Le top dix (10)

10 things I loved about mission

#1. Being compelled to step out of my comfort zone & attempt deep conversations about the Lord Jesus with complete strangers in their mother tongue (but my 2nd language).

#2. The high value the team had for prayer - & the difficulties of praying to God in French!!

#3. God graciously honouring our dependence on Him through the prayers we prayed in our morning Bible studies & pre-dinner sharing.

#4. Being part of a team of many..
..nations (Australia, DR Congo, France, Guadeloupe, South Korea, Switzerland, Madagascar, the Netherlands (no longer called Holland), Poland, United Kingdom) AND..
..languages (Dutch, English, French, Korean, Polish) - a shadow-snapshot of the great multitude from the book of Revelation & the reversal of the Genesis curse on the Babel builders. It was COOL.

#5. Breakfasts (petit déj.), where with the exception of Avi* & Asher* (them 2 being ever bright-eyed & bushy-tailed), our brothers always looked as if someone had dragged them out of bed & propped them upright in their chairs. Without opening their eyes or brushing their hair. Avi, of course, made the most of their inalertness..!

#6. Walking back to the metro with Liat* after the team's final evangelistic soirée & sharing her evident joy at the salvation of the lost.

#7. The boys singing the famous tenor aria "Nessun dorma" as they got ready to leave for Bible stand set-up at the universities. (One of Asher, Dovi* or Jonty* started it; it then snowballed, to much amusement!!)

#8. Listening to Miriam*, who'd come straight out of high-school, sharing about how she wanted to find out ways to serve God during & after her upcoming veterinary science studies.

#9. Realising that serving on the overseas harvest field is still possible for me in the future.

#10. Knowing that God had opened doors for us to sow the seed of His Word in the hearts of the unbelieving students we connected with, & that He had accomplished everything for us during mission week.
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Today went to Natural History Museum {followed by trot through Hyde Pk. & Serpentine lake - so many different duck (& geese) species that my friend Lucy Chik would have been in poultry heaven, past Buckingham Palace, through St. James' Pk. & then to the National Gallery}.

Spent nearly 5 hours at the 1st museum (nat. hist.)., reflecting on the displays of God's power & wonder in creation - looking at & reading about the Earth, its vertebrate sea-creatures, its delicately poised ecosystems, minerals, rocks, volcanoes & earthquakes. And yet there is also a big section on the theory of evolution, how we descended from the apes, blah, blah, etc. I didn't want to look at it too hard in case it made me too angry!

Creation has such complexity, shows such creativity, balance, delicacy..

..& all because of He who made not only the earth but the heavens.
Still I felt widespread rejection of His existence in the way the displays had been organised. How can humanity show in a museum the might & awe of created things/forces & ignore the fact that God rules over it all..controls it all..has made Jesus Lord of it all?
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Next up - Lord's, the home of cricket?

L/T.