Greetings from Palmer Lake, CO!
This is Dora! We are here at Mission Training International attending the PILAT training (Program in Language Acquisition Techniques). In fact, that is where this picture was taken. BEAUTIFUL!!! This includes lots work on phonetics (we do drills on various consonant and vowel sounds that don’t occur in the English language) as well as utilizing various language learning techniques in the classroom. We have also been put into various language groups and learning Russian, Mandarin, Hindi, Vietnamese, and French. Chris has been working on Russian and I have been working on Mandarin. Why, you may ask, are we working on languages that we will not need in Thailand? We’re actually focusing on the techniques of language learning and using these various languages to practice these techniques. It’s been really fun! There are about 35 other missionaries here and it’s been great getting to know some of them. Almost every missionary is going to a different country, and it’s been so cool to hear about what God is doing all over the world!
Last Month Recap-Getting Vulnerable
The last month has been a bit hectic for us! As you probably already know, around the middle of October, we went out to Washington to speak at a couple of churches, Christ United Protestant Church in Richland, WA, and Woodville Community United Methodist Church in Woodinville (just ohttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifutside of Seattle). We had a blast! We hung out in Richland for a couple of days with a great couple (I actually got to go on a women’s retreat), and we spoke that morning at both services at CUP (our newest supporting church)! Then, they had a reception during which people could ask us questions about our future ministry. This church has been so good to us and the people are so fun to be with! We’re blessed!
Next, we headed to Portland, Oregon for a couple of days and spent some time with some friends from college, then on up to Seattle for a five-day GIC (Global Impact Celebration) at Woodinville Community UMC. It was an amazing time to connect with the congregation of that church as well as many other missionaries serving all over the world. Early in this GIC we sat down with all the missionaries (local, national, and international), and shared parts of our stories. It was incredible because the more we got comfortable with each other the more we were able to share our concerns and struggles. An incredible vulnerability was birthed there, which has changed the way we are attempting to communicate, even with acquaintances and strangers. We both had the opportunity to speak at the men’s and women’s breakfasts (respectively), which was a huge blessing. Due to our previous session with all the missionaries sharing together, both took this as a chance to be very vulnerable and talk about the issues that we’re struggling with. I specifically talked about how I don’t feel very “missionary-like”—I mean, missionaries are supposed to have it all together and be super connected with God all the time, right? They’re supposed to be the most spiritual among us, aren’t they? God can work with all of us! Especially those like me that don’t have it all together!!!
The Kentucky Whirlwind
When we returned from Washington, we spent two weeks back in Kentucky trying to get stuff packed up in our house (we were partially successful) and hanging out with folks in the Lexington area. We did end up selling both of our cars, so that’s a huge praise!!
What's to Come:
The next couple of weeks…We will spend the first half of Thanksgiving week with some friends out here in Colorado Springs, and then we are renting a car to drive to Albuquerque, NM to have Thanksgiving with Chris’ great aunt Frances. Then, we will return to MTI on November 30 to begin another 3-week training session. This next training is called SPLICE (Spiritual, Personal, Lifestyle, Interpersonal, Culture, Endure/Enjoy). It’s basically a cross-cultural training on how to survive as a missionary in another country. After that training, we will fly back to Kentucky, pack up most of our furniture, and drive a U-Haul to North Carolina to spend Christmas with Chris’ side of the family. Then, we will head back to KY to wrap up the last few details and say goodbye to our friends and family there. As soon as our flight details are locked in, we will share those with all of you in case you are in the Lexington area and want to send us off (which we would love!). God bless you all and we love you!!
-Dora
