Although we are staying in Kolkata these first few days, our conference center was actually the sanctuary of a Catholic Church in West Bengal. In traffic, this was about an hour and a half northwest of where we are staying.
Many of the attendees were traveling great distances and when we began, we barely had 60 pastors that had made it. We started late awaiting the arrival of others, and as we taught throughout the day, people kept arriving. For the most part, we had amazing translators and it was a real gift to work with them. This first day, every member of our team was able to present for about 45 minutes. Today, I did what I normally do with folks I am meeting for the first time and I simply shared my story and talked about the radical grace and mercy of God. The take away nuggets were simply that we are the recipients of mercy and grace and with God's help, we become vessels of that same mercy and grace for His glory. I left them with a challenge of looking for where they are blocking the reception or transmission, turning that blockage over to God and being more open vessels. It is a humbling experience to be received as well as I was and thanked for helping with their spiritual journey as pastors and soon to be pastors from all across denominational lines. When the day was done we had grown from dozens to hundreds and the sanctuary was just about full. I am really looking forward to what is in store for all of us over the next two days of this conference.
As we continue our conversations and get to know these men and women, I will continue to keep you posted. Thanks to everyone who posts comments here or on FB, for the encouragement, and for your prayers...stuff is stirring!
Till next time,
Russell
Many of the attendees were traveling great distances and when we began, we barely had 60 pastors that had made it. We started late awaiting the arrival of others, and as we taught throughout the day, people kept arriving. For the most part, we had amazing translators and it was a real gift to work with them. This first day, every member of our team was able to present for about 45 minutes. Today, I did what I normally do with folks I am meeting for the first time and I simply shared my story and talked about the radical grace and mercy of God. The take away nuggets were simply that we are the recipients of mercy and grace and with God's help, we become vessels of that same mercy and grace for His glory. I left them with a challenge of looking for where they are blocking the reception or transmission, turning that blockage over to God and being more open vessels. It is a humbling experience to be received as well as I was and thanked for helping with their spiritual journey as pastors and soon to be pastors from all across denominational lines. When the day was done we had grown from dozens to hundreds and the sanctuary was just about full. I am really looking forward to what is in store for all of us over the next two days of this conference.
As we continue our conversations and get to know these men and women, I will continue to keep you posted. Thanks to everyone who posts comments here or on FB, for the encouragement, and for your prayers...stuff is stirring!
Till next time,
Russell
No comments:
Post a Comment