God has been so good to us over the past 8 months. Since we began out fundraising in late '08 we have now raised approximately 60% of the TOTAL FUNDS we need for EVERYTHING for the field for the next 5 years! While this is great news, we must still have the rest of those funds committed before we are able to leave for Thailand.
We hope to depart for Thailand NO LATER than the beginning of 2010 in order that we might do at least 4 months of intensive Thai language training in Bangkok before moving to the Roi Et province in the Northeast to begin teaching and ministering. Since we will be teaching English (and possibly music with all the instruments that have surprisingly been donated!) during and after the school day in approximately 10 different schools, it would be ideal for us to begin our work in the NE at the beginning of the school year in May. So, we have to get a move on it!!!
Brazil Training:
For those of you who may not have heard, Dora and I are preparing to leave for 16 days of training in Brazil in a small village in the mountains near Brazil. We will be working alongside Brazilian cross-cultural workers to learn how to deal with the issues presented in interacting cross-culturally. Dora and I are both thrilled about this training because Darrell Whiteman is the coordinator and leader, and he is the former dean of the E. Stanley Jones Mission School at Asbury Seminary where I just graduated! This should be an amazing time of growth for all the new missionaries and cross-cultural workers from the Mission Society preparing for their respective fields of service. But, our time down south will be extremely intense, so I ask you to please PRAY for our retention abilities and stamina as we undergo this intensive training! We will NOT have Internet connection while in Brazil, but I look forward to sharing much more about this amazing experience when we return state-side on July 21st.
Other Final Training and Preparations:
Chris' school: Yes, the rumors are correct, it appears I have actually completed my Asbury Seminary degree: a Masters of Arts in Intercultural Studies!!! I say "it appears" because my final grade has not yet been posted, so I have not yet been awarded a degree, but I am close enough!!!! I truly believe these last three years of academic, spiritual and cross-cultural training are going to prove invaluable in the years to come. I still believe whole-heartily that this wild opportunity (or Holy Experiment, as Oswald Chambers puts it) we are entering would not be possible without the AMAZING POWER of God's Holy Spirit, so I give all my training into God's hands to do with as He pleases.
Dora's school: Dora is currently working on a Masters in Teaching English as a Second Language through Western Governor's University online. This program is not only preparing her (and me vicariously) to be more effective in the classrooms in Thailand, but also giving her the certification she will need if we are ever to return to teach and work in the states, she would have the proper credentials to re-enter the public school systems. Dora is an absolute work horse, and has somehow managed to complete the first 13 hours of her 30 hour degree in only 6 months, while teaching elementary music! She may even have the entire degree completed before we depart for Thailand! God is so good, but we both need some more sleep!!!
Final training session: If our support-raising situation is approved by October, we will be attending the final pre-departure training for our ministry in Thailand in November and December. This training is given by an organization called Mission Training International in Colorado Springs. We will be going out west and staying on their campus for 5 weeks and engaging in two intensive trainings: The first being a language acquisition training that will help us make the most out of our official Thai language training in Bangkok, and the second being a culture-entry training. As mentioned above, if have raised enough support to attend this training in November, we will stay in Colorado Springs over Thanksgiving and return to the Kentucky and North Carolina areas on December 19th to enjoy Christmas with family and friends before we leave. I pray life will slow down once we reach Thailand!!!
Your blog is excellent. It is attractively laid out, and covers important points without excessive detail. You finish it feeling you are really have gotten 'the picture'.
ReplyDeleteLove you guys and hope your trip to and training in Brazil is a rich one.
Jim/Barb