"Super Saturday"

On top of the normal weekly Sunday night mission trainings, once every couple Saturdays we meet from 9am - 5pm. Today was one of those days.

It was surprisingly beautiful and enjoyable.
Location: a nearby park with friendly green grass and a lovely lake (with ducks).
Training: Open-air body worship, praising & dancing like no other.
Challenge: Culture Shock foods. 3 plates of- Durian wafers, Silkworm, Jackfruit, Some sort of chunky anchovy in a maroon sauce, some sort of mystery meat that looked like cat-food/tasted like spam, & lychee(that saved us- we ended up stuffing the Silkworm aka "Bbeun-dae gi" inside and then using the jackfruit to wash it down).
Lunch: Delicious Hot dogs- praise God for "normal" food.
Group: Here was the beautiful moment- we gathered for team time- found a nice patch of grass near the water, it was slightly inclined, slightly breeze-prone, warmly sunny on our shoulders/faces. Our teammate led us into "How Great is our God" and then "Heart of Worship". Eyes closed, I experienced peace just worshipping God and soaking His presence with my team..
Surprise: They had us fooled- we thought we were done with the funky foods. They saved the best for last- "BALUT!" A balut is a fertilized duck (or chicken) egg with a nearly-developed embryo inside that is boiled and eaten in the shell.
We definitely experienced involuntary gag-reflexes and questioned the strength of our stomachs when we saw the size of those eggs. The worst part was the smell (reminded me of a chicken coup in a farm - the smell stayed on your fingers even after soapage).

It was tough. Literally, they overcooked the egg so the yolk esp was very dry going down. x)

It's amazing how much closer you can feel with someone else when you both have to eat weird stuff together. I understand now why they made us go through that~

All in all, our leader was pointing us back to God, in hopes that we may grasp a little more of how Great and HOly and AWESOME He is. Right now, we don't see it.
1 Corinthians 13:12- Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

Tomorrow at Chapel, our Japan team will be selling Rice-Balls, Ramen & Tea as a fundraiser! All proceeds go to God's glory! :)

Still in awe,
Shalom