Phil's Place: January 2008

Not just good, but my favorite. My favorite day is Tuesday. There are about 2 hours on Tuesday that make this day so great. This is the day we have our Conversation Club, where we get together and talk about a certain topic, in English, for an hour. This week was not only our highest attendance, but also a fun reunion of many friends we haven't seen in a few weeks.

This Tuesday's topic was fun to talk about and we got into a few interesting discussions (this happens every week, and I love it!!!), but, for me, the coolest part is the community that is forming in the group. People that have been coming for even just a few weeks take such ownership of it and do all they can to make new "conversers" feel at ease as they speak their English. They also are developing some real, true friendships with others in the group.

The smile and excitement on my friend Jirka's face as he came in after being gone for a couple weeks is still burned into my head. People love coming to this evening. Why? I'm still trying to figure that out. I know that they love to practice English and that we Americans are nice. But it's way, way more than that. That's the amazing part. We teachers are just running to keep up with how God is working in such subtle, but HUGE, ways in this group. We don't know of anything extra-amazing that we're doing to make it what it is. We're just hosting. The Lord is running the show. That's very clear. It's been 24 hours since Conversation Club ended and I still get a big smile on my face just thinking about it.

I don't know if all that rambling makes sense to you or not. I hope it does, but I think it's something you just have to experience. And I hope, wherever you are, that you are experiencing it. We can just feel God's presence as we begin each Conversation Club. It's sort of indescribable. But, I wanted to try to describe it.

We had our second annual "friend party." I guess it really doesn't have a name. For the second year in a row, a few of us single missionaries just invited a few of our close friends to my place and we just hung out together and then sang Christmas carols together. This year we had 25 there! It was great to just take the opportunity to clearly express how much they truly mean to us. We met many of these people at camps, classes or other random places around, but now they are more than just acquaintances, they are our friends. It was a really meaningful time for me! Here are some pictures...