In Training

Recently I have been a little concerned that we as a family haven’t had any formal training for the mission field. Though we have spent quite a bit of time in Kenya and have learned so much about missions over the last 5 years, it is still highly recommended to do a formal training before moving to a foreign mission field. Some go to Mexico or other extreme places to try to simulate a foreign environment. We looked into a program in Mexico, but as it turned out we were in Africa with the women’s team.

As I have been contemplating the fact of no formal training and trying not to worry, the Lord graciously showed me something wonderful during a devotional the other morning. He reminded me of our path the last six months. He reminded me that we lived with two families in a communal living environment for three months. Then we moved to Michigan where we’ve lived with family for weeks and again did communal living. In each communal environment we have learned a lot about people, communication, boundaries, team work and fellowship. He also showed me that being in Michigan is like being in a different culture. I realized that we have had to do a lot of adjusting. We have had to adjust to extreme weather changes, the loss of easy transportation as we no longer have a car, challenges like not being able to go outside for a walk when we want to and a little stress at times when all the family is together and decisions have to be made or changed. There has been a lot of “gunk” that has been coming up in me; as well as some realizations about my character. (Things that I am grateful to see but am desperately throwing before the Lord.)

The Lord used all of these things to gently show me that we have been in and are in training. I believe God is using all of these environments and situations to train us for what is to come. He knew what kind of training we would need and He is faithful to see us through it. I am grateful for the refining because we want to bring Him the most glory and honor as we transition into our new culture. I also have to mention a fabulous book we have been going through called Cross-Cultural Connections - Stepping Out and Fitting In Around the World. It is a great book to help prepare one for a different culture. We could definitely use prayer as we complete each section of our training and enter the next. How faithful our Lord is!
Peg for The P3