Friday, October 12, 2007
Missions Conference
We had an excellent Missions Conference, especially considering the Colorado Rockies were playing in the National League Championship game. We had presentations by Medical Education International, Missions Ministries, Centura Missions, Inner City Health Center, CenterPoint International, and Christian Medical Ministry to Cambodia--Jeremiah's Hope. Pastor Tony Weedor of CenterPoint sent me this note:
Thanks for the time last night, we truly enjoyed every minute we spent with y’all. Your intro to the program and the speak vision reminded me of Nouwen’s word of Ministry of the Presence. Thanks!
The Ministry of the Presence.
More and more, the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, enter their homes, sit on their doorsteps, play ball…and be known as someone who wants to live with them. It is a privilege to have the time to practice this simple ministry of presence. Still, it is not as simple as it seems. My own desire to be useful, to do something significant, or to be part of some impressive project is so strong that soon my time is taken up by meetings, conferences, study groups, and workshops that prevent me from walking the streets. It is difficult not to have plans, not to organize people around an urgent cause, and not feel that you are working directly for social progress. But I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn't be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and tell your own, and to let them know with words, handshakes, and hugs that you do not simply like them, but you truly love them. -- Henri Nouwen
Thanks for the time last night, we truly enjoyed every minute we spent with y’all. Your intro to the program and the speak vision reminded me of Nouwen’s word of Ministry of the Presence. Thanks!
The Ministry of the Presence.
More and more, the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, enter their homes, sit on their doorsteps, play ball…and be known as someone who wants to live with them. It is a privilege to have the time to practice this simple ministry of presence. Still, it is not as simple as it seems. My own desire to be useful, to do something significant, or to be part of some impressive project is so strong that soon my time is taken up by meetings, conferences, study groups, and workshops that prevent me from walking the streets. It is difficult not to have plans, not to organize people around an urgent cause, and not feel that you are working directly for social progress. But I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn't be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and tell your own, and to let them know with words, handshakes, and hugs that you do not simply like them, but you truly love them. -- Henri Nouwen
