Thursday, January 31, 2008

Sensory Overload

I have to admit that part of me is glad that ethnic food week is coming to an end. Last night was Thai food and I do it wasn’t quite like Thai food at home. I wasn’t a fan. I couldn’t quite clear my plate but I’m not revealing my secret of how I got around that rule. Tonight we had East Indian food, which was spicy and fantastic! I think that is enough food talk for now.

This week has been incredibly busy. Yesterday’s sessions stretched from 9am until after 10pm. We had a lot of really intense time with our teams but some of the bonding feels a little bit forced. In our second session yesterday we were asked to take time to identify the masks that we commonly wear. After those were identified, we broke into our teams and then confessed those… I’m glad they know what I hide behind, but do they know my favorite color? Team dynamics are coming together but I wonder what things will look like when we’re actually out and about in Peru. We ended our long day with a foot washing and nothing quite fosters intimacy like that. There’s something incredibly special about picking up the servant’s towel for someone, looking them in the eye, and praying for them.

Today wasn’t quite as intense as yesterday but still quite full. The man came back who spoke on evangelism. We learned that his wife is a soul saver! We had time to ask him questions and I feel like he still danced around answering things; he always had a kitschy little story or rhyme as an example of what to tell people to bring them to Christ. He also taught us how to explain the gospel to other people and we got to practice on each other. Unfortunately, neither Brianna nor I could save each other so we may be doomed… At the end we still weren’t sold on his opinion of evangelism but neither was he sold on our side of the story. Maybe none of us were being as mutual and open as we’re claiming Christians should be?

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Laura,
I'm one of Dave's friends. He wasn't posting often enough, so I decided to check out some of the other blogs on his team, like yours! It's cool to see several different perspectives of these same events. Say hi to Dave, and tell him to post more often :P

David Toews said...

Hi Laura,
I updated my blog to satisfy this crazy friend of mine, but I think this little stunt is hilarious. So I told him to feel free to do it again! Let me know if anything pops up.
=D

Sara said...

You mean all I have to do is recite a nursery rhyme and I can save souls! I can't believe the Bible doesn't just tell us that, it would be SO much easier than the whole fostering relationships and loving people thing. That sounded bitter, sorry. I'm in a slightly bitter mood.

More importantly, when do you leave for Peru?!

Sara said...

I think I mean logical more in the way of the science v. Christianity vein. It seems like people are so convinced that it's one or the other that Christians are afraid to actually learn about science and everyone else assumes that Christians are just ignoring facts in order live in a little "la-la-Jesus" world. I think the world has plenty of logical, rational proofs that God exists, in that He created it, so creation bears His marks.

As far as the lifestyles and ideals that we are called to, I would agree that they are illogical, in the sense that they are counter-cultural and against human nature and all that.

And thanks for responding to my post! And I love you!