Bill (our supervisor) told us that for the first few days, he would be exposing us to all the different aspects of ministry that RTN is involved in. Through this process, we should be able to find places we enjoy and fit well in and places that we're just not intended for. So, last night, we got to get our feet wet at ESL, helping Burmese women learn how to boss their kids around. We took turns telling them to "wash your face" or "brush your teeth" and they would act it out. Then, we switched roles and they had to tell us what to do. We also got to teach them things to tell their kids NOT to do ("Don't leave the house," for example). Honestly, i was scared to death to jump right in without much introduction to teaching English, especially since i can't teach worth a flip. But, by the end of the class, i was hooked. Who knows, maybe i can teach something after all?
From ESL, we went to Bible study with one of RTN's house groups. This was a Nepali study, with probably 25 people packed in a tiny apartment living room. Being able to sit among these beautiful people and watch their attention to the Word of God being proclaimed and taught was wonderful and convicting. We worshipped in three languages. Tegga, our African pastor and my host parent for the summer, taught us all to sing "Thank You, thank You, Jesus" in Swahili. If i thought learning a song in Nepali was strange, i can't imagine what it was like for Nepalis, Indians and Americans to be learning Swahili. It was awesome! Something that i heard taught a long time ago has stuck with me. A worship pastor was introducing a new song, and told us that, even though the words would not be on the screen, that didn't mean we couldn't worship. He told us to just think about God and sing whatever praises came to mind...thankfulness for how God has moved, crying out to Him for help, or simply standing in awe of who He is. This has been SO helpful to me in worship, both personal and corporate. Last night, as drums and guitars played and voices were raised in foreign language, i was reminded that God speaks all languages AT THE SAME TIME. Just because they were worshipping in Nepali didn't mean i couldn't worship in English. In all the multi-cultural, multi-lingual worship services i've been in, i've never worshipped like last night, just enjoying God for who He is and how far His love reaches. i look forward to worshipping with RTN this summer.
Pray that the hearts of our Nepali brothers and sisters will be burdened to reach out to their own people (and others) in Clarkston and that God would guide me, Bill and our team in equipping them to do so. Also pray that Chinee, Andrew, Mary and i would learn how to take what we learn and do here and apply wherever we go in the fall...and the rest of our lives.
SOLI DEO GLORIA!
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| Lunch at Katmandu Cafe. The brown on the far left is fried potato; the large red piece is Tandoori Chicken; the small red pieces above it are chicken too, a little spicier than Tandoori. The rice had chicken in it, as did the green beans; the yellow at the bottom is curry-like chicken (my favorite); and the orange stuff on the right is dessert...some form of carrots and sugar. |
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| Future home of Reach the Nations Community Church (as of June 1). There are three classrooms to the left of this wall. |
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| Our new facility will have a full kitchen, too! |
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