Far Side of the World

…. I’m not really sure where to begin.  I guess I can begin with the school and how it is going.  It’s been a very intensive school so far.  I am so proud of all of the students for being very transparent with their struggles and their pasts.  It takes a lot of guts to stand in the midst of your pears and share some of the deepest, darkest parts of you with them.  But, just as the character of God brings light into dark places, so the dark places in their lives are having light poured on them.   Like when you flick a light switch on in a child’s room, all of the boogie monsters disappear.  We are building a community of trust, raw openness and support.  This is a very exciting thing for me to be a part of.  It’s incredible watching the growth in people’s lives, even in the time period of only a month.  Yet, just as is typical with good things, this is a very difficult journey to travel on.  It involves a lot of risk.  But without risking something does anything have value anymore?

Along with the ‘difficult journey’ theme I have to say that being in a leadership position is incredibly challenging.  Because it isn’t simply getting your tasks done, it’s a lifestyle.  Knowing that I am in a position influence and that how we as a staff react to stuff is setting an example for the students.  This does not just apply when we are rested and chipper.  It applies more when we have been up all night watching the lines of the ship during a storm or when you are so mentally exhausted that you positively cannot make another decision or when we have to move anchor yet again.  These are the times when we have the opportunity to show a bit of character and ‘grin and bear it’. 

This makes me think about something that happened yesterday actually.  The toilet pump stopped working a week ago.  This happens a lot—but generally we are at port.  It is very frustrating because we need to find a restroom in town that we can use.  But this time we were at anchor.  So we needed to come along side to the marina because there are roughly 30 people living aboard and there is no way that we can dinghy people to the lu every time that they need to go.  It was fine while we were in the marina because we just used their toilet and shower in their office building.  But then a big storm blew in two days ago.  Lightning and thunder that made you feel like your bones were cracking and rain that drenched you in 20 seconds flat.  The wind was rocking us so much that I was up a lot because I thought that our rudder was hitting the quayside.  After the long night the wind was still blowing something fierce and we were rocking on the swells so much that we threatened to break up the floating docks.  So the port officials kicked us out of the harbour.  No toilets and all.  We went to anchor.  The smell of urine was so thick by this time that it made you noxious whenever the saloon doors were open.  It’s been almost a week since the toilets stopped working.  This means that they are completely full.  They were so full that during the storm most of them spilled some of their contents onto the floor.  Rank.  We have two types of water waste on Next Wave: grey water and black water.  Grey water is water from the dishwater, sinks, and showers. Black water is from the toilets—raw sewage.  The story of when Jesus washed the disciples’ feet popped into my head.  Jesus was a servant leader.  Through the way that he served he taught his followers about what a good leader looks like.  Well, I couldn’t get the story out of my head, so long story short Matt, he volunteered too, and I scooped out all the black water and cleaned the toilets.  I learned something about worship during this time.  Humming or singing worship songs to God while scooping pooh is just as, if not more, worshipful as singing in church on Sunday.  I’ve also been struggling with self-pity the last couple days, and trust me: this is the best cure I have ever found for self-pity! 

Here is something that we would love if you prayed for: that our toilet system would work well again.  We have had constant trouble with it for the past two months.  Right now we are waiting for a part to arrive from mainland Italy.  It should get here on Monday.  Until then we have been blessed with a key to an empty building that has a toilet (and we got the key for free!  Thank you God!).  The only thing is that we need to plan when to go because we have to dinghy in to use it. 

This weekend is looking like it is going to turn into a long weekend.  We finished lectures yesterday for the week and today we are taking the church of Syracusa on a day sail, and tomorrow we are leaving early to do street evangelism in Catania.  Then lectures start the on Monday.  We are all feeling exhausted and worn out—especially us staff.  This is extremely draining emotionally, mentally and spiritually.  I would be honoured if you would keep us in your prayers.  It reminds me of what a wise man once said: you never realize that Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have.  I feel like I’ve given up a lot of rights, especially the right to have my own time…. and now all that’s left is to cling to Jesus.  Which is all that was ever left.