Today I spent the afternoon with Kenton Beshore and the pastoral staff at Mariners Church debriefing Catalyst West Coast.  The entire Catalst team and I were blown away at how amazing the Mariners staff was during the event; can't say enough about this crew and how thankful I've been for the chance to spend the last 6 months working so closely with them!  (yes, they made my lay on the conference table!)

I was planning on sharing all about our debrief conversation but then I listened to the last part of their staff meeting - Matt Olthoff, Christian Mungair, and Gerardo Magana talk about what the church community can learn from African and Latino communities - this conversation blew my mind and made me think, "what am I doing?!"

The Catalyst West debrief was great - short and simple.  We were affirmed on our content but also how the content is presented - AN EXPERIENCE!  (which is one of our core values so I was beyond encouraged by that).  I heard very clear areas on how we can improve and was so thankful for the honest feedback.  I really hope that Mariners Church experienced a week of great value and opportunity from our time there...

Now check this out - a glimpse of our conversation today about how the African and Latino cultures view community.  I HAVE to learn from this, and I get a sense that there is substance here for leaders in the church as well...(click below)

When asked about his community, Gerardo shared that the Latino community isn't necessarily known for giving to the church.  BUT they are very, very generous.  They simply give directly to those in need - nieghbors, friends, anyone they know...they will buy extra groceries and take it to them and so on...  I asked him how this kind of culture is sustained.  How are people held accountable to giving like this?  "This culture of giving is tied to survival, people live together and then see needs that HAVE TO BE MET.  There is no other option."

I don't live in a culture where survival hinges on the necessity of giving to others OR receiving from others.  Or at least I have convinced myself of this...WOW!  How do i relearn "need?"  Both in identifying my own sense of need AND being sensitive to identifying needs around me?  I talked with Christian (from Africa) about this and came face to face with the reality that I am trying to understand this cognitively.  It can only be understood experientially...kind of like Grace.

wow...

LV