Building Bridges

1 Thessalonians 2:8-12 (NIV)
We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. [9] Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. [10] You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. [11] For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, [12] encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.

In the verses above Paul describes his efforts at building relationships. In order to effectively deliver the gospel message, especially in a different culture it is important to establish trust. Paul explains how he shared his live as well as the gospel and treated others as family.
As we prepare to go into the field we also see this as a priority. We pray that all we do will go towards the building of bridges into the Guatemalan culture. Even in our continued language learning, we hope that we are able to continue that relationally more so than academically. We want to stay humble and have relationships that are like family.
I have read relationship building being described like bubblegum. You are not able to blow a bubble as soon as you put the gum in your mouth, but you must chew on it for a time. We look forward to establishing friendships in Guatemala and we pray that God will be bless these relationships and be glorified in them.


Fred (Eagle 1)