The beginning of our second week already...WOW! We were all feeling quite tired and ready for a bit of a break and decided to stay at our accomidations for the morning before heading to the conference. We had a bit of a sleep-in with a wake up call around eight – it was nice to wake up feeling a bit refreshed and ready to think again. We gathered together at nine and had a team check-in, sharing with each other where we were at. Many of us found that because of the cultural differences, as well as the language barrier (we all speak English, but with different accents), it was a bit of a struggle to feel like we were making strong connections with the Ugandans. However, relationships were still growing and our hearts have been moved by the genuine interest and love we have received. As a team we discussed the need to really guard our tongues with each other. Because we have made a decision to be very open and vulnerable with each other, and because many of us shared that we were feeling very weak and inadequate for our call to be here, it is especially important for us to avoid all negative humor and to look for opportunities to affirm one another and build each other up. After this time of sharing we each went and had our personal prayer time and gathered together again after to meet about our schedule for next week. We learned that it is important to have a program that runs all day and night, which forced us to change things up quite a bit. So we spent some time wrestling through our ideas, deciding to start the week by going through the entire discovery study as a sort of opening retreat. Doing the discovery study first also serves to prepare the participants for going through the Comission study. We also left open space in the schedule so that we can be open to the spirit and give additional training or talks that, through prophetic listening, come out as most important.
We came back to the conference for lunch refreshed and ready to engage with people. After lunch we gathered in the main hall and Andre gave his talk on holiness and mission. It was clear from the response that this was a new message to them, and came to some as a bit of a shock. We felt a bit of resistance to the message but a desire to understand and be open. After the session we realized our sleep-in was necessary as we needed a lot of energy for what was to come: impromptu salsa lessons! Most of us joined in, and the Ugandans thought we were quite entertaining as we tried to move our hips like them. They especially enjoyed Josh, as he took the dance very seriously!
We left again around five to go into town for supper. We went to a nice restaurant in town, and were delighted to see some food that resembeled what we eat in Canada. A few of us are struggleing with the daily meal plan (involving lots of stewed banana called matooke) so this night was a nice treat. We had BBQ chicken and beef, scalped potatoes, lasagne, avacado and tomatoe salad, skewers, pop, and a brownie for dessert. It was sooooo good!
We went back to the retreat for the evening session. It was one crazy night of praise and worship! We danced like we never danced before! Even Andre was caught busting a move. The people here are truly free and joyful in their worship! And yes, we have video! It ended up being a night of adoration and confession which was quite a nice surprise. We spent the night in prayer and worship of our Lord. At around ten we headed back home, chatted and visited with each other for about an hour and then headed off to our own spaces to get some rest....well, at least some of us did.
As I end the blog for day eight I ask those of you reading this to please pray for our relationships with the people here. That they will be both strong and free. That our influence will grow and that the Ugandan people will take seriously the call to be missionary and renew their country and the world!
No comments:
Post a Comment