Saturday, April 26, 2008

April 22nd Reflection evening


So, last Tuesday, the 26 of us got together with about 60 other interested people, young and old, and we spent some time reflecting about our Peru trip.

We gathered in the Sanctuary of Calvin church on the stage, all of us wearing our shirts.

(The team ready to share)

We began our evening with a slide presentation by Shawn B. He did a wonderful job of putting together his feelings about the trip through song and picture. It will hopefully soon be available on this blog.
After singing our opening Spanish song that we had sung for the church in Peru, we moved on to various categories to share. Things like talking about Frontline Peru, the organization we went with. Sharing about the church, the city of Pachacutec, the clinic we visited, our VBS and Craft and Drama's, and more.


(Singing our Spanish Song)


I think this gave everyone present a good idea of what we did during our trip. Oh, and we had pictures to go along with the various topics. Oh, Oh, we also talked about the food we ate, right Colin. He took LOTS of pictures of food.

(Brian doing his Presentation on the construction work we did)

After a short stretch break, we opened things up for general discussion. We talked about our high points, and our struggles during the week. How the trip affected us. How we saw God at work during the week, and more. We ended with some questions from those that had gathered with us.


(Our family and friends who came out)




(Our family and friends and the group watching the slide presentations)





Then John shared the 10 minute slide show that he put together for the evening. It gave everyone a chance to see the people and the places


.



Pastor Ken then closed the evening in prayer and we were just about ready to go, when I asked everyone to stay just a bit longer. Here's why. As I was going through all the pictures over the past weeks I came across several that elicited a humourous comment in my head. I separated them out and eventually used these to put together a fun and funny slide show as a gift to the group. There were lots of people laughing during that slide time. It was fun to put together, and the reward for me was to hear the laughter and see the faces of the team as they saw themselves taken "sort of" out of context at times. It's a power point presenation, and if I find a way to link it to this blog sometime, it will show up.

I did put together a BRIEF video of yours truly making a run up a sandy hill in Peru. I thought it to be pretty funny. You be the judge. I call it "Ronny Balboa" : )






We then spent some time socializing afterwards. I was told a store in Ottawa sells the wonderful INCA COLA that some of us really liked while in Peru, so I bought some and people got a chance to try it.





All in all it was a very good night. Those who came were those who supported us prayerfully and financially, and we thank ALL of you for helping to make this "learning opportunity" a reality for us. I think it was good for the team to process their thoughts in front of a group of people. They are doing a great job of sharing with those who wish to listen.

We meet in May and June to continue our discussions and work out action plans for ministry to our Peruvian friends, and within our own city of Ottawa. I'll let you know how all that goes as things develop.


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