Jennifer and Alex Cabezon

Living in another culture is constantly becoming a child again. In order to understand another's way of thinking you have to let go of the idea that you know it all. As someone who teaches God's word to others, you have to let go of the idea that you have all the answers. You have to stop talking every once in a while and just listen.  You have to stop giving answers before you really understand the questions. Last week was a wonderful opportunity to practice this.  I was teaching our students about the character of God.  Wow!  What a huge subject to cover in one week!   We got right to work digging into some of my favorite stories from the Bible. Stories are great vehicles for truth. Everyone can understand them, and one story can contain huge amounts of truth.  We spent two days on that. After hearing all those stories we felt as if we had been immersed in a deep, sweet river of God's truth. Jesus really is the answer.  He really ...

Last week we spent with our friend John Henry, talking with our DTS students about storytelling.  We talked about the church and our cultures, and how the two don't have to be enemies. It was a week of learning, and the students shared their stories with us.  Some stories were funny, other encouraging.  One student shared about how her dad was a community leader and fought for the lands of their people.  What an inspiration!  Another shared about her mother's years-long search to find her grandfather, and the bitterness that ensued.  Some tears fell, and we all stopped to pray for her family. Lina, who is always the sunshine of our group, shared this at the end of the week: "I love hearing these stories.  Every story I hear encourages me more.  My in-laws were here this week, and I shared every story that we heard.  They are so moved, and encouraged. Then when they go back to the village, they share these stories with their neighbors. ...