The Global Project Team's goal was to "Reflect the love of Jesus while ministering to orphans and those around them"... basically, God rocked the orphanage we spent time in. We connected w/ kids ages 4-16 as we spent a week in Kaliningrad, Russia. While it was essential to speak through our translators (the little ones had no concept of someone not being able to speak Russian... so they would just loudly repeat everything :) it is always cool to relate non-verbally through a sport, a meal, or a smile. Don't feel like you need to go around the world to do this... you can life people up w/ the simple things everyday!
The greatest memory I will take away (other than how rad SVEDEN is) happened during a church service. During musical worship, there was a Russian song where a part of the chorus was the word "Adonai" repeated several times. Adonai is a Hebrew word (meaning it is neither Russian OR English) that translates for us to "Father", "Dad", or probably best "Daddy." Whenever this word is used among Christians it refers to the relationship one has w/ God. As that was sang over and over I was brought to tears as I was simply reminded that "God is Father." Not even necessarily in the sense that He is The Father of the fatherless (orphans), but more so just in the grander scheme that God transcends culture and is The Dad of the Nations...
That was my third time out of the country (if we are counting Tijuana...) and each time I certainly had my perspectives changed for the better- when we get out of our norms and rely on Him more often I believe those are the times we are most open to life-change!
Jason Mraz, G. Love and Special Sauce, K'naan, Bushwalla, and all the fans filled the Excel for a special night as appreciation for life and for love was acknowledged. There was a wedding proposal during the acoustic soundstage set (if the lady had the responsibility in initiating engagement and planning the proposal... MY ideal would be on stage w/ Mraz during "Sleeping to Dream", but OUR ideal was "the Bean"), then when they returned to the stage for the THIRD set Jason had on a custom Mn WILD jersey! It was my 6th time seeing Mraz and every time has been amrazing!
