Yes, my 5-week intensive Spanish course is done, and now I’m at ABWE headquarters for training before starting support raising full time. God blessed with very safe travel by both air and car (in fact, my first flight out of CR was so empty every passenger had their own row :-).
“Since you are precious in My sight, since you are honored and I love you . . . Do not fear, for I am with you.” Isaiah 43:4.
“You are my witnesses, declares the Lord, ‘and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before me there was no God formed and there will be none after Me.” Isaiah 43:10.
These verses have been so encouraging to me this week.
So after 5 weeks of “drinking out of a fire hose” intense Spanish learning; I now have finished Week 1 of “drinking out of a fire hose” intense training here at the mission headquarters. At some point in the future I’ll be able to rest, sit, and process everything, but for now with God’s help I continue to make it through each day and press forward. (Thankfully yesterday and today I was able to rest some and even get outside and go for a walk.)
Week One was the “Short Term Field Prep” seminar for people like me who are going serve cross-culturally overseas for anywhere from 6 weeks to 2 years. ABWE does a fantastic job with its seminars; they are very organized and bring in top-notch trainers. Every session was very interactive with lots of group participation and hands-on learning and lots of high-tech multi-media as well. Some of the topics covered were:
“Exploring and Understanding Other Cultures”
“Support Raising”
“Getting to Know Your People Group”
“Health & Safety” – they even brought in a guy to teach us some self-defense moves ;-)
“Language Acquisition”
“Evangelism”
“Transitioning to Your New Country”
My fellow participants were mostly single women in their 20s, along with a few couples, as well as 2 retired individuals. It was awesome meeting these people and hearing where they will be serving (Togo, The Gambia, Brazil, Chile, and a few nations I can't mention.)
During the session on health, the doctor who spoke reminded us that God created each of us as a complete and interlocking package of: Physical, Mental, Emotional, and Spiritual. When one of these areas is drained or struggling, it impacts the other 3 areas. While in our new countries we will face new and different stresses that may bombard from every side, thus it is even more important to make sure all 4 areas of our being are healthy. When I took the assessment, I was not shocked to see I was low in most of these 4 areas. (Again glad I was able to nap yesterday & today. Grateful to for the staff members at ABWE praying over us at the end of the week.)
On Thursday night, Scott & Nikki Russell (Scott's the Regional Director for Latin America) took the other Latin America people and I out to SweetFrog for dessert and a chance to chat and get to know each other better. What a fun night. (One thing I did miss in Costa Rica was frozen yogurt).
This coming week I’m taking a course called “Roots of Faith: Old Testament.” It is designed to help you go deeper in your understanding of the Old Testament and also learn how to share it with others. This course is open not just to ABWE people, or just overseas workers; it is open to the general public. If you want more information you can check out: http://www.goodsoil.com/training/the-roots-of-faith