Last night we were in a church with Roma (gypsies) and Bulgarians. We thought the response to the presentation was tepid at best. To our surprise after the meeting the pastor came running up to us and said this was incredible material. He has influence over 50 churches in the region and wants us to come back for a multi-day seminar. The photo here shows us looking at the map.
More pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/josephruizjr/PazardzikAnOpeningDoor?authkey=Gv1sRgCKnCy6ug_I38aw#
Just goes to show you always have to be careful about surface observations and judgments. Always good to probe and be curious. Carla has really been living this and helping me to start to look at this more effectively.
These people have been neglected for centuries and are hungry for any kind of teaching material. Hey my kind of audience! :-)
God's body is incredibly diverse. I am so grateful to have the blinders lifted. Their probably not gone but I sure do see things differently.
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Hey Joe, your comments about the diversity of the Body of Christ resonates deeply with me. And, the reminder to 'be careful about surface observations and judgments'. Why am I always surprised to discover that my first conconclusions are thin and missing all the different shades of color that paint the truer and richer picture. I also think that traveling out of our culture is SO valuable . . .especially in the reminder that our western way of 'being' is only that, 'our', not universal. Not right or wrong, bad or good, just that it is excellent to get out of the box.
ReplyDeleteSee you next Saturday in Fort Worth!
Sending love, Jan <><
Hey Joe, I just notices that my comment comes up 'Hali said' . . .Hali was using my computer while she was living with us and it seems it no longer recognizies me. :-) Just explaining in case it is confusing. Jan Pickett
ReplyDeleteHope to see more posts.... ;0)
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