Stories

Fresh back from Colorado Springs where I attended a debriefing seminar at MTI (Mission Training International). It was good to work on some skills for debriefing missionaries. But I went away with much more. I left convinced that debriefing is not something just to get a quick check on "how we're doing", but it is a profound gift we can give people to tell their story - to express the joys and struggles of their experience. Without that possibility, people can get stuck and have a hard time getting perspective on their past. It was very interesting to see all the ways that we tend NOT to listen - that we tend to short circuit the process. Yet the Lord made us so that we need to tell our story and to listen to one another's stories. It is amazing how much of the Bible is exactly that - the Psalms are full of David's expressing the paradoxes of life. We no less need to give expression to the experiences we have. So hopefully I'll be a better listener and will seek ways to give people changes to reflect upon their life experience with me.