greetings from sd,
Sorry I've been so behind... I feel like it might be like this the last couple of weeks but I promise to keep you all updated with everything that's been going on! These past few weeks have been busy and crazy and nothing less than wonderful.
Week 4 was great. Every week we have this thing called NOR: Night of Reflection. I went to a local coffee shop called Better Buzz (it's become one of my favorite places here!) and did some really great reflection and studying the word then I went and sat on the beach for a while by myself. It was an amazing and humbling experience. I just don't think there's any way to go to the ocean and not see God there. I think of the Hillsong United song "Oceans" that says,
"You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown where feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep
My faith will stand
And I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine"
Such beauty and grace in that and it played over and over in my head and I lost myself in His grace that night.
On Wednesday night we had our International Dinner. On this night, our whole group was split up into separate groups because we were all assigned to different countries. We were told to meet at specific places and specific times - we had NO CLUE what was going on! Long story short, were were separated into different countries from Pakistan, Greece, South Africa, Hidden Islands to China and India. I was put in the China, one of the most challenging groups to be in! Let me tell ya (haha)... We were all put in line in alphabetical order and had to say in silence as we walked in a line towards the Rec. We were forced to eat orange slices (not the actual good and delicious ones, the candy ones that might I add are the most disgusting things ever created!) because it was good for us and will make us strong. We had to do push ups and planks then were foreced to color a dragon and make it beautiful, staying inside the lines, etc. If we messed up they would throw our papers away and make us start over and then given more orange slices (yuck...). One of us was given chicken and rice by one of the "commanders" and was told to share it. I was one of the people that got to have some but was told not to share it with others and it remained a secret. So then they pulled us all out and we stood in a line and said that someone was being accused of sharing chicken and if someone confessed who then they would be gracious to us. Let me just remind you that at the time, all of this was pretty funny, it was really hard to stay serious because it was our staff members who were being mean to us (LOL. Which made it hard to take seriously). ANYWAYS, so I confessed and said that someone had shared the chicken with me and they sent those people to jail where they had to move piles of sand from one side to another with a spoon. The few that made their dragon pictures beautiful were advanced to college while the others remained and continued to strive for perfection. We also had to sing songs about China and how great our country was and saying things like "RED CHINA RED!"
Once we suffered a little more by being forced to eat those oranges, our time was up! We got to laugh and talk about what we had just experienced. And it was more heart-wrenching than I expected. We realized that everything we were doing represented something. That's how it really is there. The children, because it starts at such a young age, strive for perfection and to be better than the rest because that's the only way to succeed and sometimes you're just not "good enough" or you don't meet all of the qualifications. And it's all about saying how great your country is, how much it's the best and letting everything you do honor your family and lifting up the current leader of China whose name has slipped my mind... This is awkward. And slightly embarrassing... Haha. Okay well, anyways, the chicken and rice represented the gospel. It's shared but very very unsafe to do so. So like me, the girl shared with me but I had to keep it a secret. So that's the idea of what the gospel is like there. It's really hard for believers to share their faith and it broke my heart. That we so much take for granted how easy life is here. The fact that tons of people still have never heard the name of Jesus and what He did on the cross. So if you all would join me in praying for China and these countries, we need to. We all need to unite and be in prayer for the world, this is what we are called to do. If you just have some free time during your day or week, I just ask that you take some time to be in prayer about these things. I know I will be too!
So now that I wrote a novel... Haha I'm so sorry but I just had to share this with you! I'll share that this is also the week where the men went on the men's retreat and the women went on the women's retreat. The men left Thursday morning to the mountains to... Well. Be men (haha). And they returned on Friday afternoon. The ladies wanted to show some love to our brothers and serve them well for their return home. So we invited our DNA brothers to dinner on the day the came home and made them spaghetti with garlic bread and brownies. We got to love on them, serve them and just continue to get to know each other. It was a fun time! The women left on Saturday morning and we went to a camp site just 2 hours outside San Diego where we got to stay in some cabins and have some "get down and dirty" time haha we really enjoyed not having to shower. Well... Some of us ;) Women's time was an unbelievable experience. I believe this was the first night all the women actually felt the unity we were all searching for and were open and vulnerable about our lives. It was wonderful and beautiful and one of the best weekends of project. If any of you would like to hear more about it and what we did, please feel free to ask! I'd love to share with you how God met us there that weekend :)
Well guys, I better stop writing if you ever want to read my blog again!!! Haha Thank you for being so kind and patient with me. I hope you all have had a beautiful week!!! Xoxo
In Christ,
Priscilla
Week 4 was great. Every week we have this thing called NOR: Night of Reflection. I went to a local coffee shop called Better Buzz (it's become one of my favorite places here!) and did some really great reflection and studying the word then I went and sat on the beach for a while by myself. It was an amazing and humbling experience. I just don't think there's any way to go to the ocean and not see God there. I think of the Hillsong United song "Oceans" that says,
"You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown where feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep
My faith will stand
And I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine"
Such beauty and grace in that and it played over and over in my head and I lost myself in His grace that night.
On Wednesday night we had our International Dinner. On this night, our whole group was split up into separate groups because we were all assigned to different countries. We were told to meet at specific places and specific times - we had NO CLUE what was going on! Long story short, were were separated into different countries from Pakistan, Greece, South Africa, Hidden Islands to China and India. I was put in the China, one of the most challenging groups to be in! Let me tell ya (haha)... We were all put in line in alphabetical order and had to say in silence as we walked in a line towards the Rec. We were forced to eat orange slices (not the actual good and delicious ones, the candy ones that might I add are the most disgusting things ever created!) because it was good for us and will make us strong. We had to do push ups and planks then were foreced to color a dragon and make it beautiful, staying inside the lines, etc. If we messed up they would throw our papers away and make us start over and then given more orange slices (yuck...). One of us was given chicken and rice by one of the "commanders" and was told to share it. I was one of the people that got to have some but was told not to share it with others and it remained a secret. So then they pulled us all out and we stood in a line and said that someone was being accused of sharing chicken and if someone confessed who then they would be gracious to us. Let me just remind you that at the time, all of this was pretty funny, it was really hard to stay serious because it was our staff members who were being mean to us (LOL. Which made it hard to take seriously). ANYWAYS, so I confessed and said that someone had shared the chicken with me and they sent those people to jail where they had to move piles of sand from one side to another with a spoon. The few that made their dragon pictures beautiful were advanced to college while the others remained and continued to strive for perfection. We also had to sing songs about China and how great our country was and saying things like "RED CHINA RED!"
Once we suffered a little more by being forced to eat those oranges, our time was up! We got to laugh and talk about what we had just experienced. And it was more heart-wrenching than I expected. We realized that everything we were doing represented something. That's how it really is there. The children, because it starts at such a young age, strive for perfection and to be better than the rest because that's the only way to succeed and sometimes you're just not "good enough" or you don't meet all of the qualifications. And it's all about saying how great your country is, how much it's the best and letting everything you do honor your family and lifting up the current leader of China whose name has slipped my mind... This is awkward. And slightly embarrassing... Haha. Okay well, anyways, the chicken and rice represented the gospel. It's shared but very very unsafe to do so. So like me, the girl shared with me but I had to keep it a secret. So that's the idea of what the gospel is like there. It's really hard for believers to share their faith and it broke my heart. That we so much take for granted how easy life is here. The fact that tons of people still have never heard the name of Jesus and what He did on the cross. So if you all would join me in praying for China and these countries, we need to. We all need to unite and be in prayer for the world, this is what we are called to do. If you just have some free time during your day or week, I just ask that you take some time to be in prayer about these things. I know I will be too!
So now that I wrote a novel... Haha I'm so sorry but I just had to share this with you! I'll share that this is also the week where the men went on the men's retreat and the women went on the women's retreat. The men left Thursday morning to the mountains to... Well. Be men (haha). And they returned on Friday afternoon. The ladies wanted to show some love to our brothers and serve them well for their return home. So we invited our DNA brothers to dinner on the day the came home and made them spaghetti with garlic bread and brownies. We got to love on them, serve them and just continue to get to know each other. It was a fun time! The women left on Saturday morning and we went to a camp site just 2 hours outside San Diego where we got to stay in some cabins and have some "get down and dirty" time haha we really enjoyed not having to shower. Well... Some of us ;) Women's time was an unbelievable experience. I believe this was the first night all the women actually felt the unity we were all searching for and were open and vulnerable about our lives. It was wonderful and beautiful and one of the best weekends of project. If any of you would like to hear more about it and what we did, please feel free to ask! I'd love to share with you how God met us there that weekend :)
Well guys, I better stop writing if you ever want to read my blog again!!! Haha Thank you for being so kind and patient with me. I hope you all have had a beautiful week!!! Xoxo
In Christ,
Priscilla
Women's Retreat: Our condo girls and disciplers :)