My first class ends today, and Mark comes tomorrow! Yay! As we knew it would, the time apart has passed quickly. I still have a presentation for my class this afternoon but am ready to move on.
The class has been a mixed-bag experience. The first few days, I really enjoyed the lecture and case-studies and having a flexible (African) professor, but as we got more into our group project, which was supposed to be the real meat of the learning, I liked it less and less, especially the unclear expectations. I have no idea what kind of a score my group will get on "teamwork" because the heated discussions between the Palestinian and older Liberian man have only gotten more heated and personal. I can't figure out if they're playing with each other or really don't like each other. Their slamming each other's English and knowledge of the field in loud, obnoxious voices until the other groups start shouting at them. I'm laughing as I write this. Thankful that I don't feel grade pressure that much.
Over the weekend, I went to a training on Emotional Freedom Technique (tapping). It was really interesting and maybe a little weird. I've had some intense at times vertigo and the instructor says I need to go tap on it, so I will before our presentation.
High point of SPI so far was Sunday night where we had a Faith-Sharing conversation; only a few people showed up, but it was so encouraging! I felt like THIS is what I came here to experience!
- A Burundian who survived the Hutu-Tutsi genocide as a teenager and came back to the church after God opened his mind to see that Moses had survived genocide and worked as a peace builder on behalf of the oppressed. He's a leader in his community in both the church and in training peace builders.
- There was a Nigerian man (from northern Nigeria), who had a Muslim father and Christian mother. His parents separated and he went with his father so he became Muslim. In his father's household, they would talk badly about his mother, but when he went to visit his mother, she would ask him if he'd been behaving in his father's house because he should be treating them respectfully. He was intrigued by her humility and love for her enemies and became a Christian. He now runs an underground ministry in Northern Nigerian to facilitate conversations between Christian and Muslim youth. They had to go underground because so many were converting to Christianity!
- A Fijian woman who recently lost her dad shared about her struggle as the only Catholic in a Buddhist village and how she was afraid she would lose her faith when she was invited to join an inter-faith leadership panel, but she has just become more grounded in the truth. In a separate conversation with her, she shared about seeing a young girl crying on the street and what she went through to take care of that girl so she wouldn't have to live on the streets and resort to prostitution.
I was humbled and encouraged and also look forward to meeting one of the faculty members who inspired the Burundian man.
For now, I've got to go tap because my head is feeling like there's a gong continuously resonating inside. Prayers appreciated.
The class has been a mixed-bag experience. The first few days, I really enjoyed the lecture and case-studies and having a flexible (African) professor, but as we got more into our group project, which was supposed to be the real meat of the learning, I liked it less and less, especially the unclear expectations. I have no idea what kind of a score my group will get on "teamwork" because the heated discussions between the Palestinian and older Liberian man have only gotten more heated and personal. I can't figure out if they're playing with each other or really don't like each other. Their slamming each other's English and knowledge of the field in loud, obnoxious voices until the other groups start shouting at them. I'm laughing as I write this. Thankful that I don't feel grade pressure that much.
Over the weekend, I went to a training on Emotional Freedom Technique (tapping). It was really interesting and maybe a little weird. I've had some intense at times vertigo and the instructor says I need to go tap on it, so I will before our presentation.
High point of SPI so far was Sunday night where we had a Faith-Sharing conversation; only a few people showed up, but it was so encouraging! I felt like THIS is what I came here to experience!
- A Burundian who survived the Hutu-Tutsi genocide as a teenager and came back to the church after God opened his mind to see that Moses had survived genocide and worked as a peace builder on behalf of the oppressed. He's a leader in his community in both the church and in training peace builders.
- There was a Nigerian man (from northern Nigeria), who had a Muslim father and Christian mother. His parents separated and he went with his father so he became Muslim. In his father's household, they would talk badly about his mother, but when he went to visit his mother, she would ask him if he'd been behaving in his father's house because he should be treating them respectfully. He was intrigued by her humility and love for her enemies and became a Christian. He now runs an underground ministry in Northern Nigerian to facilitate conversations between Christian and Muslim youth. They had to go underground because so many were converting to Christianity!
- A Fijian woman who recently lost her dad shared about her struggle as the only Catholic in a Buddhist village and how she was afraid she would lose her faith when she was invited to join an inter-faith leadership panel, but she has just become more grounded in the truth. In a separate conversation with her, she shared about seeing a young girl crying on the street and what she went through to take care of that girl so she wouldn't have to live on the streets and resort to prostitution.
I was humbled and encouraged and also look forward to meeting one of the faculty members who inspired the Burundian man.
For now, I've got to go tap because my head is feeling like there's a gong continuously resonating inside. Prayers appreciated.
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