Hello Goer Blog Readers!
A few days from now will mark my sixth week of being here in Asia; which strikes me almost like a note out of tune. On the one hand, our days are kept so full here that time seems to hurtle by- there never seems to be enough day to complete even half of the things I would like. On the other hand though, it feels like I have already been here for months.
Things have settled into an easy rythym, and even with my somewhat less-than-proficient bumbling at the language, it's now quite possible to communicate at a basic level with native speakers who don't know any English. I can thus manage things like shopping, or ordering out at restaurants unaided. (Learning how to order American coffee at the local shop was the first grammatically correct sentence I learned to say. It all comes down to the proper motivation). I don't have anywhere near the vocabulary needed for any deeper conversation yet- but happily, many of the natives that I find myself interacting with at the university and the church speak fluent English.
Ministry opportunities abound- almost moreso than I am able to find time to follow-up on. One of the local bilingual churches has asked me to take over their Sunday School program. Not just as a teacher, but as the director of the program, setting curriculum for other teachers to follow as well. We're also hoping to start a disipleship program for native believers who attend the church, as we're hoping to see more of them step into leadership positions and initiate disipling relationships of their own. On campus, there's an opportunity in the works for beginning a seeker's Bible Study, and I recently had a chance to present a set of philosophical arguments for Theism in front of a class of around sixty students. This is a big deal, because it was probably the first time any of them ever heard Theism put forward as anything other than superstition.
It's been a very busy month; and it's already time for midterms here on campus. Wish me luck! I hope to have more interesting developments for you next month.