Frat Girl?

This weekend, I went to an IV conference called MAC: Ministering Across Cultures. MAC is a two-weekend training program geared toward people who plan to go on international mission trips. It's supposed to teach us how to relate to people who are different from us and how to enter a new culture sensitively. I am NOT planning to travel abroad any time in the foreseeable future, but one of the U of M IV staff urged me to go because I have an international roommate, and supposedly, the conference helps with ALL kinds of relationships. They paid my way, so I agreed to go, but this weekend was unfortunately not exactly what I had in mind.

We did some simulation activities that were designed to put us in uncomfortable situations so that we could analyze our responses, which were kind of interesting, but they dragged on. The whole weekend really seemed like it would have been much more relevant to someone going into missions. In one lecture session, they gave us a list of sixty or so Biblical commands that seem anachronistic to some people, like "Don't play cards," "Women should not teach men," and "You should only get a divorce if your spouse commits adultery," and we were supposed to label each of them "Essential" or "Negotiable." Of course, this spurred a somewhat heated conversation among the college students, and one guy said immediately, "Can we really make a list of 'Dos' and 'Don'ts' for Christianity?" What, like they pulled these out of thin air? Finally, one of the leaders had to tell a girl, "Well, these all came directly out of somewhere in the Bible," which they did, in some shape or form, and she replied, incredulously, "Really!?" Oh, help us all. I also had to endure the charismatic worship sessions that are oh-so-cherished in large IV conferences these days. There is nothing wrong with people worshiping in a way that they feel is appropriate, of course, and I'm sure it's still honoring to God, but when they tell us to move the chairs out of the way so people have room to dance around, it just makes me want to punch through a wall.

On a happier note, ΣAI (Sigma Alpha Iota, in case you aren't Greek) had our Member In Training ceremony last night! ΣAI is the women's music fraternity (yes, fraternity), and the U of M chapter is actually the Alpha chapter! I am now an official MIT, complete with the little gold pan pipes pin and a Big Sister. Her name is Alyssa, she's a harpist, and part of her gift to me was the set of earrings you see below.

That's all for now. I need a nap!

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Gift from Big Sister Alyssa!

ΣAI pan pipes pledge pin!