I can't believe there are 13 days left until Christmas
It seems a little surreal. The weather is very mild. It's sunny and pleasant. For me it doesn't seem like Christmas is close.
I decided to come home, happened to get a pretty inexpensive ticket so that made the decision final for me.
Things are going very well. Ministry-wise, things are slowly coming together. I like being here. I love the challenges. For example defining the shape of my ministry, how to keep it Christ centred. How to witness to the refugee kids and to the people on the street in ways that are effective and relevant to them. I feel that Christ is not at the centre of our ministry. Mind you, I have been told to be careful - by colleagues - because we must work together with a government agency, who are afraid that we will evangelize the kids. But the irony is, is that this agency acknowledges our program is the best in the country. I think it is because of Christ. So why don't they talk about it? In a sensitive, intelligent way of course. I will not deny who I am, nor should a ministry of the church. If we remain silent, the stones will cry out.
Last week we had a Christmas party for the refugees and there was a bit of a glitch with the food being ready in time but the one thing that was left out of the gathering was the important part, the devotion. I suggested we do it while we wait for the food but my colleague said we should wait until after. After the meal, everybody rushed home because it was rather late. It made me sad that this was left out. But I was humbled by the fact that when we said grace, it was the African kids who right away offered to say grace and their prayers were humbling. I will try to get together with these kids before Christmas to have a little devotion or something. I think they need it.
I teach Hungarian at a local church here during the evenings. I have 2-3 students. They are great. So far their instruction has been haphazard but I decided to start at the beginning so that we could correct errors and we would proceed at a pace that suited us. The students are so thankful that finally they are learning the language from the beginning. They are also able to enjoy themselves while learning. We laugh so much at eachother. One exercise last week was to practice the the present tense. There is a picture with two people having a phone conversation. One picture was of a man dancing in the disco, the other picture was of a woman in the library studying. The previous day I told the students that we would have a test the first day of the next week. They started to crack jokes about the exercise that this will be the two students' conversation on the Monday night. One will be out dancing while the other would be home studying. We laughed about that one. We have a good relationship. They come regularly to class and it is held 4 days a week so that's quite a commitment and they let me know if they can't come.
On Saturday I went to an event held by a Christian singles ministry. I was a little wary about it but it was really good. Basically it was a day of lectures on a given topic and time for fellowship in between. The topic was the "Last Days" which again made me wonder but it was actually really good. I'm glad I could go to it and I will go again. I met a girl there who I had known from Romania. So it was good in that way too. She told me of the church that she attends and the next day I went there. It was really good and I think I found my church, Praise God!
I felt so refreshed this morning because I think I was spiritually nourished at the weekend.
I decided to come home, happened to get a pretty inexpensive ticket so that made the decision final for me.
Things are going very well. Ministry-wise, things are slowly coming together. I like being here. I love the challenges. For example defining the shape of my ministry, how to keep it Christ centred. How to witness to the refugee kids and to the people on the street in ways that are effective and relevant to them. I feel that Christ is not at the centre of our ministry. Mind you, I have been told to be careful - by colleagues - because we must work together with a government agency, who are afraid that we will evangelize the kids. But the irony is, is that this agency acknowledges our program is the best in the country. I think it is because of Christ. So why don't they talk about it? In a sensitive, intelligent way of course. I will not deny who I am, nor should a ministry of the church. If we remain silent, the stones will cry out.
Last week we had a Christmas party for the refugees and there was a bit of a glitch with the food being ready in time but the one thing that was left out of the gathering was the important part, the devotion. I suggested we do it while we wait for the food but my colleague said we should wait until after. After the meal, everybody rushed home because it was rather late. It made me sad that this was left out. But I was humbled by the fact that when we said grace, it was the African kids who right away offered to say grace and their prayers were humbling. I will try to get together with these kids before Christmas to have a little devotion or something. I think they need it.
I teach Hungarian at a local church here during the evenings. I have 2-3 students. They are great. So far their instruction has been haphazard but I decided to start at the beginning so that we could correct errors and we would proceed at a pace that suited us. The students are so thankful that finally they are learning the language from the beginning. They are also able to enjoy themselves while learning. We laugh so much at eachother. One exercise last week was to practice the the present tense. There is a picture with two people having a phone conversation. One picture was of a man dancing in the disco, the other picture was of a woman in the library studying. The previous day I told the students that we would have a test the first day of the next week. They started to crack jokes about the exercise that this will be the two students' conversation on the Monday night. One will be out dancing while the other would be home studying. We laughed about that one. We have a good relationship. They come regularly to class and it is held 4 days a week so that's quite a commitment and they let me know if they can't come.
On Saturday I went to an event held by a Christian singles ministry. I was a little wary about it but it was really good. Basically it was a day of lectures on a given topic and time for fellowship in between. The topic was the "Last Days" which again made me wonder but it was actually really good. I'm glad I could go to it and I will go again. I met a girl there who I had known from Romania. So it was good in that way too. She told me of the church that she attends and the next day I went there. It was really good and I think I found my church, Praise God!
I felt so refreshed this morning because I think I was spiritually nourished at the weekend.
posted by MaryG | 11:08 AM
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