Sunday, June 8, 2008

Meetings and more...

Written on Friday, June 6 (Well, actually very early in the morning on Saturday, June 7- when I should be sleeping)

Tonight, we had a meeting for our mission team. There was a lot of discussion about team preparation- including spiritual preparation and being ready for the battles we will be facing in this Spiritual War that we are in. The topic of submission was also discussed- submission to the leadership of the team as well as submission to God’s Will.

They also discussed some logistically items, like the purchasing of tickets and financial issues (support raising- anyone who has been on a mission trip knows about this one). This meeting lasted for over 3 hours.

Afterwards, when I thought we were dropping someone off at their house before I was taken home, we ended up in the home of one of our other teammates. I wasn’t sure why we were there, but we were. A little bit later, a few other people from the team showed up, bringing food. This is not unusual for this group of people to get together, especially later at night, to eat and hang out. Before I knew it, there were quite a few people there. While I was talking with one of my teammates, all of a sudden the lights were turned off and I hear of chorus of “Cumpleaños Feliz” (Happy Birthday”). The team decided to throw me a surprise birthday party, complete with birthday cake. I was definitely surprised.

I also got a new taste of the culture—literally. Apparently one very informal tradition here is for the person having the birthday to bite the cake after the singing of Happy Birthday. This was a new one for me.

Tonight really confirmed to me that I truly have friends here in Maracaibo that love me and care for me. God has blessed me so much here. A todos mis amigos aquí en Maracaibo- Muchísimas gracias!!! Los quiero mucho!!!!

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