Let's get ready to go!

So this morning we had our very first team meeting! at 7:00 am!!!! if anyone knows me, they know how dreadfully early that is for me! God must be extending his grace to me because I am very excited about what we talked about this morning, even though it was a quite unearthly hour. Anywho, this meeting allowed us to get to know the other members of the team a little better which is good, considering we are going to be together for 2 weeks.

The focus of our meeting was "expectations". this was interesting concept to think through and i was thinking about my expectations for the trip, it hit me that the expectations i had were all happy expectations, such as what God was going to do in me and through me. Although these aren't bad expectations, I realized I left out some very realistic expectations. For example, the fact that most of the students we are going to be serving barely speak English. "hmm, didn't think about that". My goal for this week is to sit down and think about my expectations and my motives behind them. I am also going to try to mentally prepare myself for some of the cultural shock I'm going to experience like not being able to communicate as effectively as i would like.

Within the context of expectations we also talked about the "Learner, Servant, Story Teller" method. This wasn't really anything radical but it was a good reminder. The Learner profile is characterized by coming into "another culture to find out how people think and what God is [already] doing among them" (Tim Gibson). I feel that I often fall into the trap of thinking that I am bringing God to the lost, when in fact he is already there and is moving whether or not anyone can see it. it's not my job to bring God to them, but find out what He is doing and how I fit into what it is. The Servant profile also operates on this same thought. The servant should be asking "how do you want this to be done?" instead of the more prevalent statement "let me show you how this is done" (Tim Gibson).

The Story Teller profile was the most foreign to me, it suggests that we ask people about their story and then as we listen and respond share about how God has moved in our own story. This isn't a earth-shattering idea, but it reminded that sharing what God has done and is doing in my life, is a huge witness to Him.

I know this was a long post and thanks for taking the time to read it and share what I am learning in preparation for this trip. Please leave comments! and have a blessed week!