Cross-cultural pressure cooker

Before I went through iEdge I thought of myself as a great person. There were a lot of ways I was faithful to God and to those around me. I looked forward to my time overseas with naively high expectations of myself. 

Immersed in the pressure of pioneering a ministry in a foreign culture and closer relationships than I had ever experienced, I saw a more raw and honest picture of myself and I didn't like it. 

The sin, the great selfishness I saw in myself was a painful but necessary dose of reality. I held my teammates to impossible standards of understanding me.  God showed me that this wasn't new but the way I had approached relationships my entire life. 

Two years with my team meant I was forced work through rough patches and both give and receive forgiveness for hurt. It's not hard to be grateful for that now knowing that my pattern of relating to others is transformed for the rest of my life! 

Author: 2012 iEDGEr