There are two appropriate answers to this.
It's the right time (in reference to this post's title)
It's story time!
If you thought of one of these, then I give you credit for being a mind reader. Well, maybe just my mind reader.
1:
This is a story that was suggested to be put on my blog a fair while ago. But now, I'm just getting around to it. It all begins at the beginning of October. The weather was still quite warm and pleasant, sunny and just a bit of a breeze. So, I took the opportunity to do some work outside. For me, that work was selecting the songs for the prayer meeting that night. And so, I began to look through and play different songs for the prayer meeting that night. After about 3 songs, a guy I'd never seen before asked me if he could sit nearby and listen. He had heard me from his room since he had his window open. I said certainly. Really, I didn't think anything of it. I play music. The point of music is to be heard. So, I continued my work, singing and playing the guitar. After a while, I needed to go inside seeing as I had completed my task of selecting the songs. As I was packing up, this guy complimented me. I responded with a thank you. After that, he had said that he recognized one of the songs. And so, we conversed a little bit. During the chit chat, I mentioned that I was leading the music for the prayer meeting that night and I invited him to come. I doubt he would show up. Surprisingly, he came. But wait, there's more. That night, I made an announcement saying that I was assembling a music team and that I was looking for volunteers. This Sunny Afternoon Worship Song Listener came up and volunteered! He explained to me that he was looking for a Christian group to join here since he's from Italy. He also had played guitar for 10 years. He now is one of the most active participants of Pharos this year. Talk about God's timing and placement!
2:
As I have mentioned previously, the Pharos team does a bit of campus evangelism, and that we mainly do this through our Coffee Stall event. Needless to say, walking up to a random stranger, offering free coffee of a free waffle, knowing that your goal is to steer the conversation towards the topics of God and faith can seem daunting. Since we do it every week, it gets a bit easier. Having a point of similar interest helps to break the ice. One Wednesday, Marisa had walked up to a girl and offered her free coffee, and the stranger accepted. They began to talk, and the Coffee Drinker explained that one of her interests was Kdrama. For those of you who don't know, Kdrama, or Korean Drama, refers to televised dramas, in a miniseries format, produced in the Korean language. And also, for those of you who don't know, I love Kdrama. Either way, Marisa was aware of this and invited me into the conversation. the Coffee Drinker and I geeked out for quite awhile. Between the 3 of us, we talked for nearly 1.5 hours. For a conversation with someone you've never met before, that quite a long time. During that time, one of us Gappers invited her to the Pharos event that night which happened to be a women's event at the women's household. We figured it was a long shot that she would come since she had just met us that day. That night, that Coffee Drinker came! She ended up coming late after she was given bad directions and got lost for over 45 minutes, part of which was in a different city. However, that didn't deter her! We were majorly impressed. I can say that now, I definitely consider her a friend of mine, and I love watching Kdrama with her. Who knew that a step of faith at Coffee Stall would have provided me with not only an evangelistic opportunity, but also a friend with similar interests!
3:
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to serve the Jerusalem Community here by aiding in the Visitation. That is a check-up done by community leaders from different communities in the region that occurs roughly every 5 years. I had been asked to aid in the Lord's Day Celebration, which was quite a production. All in all, the evening, the socializing, and the meal went well. But what I want to mention was the actual celebration of the Lord's Day Prayer. During this time, all the leaders from the different communities were gathered together and I had the opportunity to join in as we all prayed and sang together. Paul Jordan, one of the community coordinators, led this time. In the middle, he urged us to give each other a sign of peace to one another. The way he explained it implied that it was not just an utterance of the words, but also a time to show physically what we meant. And so, everyone began to hug one another and declare "Peace be with you" to each other as well. Everyone did this to everyone. So, I received right around 20 hugs in a row. Now, this may not seem like a big deal. For me, however, it was. I had been having an extremely difficult week, most definitely the hardest week of my time here by far. I was an emotional wreck, and I had no idea where I was going to receive comfort. One thing that my mother has said in a conversation earlier in the week was that I was probably going through hug withdrawal. Why? Well, that's just how I greet all of my friends and family back home. Here, well, that's not how they do it. But so, after this awful week, God provided me with not just one really good hug, but 20 hugs.
4:
For now, this will be the last story. It has to do with what happened tonight. Not too long ago, Pharos was emailed with an opportunity. There was to be a big Adoration event in Sint-Pieterskerk (Saint Peter's church) right in the middle of Leuven.
Here's a picture of the church.
We were asked if we would take an hour and provide the music for the Adoration. And so, that's what we did. Tonight, I got to lead music in a HUGE 15th century Gothic style church for a city-wide all night Adoration event. It's very difficult for me to explain the feeling. In this gigantic, cold stone church, warmth was felt through the company of other's coming into the Lord's presence. The silence was only interrupted by songs that echoed through the building. I felt as if it was one of the coolest music opportunities that I've ever had.
Yep. This is my life. This is where God wants me. There's nothing like being in the right place at the right time.
