The Tide Began to Rise

I learned a few things today. I also was greatly inspired. We met with Mike Toupin (he works with all these different companies to translate the text in the Bible into an understandable written language in places where there is either A) no written language B) has no copy of a Bible, period) I think some of the things that have happened to him and around him are absolutely amazing. He told a story about being adopted into the family of the oldest man in the village. He was literally the oldest man in the whole ethnic group. Something like 30,000 people. He had 6 wives (polygamists, there) and 25 children, over 100 grand children. He was too old to have any more kids, and so he named Mike "God loves me" (in his native language) and therefore adopted Mike and his wife and three kids to be his own. They all received special names, which he was able to use (the names) to explain the concept of Christ and God [the gospel of Christ] to many many people there. See, the interesting thing is that in most ethnic (or diverse language sects) groups, they have no actual concept of some things we validate easily (such as 'faith' or 'priest' - they had to create whole new ideas for them) However, most of these peoples have slight adaptations of Christ-like attributes in their histories and cultures. So in a way, one can relate Christ to a concept that they already understand, but he also warned against blindly teaching things (in one place, the closest word for 'priest' was the word that Islamic people use, and therefore would have caused a misunderstanding if used to describe Christ, or another of Christianity's priests - so they used what they knew from their version of priests [who intercede and sacrifice to ancestors] by saying that a 'priest' sacrifices to God himself on our behalf)

This talk made it easier to relate my desire to go to Japan, etc.. and how there are many more obstacles than I perceived; none of which are impossible to overcome. He mentioned that it take about 3 years to completely learn a language and culture (by 'completely' I mean 'speak it well enough that they don't smile and think "He's trying..."') I find it really hard to express the excitement I have when thinking about being involved with other cultures. The unity is off the charts, and the experiences are immeasurable.

To take something from this, he said you must be on two pillars: 1) flexibility and 2) being a learner.
You have to be flexible, bend from your norm (because other cultures are not always similar to yours)
Learn the culture / language: it's the biggest, most effective way to say I LOVE YOU

Music: Makes the people: Come together: Yeah

I've been working on my drum skyls lately. Its funny how much muscle you build from playing drums. We went to the Wiedel's house after the Steam and Gas Engine worship, and ate FOOD and played in the river. I'm finding it to be more and more enjoyable to be with people. While on the beach, someone kicked a soccer ball out in the water, and from then on it was a 'monkey-in-the-middle' style game of running and shoving and grabbing at the ball, while in the water. Then the men had wrestling competitions, which uses way more muscles than you knew existed. Joel took the sailboat out, which was pretty fun (and for the official record, we flipped the boat on purpose). I expect to wake up sore from all these ventures, but I never do. I'm not complaining. However, I do notice the sluggy responses from my arms, and when I try to do fast rolls on the drums it hurts, if not is impossible. So what do we learn from this? Repetition.

Jason and I are going to interview a man from Williamsburg about being a missionary. It has to do with a coming Sunday morning in which we'll be interviewing some local people about Christianity and such. But this guy can't make a live interview on Sunday, so we go to him.

I picked some strawberries at Sarah's house last night. I got 7 of them, and they were all very small, save one that could pass as a decent strawberry. I like walking out there in the open field. It's interesting how much of that property is hidden away and peaceful. I find it to be a blessing to be located in a town that has the option of being peaceful. So if you ever want to go for a walk in the woods, I'm in.