The Low Down on the Get Down
So here’s everything, the short of the long of it. It may be a bit wordy but hang in there and you’ll basicly have a handle on what I’m up to right now. OK here we go…
We’re in our fourth week of lectures, our topic being, Biblical World View. Lectures run from around 9:30 most days till 1:00 with a short brake in between. A few of the next subjects to come will be such things as Lordship of Jesus Christ, Father Heart of God, Missions, Relationships, and so on. I am a Small Group Leader, a Bible Study Leader, and an Outreach Leader. I’m in charge of Outreach preps which are on Wednesday nights, Media which I head up with another staff member, and Transportation which requires me to plan and organize vehicles for trips or events that we do. On top of these duties I do One-on-Ones with the four guys in my small group as often as possible, which turns out to be every week and a half, to check how their doing and make sure no one is getting lost.
My small group dudes are Mark from CO, Erik from GA, David from FL, (who are all 19 years old) and Bryan from WA who’s 22. Their a cool motley crew who I have a good time with. Mark’s also on my Outreach Team and Erik’s in my Bible Study Group. We meet every Monday afternoon for a couple hours to spend time together. For small groups I check how each dudes doing and discuss the things that we’re learning in lectures. Accountability amongst us guys is huge too! For small groups I try to make things fun and not so interview-ish so we usually do something cool and then sit down and chat, like climb through tree hedges or go down to rivers to swim and screw around.
My Outreach Team is made up of a Married couple, Joe and Regula, from Switzerland who’re both in their early 30’s; Heidie from Denmark, who’s in her early 20’s; Lucie from England, who’s 18; Cody and Mark from CO who are both 19 and I. They’re a very down to earth and fun group. We have Outreach prep meetings every Wednesday afternoon for a couple hours to plan and intercede a bit more of the trip. Outreach itself is looking like we’ll fly into New Delhi in India and remain there for a while. From New Delhi the options are limitless but we will most likely wind up in Kathmandu in Nepal. Another place that’s very likely as of right now is Darjeeling in the east of India. We should be leaving for outreach around December 29th and returning the 28th-ish of February. It should only cost me around 2,800 USD for the trip (not including travelers insurance), which is ridiculously cheap! Although I do need the majority of that money in within the next few weeks. Something in me allows me to not be worried. =) So yeah, I’m super excited.
My Bible Study Group is comprised of 6 of us. We meet every Wednesday in the morning to study a chapter of Hebrews. We’ve been tearing the book apart and finding WAY more than any of us ever had before. I’ve found I love bible studies, meaning devotions are great, but when you bounce ideas off people and really grind things out you learn it better and get more out of each word.
I’m doing well. Sort of overwhelmed at moments as you can tell from the busy schedule but when I sit back and look at it all, I see it easily could be worse. God has blessed me with amazing students, peers and leaders which makes this SOOOOO much more manageable. I’ve learned a ton about leadership and am beginning to discover my greatest strengths and places needing improvement. It’s different here….. where I use to be able to lead from experience, reputation, with force, and with some style of credentials now I have nothing of the sort. God has been teaching me that in ministry you lead, or serve more like, by anointing not by qualification. It’s good man, humbling and forcing me to rely on Him. Every time I’ve done so since that revelation has gone much better than I’d expected.
Hope you got all that and might have a bit more of a handle on what I’m up to. Feel free to ask me questions. Sometimes I don’t know what people need to know…. yah know? haha
Rock on,
God Bless
