I don't think I mentioned to you all the great need there is at stag for workers to help with the international outreaches. The chch just got a new international staff person, who has a wife and 2 very young kids. They were in Kenya before and had to come back due to some health issues with their son. In fact they came in mid August, so we're just about equally new to stag. :)
Anyway I remember telling you that we were having dinner with them, and talking about the international work here, and the lack of people to help with it. JC said "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the ld of the harvest therefore to send workers into his harvest field." It's an interesting perspective to be the workers that were sent here to help with this harvest field, in preparation for harvest fields abroad where the need is much greater.
Stag has a good policy about accepting people into positions of leadership. First, the staff sort of talks about who in the chch they feel could fill some of the needs, who is willing, etc. Then, a staff person approaches those people, and if they are interested sets up a time to have a one on one (or 2 on one if it's a married couple) interview with them. The interview is very important I think- they want to know about the status of your sprtual life, if you've seen fruit in the work that you came from, what's your understanding of why JC came, etc. After all that, the staff meets once a month to discuss the outcomes of these interviews, and decides if it's appropriate to ask said people to fill a role or not.
We had our interview with a staff person while G's mom was here in fact- her second day here. We have been super proactive about getting involved here at stag- I think there's really no other way to go when you move to a new area. I'm not one to wait around- once I have my feet reasonably under me I'm ready to go. In fact I can hardly believe we've only been here 3 months- it feels like a year at least with all the things we've been getting involved with and the development of new relationships.
So anyway our interview went well. The international outreach particularly needs a woman to help them with a bbl study and with the various outreaches they want to do. So tonight I'm co-leading with our new friend J (the new international staff person) at a thing they call Arena. It's a sort of course for folks who are interested in exploring the claims of JC. They have one every term, it's 5 weeks long, and meets every Monday evening. They have free dinner at 7, then we go over a section from Mark's book, and there's a short talk, and time for discussion. It's very low key and no pressure- just a chance for people to see for themselves and talk about it. There are 5 different tables, and ours is the international table.
Also this week we are starting a new women's group for internationals. Sadly this means that I have to sacrifice attending my current women's group. I will be keeping in touch with them though, but I'm really going to miss my time with them. This Thursday is the first day of our new group- I'm co-leading with J's wife C, and an international sister, SK. We'll be meeting in the morning, 9:45-11:45, as all the women's groups do.
I would welcome your joining in this new work that Gd has lead me to do- if you have time, you could do the following things:
1. Set a reminder on your calendars for 2pm Mondays (that's 7pm here) to pr for our Arena course. It doesn't have to be a long pr- just ask that people would come consistently and be interested and curious about JC and his life.
2. Thursday am is while you are all asleep, but you could pr Wednesday evening (say 9pm your time) asking for women to come to our study that we could form friendships with, and for us as we teach that we would be sensitive to the HS leading.
As things get going I'll keep you all posted with more specific pr requests.
In other news, Citrix's purchase of Xen Source is now complete. G's week this week is filled with meeting after meeting as IT systems get migrated over, new email accounts are made, and general organization is clarified. This Thursday evening is a special posh dinner for all the employees. No spouses allowed, so I'm going to the Swavesey Camera Club meeting instead. :) People at G's work seem interested in sprtual conversations, which has been really cool.
For those of you who would like to pr for us, here's a short list:
1. That we would use our time here wisely in preparation for the harvest field Gd has for us next.
2. That we would continue to make time for Gd everyday and read his book.
3. That fruitful conversations would happen with the people we come into contact with
4. That we could sort out this issue with all sorts of cats wanting to invade Nelly's territory, which is starting to have a negative impact on her.
I hope you are all enjoying your extra week of normal time. :)
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