So you haven't heard from me in ages, and I'm sorry. The honest reason was because I didn't make time to communicate with yous all, because I was finding it harder to want to put down some of my feelings on paper (well, blog) because sometimes it made it too real, or sometimes I didn't want to let people know that at times I was having some issues. Truth is I'm fine, just at times was homesick, or worried about going home, totally two ends of a spectrum, but still.
I decided to try and post one story ever couple of days about my stay here until I leave, good luck to me!
Today my story is prompted by just stopping at one of St. Luke's mission partners to worship after being on retreat. This was Branches, in Florida City. Now I have travelled here twice this year before today. Once was over MLK weekend, to help with Florida City love yourself, in which I did a lot of gardening with the youth, and moved a stupidly heavy cast iron bell with Andrew. The second was ove Memorial Day weekend, on an inter generational mission experience, in which St. Luke's missions department took a group of people to Branches to work along side the community building a playground. I had the privilege to play with the worship band that
weekend. It was amazing. Anyhow I digress.
Today (Sunday 26th July) the roommates and I left our retreat in the keys to make our way back to YAMM-lando, for a youth lake day, we stopped at Branches, to worship, and honestly to just say hey to some friends that some of us won't get to see again for a long time. Today was their celebration of "Summer Shade"
which is their Vacation Bible School, and it was great to be able to see the kids and youth singing, dancing and giving praise to God, and they do it with this feeling of such honesty, as in they didn't seem to hold anything back to try act all "cool" or what not, they just praised, and that's something that I really love about Branches. During the service the kids recalled some of their summer chant followed by "hashtag (#) agapé" and I found this really awesome, coming from a church back home (Belfast south Methodist) who worship in the Agapé centre.
It got me really thinking on the word.
Of course we all know agapé is the Greek for "love: the highest form of love, especially brotherly love, charity; the love of God for man and of man for God" (from Wikipedia: the fountain of all semi-accurate knowledge). To see this term both sides of the Atlantic makes me mindful that Love is global! God loves all, and we are called to love all as well. My whole year I have tried to focus personally on the passage from John 13:34 "a new command I give you; love one another. As I have loved you love one another!" Don't underestimate how hard that it is to do so, especially when someone finishes the last of the sunny delight and all you want is sunny delight.... But for real, it is difficult. So seeing agapé today helped me remember that love is global, and we are all linked. We sometimes find it easier either to focus within our local community, or only focus on "world issues", but we need to look at both, because they are linked, and this is something I want to look at in my next blog post. We need to love locally and globally we need to love family and non family, we need to love in all things we do. God's love is agapé. We are called to show agapé love to all.
I decided to try and post one story ever couple of days about my stay here until I leave, good luck to me!
weekend. It was amazing. Anyhow I digress.
which is their Vacation Bible School, and it was great to be able to see the kids and youth singing, dancing and giving praise to God, and they do it with this feeling of such honesty, as in they didn't seem to hold anything back to try act all "cool" or what not, they just praised, and that's something that I really love about Branches. During the service the kids recalled some of their summer chant followed by "hashtag (#) agapé" and I found this really awesome, coming from a church back home (Belfast south Methodist) who worship in the Agapé centre.
It got me really thinking on the word.
Of course we all know agapé is the Greek for "love: the highest form of love, especially brotherly love, charity; the love of God for man and of man for God" (from Wikipedia: the fountain of all semi-accurate knowledge). To see this term both sides of the Atlantic makes me mindful that Love is global! God loves all, and we are called to love all as well. My whole year I have tried to focus personally on the passage from John 13:34 "a new command I give you; love one another. As I have loved you love one another!" Don't underestimate how hard that it is to do so, especially when someone finishes the last of the sunny delight and all you want is sunny delight.... But for real, it is difficult. So seeing agapé today helped me remember that love is global, and we are all linked. We sometimes find it easier either to focus within our local community, or only focus on "world issues", but we need to look at both, because they are linked, and this is something I want to look at in my next blog post. We need to love locally and globally we need to love family and non family, we need to love in all things we do. God's love is agapé. We are called to show agapé love to all.
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