This and That

 Friday, June 3, 2011

"Each of you  has received a gift to use to serve others. Be good servants of God's various gifts of grace."

              I Peter 4:10 (NCV-New Century Version)

Today we went to the market and to another game park. The market was fun and I got quite a bit of stuff for people, but  I want to get more Sunday and at the airport. We saw more zebras and animals today and we had a barbeque with a bunch of university students including the SIFE students. Then me, Chelsea, Zach, and one of my SIFE friends I met at the epilepsy garden went on a walk to find more zebras and monkeys. We didn't see any animals really, but we did manage to get a little lost, and had to let our SIFE friend help lead us back. I don't know if she was even sure where we were, because she would tell us a way to go, and we would follow it for a while. Then all four of us would look around like, "This is not right." Then she would lead us down a different path. We finally made it back. It was an adventure and we saw lots of beautiful views.

                    I am getting excited to go home and see my family and tell everyone my stories. I'm starting to miss everyone a lot. I'm glad we only have a couple more days here, but I'm a little sad at the same time because this has been such a fantastic trip.

Until Then,

Holly Peffer

These are pictures of all the traps found in the area where the gamepark was (Hlane and Mlilwane) between 1960 and 1970. The sign says there were more traps than wild animals in all of Swaziland at that time.

Compassion and Passion

June 3, 2011

Last night, during devotions, Joe brought up the topic of compassion. He was saying compassion in Greek means to be compelled to act from the bowels. He talked about how Jesus had this kind of compassion. Compassion is not just about feeling pity or sympathy or guilt towards the people here, or in any situation for that matter. It is, instead, not being able to think about anything else besides helping. It got me thinking about my own compassion. How compassionate am I actually? When I heard it described from the Greek word, I had to reevaluate myself. I think a lot of times I need to have more compassion. Most times I think I have sympathy or guilt, and not true compassion. Its easy, almost natural, to feel guilty or sympathetic when we see something unjust. But what about feeling compelled to move from our bowels? What if we burned with the need to act so much that it hurt, like a cramp? Joe was talking about when you have indigestion, or any kind of problems with the digestive system, how much it hurts. And how any time we are in pain like this, its hard to think about anything else. If I started having a desire to help others in such a way that I couldn't think of anything else, how much would that change those I come in contact with each day? What if we all had compassion like this--the kind of compassion Jesus had?

  Then Katie made a good point about finding the things we are passionate about. Finding things that drive us to be compassionate. She was saying its important to find our passion and find our areas to serve in. I liked that because I've been thinking recently about finding ways to serve in my community. I know I will not find joy and motivation unless it is my passion. I want to find ways to serve and glorify God and that I can take joy in and feel passion about. I think everyone has something different they feel passion about, and we should look for ways to serve God that go with these passions. I think that's why he put the passions inside of us. I, for instance, have no desire to poke a needle in someone's arm and take blood or examine their molecular structure. But some people are passionate about medicine. I hope they serve in this way. Others find joy in doing manual labor to help someone. Some find joy in giving financially, or otherwise. I find passion in working with children. What is your passion?