After getting up and going, I went to breakfast with Anna and a few other people. We went to this awesome place called Soy—a quaint, little restaurant where I got the best granola ever!
Following breakfast, the group came together for a time of Bible study, which was led by Rev. Glenn Rowley, Director of Mission Personnel Training for GBGM. We read and discussed Psalm 25. While it was interesting, I wish we had the time to go a bit deeper into it.
I saw this gentleman on my way to lunch:
On our itinerary for today there was a part called “Why Am I Here?” It was really interesting trying to figure out why I am here. Honestly, I don’t know 100% why I am here. Why would I want to voluntarily displace myself—as Glenn described—for the summer? Although I feel that we are all called to do mission work of some fashion, I don’t know if I am being called to have a career in missions. Hopefully this summer will help me decipher what God is trying to tell me. God may be telling me that mission work is not for me through this summer internship or he may be showing me through this summer internship may other routes I need to take in my life.
We also talked about what being a missionary meant. Many people probably have the idea of a missionary being an eccentric person carrying a cross and Bible while trying to convert people to Christianity; however, being a missionary should be about one’s presence in other people’s lives. A missionary should gather stories and be a witness to people’s lives. I’m going to Oklahoma for 8 weeks to learn and hear stories, and then I will carry those stories with for the rest of my life. With those stories, I can advocate and educate.
We had a 30 minute break in the afternoon. So, we took a stroll to a little market where a gentleman was fixing fresh flowers:
Later at night we had the BEST frozen yogurt:
I tried green tea and strawberry tart.
Gas it a bit higher in the city:
Tomorrow we will be going to the Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice in the Bronx. I’m very excited about that!
Thoughtfully,
Meredith
