We've been "sent off"

Yesterday we had our section gathering. It was a bittersweet time. We were saying goodbye to Shane Farmer, Willow's pastor in charge of spiritual formation. He was instrumental in forging the section concept and led our section until recently. He has accepted the senior pastor position at a church in Colorado. Some people spoke about his impact on their lives, and we all said our formal goodbyes. We all wish him the best as He pursues another stage of God's call on his life. Another part of the gathering was devoted to "officially" sending the ten of us who are off to El Salvador. Shane prayed for us and over us as everyone joined in. It felt good to have the group affirm our mission, short and limited as it may be. I know I have struggled through some doubts about my worthiness and ability to serve. The encouragement from this small and seemingly insignificant ceremony means a lot to me. Hopefully we can reciprocate by encouraging others who, through our experiences, may more clearly feel God's nudging for them to serve in a similar way in the future.

Link to my trip web page

Here is a link to my trip web page. I have more information and several links there that may be of interest.

Ten more days

This is my initial post on this blog. I wanted to start it before the trip to record some activity leading up to the big day. We are leaving in about a week and a half. We had our last team meeting yesterday, and we seem to be bonding more as the departure date gets closer. Eleven of us are going, all from Willow Creek Community Church. There is a hint of pride among us as we consider that this is the first short-term mission trip by a "Section Community." Let me explain. The church is considerably large, so in an effort to make the church experience more user-friendly, the congregation has been organized into smaller units by seating section in the auditorium. Some sections have affinities such as creative arts, motorcycling, military family, the outdoors and several others. Many sections are just a microcosm of the entire church whose make up crosses generational, economic and cultural boundaries. Our section, 103 F, is just this kind of diverse group. The El Salvador mission team also reflects that diversity. Our training sessions have been preparing us to be flexible, open and gracious in our attitude toward each other and the Salvadorian people with whom we will be connecting. This will be a learning and even challenging experience for all of us, each in slightly different ways. We hope it will be a positive one overall for everyone.