“I am the shy, quiet member of the team.”
That is how I remember introducing myself to our contacts.
Still feeling under the weather, nonetheless I chose to attend this initial meeting, partially to hear details first-hand and partially just tired of lying in a sleeping bag staring up at the starless ceiling.
Finding a place on the cream colored couch that forbade completely sitting back in comfort and still having the ability to touch my toes to the floor, I relaxed. On my left stood the office library of which I had already perused, critiqued and mentally listed books of interest.
The staff members were sitting in the middle of the room around a small conference table discussing with us various upcoming events and opportunities. It was your typical “let’s make sure we are all on the same page” type meeting that briefly sent me into a collage-style flashback of my past three and half years in the church office.
Snapping out of my reverie I forced myself to focus.
Our ministry for the month would be working with students through CCX (pronounced S-S-ha), a Christian student organization on university campuses, a sister organization to InterVarsity in the States. The English Department serves students who are studying English, giving them chances to interact with native English speakers and offering opportunities to develop skills that will be helpful in their future.
Manna would be assisting weekly English clubs, movie nights, class visits, events such as Photo Quest, and basically anything else that might be needed during the course of our stay.
All seven of us would not be needed at everything and I was secretly hoping to fade into the background by helping with office work and movie nights, leaving English clubs and large crowds to my more relational, extroverted teammates. As much as I found the CCX staff quite likeable, this type of ministry just was not shaping up to be my cup of tea.
Comparatively speaking it was true, but it became a statement others would later bring to my remembrance with a smirk that said “Really?!?!”…
“I am the shy, quiet member of the team.”
