Though there has been an extensive amount of personal and corporate growth on this missions trip, I think one thing we've appreciated a lot during our down time is laughter. I had the great pleasure and honor to witness one of the greater moments of laughter this morning, when Kyle and Arne had a less than desirable turn of events. A number of us congregated at one of the tables for breakfast, and Arne was struggling to move his chair- as it fell from his grip and plummeted towards the ground, he frantically reached for it. Realizing that the chair made a very soft sound upon impact, he muttered a strangely discontented "oh". Only minutes later, Kyle's chair fell much more audibly to the ground, and Arne, enjoying this moment, snorted in laughter for the "first time" as he nearly choked on bread and nutella.
These were two of dozens of hilarious moments throughout the day, and our team has never been short on awkwardness or blatant oddity. One of the blessings of working with these twelve people is that I feel as though we all have our freak side, as well as our intellectual, sincere and passionate side. It's been wonderful to get to know people much more closely through these two weeks, and I can say that I will be lifelong friends with all of the team.
Today's highlight for me was no doubt the main portion of the day, which was a brief time for me to explain and show my band's music video, and a viewing and discussion of the short film Butterfly Circus. Shaun gave me the gracious privilege of showing the kids the video that my band Patmos just finished, Swell, and taking questions to accompany that. The video was received well and I feel very grateful for all the support the kids have given me for my band's endeavors. Butterfly Circus was a very impactful, succinct film that I can say is definitely in my Top 5 now. It tells the story of a disadvantaged man who overcomes obstacles that others have set in place for him. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone- it's only 20 minutes long, and I know you'll be telling your friends about it.
Tonight for dinner we had a terrific evening with Mark and Jodi at Nacsi Neni, which is often the favorite of most of us. I had a splendid meal of pike perch, vegetables, scrambled eggs with peppers and onions, and a delectable dessert of raspberry crepes with vanilla ice cream. I also had the wild opportunity to sit next to and enjoy conversation with the illustrious Jared Hendricks.
I can say in honesty that this trip has been the best trip of my life thus far, if only for the chance to get to know these teens, find out what they see as interesting, share with them what I'm passionate about, and give them an opportunity to know the Lord. There's always something I seem to see like never before when I'm overseas, delved in another culture. One thing that God has been teaching me and reminding me is that it's okay and truly quite necessary to ask others for help, in different situations and seasons of life. I've always been someone to do most things pretty contentedly on my own, but that's not always the way to maximize one's time, and there is untold potential and greatness in bringing others into your circle and being real with them. In a day and age when integrity is crumbling and a spirit of contention is increasingly pervasive, this choice is an underrated action point.
I've been working on a documentary of the trip that features a lot of strange moments, cute shots, interview portions with each team member and sections of a typical camp day. The documentary will be about an hour long total, complete with bonus features and deleted scenes, and will be given to all team families.
Thank you for reading, I hope you're having an enjoyable and eventful day, and we'll talk to you soon.
- Brad
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