We are planning on getting our cell phones and SIM cards this Saturday (FINALLY). It is hard to believe that it has been about a week without a cell phone. I have been temporarily using someone else’s cell phone and another alumnus has given us another phone for our team to use.
After dropping Christina off, I was thinking how crazy it has been without a cell phone. With just two cell phones for the ten of us to share has been hard. One positive thing that has come out of this is that we have had to become more creative in communicating with one another. We have been rotating the phone around… we have had to plan things out more… and last we had to learn how to be very flexible.
I was challenging several of our members with the thought of a time period in history when we did not have cell phones and their response was, “Uh Pastor Seth, I think that was when I was like in 2nd or 3rd grade!”… gre-at!
But anyways, I REMEMBER a time when we did not have cell phones and it is amazing how we lived without it. I guess we were able to tolerate the lack of communication a little bit more back then. We had to learn the importance of being patient. We had to learn to live without “knowing” everything that was going on minute by minute.
Another thing about flexibility that we are learning is that what we plan might not always go as planned, therefore we need 2 things: a positive attitude and the ability to go with the flow. Both have to be learned because for many people, it does not come naturally.
But flexibility is proving to be a trait that is needed in a huge way if we are serious about doing ministry in this context. People who are control freaks will not do well here in Indonesia. People who naturally gravitate towards having a negative attitude will not do well here in Indonesia. People who have to have their lives planned out will not do well here in Indonesia.
It has been advised not to plan more than 1 or 2 meetings per day because things change so rapidly, especially when you factor in traffic.
The visual reminder for flexibility is the rubber band. But I like the bungee cord better because it is more fun 🙂
