Thursday, March 31, 2011

Rule Number 1: Flexibility

On our mission trip to Louisville, we had at least two people who had never been on a mission trip before.  Even for those of us who had been on a few this was different.  We got to interact with so many different cultures in such a short amount of time.  It was a great experience for all of us.

Day3: This was our first day of actual mission work.  And let me tell you, it was a doozy.  We were originally supposed to do some work on a playground, and that changed into working on a community garden.  But by the time Monday actually rolled around, we were going to be meeting Nepali people (Bhutanese Nepali to be specific).  So, that morning we met with the resident Nepali expert, Woodrow.  Let me tell you about Woodrow.  He has been a Believer for about 2 years.  He brought some of his international friends to church, but could see they weren't really being reached where they were at.  So, in the last year, he has immersed himself in Nepali culture and has learned much of their language.  He would take us to an apartment he knew Nepalis lived in, open the door without asking, speak some Nepali and then drop two of us off and go with the next group.  There were some very awkward silences where the language barrier and the sheer strangeness of it all had us quiet.  But there were some very good conversations as well.  The Bhutanese Nepali people were all very welcoming.  It was incredible getting to share the gospel with some of them.  That night we met with the couple who was working with Turkish refugees in their apartment complex.  We enjoyed a meal with them and got prepared for our task the next day.  We also played soccer and chilled on some swings with some new friends in the park area of the apartment complex.

Guys playing soccer.  Woodrow is on the far left.  I think he put shoes on just to play because he normally doesn't wear them.  Some of the guys we just met, but we would see them again.

Swinging with some new friends.  How Jessy got to be the lucky one to be pushed by a 6 year old girl I don't know.

 Day4: We spent Tuesday morning prayer walking and then going door to door doing surveys.  Lee wasn't feeling well that morning so unfortunately he missed out.  We weren't having any luck for a while and then we were able to go through the whole survey with two people.  A Nepali man and a Turkish woman.  Both were very open to what we had to say, so we left the Jesus Film with them in their language and prayed that God will work in their heart.  Well, all good things have to come to an end, and the manager of the apartment complex ended our surveying sooner than we would have liked.  We then went to a Turkish restaurant and it was wonderful.  Our waiter was great and Josh gave him the Jesus Film to watch when he could.  That afternoon we went back to the same apartment complex because we had a lady ask if we could do the survey later.  Our friend from the park the day before was there and he invited us into his home.  Tarek's family is from Iraq and we spent the whole afternoon visiting with him and his wife and trying some Iraqi food.  It was a great afternoon.  That evening we went to a Hindu temple to see how they worship.  Then we split up into smaller groups and went to eat some Indian food.  I discovered I handle Indian food much better when the sauce is on the side.  We handed out another Jesus Film to the waiter and then headed home.  A very eventful day and a great one.

Our table at the Turkish Restaurant
Toasting our apple juice at Tarek's House
The Girls!
Some more prayer requests for Louisville:
Pray for spiritual growth and courage for the recent Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu background believers (Colossians 4:2-4).
Pray for more pastors and church members to engage the nations ("the harvest is plentiful the workers are few" Matthew 9:37).

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