September 24, 2007
I do not really think I have gotten any braver (nor less wise, though some may contest that) since coming to Latin America, but yes I did have a poisonous snake in my hand. The catch though is that it was in a 2-liter Pepsi bottle. There is something a little disconcerting about having a poisonous snake at eye level, inches from your face with only a thin layer of plastic between the two. I have yet to identify what kind it is because all of my books are at camp. And no, the snake was not from camp. A friend found it at the Institute where he works and captured it. I now have it in my possession, but it is dead. I will probably add it to my collection of critters (all insects up until now) preserved in formaldahyde. I need to move them from my house though because they really are not my taste for decorations. They were tolerable at Kensinger's Retreat during the youth group retreats, but I only had to endure them for 3 days.
Yesterday was a long day, in that I rode the bus from camp to the city with the 12-14 year olds from the church retreat and then waited around until it was time to go with the Williamsons to the airport at 10:00pm. It ended up being a really good day though. While standing on the sidewalk waiting for all of the youth to be picked up, one of the girls from the ropes course group I had observed, came over to talk with me. She thanked me for my involvement and began to share some of what she had learned from the experience. For a little background, the group was really tough. In reality about four of them should have been removed but that would have been over a 3rd of the group. The boys paid no attention to the girls' suggestions which actually contained many of the solutions. In the end the group did not complete any of the challenges that they were given. With such an ending it is hard to know how to bring a reflection time around to the place where the participants can walk away having learned something, thereby redeeming what would appear to be a failure. We talked about failure and success and learning from mistakes. We also talked about evaluating our hearts and attitudes and seeing what God wants to change. During the discussion time not too many shared anything of depth but a couple were able to express frustrations and what they had learned.
As I chatted with this girl yesterday, I realized that yes, once again God had redeemed an experience that seemed to be "unsuccessful" and that at least one young lady had learned from it. And actually the new facilitators who were faced with a very tough first group walked away from the experience wiser and stronger from it. As for me, as I mentioned before, I need to review and practice Spanish more and more and yet I have to remember that God can work through my weaknesses. The girl had mentioned pride during the one debrief and I realized it is partially because of my pride that I never want anyone to translate my questions into Spanish. I want to do it myself but I think that there are times when I should admit that translation would help the situation and then allow someone else to help me out. We will see what happens this next weekend.
I do not really think I have gotten any braver (nor less wise, though some may contest that) since coming to Latin America, but yes I did have a poisonous snake in my hand. The catch though is that it was in a 2-liter Pepsi bottle. There is something a little disconcerting about having a poisonous snake at eye level, inches from your face with only a thin layer of plastic between the two. I have yet to identify what kind it is because all of my books are at camp. And no, the snake was not from camp. A friend found it at the Institute where he works and captured it. I now have it in my possession, but it is dead. I will probably add it to my collection of critters (all insects up until now) preserved in formaldahyde. I need to move them from my house though because they really are not my taste for decorations. They were tolerable at Kensinger's Retreat during the youth group retreats, but I only had to endure them for 3 days.
Yesterday was a long day, in that I rode the bus from camp to the city with the 12-14 year olds from the church retreat and then waited around until it was time to go with the Williamsons to the airport at 10:00pm. It ended up being a really good day though. While standing on the sidewalk waiting for all of the youth to be picked up, one of the girls from the ropes course group I had observed, came over to talk with me. She thanked me for my involvement and began to share some of what she had learned from the experience. For a little background, the group was really tough. In reality about four of them should have been removed but that would have been over a 3rd of the group. The boys paid no attention to the girls' suggestions which actually contained many of the solutions. In the end the group did not complete any of the challenges that they were given. With such an ending it is hard to know how to bring a reflection time around to the place where the participants can walk away having learned something, thereby redeeming what would appear to be a failure. We talked about failure and success and learning from mistakes. We also talked about evaluating our hearts and attitudes and seeing what God wants to change. During the discussion time not too many shared anything of depth but a couple were able to express frustrations and what they had learned.
As I chatted with this girl yesterday, I realized that yes, once again God had redeemed an experience that seemed to be "unsuccessful" and that at least one young lady had learned from it. And actually the new facilitators who were faced with a very tough first group walked away from the experience wiser and stronger from it. As for me, as I mentioned before, I need to review and practice Spanish more and more and yet I have to remember that God can work through my weaknesses. The girl had mentioned pride during the one debrief and I realized it is partially because of my pride that I never want anyone to translate my questions into Spanish. I want to do it myself but I think that there are times when I should admit that translation would help the situation and then allow someone else to help me out. We will see what happens this next weekend.
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