It only stands to reason that we might offer a little introduction to the group.
To read more about us, be sure to check out the Journals.
name: Andy Thompsonage: 22 and a half other interests: Soccer, Frisbee, Guitar contact: Climbin4theKing@hotmail.com biography: Well, I suppose I should jot down a little bit about me. I've been thinking for a long long time about what I should write here, and then it struck me that it might be suiting if I wrote my biography as a poem. Of course I'm not going to, but If I did, it might be suiting. So what's to tell. I was raised in Lockport, IL, a SouthWest suburb of Chicago, where I've called home for about 15 years. I went to Lockport High School and played soccer and volleyball for four years and wrestled for two. Soccer has to be considered my first passion as I've been playing since I was about three- which means I've been kicking a ball around for about 18 years. My interest in rock climbing began when I was 8 years old (or so) and my dad took me up to Devil's Lake with a group of guys he worked with. Since then, a spark of curiosity would flare up from time to time which would often result in me asking my parents for a climbing harness and my dad saying that I was nuts if I thought we were going to drive 3 and a half hours just to go climb at the lake. (I have a feeling that my ever-so-cautious mother had some influence in there too...) Flash forward 11 years. At the end of my Freshman year at the University of Illinois (Urbana) my RA, a hairy dude who shaved his eyebrows and denied that he subsequently would get a five o'clock eyebrow shadow, took the interested residents from the floor out to a local gym. I was hooked. I went back the next week, and got to know some of the other climbers. The following fall, I became one of the founding members of the newly formed UIUC climbing club. During one of my early visits to the climbing gym in Champaign, I noticed a slip of paper that was advertising something referring to helping climbers find "real adventure". I was naturally curious to see what type of group would be so bold to make this type of metaphysical claim. As I have been a Christian for pretty much all my life, I typed in the URL with some degree of skepticism. After perusing the Solid Rock webpage, www.srcfc.org, my worries were put to bay. The story of my Christian life hasn't been a huge marvel about a reformed drug dealer, or anything wildly remarkable. While in the one sense, the mercy of Christ is nothing short of a miracle, my Christian days have been somewhat banal. I grew up in the church. I've had my share of struggles, ups and downs, and questioning (Shoot, I graduated with a B.A. in Religious Studies- I live like that), but when I look at the trials that so many other people are facing, I have no horn to toot. If you want to read an Awesome story of God turning a heart towards Him, read Rad's testimony (linked in his bio). I guess the reason that my walk looks, in retrospect, pretty average Joe, is because I've really always leaned on the Lord for support. He provides. Sure, stuff happens- life gets tough. But when you're following God, you've got to know that he'll take care of you. Trials can't last forever, y'know? I mean, what's the worst that could happen? God could call you home? Hey man, my bags are packed. I want to see my Savior's face. Wow.. this is getting long. I think I'm going to wrap it up here, and just say that there is likely to be a reflection of this sort of lengthy verbosity in my Journal entries as the trip moves on. Be sure to keep track of us as we stand up to the challenge of being the only Christ that some people might otherwise ever know. |
name: Radomir Niewrzolage: old enough to know better other interests: sci-fi, movie soundtracks, swimming, good stories contact: niewrzol@uiuc.edu biography: I just recently (less than a month ago) graduated with a Bachelor's in Biochemistry from the University of Illinois. I'm currently working in a Biophysics research laboratory at the U of I, while preparing for the big takeoff on July 7. I was born in Wroclaw, one of the largest cities in the Silesia region of Poland where I lived until the age of 7. At that time my parents, who are musicians, decided to move to Italy where they had won contracts with the Italian Symphony Orchestra. I lived in Italy from age 7 to 14, and grew to love it - and to this day no one will convince me that there is a country that is more beautiful, and food that is more delicious. We moved to the USA when I was 14. Maybe it is because I grew up around different versions of history, and different political and social and economical life philosophies - and was to say the least confused as to how to choose the best ideology - I skirted the issue and during most of my academic career I concentrated on science. When I graduated from Naperville North High School in 1999, there was no shade of doubt in my mind as to what I was going to study: I was going to learn about what was undeniable, what I knew to be true, unshakable and unmovable. I'd been attending churches on a regular basis until moving to the United States, and it never meant much to me so one day I simply stopped pretending, and then had an extra hour a week. I spent my entire high school career, and large part of college convinced that studying life, studying the science of it, the mystery of it - you know, the little pieces - I would find answers to longings so deeply hidden I was barely aware of them. Sometime in the latter half of my college career I realized that Science had no satisfying answers - and though interesting, and often breathtakingly wonderful, the study of how life maintains itself could not answer any of the truly interesting questions. I wasn't even sure if they had any answers until I met Christ. You can read that story in my TESTIMONY. Currently, I am not planning on pursuing a career in science, even though I still find it pretty interesting, and on good days even fascinating. To put it simply, there are too many other more important things to do. After returning from this trip, I will be moving up to Chicago, where I will work for my parent's Orchestra (they started their own in the United States). I am convinced that is where the Lord wants me to be, and I am convinced it will be a tremendous time of growth and preparation for whatever it is He has in store for me next. |