Hello strangers! I feel like it has been so long since i have last written. I am just going to give some highlights of my week. Everything has started to unfold. We have work duties everyday for 2 hours. My work duty is hospitality which includes all sorts of things like: baking, making cards, changing and cleaning rooms for our guests, and creating welcome baskets. We also have interest groups each Monday. The group that i chose out of art, music, and drama was music. I chose that one because i just want to worship...but i dont exactly know what we will be doing. My local outreach every other week is to a home of refuge. From the moment the kids saw us they started to climb all over our backs and shoulders. Its funny because they all speak french and i cant understand a thing they say. I find myself adding a french accent to my english hoping they will understand what i say. yaaa...doesnt work.
Our speaker this past week was amazing. It was so cool to see how God spoke through her and how each person took away something different. One thing that challenged me the most was when she started talking about Adam and Eve. When sin came into the world, Eve's desire turned from God to man. I realized how much in the past that has been true for me...when really, God should be our desire first. He is the one who knows our heart better than we know our own. On Friday, there was a wooden cross at the front of the room. We were able to do whatever we wanted in that time whether it be read, journal, pray, or go to the cross. Most people wrote things down on a piece of paper and laid it at the cross. It was such a strong visual about how we can lay our sins at the cross. We cant change what we have done. However, we can be forgiven. Our rejection can turn to acceptance, our shame to glory, our death to life, our fear to love, our curse to a blessing, our fallen state to a new creation ALL THROUGH THE CROSS. I can't even really explain what is going on here. I just know that i have already been challenged so much in just a week and a half of being here. I have never been so content and i really just know that i am here for a reason.
Onto the general: We got to play capture the flag in the forest at night. It was pretty intense. At one point, me and a guy FROM MY TEAM had a full on collision because he thought i was on the other team and i thought he was on the other team and we were both near the flag. Somehow we got really confused and both ended up on the ground. My group got to go to the city of Bern yesterday. It is such a cool city. We were able to go to the cathedrals and all of the little shops. I think it is my favorite so far. So that is all i can think of at the moment. Here is the verse i will leave you with: "Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God. He is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in Him at all times, o people, pour out your hearts to Him for God is our refuge." -psalm 62:5-8
Till next week!