field trip

Sunday brought another "first". As part of my marketing for the seminary, we decided to do a trial promotions Sunday. At 8 am, we loaded 6 guys in full suits in the back of a truck, and headed off for Milo, which is at the very base of the Citadel (ie...FAR). Every 10 minutes or so, someone would "tap-tap" on the top of the truck, and we'd pull off to the side to pick up another students. We got to see almost a dozen of our guys live, and by the time we got to Milo, we had 20 rather wired guys in the back. They were dressed to impress, but were so excited about the "field trip" that you would have thought we were taking a group of middle school boys bowling or something :)

After 90 minutes of bumpy bumpy roads and constant chatter, we arrived a rather large church. Our guys sang several songs, one of them preached the sermon, and our Dean of Men shared a little bit about the seminary and gave people an opportunity to receive more information and an application. It went really well, and it was great to sit back and watch the guys DO what they do, and to give them an opportunity to share what the seminary has meant in their lives. It was also a blast to spend time with them outside of school. We left around 12:30, stopped along the way to pray for someone with a broken arm (and by "pray", I mean, sing 3 songs, recite Psalm 23, share a brief meditation, participate in group prayer, sing another song, and then each personally greet the man.)

Another hour down the road, and we stopped at one students house just to "see it". Moments later, we were all being served a full meal after a large bucket of water and a withered bar of soap was passed around. We had rice, beans, onions, beets and "some kind" of meat, all perfectly proportioned out by the elected server. (Food is such a need here that we frequently see this done...because food is so sought after and rare, someone always has to make sure everyone has the exact same amount before anyone eats...one onion slice each, one small beet, 1/2 cup rice, a smile chunk of meat.)

Matt and I were quite touched by this student's family, who thanked us over and over for blessing their home. Before we left we prayed for their family and their home, which also consisted of several songs, prayers, devotional thoughts, compliments and a long set of greetings and thanks.
We dropped guys off along the way home, and even though we were exhausted by the time we arrived at 2 pm, it was a blast of a day and a joy to be with these men. We are constantly learning so much about them, about their culture, and about their God. We are blessed even more to realize that despite all the differences between how we do church, how we worship, and even how we talk about Him, we worship and serve the same God. They are expanding our world-view about our Father...This has to be one of the biggest blessings of being on the mission field.

Please keep praying for these men: that they would be protected, clearly directed and have the courage and humility to forsake all else to follow after OUR great God!