Wilbert's onSite experience

...One More Thing.

After getting some people to read it, I have decided to post it as it is, and let you decide whether it is controversial or not. Here is the post:

Hey everyone,
My past week was pretty cool. At Laval, I learned a lot of French. And I got to spend some time with the missionary friends that are in my class. I am starting to build relationships with some people at Laval again. Yay!

This past Friday and Saturday I attended a conference on how the Church must respond to homosexuality. The presentation was mostly done by Exodus Global Alliance, you can check out their website here. Anyhow there were a few overall themes in this conference. 1. These people need Jesus. 2. We need to learn how to build bridges and connect with them on their level 3. The Church must understand steps 1 & 2. In addition, the speakers point out that there is an alarming statistic about how people in the church are apathetic on this issue. Sometimes I would wonder about just how much we would just like to push uncomfortable topics under the rug and not realize how much we will regret not doing anything, when the issue comes back again. It is unfortunately because we just don't talk about such issues or go into depth with the topics like homosexuality, or frankly anything that has to do with sex. It just boggles my mind that we don't talk about God's gift to married couples--one male and one female. We have no problems addressing the boundaries of this issue and drill the word "no" into peoples' heads. But we feel embarrassed and frankly uncomfortable when people start asking questions or talking about such issues outside the service. You may even feel a little uncomfortable reading this in my blog. However, if the Church doesn't really address or confront these issues, then where are all the people going to go for answers? I was reading Barbara Nicolosi's blog and this is the quote on the main page, it is from a 1930s theater critic: "Theatres are the new Church of the Masses--where people sit huddled in the dark listening to people in the light tell them what it is to be human." It is quite applicable in today's society when you replace the word "theatre" with the word "media". I know I am ranting now, but it is unfortunately very true. If we don’t answer the question to these issues, then people are going elsewhere to find answers. One of the speakers' closing remarks in conference were "we need to learn how to be comfortable in uncomfortable situations." As an onSiter, I find those words quite hard because it is difficult to react positively to change and I am currently experiencing what it is like to be uncomfortable. It is not always a pleasant experience, but I know that God is teaching me more about Him and more about His people while being completely uneasy living in a very different culture with different value systems than what I am accustomed to. I am not saying that I am a perfect embodiment of being comfortable in uncomfortable situations –far from it. But, in order for positive changes to happen our lives and have a positive influence on the people around us, we must face the uncomfortable situations.

posted by Willyz @ 4:51 p.m.