Venezuela day 7

today it was overly apparent how great this experience has been on both sides of the cultural line.  In our Wesley group today we talked a lot about balance.  We talked about the things we liked about each culture and how neither extreme is truly healthy.  As Americans we need to allow ourselves to focus more on relationships with each other and with God letting the Holy Spirit lead and influence the moment instead of being stuck to a schedule and an over focus on individualism.  The Venezuelans in our group felt that they did not focus enough on being respectful of time and schedule.  They agreed relationships are important but expressed that it can go too far.  This group was really influential today for me.  We talked about tithing not just our money but our time as well and that the same principle applies that tithing will not make us short in resources - time, talents or money, but that giving our resources and our best to God will have positive results.

I am continually impressed her by the enormous amount of hope and trust the people here put in the Holy Spirit.  As an American I am familiar with the language but for me it has always been an existential notion.  Sure, we have hope in Christ but it is less about this life and more about the next.  In general it is true but I typically have little trust that what I want and what I pray for is truly part of God's plan.  I sometimes have the attitude that I should not really ask for things but instead to ask to be more aware of God's plan.

One of the things I have noticed about this culture and prayer is how even when one person prays everyone else prays in a hushed tone.  Seems to add a sense of power and a realization that if prayed together there is hope that God will hear and act on behalf of the group