Orientation Overture

Orientation Overture (written on Monday - finished and posted Thursday)
Well, what an intense 72 hours it has been! After arriving and settling in on Friday, the Halifax National Progectiles began orientation. Like any true Campus for Christ event, it was spiritually intense (and included great food!). We gathered on Saturday and Sunday at the Halifax Chinese Christian Church, which is just down the road. Saturday morning focused on project procedures, rules, guidelines (and the difference between the two), as well as the importance of the Holy Spirit and practical tips on job hunting. Saturday afternoon was filled with fun times in a nearby park. Despite the rainy weather, we carried out the plans for the afternoon (I think the rain added a special element; it melted away the sugary coatings we'd been displaying the previous day and revealed many of our true selves. I believe it was the first test of grace and patience in the group.). Ben (one of the C4C staff here), led us in activities that required us to work together, communicate effectively and trust one another. Not only did these activities build trust between us, they showed us the possible conflicts that may arise and the skills we're going to need to use in order to be effective here on project. One of the major lessons I came away from it with was the "magic bullet" lesson: oftentimes in life we wait, think, and analyze a situation looking for the perfect, or "magic bullet", solution when really just putting into place one GOOD solution will do the job correctly. I also came away with a greater appreciation for effective communication in large groups and the satisfaction of a job well done after putting in a lot of effort. The picture above was taken after said time of fun. Saturday finished off with a BBQ back at the church and a workshop on conflict resolution by Wendy(another staff member here) which I found especially helpful as it is always an area of my life I need to work on.
Sunday concluded orientation with some praise and worship time together, communion together as well as some workshops on "Practical Life Strategies for not just surviving, but thriving on Project" as well as 2 workshops on evangelism (sharing the gospel). They were all very informative and helpful. The evening was completed by a friendly game of "kick the can", or "hoof the tin" as Ben called it.

Good times, good times, good times!