So although I love evangelism, meeting students and sharing
the Gospel with them, I also love the times when we can come together as
European missionaries to learn, share, support, and encourage one
another. Another bonus, though, is that there is
an ease that comes with knowing that these people share the same faith and
values as you. In a sense you
don’t have to be on your guard to be on your best behavior. Instead, you can trust that they will
love you for who you are.
Well… I don’t know if that is always true, but, for me, I am
going to choose to believe it.
So this last weekend we had the third SWOT (student workers
outreach training) weekend of the year here in Belgium. Its crazy to realize, but I have been
here long enough to have gotten to know people from around Europe, so it was
fun to get to see many of them again.
And, as always, the training and time we have to pray together is always
really powerful. The story,
though, that I know you are waiting for is the one that happened the day after
SWOT.
So I said that I am trusting that people will love me for
who I am, not what happens to me. Here is my story.
 |
| The Gappers from Belgium and London |
The gappers from London stayed for an extra day to spend a
day together as gappers, so on the Monday after SWOT we all packed a picnic
lunch and went to this little park in Leuven. The park is really a beautiful little park with a cute-
actually kind of nasty- pond (this will be important later). After eating in the sun around the
pond, we conceived a brilliant plan to try to capture one of the little
ducklings that was swimming around the pond. Practically this meant that we crafted a net from police
tape and reeds and proceeded to chase the ducklings (whose mother deserted them
not long into the ordeal) around the pond, corner them, and try to get them to
swim into our bright yellow, homemade net. Ultimately, despite the close calls, both on our part as we teetered
on the edge of the pond and the part of the ducklings who almost became the
official gapper office pet, Operation Duckling Capture was abandoned and can successfully
claim no casualties.
The wild goose chase having been called off, it would seem that the
excitement would end. This,
though, is the irony of the situation.
After carelessly chasing these ducks around the pond, scrambling over slippery,
muddy shores, jumping onto rocks to get in their way, and leaning out over the
water to extend the duckling net, we were peacefully sitting on the shore,
watching the tadpoles when, next thing you know, I am in the pond. Literally, I was sitting there one
minute and the next I was in the pond.
In case you didn’t understand- I (a responsible 18 year old young adult)
FELL INTO THE POND. You would
think that this kind of thing only happens to five year-old boys, but
apparently not. How do I know
this? It happened to me.
