“Wasting Time”
In most cultures people spend hours around the table sipping coffee, telling stories, and sometimes not saying anything at all. Often times, when you visit a home, it is considered rude if you don’t stay and visit for several hours. There are no agendas or schedules and yet the deepest and strongest bonds are formed in these times. It’s in this sitting together where people build trust, community, love and friendships.
In the west, we would consider this a waste of time if there wasn’t a purpose or plan to the time. If we didn’t talk about Jesus, business or get something accomplished many would walk away frustrated, questioning why they just wasted two hours “doing nothing.”
This year as we were looking for new opportunities to serve our church and missionary partners, we were also wanting to spend more time with them NOT talking about missions or ministry. We wanted to strengthen our relationship with them and just connect and care about them as individuals.
We loved the extra time spent together and the sweeter relationships that formed (We were probably a little less stressed too because of it). Don’t worry, we still had plenty of time to do ministry… in fact, those times of sitting together made the working together even better.
Read our full 2022 year in review by clicking the button below (PDF, opens in new window)
