Phase 2 Continued and beyond

     I forgot to mention previously that in celebration of our completing the lecture phase, we watched in order, the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, in the extended format. Friday to Sunday. It was awesome as many of the people watching had never seen the films before, and it reminded me of the first time I saw them in theaters.

     Monday was the official first day of the Practical phase, and it was presentation day. The nine of us were broken up into teams and given a different topic to present on. My group was focusing on the Wolof and Djola people groups (the two major ethnic groups in Senegal), and we talked about various parts of their culture. The other groups shared on Islam and on Animism.

These last couple of days have been focused on the several skits (or for our English readers, sketches) that we have been preparing for the open air evangelism we will be doing in Senegal.

     We have had more classes on culture and how as Westerners, and more importantly as white people, the way we behave has lasting effects on the mission effort in Senegal, so it was a warning against acting in a way that could hurt the way the church is viewed where we are working.

     Today was primarily cleaning and packing. Tomorrow afternoon, I along with Spencer ( a fellow American) will be flying to London to start our Christmas break. I ask that you be in prayer for us as we are going to be travelling a lot and are in a strange place. 

     This is going to be my last blog entry for awhile ( I don't know how long) and I look forward to writing to you again soon.

Phase 1 Complete; Commence with Phase 2

      So this is it. The final class of our DTS. Twelve weeks of intense teaching, intimate encounters with God, and moments when my life was just laid bare. It's both sad and exhilarating that I have reached this point, and in part it is thanks to you for the financial support and the prayer that you have offered on my behalf.
This weeks teaching was on the one topic that we haven't looked at yet; the Bible. It wasn't a in depth study of how the Bible came into being or how to read the original Greek and Hebrew, but it was a concise and simple teaching on the evolution from individual manuscripts into a comprehensive text. This was a class devoted more to getting us to think about the Bible, and pursue the answers within the text.
The topic that I really enjoyed and will take more time to study later is the inspired nature of the Bible and what to do when you see "contradictions". When you encounter a seeming contradiction, instead of just running off to tell the world that the Bible is a bunch of hooey, to think that maybe you are reading the particular passage out of context, or that you don't understand it. I realize this isn't the clearest way of saying this, but for me it doesn't just apply to the Bible but to other texts as well, and life in general. Think through something before jumping to conclusions. It was a nice way to wrap up the teaching by going back to basics.
     A bunch of people needed their immunizations for Senegal, primarily the Yellow Fever vaccine, so we all piled into the cars and made the trip to Avignon, the city of Popes. It's a bit weird that it's called that because the last time a pope lived in Avignon was in the 14th century. Seeing as the three American's were all set with  our shots, we decided to brave the French city on our own.
     It was really cool to see another French town and be able to explore, but it was sad to see the state of disrepair the city had fallen into. Graffiti and the like. All that couldn't take away from the beauty of the square. I took lots of photos which I will hopefully be uploading tomorrow before I leave for Christmas break.
     It was very cool to see the history of the place and visit the places that are talked about in history books, and and being a history nut, I soaked it all in. I saw the Pont d'Avignon, which is one of the most ridiculous looking pieces of architecture that I have ever seen. It is only half a bridge that just ends in the middle of the Rhone. We all took some time to mock this creation, and then took pictures in front of it! 
     Here is a  well know French rhyme that once you get in your head, never goes away.
Sur le pont d'Avignon
L'on y danse, l'on y danse
Sur le pont d'Avignon
L'on y danse tous en rond
Les beaux messieurs font comm' ça
Et puis encore comm' ça
     It was rather rainy and cold so we then went to Ikea. To get hot dogs. And they were awful. But I had two because I was starving. I thought that it was rather funny that an American was at a Swedish store in France. This made me laugh for quite some time. (Don't judge me.)
     Saturday was a go, go, go day. Everybody was rushing around preparing a Christmas feast. Roast potatoes, roast pork, Yorkshire puddings, spiced cider and mulled wine. I, true to form, volunteered for far to many things, and was running in three different directions. 
     It was a fantastic night, a great turnout and we even had a Secret Santa! It was a really great time, and it made me realize how much I really love my family and friends.
     (Phase 2 to follow)

Christmas Greetings

16 December, 2012

Chères amies et famille,

I’m not accustomed to writing Christmas letters, so this will be a combination of an update along with my thoughts on Christmas. It is my hope that this letter encourages you and is a blessing in this Christmas season.

Over the years, the meaning of Christmas has evolved for me. I knew that it was the birthday of Jesus, but it wasn’t always the focus. It used to be a time for looking through every catalog I could find and making a list of all the toys I wanted. And then it was a time for just being with family and eating a lot of good food. It has become so much more than that for me now. It is a time for being with family and remembering the coming of Jesus. Christ’s birth was the beginning of the end and the start of something new.

Probably the strangest thing is that this is the first time that I’m missing Christmas with my family. It doesn’t seem quite real, like I’m in a dream. In just a few short days, we will be on Christmas break and I will be off to see London, Paris and Switzerland and I’m blessed to have a travel companion. I’m a bit sad to be missing this time with my family, but God has blessed me with another family. We have our dysfunctional moments. Times when we’re annoyed with each other, and times like the other night where we just spend time together, talking and laughing.

This past week concluded our final week of teaching for the lecture phase. Twelve weeks of intense teaching, cover a variety of topics. Out of this time I have experience God. I found it really telling when during the base Christmas Party, the speaker from the first week approached me and said that there was something different about me, to which I replied “I feel different.”

Tradition dictates that I ask people what I want for Christmas, and the one thing that comes foremost to my mind is prayer for my time in Senegal. I ask that you give two months of prayer, whether that is once a day or once a week. I’m going into enemy territory, and will be living right next to a mosque.

1.       Pray that I and the team would be protected from both physical and spiritual harm.

2.       That I would continue to grow in my faith, and not be swayed by the enemy.

3.       That the hearts of the Senegalese would be receptive to the gospel.

            In closing, I would like to once again thank those you for being there to support me both financially and spiritually. It means a lot to me that I have you, and I want to bless you this Christmas season. That you would remember the reason for the season, and rejoice in our inheritance through Jesus Christ.

            Joyeux Noël, Bonne Année et la Bénédiction de Dieu.

            Sincèrement. 

   

                       Taylor

What is Islam? And other preparations...

So this was a different week. In every other class we have been allowed to take notes so on and so forth, but not this week. It was completely oral. It was explained that we were being taught this way because when we encountered objections from Muslims, we wouldn't be able to go to our notes and find how to respond. It needed to be in the forefront of our minds and in our own words.

Being from a western education system where it was required to take notes, it was a moment of shock and dismay for me because I'm not accustomed to this type of teaching. But it turned out really good, because it really made you think through stuff before asking questions and memorization is key.
I learned many new things about Islam: Abrogation, the Hadiths, how the Koran was compiled into a "single" text, how it is a sin for Muslims to question the Koran (and that if you question it, Muslims usually become angry) and more about the history of Muhammad.
One of the most interesting things about this week however had to be how they view Christians. They often know more about Christianity than about their own faith, but it has a twist to it. Many Muslims believe that when a Christian says Son of God, in reference to Jesus, they believe we are saying that God came down and had sex with Mary. But that is clearly not what we believe, so it is important to make sure that when talking to a Muslim, that you are using the same definition.
Another thing was the use of honor and shame. For Muslims, everything is honor and shame, and so it is important to make sure that you don't make them feel shame. In other words, don't make them feel inferior. This makes it very hard to use debating to convince a Muslim, because it is an attempt to prove them wrong, which puts them in a position of shame.
This can work in your favor however. If a Muslim is speaking against the Bible (which they believe is the word of God), then you can use shame to make them stop. Here's an example. A Muslim is saying that the Bible isn't true. My response could be. "What do you think about God? Do you think that man can change Gods word? What a shameful thing to say." This makes them stop because they are shaming them selves by speaking against God's word.
There are many more examples of how special care needs to be taken when witnessing to Muslims, but I think you get the idea.
It really opened my heart up to the Muslim world as well. They are just like any other lost people that God is heart broken over. The only way that we can come to a place of authentic witness is when we have God's heart, and that is where we can witness from.
This weekend was going out and buying some of the stuff we would need for Senegal. The list seemed to keep getting longer and longer. Thankfully, I have most of the stuff I will need and just need to order a few more things.
We also all went out and visited a Christian bookstore in the area. It was really cool to see (and I saw Wayne Grudem's Théologie Systématique. Really wanted it, but expensive) I was able to buy a really cheap French Bible, along with another journal. I now have three Bibles with me.
So I think that about sums it up. I only have another two weeks here at the school, and then for my grand tour of Europe. I will be going to London, and then Paris, and on to Switzerland. I need to leave France and the cheapest place to go is London ( Then going with some friends from the school here to Switzerland via Paris.) I really look forward to being able to see many of the places that you read about in history books. The craziest thing is that I will be spending Christmas in Paris! Who would have thought that I would have this opportunity. It makes me so thankful to you back home for your support, and for God's faithfulness in bringing me on this journey to know him.

A week of missions and 48 hours

Thank you for the birthday wishes! It is encouraging to hear from you, even a few short words. For my birthday, some of the staff here, Lucie and Tabea, made a fantastic dinner to celebrate me reaching 20 years! While I didn't get to spend time with my family and friends at home, God has blessed me with a third family here in France.

The teaching this week was focused on missions, and we were able to gain specific insight as to what we will encounter in Senegal. Our teacher's name was Moira. She's originally from Scotland, and lived for 8 years as a missionary in Senegal, and she shared some of her experiences from her time there.
She explained what missions is, and used one of the most well know commissioning verses in the bible, Matt. 28:18-20. It gives us very clear parameters for what we are to do, and where we are to go, and just looking at the life of Jesus gives us a model to follow. He chose men to disciple, and after he taught and guided them, he gave them his authority and then the disciples repeated the cycle. That makes us the great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great disciples of Jesus himself! (I think I missed a couple of greats in there, but I think you get the idea)
Back to Senegal, Moira explained just a few of the many cultural differences that exist, and how we as workers in their country need to model ourselves after their culture. Also, being a predominately Muslim country, it means that there are certain greetings and traditions that we must be aware of.

This weekend was called 48-hours of prayer. The class room was set up with multiple stations so that if you didn't know what to pray for, there would be some guidance. I took four hours from my weekend to spend in this prayer room. I didn't know what to do, but I came with a question. "God what do you have for me?"
I experienced an incredibly intimate time with God. It was really amazing at how much I felt God's presence, and how quickly time went by. The time was broken up; two, one hour sessions and then a two hour session. It felt like no time had passed before the next person came to the room.
It made me wonder about eternity. If several hours felt like minutes, then no wonder we need eternity to praise Good and get to know him!
I thoroughly enjoyed it and really look forward to spending more of my time in prayer.
God bless.