Presence.

“More and more the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, enter their homes, sit on their doorsteps, play ball, throw water, and be known as someone who wants to live with them. It is a privilege to have the time to practice this simple ministry of presence. Still, it is not as simple as it seems. My own desire to be useful, to do something significant, or to be part of some impressive project is so strong that soon my time is taken up by meetings, conference, study groups, and workshops that prevent me from walking the streets. It is difficult not to have plans, not to organize people around and urgent cause, and not to feel that you are working directly for social progress. But I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn’t have be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and tell your won, and to let them know with words, handshakes and hugs that you do not simply like them, but you truly love them.” -Henry Nouwen

Our meeting this week had two parts: the hour long class that combines all of the Lighthouse group and then following that was the hour long individual team meeting. In the first hour we discussed how Americans are perceived in other countries and three people participated in a panel to give us their views on this topic. It was really interesting to hear their views and think about what ways we can break some of those misguided thoughts.

The second hour was filled with prayer, Lauren sharing her “Life Map” (testimony) and a discussion on Presence that was based off the Henry Nouwen quote. If presence is the goal, why do we need to do so much preparation for this trip? Why spend hours preparing lesson plans if our presence in the classroom is what really matters? Why? Because our presence will not have nearly the same impact if we are not prepared. Our preparation gives us the wonderful opportunity to have presence.

We had the opportunity to talk to Joanie (our host missionary) via Skype on Monday evening. As we all know can happen with technology, especially Skype, it doesn’t always work well. While we were able to ask questions and talk about some great things, apparently the connection wasn’t so great on the other end. Meaning Joanie couldn’t hear everything we were saying as it kept cutting out. Her constant laughter at whatever she thought we were trying to say was also keeping us laughing constantly.

We also found out this week that we have the opportunity to take up to 15 laptops over to the Czech Republic to be able to leave there with the ministry! What a wonderful opportunity to help them out! These computers come from the Ft. Wayne campus and will be phased out by new computers so we have been given permission to take them with us! As we were sharing this with Joanie on Skype, Ron was telling her that the computers have to be stripped first (as in cleaned, gutted, emptied…take your pick) and once again, Joanie erupted in laughter. She said, “I’m sorry….did you say they need to be stripped??” When Ron replied with a yes, even more laughter erupted.

So. Presence. We love to be in the presence of our Lord. We want the Czech people to feel that presence-to want to be in the presence of God. And so, we continue preparing our hearts, our presentations, our lessons, our lives.

“You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” Psalm 16:11

The Next Steps...

Vulnerability.

Admittedly, that doesn't always sound like a fun concept. No matter how much we care about someone, or are convinced they care for us, the thought of dropping our shields can be a little daunting.

So often, though, it's that very vulnerabilty--the confession of hard truths and difficult struggles--which brings us together.

As a team, we on the Czech trip seem to be entering a new stage in our joint journey. This past week, we shared several sobering prayer requests with one another. These included job concerns, health concerns, ministry concerns, emotional concerns, finanical concerns...yeah, well, just a lot of concerns.

Lest you think our meeting was full of wailing and mourning, it should be noted that one of Taylor's esteemed TESOL professors and several of the Lighthouse leaders visited our team and shared their hearts with us. We celebrated an engagement, learned more about teaching English, and shared a lot of laughs. We also stuffed ourselves silly with brownies and chocolate chip cookies. Yum....

But what was more beautiful still was the fact that we were able to fellowship in our sorrows as well as our joys. We shared brokenly with one another and lifted up one anothers concerns in group prayer. During the next months and our stay in the Czech Republic, we will doubtlessly face more challenges. Life is full of them. But the love, compassion, and yes, that scary word vulnerability, that we're sharing now will bring us through. I'm happy, and so grateful to God, that we're already fellowshiping in a John 13:35 kind of way:

"By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

Now that's a witness we can take world-wide.