From my heart: Got the heart?
Got the heart? It’s a question that Eastern Mennonite Missions (EMM) has been asking themselves this year and one that has challenged me many times over the past few months.
Many times I have had to ask myself “Have I got the heart of Christ? Am I living that out right now?” It has been a challenge and it’s still something I’m working on and continuing to learn about as I go throughout my daily life.
This question begs another question: What exactly is this “heart of Christ” that I’m wanting to have? What does it look like? I can’t claim to be anything close to an expert on the subject, but over the last few months, God has spoken different things to me that have helped me to begin answering this question and have challenged me to live more like Him.
The heart of Christ is compassionate. In beginning to reread through the Old Testament recently, I have been amazed anew at the emphasis that God put on compassion in the laws He gave His people. Compassion is to characterize our everyday lives and dealings with people.
The heart of Christ is unconditionally welcoming. Kids flocked to Jesus. He hung out with the despised and the sinners. He ate with those the world rejected. Ironically, it was the religious elite in their exclusive cliques who had problems with Him.
People are at the very core of the heart of Christ, above time or schedules or anything else. Relationship is what drives all that God does and it is also what should drive all that I do. God is, at His heart, a missionary God who reaches out to us and invites us into relationship with Him. How can I do any less?
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Having the heart of Christ living in me is more radically transforming than I’m sure I could ever imagine. “Got the heart?” is a reminder I continue to need daily.
A Summer of Training and Equipping
Over the summer I spent 4 weeks in training events with EMM. This time was very much a blessing to me. Three weeks of this time was spent at World Missions Institute, a local training sponsored by EMM for missionaries before they go on the field. This training focused
on looking at worldviews and included visits to a Buddhist temple, a Jewish synagogue and a Muslim mosque. These were all very interesting and eye-opening experiences which made me realize in a new way how different my faith really is! During this time I had the privilege of getting to know the Brubaker family, with whom I will be working in Peru.
The last week of training was spent at EMM’s annual Discovery and Enrichment retreat. During this time we received valuable training on using a ministry tool called Agape Prayer Ministry. I also had the privilege throughout the week of getting to know the Shultz family, missionaries to Peru who have been working specifically with PROMESA. This picture is of most of the female World Missions Institute participants with our head scarves on, ready to go to the mosque. (I'm the second from the left in the back).
Currently...
...in a certain kindergarten in Lancaster city, I am known as Miss Geib. I am in my final semester of school: student teaching. The experience so far has been many things—intense, funny, sad, eye-opening, fun, exhausting, frustrating, but most of all rewarding. The children in my classroom are very needy and I have been realizing how far a little love really can go. God has not left Himself without witness in the classroom. He comes up quite frequently in conversation. Like on one foggy morning the other week when one of my students observed that “the clouds are falling”. Thinking that Jesus is up in heaven sitting on a cloud, he then turned and asked me “Does that mean Jesus is falling too?” I have done a lot of explaining about a lot of things in the past few weeks and have really grown to love the kids in my class. I know I will miss them when I go to my second placement in a suburban 2nd grade classroom in the middle of this month.
Kids’ Corner
Did you know…?
The van in this picture is called a combi. Many people in Peru don’t have their own cars. Instead, they ride around in buses, taxis or combis, which are a little smaller than a 15-passenger van. There aren’t rules in Peru about how many people can be in a car, so a really full combi might have 25 people on it!
Many people dress like the lady in the picture. Instead of using strollers, women carry their babies on their backs in brightly colored blankets like this lady is doing.
Praises and Prayer Requests
Praises!
· For the things God did in my life this summer during training
· For the opportunities I have had to talk about my faith during student teaching.
Prayer Requests
· For continued physical, mental and voice strength for student teaching. I’ve already lost my voice once. If possible, I’d like to not repeat the experience. :)
· For continued preparations that need to be made before I head overseas.
