An issue that recently has been the topic of conversations amongst the men of our squad has been the fact that since our only male squad leader went home in month 4, we as men haven’t felt poured into. It’s understandable, because guys are pretty independent, and there’s only so much two squad leaders can do on a squad of 50 people. The fact remains that we haven’t felt pursued or encouraged/called higher.
Before I continue I want to assure everyone that this has been discussed with the squad leaders and an effort has been put forth to make a difference, but there is little need for big changes now. Why? Let me tell you.
Recently the guys on my team (and myself) have been reading a book called Wild At Heart, by John Eldredge. It is a book written for men with the goal of freeing us from the hold of cultural expectations. In the USA, men (at least where I’m from) are expected to be polite, laid back, and of all-out good behavior, or never to do anything dangerous or unexpected. Essentially the expectation placed on us is to be what I like to call “the romantic-comedy man”. Watch any rom-com and you’ll see this expectation in action.
We are being emasculated by our culture. It is a sad thing. Through this book though, we have read about what it is to be a true man, and more importantly a man after God’s own heart. We learned that the desire in us to do dangerous things, and to go on adventures is perfectly natural. I can’t do the book justice in my explanation, so I leave the rest for you to read. It’s for women too!
A few weeks ago, another answer to a prayer we didn’t have, came to our team house. A guy named Rodney, and his wife Anna, came from Tennessee to be with our ministry for a month. They had come last year on a short-term trip, and loved it so much they came back. Now, we had no idea until two weeks before they arrived that they were coming, as they had no idea until less than a week before that there were 16 people living in the team house. It matters little now. We have grown very close to those two, but especially Rodney.
Rodney is a young guy, only 24 years old, but he is packed full of wisdom. Almost without asking he has poured so much into us, covering topics such as drinking, relationships, and the hope we have in Christ. It has been such a blessing having him with us. We are surely gonna miss him when we leave for home next week. Oh my goodness… Next week!!!
