Lead Retreat 09: Fun

Build A Boat: Lead 2009

Students had to build a boat using "noodles" and duck tape. Then they had to race in the river. We didn't get first or last place. ; )

365

It has been 365 days, an entire year, since I returned to the U.S.A. from Korea. Some days I feel like when I walk outside of my door, yes even my new office or new home door, I feel like I can walk to get Korean fast food at Kimbap Nara or go to the bathhouse. Moving into Nampa has created once again the feeling of "just returning from Korea". I've been in the USA for an entire year but somedays I'm reminded that I was gone for 4 years!

Just today as I roamed the isles of Winco looking for a nylon mesh laundry bag I was reminded of how formative Korea was. I've looked at three stores this week with no luck. I can't find what I'm looking for. I thought to myself, "I wish this was Lottemart, at least there I knew where to find things!" I forget how long it took me to find things there! Today I laughed at myself when I realized that I was operating on the assumption that I had to look, look, and look without asking for help. I sometimes still forget that I can use my verbal skills to ask for what I need in a grocery store!! We speak ENGLISH here in Nampa! It amazes me that 365 days later I'm still running into experiences that reveal how I've been formed by living abroad. There is a need for re-forming in the grocery store!

This past week was NNU's LEAD Retreat with all the incoming student leaders. We went up to Trinity Pines in Cascade, ID. It was a meaningful week for me in so many ways. I met some really great students and staff. We played some great games, had significant teaching and worship times, ate great food, and greatest of all we laughed a ton. This was my first LEAD retreat ever. I always wanted to be a part of PLNU's LEAD but never did because Basketball consumed my "extra time".

This whole last week I found myself reflecting on my final week in Korea. This time last year I was saying goodbye to the Benedictine Sisters, the ladies in my Bible Study and my "Korean family". I couldn't have guessed then that I'd be saying hello to another Nazarene campus 365 days later. God has had so many surprises this year. It has been 365 days of participating in how God is unfolding His story of my life. It will be fun to see what the next 365 bring..... More surprises I'm sure....

Do Because Of What We Think

"...the spiritual life is not simply what we think about; it is what we do because of what we think."

Joan Chittister (The Rule of Benedict)

I've just begun a new journey in Idaho. It still feels surreal that I'm living in Idaho. I'm adjusting well. I must admit I miss Kansas City. I miss Jacob's Well and my friends there. I miss the diversity of KC. Yet it is so clear to me that I'm in the right country, state, and city. I'm making new friends and enjoying learning from the people I work with. I've found a church. It is an international congregation and the pastor is Korean. I graduated Seminary with the pastor! The congregation reminds me so much of the church at Korea Nazarene University. I'm enjoying the fellowship of the international community. The part of me that misses Korea is finding great joy in this new community. I'm getting to know a new roommate. We spent last Friday evening making apricot freezer jam. This was a first for me.

In the last 2 weeks I've made some visits in the community. It is so cool that a part of my job has me out in the community. I've been talking to people who are engaged in transformative work in Nampa. It is a great thing to move to a new city and hit the ground running with visits to people in the community who really care about serving people and who care about participating or "doing" in the Kingdom of God. I've met community members who are giving their lives to "do because of what (they) think." There are some great things happening in my new city. God is certainly at work here. I'm enjoying the process of listening to where God is working already.

This week it has occurred to me that the challenge of acting out my beliefs seems a lighter burden when I am remember that God was the first to act out of His beliefs. The one who "does because of what He thinks" has a life in me and in my new community! God was the one who set the example of tirelessly, continuously, and faithfully acting on his convictions. Where would we be if God didn't "do because of what he thought"? What if He had just believed in His mind that He wanted a relationship with human beings, but never created us? What if He only thought in his "head", "I will restore my people" but never actually put a plan in place to bring redemption to the world? What if He only had the cognitive insight to send His Holy Spirit to partner with humanity, but not filled His people with His life? For God it seems belief and action are intimately related--two sides of the same coin. I'm so glad they are! Hopefully this year I will be able to join God in his own "doing because of what He thinks".

Buy A Book and Give Hope

In recent days and weeks I've been reunited with all of my stuff. Stuff, stuff and more stuff. Too much stuff. I don't need so much stuff. My how I've changed in 5 years. A couple weeks ago I was in Redding visiting my family and I got to go through boxes of stuff I hadn't seen in 5 years. I had forgotten about so much of it. In August 2004 when I left for Korea I left all of my stuff in boxes with some friends in KC. That stuff was moved across country a couple of years ago by a couple from the Redding Nazarene Church. The stuff continued to sit, sit and sit in a storage unit. So much of it I don't want anymore. I don't need it! Why did I keep so much of it?

Ever since I returned from Rwanda in 2007 Steven, a pastor I met there, has been on my heard. A group of friends have been trying to partner with Steven and his ministry in Kigali. He is a father to orphans, a servant of the poor, a helper of widows and a pastor. Steven's tireless work and commitment to following Jesus radically impacted me. So this week as I've unpacked my boxes in a new city in preparation for a new job I knew it was time to do something meaningful with all this stuff!

I have acquired so many books! They are books I don't even use, don't need and could borrow from a library if I really wanted to read them again. My year sabbatical has taught me that I don't need to own as many books as I once thought I needed to. We have a great lending system in the U.S.--the public library. In the U.S. we have access to so many books! There are cheap books and used books like the ones I'm putting on amazon.com. Why would I want to keep all these books shelved in my rooms collecting dust while Steven struggles to give his children an education? What if I could sell them and give the profits away? Where have I heard that idea before?It might not be a ton of money, but it is something.

So here is my plan: If you buy my books, I'll give all the proceeds to Steven and his work with orphans and widows. You can learn more about this at: www.friendsofsteven.org.

Buy a book and give hope! To browse the books for sale click HERE

In the next few weeks I'll be adding more books.