whew! What a whirlwind! Did this Urbana thing actually happen?
I take a while to process things, so I don't know how coherent these thoughts will be. But, it's worth a try...
I ended up staying in the hotel with my A2 family which was a HUGE blessing. This gave me the opportunity to not only pick on Robert more, but to bond with all the CPAs, Emi, Peter, and Jeff. Especially Emi, who was my roomie for the week... "It's 6:20 a.m. , my friend."
It was a mixture for disaster for an introvert like me: little sleep, TONS of people (22,000!!!), talking to strangers, snacking 24-7. Still, my soul soaked up the times of studying Ephesians in the morning and worshiping so loudly that my voice was cracking and I didn't care who heard me! I find myself singing those songs over and over in my head.
One of the most memorable lessons that I packed up and brought back to Wheaton came from a conversation I had with someone who stopped by our Asian Access booth. A young woman from Mexico came by and asked about our mission. I told her about the need for missionaries in Japan. She was shocked to hear that there are fewer than 1% of Japanese Christians in Japan. She wanted to hear more and to receive information from us. She told me that her church in Mexico may be interested in sending a team to Japan with J-Teams. It was my turn to be shocked. I know that the face of missions has changed; I've read books and heard speakers talk about this. "The U.S. to the Rest" is no longer the typical model. There are more missionaries being sent from Brazil than the U.S. Even though I've heard this before, I've never had anyone standing in front of me telling me that this was true. She is a Mexican missionary and God is using her for His good purposes.
There were a lot of people that don't look like me at Urbana. A lot of people that don't dress like me. A lot of people that don't speak my language.
And still, there we were, in one voice, singing in Korean, Spanish, French and English. Worshiping the One God who loves a broken world and wants all of us to have a hand in extending His healing love!
What a joy!
I take a while to process things, so I don't know how coherent these thoughts will be. But, it's worth a try...
I ended up staying in the hotel with my A2 family which was a HUGE blessing. This gave me the opportunity to not only pick on Robert more, but to bond with all the CPAs, Emi, Peter, and Jeff. Especially Emi, who was my roomie for the week... "It's 6:20 a.m. , my friend."
It was a mixture for disaster for an introvert like me: little sleep, TONS of people (22,000!!!), talking to strangers, snacking 24-7. Still, my soul soaked up the times of studying Ephesians in the morning and worshiping so loudly that my voice was cracking and I didn't care who heard me! I find myself singing those songs over and over in my head.
One of the most memorable lessons that I packed up and brought back to Wheaton came from a conversation I had with someone who stopped by our Asian Access booth. A young woman from Mexico came by and asked about our mission. I told her about the need for missionaries in Japan. She was shocked to hear that there are fewer than 1% of Japanese Christians in Japan. She wanted to hear more and to receive information from us. She told me that her church in Mexico may be interested in sending a team to Japan with J-Teams. It was my turn to be shocked. I know that the face of missions has changed; I've read books and heard speakers talk about this. "The U.S. to the Rest" is no longer the typical model. There are more missionaries being sent from Brazil than the U.S. Even though I've heard this before, I've never had anyone standing in front of me telling me that this was true. She is a Mexican missionary and God is using her for His good purposes.
There were a lot of people that don't look like me at Urbana. A lot of people that don't dress like me. A lot of people that don't speak my language.
And still, there we were, in one voice, singing in Korean, Spanish, French and English. Worshiping the One God who loves a broken world and wants all of us to have a hand in extending His healing love!
What a joy!
1 comment:
Very very fun. Thanks for sharing. Yes, I too, am singing those songs over again in my head...
then again it's probably because I put it on my Creative ZEN to listen to. Note: NOT ipod. the Zen.
Had a wonderful time and it was very very good to see you again friend! :)
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