I'm not talking about the movie.
No.
I'm not talking about facebook.
Or Twitter.
Or MySpace.
Or Skype.
Or all those other things we use to communicate and make friends.
Don't get me wrong.
PLEASE don't get me wrong. I love all those things. It is a great day to be a missionary. I am so thankful to be able see how my family and friends are doing via facebook. I think it is totally cool to follow famous people, see the news headlines from Memphis, and keep up with sports via Twitter, and I totally love seeing my house, my dog and my family via Skype. Very thankful.
But, as part of my responsibility here in El Salvador, it is very important for me to network and build relationships. It is not an easy thing for me to do. Believe it or not, I am shy. At first. I don't like to be the first person to initiate conversations and if I don't really know you I will be very quiet around you. Why? Who knows? Throw in a little Spanish language barrier and a different culture it is even tougher.
As you may already know one of my main jobs is to call National Pastors and Evangelists to set up services for the students in Master's Commission that aren't from El Salvador. We have students from Nicaragua, the USA, Ecuador, and Guatemala. It is difficult when I don't know the Pastors that I am calling and they have no idea who I am and probably can't even understand me. So I try hard to meet new people. Which is a stretch for me.
The other day I had an opportunity to drive to Santa Ana to be a part of an Evangelist Meeting. We had dinner and devotions. It was nice to meet them and try and get to know them. We had a great time of prayer with them. They were all going to stay the night in the church we were at and I thought, "You know what.......they can come pile in my house." (the girls!) So we piled all 11 of us up and headed to my casa! (house) It was super late, and I was super tired and had a long weekend coming up, but, I knew it was important. We stayed up till around 2 talking and hanging out. We ate kiwi and bananas....(slim pickings in my house!) We got up the next morning and cooked a heaping mountain of pancakes and all headed out around 7. Totally worth it to put a face with the names. They are awesome young people doing the Lord's work.
Don't get caught up in all the technology. Sometimes it is good to actually have some real time with people.
CHALLENGE: I challenge you this week to go meet some new people...make a new friend or two.
WORD OF THE DAY: GRITAR
LITERAL MEANING: TO SHOUT
HOW I SEE IT: STRESS RELIEVER
