Recap & Reflections From Lee

Hello everyone,

I hope this message finds you well. Yesterday (Saturday 08.16) Erin spent the morning at Amani Baby Cottage and loved the children while Ian and I practiced with the fledgling worship team here at CC Jinja. We have been encouraging them and instructing them on technical aspects of playing instruments and playing as a group but more importantly about our heart in worship and what worship means to us. In the afternoon and evening we spent time with the youth at the youth group and played games with them and encouraged them.

This morning we helped lead worship at two different services. It was shocking how many people thanked us for the beautiful music. I didn't really know how to react but was grateful none-the-less. It made me think of how blessed Calvary Corvallis is with talented and anointed musicians. Tomorrow we will have a meeting in the morning to plan out our ministry schedule at the prisons and the youth conference happening at CC Jinja later this week. In the afternoon we plan to spend time volunteering at Amani's.
Below is a poem I wrote trying to capture my sentiments at the youth conference we put on in Igluibi on Friday.

Two Spheres (08.16.08)

I am a world
trying to understand another
enclosed within the spheres
formed by our cultures
should we collide
there are the many layers
of inoculations and antibiotics
of hand sanitizer and bottled water
of deodorant and beautified skin
which insulates us one from another
even if I could understand
their words, their language
is still a mystery
when God confused Babel
more was lost than speech
one saw pink another blue
one said life another profit
one heard compassion another death

And so I sit
holding a toddler
whose cracked leathery chocolate
skin is encrusted with the dust
of a world millions of years old
the tattered rag of a dress
hanging from her body
is a mystery
as to its original colors
as much as how she got it
and when I speak
I feel like a man
visiting a prisoner
and the two speak
through telephones
separated by two inch thick
sterile polycarbonate window
even the fiercest bullet
could not penetrate

Jawm-bo (how are you)
boo-loon-goo (fine)
but as her smile expands
so large as to reveal
the beautiful brown hope
held captive in her eyes
I realize love
is the bridge, is the language
we were meant to cross
we were meant to speak
from the beginning, the Father spoke
saying I am the Love
what is my height and width and depth
an unending song
sung since the dawn
that brings light
to the smile of the poor
and shame to the boast of the rich
the Love that fell on us today
as we sat
together, and worshiped