Monthly Archives: June 2016

Why I’m Fasting for Ramadan, and I’m a Christian

June 8, 2016BibleBible, celebration, christianity, cultural, Eating, fast, fasting, Islam, ramadan, Religionbreanamjohnson@gmail.com

I am a Christian, and I am fasting for Ramadan. Why? Read on.

Ramadan is the Muslim holy month of prayer and fasting. During the month, Muslims do not eat during the daylight hours. This Ramadan, I and many members of our church are observing a Ramadan fast for at least one day. I’m probably only doing one day, because I turn into a raving rabid bear if I don’t eat and my husband needs his normal(ish) wife this week.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I do not believe in synchrotism, the merging of religions. I do not believe that all religions are the same or that the various religions are all ways of worshiping the same God. I hold to orthodox Christian teachings and believe that the Bible is perfectly inerrant. I am not fasting to observe Ramadan per se.

In our community, Christians and Muslims live in close proximity with close ties of friendship. I wish it were this way all over the world. Our next-door neighbor is Muslim, and he’s one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met. The day before Ramadan started, he asked us if we’d mind him using his blender to make breakfast before the sun rose. He didn’t want to disturb us while we were sleeping. We’ve had a lot of great conversations about life and about Jesus and Islam and religion and worship. He’s one of many good Muslim friends we love and respect.

In fact, those friends are the reason I am fasting for Ramadan. When Christians fast (and this may be true for other religions as well), we spend the time we would normally spend on food and dedicate it to prayer for something that weighs heavy on our hearts. The gnawing hunger throughout the day reminds us to stop and pray between mealtimes as well. What weighs heavily on my heart this Ramadan is my Muslim friends. During our day of fasting, my Christian friends and I will be praying that our Muslim friends will come to fully know Jesus and the saving power of His death and resurrection.

This is the part of my post where many people will become offended. Please do not be offended, and please keep reading. In our culture, it is somehow “wrong” to want someone to convert to your religion. As if it’s trying to steal someone from one club for another! Actually, it’s not like that. In fact, if I did not care what my friends believe, I wouldn’t be a very good friend. Here’s why:

Imagine I know that a hurricane is about to hit the island. And I know that there is only one airplane capable of flying out of the storm. Would it be loving for me to let my friends get on an airplane that I know will crash? Would it be loving for me to care more about offending them by telling them their airplane isn’t strong enough to outfly the storm? No! It would be loving to tell them about my airplane.

That’s how it is when Christian share about their faith with others and pray for them to know Jesus. We believe that the only way to Heaven is by trusting that Jesus has paid the penalty for our offenses. We believe that no amount of good works can cancel out the bad ones. We believe that a relationship with God and forgiveness of sins can only come from trusting in Jesus and his death and resurrection. And the part we hate talking about– that if you’re not headed to Heaven, you’re headed to a place that is far less pleasant.

If a Christian truly believes that, the most hateful thing we could do is not share about Jesus with others, and not want Jesus for our friends. The most loving thing we can do is tell them that Jesus has their back if they trust in him. Even if you disagree with my religious beliefs, we can at least agree on that.

Muslim friends, it is very hard for most Christians to get the nerve up to share about their faith with you. Religion is a highly volatile subject, and it is hard for many of us to bring it up. In fact, most of us will probably shy away from it and hope someone else talks to you. But we will almost always pray for you, and I hope that makes you glad. If your Christian friend talks about Jesus with you, please know that friend loves and cares about you very much.

And I love you, too. There is nothing I want more for you than to know Jesus the way I do. I long for you to know that he is God, and not just a prophet. I desire to spend eternity with you in Heaven. I hope that before we part ways, you’ll hear that from my mouth. If we never have that conversation, I believe I will have failed in our friendship in that way. Know that this Ramadan, I will be thinking of you and praying for you.

Our Second Anniversary

June 7, 2016Caribbean, Expats, Expats and TCKs, International Travel, Saint Martin/ Sint Maarten, United Statesadventures, anniversary, arizona, Bible, Caribbean, celebration, countries, Expat, food, hike, International, Island, moving, Saint Martin, second, Sint Maarten, st martin, St. Maarten, SXM, travel, weddingbreanamjohnson@gmail.com

Today is a special day for us– our second anniversary! On June 7, 2014, we said “I do” at Whitton Avenue Bible Church in Phoenix, Arizona. It was a beautiful day for us, with a lovely ceremony and a fun reception afterwards! We made a promise to each other that we would spend the rest of our lives together, no matter what. It’s only been two years, but so much has happened in that time.

On June 7, 2015, we celebrated our first anniversary in Indiana. We were there for our friends Phil and McKenna’s wedding , which had been in Michigan the day before. We woke up on the seventh at our friend Marcus’ house in the Berne, Indiana, a small Swiss town. We spent the day exploring a science museum, Science Central.

Today, June 7, 2016, we spent the day on our home island, Saint Martin. Since Ben has medical school tests next week, he had to be in class for half the day. But at 3:30, he was mine– he took half the day off to be with me, even though he has a lot to do! We discovered some new hiking trails behind the causeway on the Dutch side. The trail took us and our puppy through the woods, past the Rastafarian Farm, and out into the French capitol, Marigot. We picked low-hanging tamarind seeds to snack on during the walk.

Later, we went to Advantika, a Thai restaurant that was highly recommenced to us. Finally, we went to Carousel for ice cream cake! We eat cake on the seventh of every month to celebrate our marriage. An anniversary called for something special: cookies and cream ice cream cake.

So far, we’ve celebrated both wedding anniversaries in different locations hundreds of miles apart. If things continue as expected, we’ll spend at least the next two in new places. I’ve learned many things from our journeys, but one of the most important is this: “home” doesn’t mean a specific geographical location. Rather, “home” is defined as the place your beloved is, wherever that may be.

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The Butterfly Farm SXM

June 6, 2016Uncategorizedanimals, butterfly, Caribbean, farm, French Side, Island, kids, learning, nature, Saint Martin, st martin, SXM, travelbreanamjohnson@gmail.com

The Caribbean is filled with with beautiful butterflies of all sizes and colors. In the fall, you can see clouds of them swirling around the hills and valley of the tropical isles. In the summer, they’re less common int he wild, but you can still visit the Butterfly Farm to see nature’s winged beauties in action.

The Butterfly Farm has locations in both Aruba and Saint Martin. In Saint Martin, it is on the French side of the Island near Galion Bay Beach. In my ten months of living on the island, I had passed in many times on my way to surf, but never had a chance to stop. My friend Stacey and I had both wanted to visit for a long, time, so we decided to take a couple of the kids we know and make an afternoon of it.

Visiting the farm is actually pretty inexpensive compared to farms in the states. We also got the local’s discount: $10 for adults and $5 for kids. Viator has a deal for tourists: $56 for a trip to the farm, a tour, and then three hours at Orient Bay, Saint Martin’s most poplar beach, with all transportation included.

St. Maarten Combo Tour: Butterfly Farm and Orient Bay
from: Viator

When we got there, we were welcomed with a friendly greeting from the staff and led into the butterfly enclosure.

The best part of the whole experience was seeing the kids’ face when we walked in! Giant blue butterflies floated past our noses, and we couldn’t help but stop and stare at all the life that filled the air around us. Later, our guide told us that the afternoon is a quiet time in the enclosure, so I can only image how incredible it must be in the morning.

We walked around for a while before our tour started. There was a lot to see. Most of the butterflies were as big as our faces!

We joined a tour of the facility. The tours are offered in both English and French. The kids would have been fine with either, but we Americans were happy to take the tour in English. Our guide was wonderful. She made it interesting for both the kids and the adults and was happy to answer all our questions.

The tour took us through the entire enclosure and gave s a complete overview of the entire life cycle. I thought I knew everything about butterflies, but I still learned a few things!

First, we learned about butterfly eggs. When a female butterfly is ready to lay eggs, she finds a host plant to leave them on. Only certain plants, like milkweed, can be a host plant. The host plant has to be edible for the caterpillar and should be poisonous to give the caterpillar a slight toxicity.

This huge caterpillar reminded me of the one from Bug’s Life. It becomes an owl butterfly. It wraps itself in a leaf cocoon and creates a chrysalis inside. It stays like that for a long time, and then becomes a butterfly with a lifespan of only five days.

We loved the chrysalis cabinets. Our guide told us that “chrysalis” is derived from the Greek word “gold.” Most chrysalises have at least a little gold to warn away predators. My favorite one was entirely gold! Our guide said that the butterflies hatch during the night and sometimes up to 75 butterflies will fly out in the morning.

Once the butterfly breaks free of its chrysalis, it spends its time drinking nectar from its straw-like proboscis, mating, and laying eggs.

At the end of the tour, our guide let us put fermented orange juice on our hands to attract the butterflies. We were able to let them land on us, which was just magical!

The little one carried around this butterfly for about half an hour. It didn’t want to leave her! I told her it was because she’s so sweet.

The rarest butterfly in the farm is this white one. Mister G said that it was his favorite of all.

The kids were great at spotting camouflaged butterflies and caterpillars. The little one found some green caterpillars way up in the trees, and she kept peeking under leaves to discover patches of eggs.

The end of our time came too soon! We couldn’t believe it was already closing time.

Just before we walked out, one last butterfly landed on Mister G’s hand for a brief moment… a quick goodbye butterfly kiss.

St. Maarten Combo Tour: Butterfly Farm and Orient Bay
from: Viator

Faces of Carnival

June 2, 2016Uncategorizedadventures, American University of the Caribbean, Bible, Caribbean, Carnival, countries, cultural, culture, Dutch Side, Expat, faces, feathers, International, Island, Saint Martin, Sint Maarten, st martin, St. Maarten, SXM, travelbreanamjohnson@gmail.com

Carnival is the biggest event of the year in the Caribbean! The island of Saint Martin is no different, and we’re lucky enough to get it twice: once on the French side and once on the Dutch side. Unfortunately, I missed all the festivities on the French side, but I did catch a few things on the Dutch side! My friends and I went to the light parade and Ben and I went to the children’s parade. We also went to the apex of Carnival: the grand Carnival parade!

The parade is filled with elaborate costumes of feathers and glitter. The colors swirled around us and music pulsed in our ears, drawing us in to the heartbeat of the festival.

The parade (and most of Carnival, really) is centered around the sensuality of a woman’s body. With so much focus on sensuality, I felt that the appreciation of people for who they are was lost somewhere behind the sequins and paint. Since this is a family-friendly blog, I want to present a different angle on Carnival than the typical. This post is a study on beauty: not the transient beauty of the revealed body, but the authentic, lifelong beauty of humanity. They say that the eye is the window to the soul, so I have decided to focus this photographic undertaking on the beautiful faces of the people in the parade. I hope that as you look at these beautiful faces, you will reflect on the wonderful miracle that is embodied in each person.

“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations – these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit – immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously – no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption.”
-C.S. Lewis