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

The Chronicles of the P3

We are enjoying a season of "the land between" as we have left our former home (the Central Coast) and are heading to our new home (the country of Kenya). Often these seasons of limbo can be filled with stress and difficulty, but God has truly blessed our time with family. We have been so enjoying staying with Matt's (my) brother and sister-in-law and KG has thoroughly been enjoying her cousin Alexa.

The other night we were winding down the days activities by relaxing and watching "Prince Caspian" the 2nd movie in the "Chronicles of Narnia" based on C.S. Lewis' popular children's books. One scene in particular left me thinking... it was the scene when Lucy finally meets up with Aslan (the Jesus figure) who is a lion in the story, and when she sees him, she is so overjoyed that she can hardly hold it together. She runs with all her might and embraces him and loves on him. (It had been quite some time since she had actually had contact with him). Their conversation that ensued was one of both intimate and dificult issues, but also tender love and joyful extasy. So why do I bring up this scene? It brought me to a place of saying, I want my relationship with Jesus to reflect what I saw in Lucy and Aslan's relationship. That night as I got on my knees by the bed-side, my request to Jesus was that my walk with Him would reflect that intimacy and joy that I saw in Lucy's expression as she ran to Aslan and embraced him.

As we head into a busy season of celebrating the Holidays (and preparing for the mission field) I need this kind of reminder, not even daily, but throughout the day. I suppose we all do, and hence my reason for sharing this story here. I thank the Lord that we can come boldly into His throne room of Grace!
- Matt (for the P3)

Fun Photos

We are enjoying our time in the snow!