There seems to be a theme. Joy
This morning, Gary spoke about Joy, including living in the midst of trials, and gave the example of having joy when spending time before the recent passing of his wife Donelle.
He described Biblical Joy as knowing God and serving Him, not looking at the circumstances of your life. Living out God’s calling in your life is the real essence of Joy.
That carried through the day for all the teams. There were several reports of having a greater sense of purpose and growth during our projects today.
The teams continued on with their work, but some items of note where some of the newbies were confronted with their own sense of typical perfectionism being met with a sense of inadequacy on some new(er) skills.
But today, there was a renewed sense of giving up any perceived timetable or sense of performance and then just learning how to do their tasks more effectively. Freedom abounded. Joy abounded.
Zohreh went freewheeling as she changed her evening devotional’s emphasis to a very heartfelt description of growing up Muslim in Iran. How she was a very “good” religious person, always observing spiritual laws so that she would be “clean” enough to approach God. She described her primary spiritual relationship as one of Master and servant. Through the years that she became a Christian, she had to let go of some of this structure, trying to know that she could always approach God. It was a difficult transition, but it led to more Joy in her heart.
Craig asked specifically for us to share “how we had grown” over our time here. many people shared, including all the newbies. During this time, a leader from the ministry we’re working with, said that with each group, you learn of the character, personality of each group. He said the he really felt “the joy of the Lord” from our group. We knew it and shared it among us all.
It was interesting how a day that began talking about Joy, had it as a bookend as well. This will be a more and more interesting trip
On a somewhat related note, in the latter part of our workday, the teams were gathered for a moment of prayer. One of our Team Leaders, Mathias, had to fly back to LA today because of a family emergency. Even while en route home, he wrote us to bless us and ask God for the right words of comfort and support for his wife’s family. In fact, one of the few moments of Joy in difficult times can be trusting in a seemingly unseen God.
