The majority of my time here has been spent working with sweet ladies. They come from all backgrounds and all walks of life. My most cherished friendships have come from the women who are overlooked. The women who are looked down upon. The women who have very little voice in their worlds. These are the women who have gone out into the trenches and fields to share His Story. They don't have education or credentials. They just have a story to tell.
This past week I took part in a workshop of a different variety. Its not a situation that I was fully comfortable with. But my leadership thought it would be good if I did this and so I did. A bunch of pastors brought their men to record some stories. I knew something was up when I learned I had to refer to them separately as "pastors" and "believers" I asked the guy in charge...what is this-- a caste system??
The men were nice enough. They smiled and listened. And then totally didn't follow instructions. They had a lot of excuses. So, I went toe to toe with this one pastor. He was disruptive, argumentative and disrespectful. Miraculously, I was as calm as a cucumber. I showed no emotion. I just stood firm in our Father's Word. I looked over...and my colleague who was in charge had tears in his eyes. He looked so discouraged.
The argument escalated and I think I almost had a mutiny on my hands. I called for a break. Let em cool down. I walked outside to find my colleague. I made some dumb joke about the Cold War (this guy is from Russia) and he just looked at me with sad eyes. I think he realized that his pastors that he called for this workshop were not the best men for the job. And that's got to be discouraging.
If it had been up to me, I would just have cancelled the rest of the training. It was wasting my time. And I had no emotional involvement, I didn't know these pastors from Adam. I was just doing a job I was asked to do. But then...I had the sad Russian dude...I wanted him to be encouraged...Russians are not suppose to be sad. So...I continued on.
After the break, I walked up to the pastor. And I basically just said the equivalent of 'no hard feelings' in Hindi. And he said..sister, I am the one who should be apologizing to you. WHAT?? That's a twist...as they say in the storytelling circles. For the rest of the day, he was my helper. He volunteered when nobody else would. I don't know what happened during that break but something did. This morning, as I go back for the last day of the training, I admit, I don't want to go. I just want to throw in the towel and go back to my ladies without all the hang ups. But, I just have to sit back and watch and see what HE will do...cause I just never know how things will turn out.
This past week I took part in a workshop of a different variety. Its not a situation that I was fully comfortable with. But my leadership thought it would be good if I did this and so I did. A bunch of pastors brought their men to record some stories. I knew something was up when I learned I had to refer to them separately as "pastors" and "believers" I asked the guy in charge...what is this-- a caste system??
The men were nice enough. They smiled and listened. And then totally didn't follow instructions. They had a lot of excuses. So, I went toe to toe with this one pastor. He was disruptive, argumentative and disrespectful. Miraculously, I was as calm as a cucumber. I showed no emotion. I just stood firm in our Father's Word. I looked over...and my colleague who was in charge had tears in his eyes. He looked so discouraged.
The argument escalated and I think I almost had a mutiny on my hands. I called for a break. Let em cool down. I walked outside to find my colleague. I made some dumb joke about the Cold War (this guy is from Russia) and he just looked at me with sad eyes. I think he realized that his pastors that he called for this workshop were not the best men for the job. And that's got to be discouraging.
If it had been up to me, I would just have cancelled the rest of the training. It was wasting my time. And I had no emotional involvement, I didn't know these pastors from Adam. I was just doing a job I was asked to do. But then...I had the sad Russian dude...I wanted him to be encouraged...Russians are not suppose to be sad. So...I continued on.
After the break, I walked up to the pastor. And I basically just said the equivalent of 'no hard feelings' in Hindi. And he said..sister, I am the one who should be apologizing to you. WHAT?? That's a twist...as they say in the storytelling circles. For the rest of the day, he was my helper. He volunteered when nobody else would. I don't know what happened during that break but something did. This morning, as I go back for the last day of the training, I admit, I don't want to go. I just want to throw in the towel and go back to my ladies without all the hang ups. But, I just have to sit back and watch and see what HE will do...cause I just never know how things will turn out.
2 comments:
wow! may you continue to be blessed with "kingdom eyes" to see the bigger picture!
wonderful story! He always does amazing things, not sure why I don't expect them more. I think I'm learning to a little.
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