EMI Orientation

Wanda and spent this last week at EMI orientation at The Hideaway near Monument, CO.  It was an awesome time that is honestly a little hard to explain.  It was a time to learn about ourselves, about Engineering Ministries International (EMI), about those around us, about experiencing different cultures, about poverty, about working as a team, and about a lot of things that I won't remember anyway.  EMI orientation week is done twice a year at the beginning of the fall and spring terms.  The main purpose is to welcome in and train new interns and new staff.

I was excited for the week for a few reasons - mainly getting to spend time with Wanda while my parents (God bless their giving spirits!) lived in our house and played mommy and daddy for our three wonderful kids.  I knew there would be things I learned as we looked at how our personalities, spiritual gifts and strengths worked together - and as we looked to learn more about living in different cultures, but I was impressed with a number of other things as well.

We spent a fair amount of time sharing our stories/testimonies.  In seven minutes we were to share the story of our lives.  For those of us over 30, there are a lot of things that have happened in our lives.  I could easily spend 7 minutes on dirty diaper stories, or stories from times I have seen the power of our creative God through nature, or stories of the times that our powerful God has seemingly saved my life and protected me, or stories of the times that our provider God has miraculously put food on the table and a roof over our heads, or the times that I have chosen to turn my back on God and walk my own way, or the times that those closest to me have shown grace and forgiveness, etc, etc.  So which stories do you share?

As 22 year old interns and 50 year old staff shared about their lives and God's movement through their lives, I was amazed at the openness, and at the brokenness of ... us.  We are broken, in so many ways by so many things.  Listening to the stories broke my heart.  To hear the pain that people have experienced, the broken relationships, the bad choices, the bad circumstances - And then to hear the beautifully rich stories of restoration, forgiveness, grace, and love.  It is good to remember that we are broken, and so is everyone around us.  But it is also good to remember that there is forgiveness and restoration.  That is the heart of God.  And I can't remember how many times during the sharing of stories that my heart filled up and my eyes overflowed with tears.

23 new staff and interns came together a week ago and played a silly name game, each wondering who these other 22 people were.  Today, Wanda and I said goodbye to 21 new friends.  Tomorrow, those friends will begin to spread themselves all over the world.  To Africa, Canada, UK, India, and the US.  Some back to work, some to partnership development, some to internships, all called by God.  Some of these new friends we will see soon, some we will see in the next few years, and some we will probably never see again. I am reminded of "The Four Loves" by C.S. Lewis:

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”

Thank you fellow Orientation survivors for being vulnerable with us.