Hurricane Irene

I believe week five of orientation will be the most memorable.  Not only did we have the earthquake on Tuesday but we had Hurricane Irene blow through on Saturday.  It wasn't too bad for us but it did keep us inside most of the day.  Because the ILC has its own generators, we never lost power except for a few minutes.  I spent the day playing games with some of my quad mates, reading a book, and working a jigsaw puzzle.  Sunday morning we woke up to beautiful sunshine.  The only evidence of the storm were all the limbs and leaves on the ground.  God's might and power were displayed through nature this week while we felt His gentle protective hand upon us.

Earthquake

Today was a first for me.  At 1:51 pm while we were in class, there came a roaring sound and then everything started shaking.  It was an earthquake!  It felt like it lasted about 30 seconds.  Some ran out of the building while the rest of us scrambled under the tables.  After the shaking stopped we all left the building.  Needless to say, class was over at that point.  Fortunately we didn't have another class at 2:00 so we could all just go chill and recover.  I've always wondered what it felt like to experience an earthquake; now I know.  There was no damage but we all were a little shaken (no pun intended) from the experience.  To top off this excitement, we could experience the effects of Hurricane Irene this weekend.  Never a dull moment here at the ILC.

Clinic Day

"Clinic Day" is the official name but the real name is "Shot Day."  This past Friday was a real bummer.  I had to have four shots plus the tb test.  My appointment time was 2:40.  However, it took longer to give the shots so I didn't actually get my shots until 3:30.  That gave me plenty of time to think about all those shots and get nervous.  When they called me into the room for my shots, I sat on a stool and got my tb shot first.  Then one nurse stood on one side and another nurse on the other.  They both administered a shot at the same time in each arm.  When they finished with those two shots they repeated the process with two more shots.  I'm very thankful that I'm able to get shots that will ward off diseases when I'm on the field but it doesn't mean I have to like getting them.  Sore arms for two days is no fun either.  At least when we have the last clinic day I will only have to get two shots.

Hospitality

Do you practice hospitality?  I discovered that in many places in Africa, you should not expect to be invited to someone's home, you should just show up.  They will welcome you into their home and serve you something to eat.  It might take a while (if they have to kill the chicken and cook it) but you are expected to stay and visit.  There is a saying:  "Americans have watches, we have time."  Just as you are expected to just drop in for a visit without an invitation, you should be prepared for visitors to just drop in on you.  I will need to always be prepared to have something to serve to my friends who visit.  For many Americans this might not be a comfortable practice.  This shouldn't be too hard for me since I raised three children.  I never knew when they might bring home a friend or one of their friends might just show up.  I actually miss those days.  As I make new friends in West Africa, I pray that I will enjoy many opportunities to practice hospitality.  Don't be so busy that you fail to practice hospitality.  You just might find that it can be a real blessing not only to your guests but also to yourself.

Pruning

Yesterday we heard a speaker talk about John 15 on the vine-dresser and the vineyard.  It was one of those life-changing sessions.  The picture of the vine-dresser pruning is actually not of cutting off and throwing away.  The Greek action word is "Airos" which means lifting up.  What happens in the vineyard is that the vine falls off the trellis.  While on the ground it will become covered in dirt and get mold and thus not produce any fruit.  What the vine-dresser does is come along and lift the vine up, clean it off, and attach it back to the trellis.  That is actually what God is doing for us.  He picks us up from those things that keep us from bearing fruit, cleans us up, and attaches us back to Him so that we will be able to bear much fruit.  I want with all my heart to bear much fruit for Him.  When God prunes, He is removing those things that will keep us from bearing much fruit.  So I'm asking Him to remove anything in my life that will hinder fruit-bearing.  What about you?  Are there some things in your life that need pruning away?  Do you want to be a vine that bears much fruit?

Special Meals

Orientation is not only sitting in classes soaking up all kinds of information that will help us on the field but it is learning about cultures.  Yesterday we had a meal from eastern Europe.  It was borscht (spelling?) and rye bread.  In case you are not familiar with what that is, it was chopped up cabbage soup.  Now, I'm not one to eat cooked cabbage but that wasn't too bad.  At least we had a spoon to eat with.  Today was a middle east meal.  It was meatballs/tomatoes with some kind of flat bread and chopped up onions and other stuff.  It actually was good but we didn't have utensils and had to use our hand (right to be proper).  We will have one more of those special meals before we leave.  I sure hope it will be as good as these first two.

Week Two

Have you ever felt like you have had information overload?  That's what I feel like this week.  It has been great and I've learned so much but it has almost been more than I could absorb.  The week started out with Dr. Elliff talking about prayer.  One of my favorite quotes from him was:  "The purpose of prayer is to get what God wants---not what we want."  Among all the other classes for the week, we studied doctrine with Dr. Lawless.  One of the things that spoke most to me came from Luke 22:31-62 where he showed us the steps for falling into sin using the life of Peter:  1) Begins by unrecognized overconfidence; 2) Result of physical fatigue and prayerlessness; 3) Results in trying to solve problems your own way; 4) The result of distance between you and Jesus; and 5) Results in missed opportunities for evangelism.  This information would be good for all of us to consider because we all are guilty of falling into sin.  As you can see, this was heavy stuff this week. Plus, I'm trying to memorize Bible verses, learn the Creation to Christ presentation, and read assignments.  No wonder I feel like I've got information overload.  Tomorrow is free so maybe I can just chill and give my brain a rest.

Prayer

Today we had a session on developing a passion for prayer.  This is something that I will definitely need when I head to Africa but it is something all of us need to develop.  Let me share a few things that really spoke to me:

• God will respond to our prayers in a way consistent with His character.
• You show your concept of God by what you ask for.
• The plans of God are revealed to the man of God by the Spirit of God through the Word of God.
• Truth is what God's Word says regardless of what the world says.
• Every need you have is a call to worship.  It's a message to you so you will know He has the answer.
• Only take counsel from people who take counsel from God.
• We are foolish when we give counsel unless we have had counsel from God.
• God will conform you to His will wherever He can find you--better it be in your quiet time than in public.

I hope these thought will speak to you as they spoke to me.  May we all develop a greater passion for prayer.