It was clear from the start that our word for the day was going to be flexibility. All the men and women we invited showed up on time and we were actually able to start fairly early. However, when your first few sessions are on what the Bible says about worship and the high calling that we have, some people tend to get a little antsy.
The first two “hour long” sessions took up a majority of the afternoon and before we knew it, people were already needing to get home or having some other convenient excuse. The audience thinned out quickly because we were talking about some pretty heavy stuff, but the people that stayed were obviously very interested in what we had to say. There were many discussions that came in the next few hours, the biggest of which was the role of women in the church.
Our plans and schedule for the weekend were thrown out within the first hour of our conference. Many of our talks were not even used because of the debates that were much needed. We went to bed last night with much still on hearts to speak, but if we can’t get past the issue of pride, then it will fall on deaf ears.
The good and amazing news is that we’re laying the groundwork for these villages. We’re coming alongside our contact, John, and helping him start something that can change this culture. John has already committed to continue meeting like this with the leaders regularly, which was our goal to begin with.
