Saludos desde Smyrna

3 weeks, 3 months or 3 years. I still don't think I would have been ready to leave such a beautiful people and the work God is doing there, but all good things must come to an end and there's a time and a place for everything.
The following is something I wanted to post a few weeks ago but between being sick and being in the middle of nowhere, I never posted it. I'll be writing a missions report about my trip so just let me know if you want a copy.

The Body of Christ
I think anatomy was one of the hardest classes I've taken but the one that strengthened my faith the most. It seems odd to think that working with a cadaver for a semester has anything to do with spiritual growth, yet through such study I understand how the body works. I've seen how each and every part is connected together and works with every other part to sustain life. Just as we are all different on the outside, we are all different on the inside as well. Every body has its abnormality, its imperfection, yet the body learns to cope and adapt to those eccentricities. There are thousands of different parts of our body: nerves, tissues, vessels, muscles, etc. yet each one has a special place and function. Each part of the body communicates to keep everything running. When there is a weakness in the system-an infection-the immune system sends out special cells and the whole body works to help restore the damaged part-often at the expense of other parts.
And so it should be with the body of Christ. We all have our flaws, our weaknesses, and our different roles and talents that we've been given. At the same time, we each have those abnormalites and functions for a specific God-designed purpose that is meant to be communicated throughout the body so that the body of Christ might be built up and strengthened. Unfortunately, I think oftentimes our communication is blocked by fear of going past the skin-deep "How are you?" and seeing the infection or damage among certain parts of the body. Just as our own body sacrifices for one part when damaged, so we should also supprt our weaker members in love so that the whole body might be strengthened.

It has been a wonderful three weeks of sharing in the body of Christ through supporting, encouraging, healing, teaching, and loving all of its imperfect and wonderfully-made members!!!

"The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts: and though its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it." -I Corinthians 12:12,27