I am an Otter.

Today was beneficial yet very frustrating for me. We had a workshop on spiritual warfare, culture shock and how we can get to know ourselves plus those who we'll be working with. There is so much application that I found it rather overwhelming. At the end of the full day of lectures I needed to escape. I needed time to process through my thoughts so I took a long walk outside by myself.
We took a personality test today, I typically don't care for them but in this case of trying to quickly understand how I work as well as my peers the little test ended up helping a lot. I am an otter. What does that mean? Well, I am typically enthusiastic, get people motivated and involved, and just like making life fun. I tend to desire situations where I can maintain friendly relationships, need a freedom from control and detail, I like having the opportunity to motivate and serve individuals, and need a platform to verbalize my ideas. When accomplishing a task as a team I need approval otherwise I will become discouraged. I work well with and appreciate individuals who are democratic and friendly, love social involvement while working and I connect well with risk-takers. :) I tend to be optimistic and my time frame is future oriented. One of my weaknesses I have is I can make quick decisions without knowing all the facts.
I have a perfect example of a "quick decision," I ended up purchasing a really nice Cannon camera yesterday (rebel xs). I was planning on getting one before I left but just didn't have time. I was certain that my decision was great after making a few quick phone calls to my rents and a friend, I made my purchase. When I got back to the center with my camera I started second-guessing my purchase and proceeded to ask numerous peers for advice. I asked 3 tech guys what they thought, if my purchase was stupid or not...I needed reassurance. The personality test hit major traits of mine-it was good. It was also really helpful to discuss all this with my team and see how each of them deals with tasks and potential conflicts.

The last activity for the evening was a game about cultures. There were two teams each with a different culture, a different set of rules and guidelines for being part of that specific culture. The teams were seperated and given cards with rules on how to trade. In my specific culture we could not speak English we had to use gestures and syllables to communicate to the other members while trading, the person who receives the most cards in a sequence gets a point. It was so challenging to be part of a new way of communicating. Me and three others from my "tribe" were sent over to observe the other culture. Those from the other "tribe" could speak English but had a totally different way of trading, they were social and very "touchy," but it was easy to offend them so if you did something that they felt was inapropriate they could kick you out very quickly. If they liked you (complimenting and talking about family) you would receive an initial from them and they would go through with a trade. It was confusing and frustrating because we didn't know the guidelines of the other "tribe," what was proper and what wasn't. I became irritated and thought the game was absolutely ridiculous...it wasn't. The game ended up showing me my weaknesses- pride, frustration and lack of patience. I have a lot to work on.
I really pray that I will be willing to be open, accepting, patient and have a love that is bold...even when I feel alone and confused. My underlying fear is that I will be more of a hindrance or burden to the Maasai, missionaries, and my team. I pray I will be a blessing instead.


"Our task is to be effective agents of spiritual transformation in people's lives, whatever that may cost in time, comfort, or image."
-David Kinnaman