Rant thing...

Seeing as this is the official team blog for the Germany team, and only Dave has written so far I thought I'd write something. Let me introduce myself. My name is Rafael, my home for now is Winnipeg, Manitoba although I was born in Switzerland and grew up in Paraguay. One of my biggest blessings throughout these last two weeks has been this team and the fact that we are being sent out in teams and not by ourselves. I was contemplating this fact a little while ago while hearing a report from some missionaries from Thailand that are part of the MBMSI Team 2000. It is so amazing that a group of 5 wildly different people (although our character assesment tests showed us that we seem to be more similar than we thought) from many different backgrounds, with different interests and with different gifts can come together and become one of sorts. Last weeks topic was The Church in which at several points we touched on the idea that in Christ, the many become one. We today live in a world in which sameness, balance, the ability to produce more in less time has taken over every endeavour and has flattened life into molds and cast-dies. As the Church, and in a team as the representation of that church, we proclaim that although we are one in Christ, this does not make us the same, or copies of each other, but that each of us brings something unique to this body of Christ. Often times it seems that the "world" is threatened by the seeming anexation of the individual into this body. As I look at our team, I am glad that we are not just individuals, but that we are part of a team which means that we all bring something to the table and we all are willing to leave something behind in favour of something better, in favour of a team, in favour of the church. It is my fervent believe that it's God's grace that we are not just individuals, but part of his body, part of the bride, part of a collective. Thats all for today, I do hope that it makes some sense.