On Tuesday afternoon, May 3, eleven of us split into three groups and hiked in the Garden of the Gods Park near Colorado Springs. On different trails we used our five senses to make observations, and then write about the experience as part of a Writing for Life training.
I went with Diana and Jeen. In the photo above, you can see colors (rocks, trees and sky) and note some textures (tree bark, rock faces) we encountered. In three miles of hiking, we enjoyed the sound of birds and smell of pine trees. One group went to the park’s center; another group hiked seven miles around the park’s rock formations.
The next morning, we wrote about the experience simulating what it might be like to write about a location we visited on a ministr
y trip. Aside from Anne Marie and me, everyone in the room was a staff member with the International School Project, a branch of Cru. They take volunteers around the world to help teachers learn an ethics curriculum that uses the JESUS film.
In that process, first the teachers and then their students encounter the gospel message in this film form. Over time, teachers begin discipling other teachers and students. Anne Marie went to Taiwan with ISP in January to help teachers learn how to be more effective disciple makers. Amazingly, ISP is invited into public schools by governments even in some countries were traditional missionaries would not be welcomed.
As you think of us in May and June, please pray:
- That the ISP staff members we trained will be able to apply this training to become more effective writers as they take the gospel around the world.
- For some home repairs we need to do. Water leaked onto wood floors, so we need to fix the leak and then dry and repair two damaged walls and the floor.
- For both of our dads. Anne Marie’s dad, Jim, has been suffering back pain. My dad, Ross, has leg and lung problems.
As always, we’re grateful that you play a part in our lives.