Sunday, December 18, 2011

Tell - How to Care at the Square


Woah! It's been a while since I blogged! I decided to post this little paper I wrote for my Experiential Learning class on here because it's a typical blog post already and has a nice little story and lesson. Hope you enjoy it!

This semester, I went with a group of friends from here at Multnomah to Pioneer Square in downtown Portland to evangelize. Our initial idea was open air preaching, and instead of preaching at people nearby, we were going to spread out as a group being preached to but that was open for people to walk up and listen.

When we arrived at the square, we found a band was playing there, drowning out most anything in the area. As an alternative, we decided to split in three groups of three and walk around Pioneer Square while praying.


After a couple of laps, myself and the two with me noticed a group of asian youth students across the street singing worship songs. We crossed the street and sang along as we walked up to the group. They had delighted expressions and held up their lyrics for us to read along. We found out after singing multiple songs that the leader of the group was a Multnomah alumni.


As we sang, I watched the people walk by and their response. With open preaching (especially preaching
at people), I see a lot of people become defensive, frustrated, and unresponsive. However, the responses I saw from a group of people singing happily was smiles and nods. Even people who may have been defensive seemed forcibly softened by the melodies. Additionally, many people who were probably believers were waving and lip syncing as they walked on our side and the opposite side of the street.

After some more songs, we moved on and rode the max to another part of town. We encountered a woman who was preaching loudly at people, but with most people speeding up as we walked by. She seemed a bit too frustrated. I was kind of turned off by it, thinking there were better ways to go about what she was doing.



However, the organizer of our group decided we’d scatter around her and listen. Quickly, her demeanor changed, and she carried a more loving and peaceful attitude and message. Others stopped by and stood with us as we listened.It kind of surprised me, because this was a great response... and one I wouldn't have done myself.


I realized three things through all this. One was the power of music. Unlike just words, melodies have a way of forcing gently ideas and softening our hearts. I also saw that instead of just seeking goals like our group had, we had a valuable role in supporting other people’s goals. Lastly, I learned a lot about the general concept of being adaptable. Instead of just trying to force our plans through, or just plain giving up, we took on other roles of value and were still met with quality success.
(Also, read a fun little object lesson I wrote about Bamboo!)