Day 2: No Time for Small Talk

If any of you have seen Facebook pictures of our GP team, you would think we've been best friends forever. Doing ministry and serving together on a missions trip definitely bonded us together in ways that normal circumstances cannot. I mean, c'mon, when would I ever normally hang out with a bunch of people from Montana, North Carolina, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Michigan, Ohio, or Tennessee? But the GP team is my family now. These are the people with whom I constantly talked with, laughed, cried (figuratively, not literally), struggled, confided in, encouraged, and ultimately grew with for 7 weeks. As "Lord of the Ring" as this might sound (cue Shire themed music), we will forever bonded by our time together in Kenya.

So the previous day, I arrived at JFK airport pretty late where I proceeded to Federal Circle to call for a shuttle to take me to the hotel where the team was meeting for the first time. As I reach for the courtesy phone, I hear someone say, "Myron?" I turn around and there's Jackie and Katie (GP staff) with a sign reading: Kenya GP. My first impression is: "Dang, they actually sent people to pick us up." Soon enough, I meet my first teammates who arrive at Federal Circle: Jenny and Missy. As we make small talk on our way to our hotel, my second impression is: "OK, these are cool people, but I don't know if how much I have in common with them." By the time I enter the conference room where the other 30 some people are (since we're pretty much the last people to arrive), my third impression is: "Holy crap, there are a lot of people. Dang it, I'm never going to remember all their names, let alone make friends."

We stay the night and soon enough, we're on our way to Kenya. No time to bond. No time for formal introductions. No time for small talk. There we were: waiting around in a terminal or sitting on an Emirates plane. All friendships would have to be made en route.

I soon realized I did have at least one thing in common with all of my teammates: God. We all decided to go on a missions to discover more about God, to learn about missions, and to allow God to do a good work in us. It made me think: earthly commonalities make for great friendships but when Jesus is the uniting factor for people, it makes for eternal, almost God-ordained (I don't know if that's the right word but it feels right so please bear with me) friendships. So what did it matter if I initially felt I had nothing in common with my teammates (of course, it turned out I did)? I know now without a doubt that it wasn't school allegiance, sports teams, personality types, ethnicity, or anything else that bonded and united our team, it was Jesus.