discussed in this blog post.

Although I don’t foresee myself visiting the Caucasus anytime soon, I can dream can’t it?