En pakt med hverandre

På søndag hadde vi en "commissioning service" i Philadelphia sammen med de andre Mission Year teamene fra Philly-området. Vårt oppdrag var å skrive en pakt sammen som vi som et team skal følge og holde hverandre ansvarlige på gjennom dette året. Det var veldig utfordrende, men vi fikk mye godt ut av det. Vi tok utgangspunkt i Johannes 15, hvor Jesus sier at han er vintreet og vi er grenene. Vi vil dø fra vårt eget ego og leve et liv i daglig omvendelse. Vi vil være i Kristus slik at vi kan være i stand til å elske hverandre og naboene våre.

Med en drill og en sag fra Habitat og et dødt tre fra vår egen bakgård, gav vi "nytt liv" til et tre med fem grener som hver av oss podet inn etter vi hadde lest hver vår del av pakten. Treet står nå på "stille-rommet" vårt som et symbol på at vi er i Kristus og til påminnelse på hvordan vi vil leve sammen.

Her er pakten viss noen ønsker å lese den:

Team Covenant Mission Year Wilmington, DE Team

We first understand that only through being in God can we love each other and love our community; apart from God, we can do nothing. So that we may remain in and grow closer to God, we commit to living a lifestyle of: repentance, daily dying of ourselves, seeking the truth, and turning back to God; worship, acknowledging that God is worthy of praise by thought, word, song, and action; and prayer and solitude, silencing our soul, taking the time to listen to and spend intimate time with God. We commit to these things both individually and together, and to hold each other accountable to them.

As a house, we recognize the importance of the values of beauty, communication, justice, and hospitality. We agree to seek these values, in different ways, in our relationship with God, with ourselves, with our teammates, and with others.
We commit to recognize, celebrate, envision, and practice beauty; to live the impractical or even “counterproductive” in the midst of an objective-obsessed culture. If, for this day, beauty means stopping to take in the sight of a flower, using a handful of our otherwise strategic minutes to enjoy a song, or buying a friend a simply enjoyable snack or soda, we commit to that, and to the joy that it will bring.

We commit to communication by establishing trust and knowing that it is safe to share ourselves without fear because we are all one in Christ. We will listen before speaking, seek to understand before seeking to be understood, confront each other when necessary, and walk with each other in times of trial. We will actively pursue this openness, understanding, and confrontation by family discussions and devotions, intentionality in our one on one time, and understanding that intimate relationships require constant pursuit.

We commit to justice by seeking out where injustice is, being active members in our community, and standing up for justice in every opportunity. We will seek to be one with the oppressed, stand with our neighbors in solidarity, and give dignity to each and every person by recognizing them as God’s beloved. We will fight for reconciliation and pursue reciprocal relationships, understanding that we are not here to “save” people but to journey with them.

We commit to practice hospitality by first recognizing that we are all children of God with different pasts, practices, talents and needs. With reverence, we will share what God has given to us, within the team and with our neighbors, being willing to first receive rather than give and embracing the awkwardness as we pursue hospitality. We will do this through things as simple as keeping the house clean, having dinner together, and seeking to realize that we are more deeply connected to a stranger than we are estranged.

Matthew 22:37-40
Jesus replied: “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hand on these two commandments.”

In what we have said and what we have failed to say, we, the Wilmington team of 2009 -2010 commit to love God and love others.