Thursday, October 2, 2008

Today we went on another of the Pastoral retreats. It was for the 1st graders so it was a bit of a babysitting mission, but it was great. I can tell I have made progress, because I am just given small groups of kids to be in charge of, previously I always worked with another teacher. This is mainly due to the mastery of the language, but I feel comfortable being able to give basic instructions to the little kids. Tonight is the debate between the VP’s so we are going to go over to the ChACEr’s house to see that. Yet, before that, the local drug dealer, Lil Dre, who wanted a Bible, called us. Apparently his Uncle is making religious items and he wanted an English Bible to be able to translate some of the phrases into English. We were given one of the projects as a gift. It is a hand made keychain in which there is a clear hole in which is placed a mustard seed and the quote is from mustard seed parable. It was amazing to see the irony in the situation. We were talking to the known drug dealer of the area, and instead of someone handing him a backpack full of whatever Brian and I gave him a Bible. He wants to set up a meeting with his Uncle and us to discuss some options for spreading God’s message. I would not consider myself an evangelist, but than again I guess I am here in Chile doing exactly that. It was a nice reminder of how we simply cannot judge people because they always seem to surprise us. This goes against a lot of my beliefs and my past experiences (I still believe that some people are almost hopeless), yet I think that these people are simply those who lack hope. I am not saying not to judge, because I have been in experiences that my judgment of people saved my life. We are called in life to be indifferent. Indifferent about our health, not letting a fear of sickness get in the way of doing great things. Indifferent about our preferences, because it is when you step out of your own little box or world is when you truly experience life.
I am not saying be foolish about this and make poor decisions, but don’t let your beliefs and experiences get in the way of experiencing life. Tomorrow, is Friday and, I have a relatively short day at school which is nice.