This afternoon’s Team Building Day was a time to get to know each other better, initially over lunch:

… and then through ‘Human Bingo‘, where we discovered some interesting facts about each other!

  1. Roger, Julie & Gemma get stressed easily
  2. Most of us like dogs but few have owned cats
  3. Stephen & Roger’s favourite colour is red
  4. Julie, Sue, Roger, Stephen & Garry like reading
  5. Some of us have formal academic qualifications & some don’t
  6. Herlen, Garry & Stacey are good with money

We also discovered that most of us didn’t understand the Bible when read in Afrikaans or French, reminding us that for us to communicate effectively, we have to speak and understand the same language. In the same way, though we are called to love each other (John 13:34-35), we need to understand we all use different ‘love languages’. Perhaps one reason we find it hard to love some people is that we’re not speaking their language! The ‘five love languages‘ (written about in detail by Gary Chapman) are defined as:

  1. affirmation (using words to encourage and communicate love)
  2. gifts (expressing and receiving love through gifts)
  3. acts of service (the old adage ‘actions speak louder than words’ applies to these people who get on with showing love in countless practical ways)
  4. quality time (needing time to be with people and expressing love through time spent with them)
  5. physical touch (expressing love and affection through hugs and needing physical contact with people)

While we considered the implications of this for understanding and loving each other, the children got on with making crafts to express their love in tangible ways (combining gifts, words and acts of service!)

Our thanks to Sarah Davey for giving up her time to help us explore these themes together. It was a great time!