TeamKenya2008’s Weblog

Rex and members of Deepening (GrX small group in San Mateo) made us an awesome pancake breakfast!  Then Eugene Hsu and his band (Cliff, Sam, and Gordon) led a worship session to prepare us for Matthew Geppert’s (of the South East Asia Prayer Center) talk on prayer walking. 

He taught us that the Lord reveals himself to his people (Isaiah 40:3-11, 42:1-4), and that there are four things that we war against (Eph 6:12):

1)       “the rulers” (people who intimidate you),

2)       ”the authorities” (Jesus gives us all authority to speak as we humbly submit to his voice),

3)       “the powers of this dark world” (people who will use you, the Lord asks us to pray for them), and

4)       “the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (creepy, giant nasty things, idols manifested in different individuals).

There are 5 pressure points in any situations: Centers of…

1)       Government,

2)       Education,

3)       Commerce,

4)       Communication and

5)       Spiritual Activity.

Pastor Rob then dispatched all the teams to go to downtown SJ and other areas to prayer walk.  Team Kenya started out at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library and then circled the campus.  We had lunch at La Victoria’s and then watched Iron Man during our break. 

A-B: From the Patrick Henry office, six of us (Terrence, Jessica, Paul, Grace Liang, Grace Kim and me) squeezed into my Camry Hybrid and sped off to our first stop, Kifer (our first semi-permanent GrX home), where we had to cross a couple parking spaces using five magazines without touching the ground.  Slow and steady wins the race; all six of us crossed with no incident.  The I/O Team was faster, but they only had four people.  

C: We received our next clue and drove off towards Sunnyvale Community Center, where we had to run around the lake 3 times without spilling the open bottle of water we had to carry.  Jessica, Grace L and I did a semi-relay around the lake, burning the East Asia Team, while Terrence, Paul and Grace K (sick, sick, wearing heels) cheered us on.

D: Next stop: the Orchard on Manet St., which turned out to be on the Michealangelo side and not on Manet.  It was kind of like a scene out of the Blair Witch Project, complete with “No Trespassing” sign, creepy old tractors and menacing gardening tools. 

E: We arrived at In-N-Out next, where we each had to take part in chugging down some Korean hot sauce with jalapeno peppers, carrots, sardines.  The juice at the very end was nasty, but we managed to chug it down with some ice water.

F-H: We went on to complete the photo section, stopping by Weinershnitzel to take a picture with a “dog” (yay for creativity!), the Starbucks at Mercado, Yahoo!, and Safeway.

I: We arrived back at the GrX Office at 9:55 pm, where we had to put together a contraption to ensure that a raw egg would not break.  We were given 5 straws, 3 paper towels, scotch tape, string, a spoon, a paper plate, and 5 paper clips.  The I/O Team arrived four minutes earlier, but the other three teams didn’t stand a chance. 

The results:  Team Kenya tied with the I/O Team for first place.  Each team got a $25 gift card to Starbucks. 

Amazing Race Debrief:

We shared our personal motives/goals for the race, our greatest challenges of the night, and what kind of personalities we exhibited in the situation.  As a team, our greatest challenge was fitting into the car, but we all felt unified and we all had fun!

Photos and video at http://picasaweb.google.com/dorothyewu/GrXMissionsRetreat2008.

I’ve set up this blog to keep us all updated and on the same page.  This way, if you miss a meeting, you can come back here and read as much or as little of it as you want.  You can also send out this link to supporters so that they can keep up-to-date with our team. 

-Dorothy

Conflict is something that every missions team experiences, no matter how big or small. 

Sin is the root cause of conflict for non-Christians.  Our nature is to conflict with God and each other.

Unbelief in the truth of the Gospel is the root cause of conflict for Christians.

“If we confess our sins he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” I John 1:9

“But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman.  Born under law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.  Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’  So you are no longer a slave but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.“  Galatians 4:4-7

Galatians 2:8-14 - Good Conflict (Paul confronting Peter in hypocrisy with gentiles)

“not acting in line with the truth of the Gospel.”

Why did Paul do it?  In his core he was so convicted in the nature of the Gospel.

Matthew 16:18 - Peter the Rock, “Gates” - Protection; the Gates of Hades will not withstand the extension of the church.

Bad Conflict - Pastor Rob’s story about getting into a physical fight with another ST missionary while in Rio Di Janeiro.

10 rules for preventing and resolving conflict:

1. Remember - It’s not about you! (Eph 4:2-6)
2. Remember - Speak the truth in love. (Eph 4:15 & 4:25)
3. Remember - Put off the old self and put on the new self. (Eph 4:22-25)
4. Remember - In your anger do not sin.  (Eph 4:26a)
5. Remember - Do not let the sun go down on your anger. (avoiding the conflict) (Eph 4:26b-27)
6. Remember - Work hard and contribute to your team.  (Eph 4:2
7. Remember - Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths. (Eph 4:29)
8. Remember - Get rid of relational malice. (bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander) (Eph 4:31)
9. Remember - Be kind and compassionate to one another. (Eph 4:32a)
10. Remember - Forgive each other just as Christ forgave you.  (Eph 4:32b)