Plumbline Week

Since we first arrived in Africa I knew that plumbline week would be a very important and emotional week. The groups before us carved into the bunk beds and wrote all over the mirrors things like "pray for plumbline week" and "plumbline will change your life" so right away we knew that it was going to be a good week. The idea of a plumbline comes from Amos 7:7.. "then the Lord said, ' Look I am setting a plumb line among my people."Builders use plumb lines to make sure that walls weren't out of line or not in balance and that they were standing up straight and strong.

Last week was a week devoted to looking back into our pasts and to receive healing for the things that we have done or things that were done to us. At the beginning of the week they compared this week to a garden. When we first see a weed in the garden we can just rake over it and make it presentable. If we ignore it soon the whole garden will be full of weeds. It is important to pull out the whole weed at the root. Everybody has a past and everybody sins. A lot of times our past keeps us from truly experiencing God.

Every night we had ministry time where each person from our team took a turn going up in front of the class and telling their story. It was a little overwhelming but so powerful! We heard some pretty amazing stories this week about where people have been and where God brought them. Our group grew so much closer during plumbline week because now we have a better understanding of each other and why the act the way that they do. It was so great to have time just to be open and broken with each other and not to be worried about judgment from others.

Everybody has mistakes and hurt from the past. What makes one persons sin worse than another persons? We can't compare stories because every person has been through things but we always try to hide our struggles and pain. This week it was such a good example of what the body of Christ should be like. We all took turns just being open and sharing our hearts and there was no judgment but instead there was so much support and encouragement. On the last day all the girls sat up in the front together and there was so much love and support there.

We can't keep trying to hide the weeds forever. We need to need to be open and willing to change these things or we will never truly know God. We need to live lives that are transparent. We need to know that we have friends and other people who are willing to catch us when we fall and encourage us to keep on going. I learned a lot about being humble this week. We need to be open and broken with each other!

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"
-2 Corinthians 5:17