As much fun and information gathering as we have had while here at FPO, we are so ready to get going on our journey. We appreciate all the things we have learned, and now are ready to apply all of that knowledge that we have been shoving into our brains (there is no more room!).
We are spending our final full week of orientation with our regional office people this week. We took a tour of the IMB offices and went out to a local South Asian restaurant, food very similar to what we will eat where we are going.
So much information, and not enough time to share it all. The commissioning of this FPO community is next Tuesday. Thank you for your prayers, and I will probably post one last time after this week is over from here at ILC. We head home before that to prepare and pack for our flight overseas. We are still very excited, and can hardly contain ourselves!
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Monday, September 17, 2007
FPO- Weeks 5&6
And yes, I thought the same thing- where has the time gone? Seems like we just got here, and now we are staring at the last two weeks of FPO! Also, we are only 1 month from loading all we can onto an airplane and heading out to South Asia for the next 3 years. It seemed like so long ago, but now it's right around the corner. I know that I echo many people's thoughts here when I say that we are ready to be there now! The excitement is building, but let us also be focused on the One who is sending us, Jesus.
Week 5 was our security contingency training, which all I can say about it- intense, but very necessary! Thank you to those that came in for 6 days and put us through a lot of needed information for those who travel overseas. I wish that some of our short term mission volunteers could go through this training as well.
Week 6 involved learning about bible storying. It was a full two day session that taught us how to put the bible into understandable stories for those who are oral cultures, or non-literates. We have been practicing this technique all last week and will continue in our small groups to practice storying more this week. We also learned T4T (Training for Trainers). This is a method that I have seen in practice in South Asia, and it works very well with CPM. It is a training method where you train trainers to be trainers of trainers. (Say that three times fast, and then do your best train whistle imitation!) It is an exponential method of training where you start with one group of 4, then each of the 4 goes out and shares with 4 more people, then each of those shares with 4. Each of the origional 4 is still being trained, but they are taught to train those they have shared with what they have just learned, and so on. If you draw this out on a piece of paper, you very quickly will have many trainees training other trainees. These obviously are all small groups, and what they are being trained in is the gospel and how to share it, your testimony and how to train others. It was very interesting, and I am anxious to get started in my own T4t.
We wrapped up the week with a field trip to Washington D.C. A two hour bus ride, followed by a trek through the city to witness to the many different people groups there. With all that there was, we ran out of time to do all that we could, but we made it to several different sites, all the while riding the subway to and fro, eating at a South Asian restaurant, and engaging in conversation with and praying over a couple of people, one a homeless man, the other a lady who was born in Trinidad waiting for her bus. With the short time we were there, we felt we didn't have much time to do everything we wanted.
That is pretty much it for now. Pray that we stay focused on the Lord, and not just on the end of our orientation, which is 16 days away, but who's counting?
Week 5 was our security contingency training, which all I can say about it- intense, but very necessary! Thank you to those that came in for 6 days and put us through a lot of needed information for those who travel overseas. I wish that some of our short term mission volunteers could go through this training as well.
Week 6 involved learning about bible storying. It was a full two day session that taught us how to put the bible into understandable stories for those who are oral cultures, or non-literates. We have been practicing this technique all last week and will continue in our small groups to practice storying more this week. We also learned T4T (Training for Trainers). This is a method that I have seen in practice in South Asia, and it works very well with CPM. It is a training method where you train trainers to be trainers of trainers. (Say that three times fast, and then do your best train whistle imitation!) It is an exponential method of training where you start with one group of 4, then each of the 4 goes out and shares with 4 more people, then each of those shares with 4. Each of the origional 4 is still being trained, but they are taught to train those they have shared with what they have just learned, and so on. If you draw this out on a piece of paper, you very quickly will have many trainees training other trainees. These obviously are all small groups, and what they are being trained in is the gospel and how to share it, your testimony and how to train others. It was very interesting, and I am anxious to get started in my own T4t.
We wrapped up the week with a field trip to Washington D.C. A two hour bus ride, followed by a trek through the city to witness to the many different people groups there. With all that there was, we ran out of time to do all that we could, but we made it to several different sites, all the while riding the subway to and fro, eating at a South Asian restaurant, and engaging in conversation with and praying over a couple of people, one a homeless man, the other a lady who was born in Trinidad waiting for her bus. With the short time we were there, we felt we didn't have much time to do everything we wanted.
That is pretty much it for now. Pray that we stay focused on the Lord, and not just on the end of our orientation, which is 16 days away, but who's counting?
Thursday, September 13, 2007
A large THANK YOU
I want to take some time from blogging what's been happening here for a minute, to say thank you. Thank you to all of the Southern Baptist Churches who give to the Cooperative Program. Many people do not know what this is, but don't worry, neither did I until I began the process to do what we're doing.
Every Southern Baptist Church takes an offering from their members. In turn, SBC's turn around and designate a percentage of that offering they receive for the Cooperative Program (CP). This money goes to the IMB, for which we now work. It pays for missionary salaries, and executives salaries (who were all at one time on the field with the IMB before taking a stateside position). It also pays for housing on the field, and very importantly for the International Learning Center (ILC) where we are going through orientation to get ready for our field assignment. It also pays for travel into and from the field for missionaries, literature for learning and teaching. Everything that the IMB is gets paid for through the CP. The CP allows for people who are called to be "sent out ones" to follow God's call and purpose in their lives.
Many people know or have heard of the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. This offering is taken every year, and this past year, over $150 million dollars was given. This usually buys things like vehicles for missionaries to use on the field, appliances and other things used by missionaries on the field.
Let me just say thank you to all Southern Baptist Churches for tithing, and giving over and above what God is asking of you. As I stated before, you allow many of us to follow the call to make the name of Jesus famous among all the peoples of all the nations. Thank you, from our hearts and the hearts of those whose hearts are being prepared by the Holy Spirit to hear God's word for the first time, and have the opportunity to accept the One True God of the universe.
Thank you!
Every Southern Baptist Church takes an offering from their members. In turn, SBC's turn around and designate a percentage of that offering they receive for the Cooperative Program (CP). This money goes to the IMB, for which we now work. It pays for missionary salaries, and executives salaries (who were all at one time on the field with the IMB before taking a stateside position). It also pays for housing on the field, and very importantly for the International Learning Center (ILC) where we are going through orientation to get ready for our field assignment. It also pays for travel into and from the field for missionaries, literature for learning and teaching. Everything that the IMB is gets paid for through the CP. The CP allows for people who are called to be "sent out ones" to follow God's call and purpose in their lives.
Many people know or have heard of the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. This offering is taken every year, and this past year, over $150 million dollars was given. This usually buys things like vehicles for missionaries to use on the field, appliances and other things used by missionaries on the field.
Let me just say thank you to all Southern Baptist Churches for tithing, and giving over and above what God is asking of you. As I stated before, you allow many of us to follow the call to make the name of Jesus famous among all the peoples of all the nations. Thank you, from our hearts and the hearts of those whose hearts are being prepared by the Holy Spirit to hear God's word for the first time, and have the opportunity to accept the One True God of the universe.
Thank you!
Friday, September 7, 2007
The Harvest is Plentiful, but...
One of the major things that hit me this week is some staggering numbers about M's and the SBC. Let me just say that Jesus is right in saying that the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. There are approximately 16 million Southern Baptists in America, of which about 8 million are active members. If I were to ask what percentage of SBC members was a respectable percentage of M's that Southern Baptist Churches have sent out to the field through the IMB, would a 10% tithe be too much? What about 1%? Well, if you're already doing the math, you know that 1% would mean that we would have 80,000 M's in the field sharing the good news of Jesus. As of right now, the IMB is the largest sending organization in the world, supported by the SBC, and has 5,000 M's in the field. While many churches say that they are missions minded, how many people are our churches encouraging to be "sent out ones"? The workers are definitely few. I cannot preach too much about this, because I have been a follower of Christ for 15+ years, and only in the last couple of years have I realized the Lord's leading and calling to share His word with those who have never heard. What was I waiting for? One thing I have come to realize, is that it is a willing heart that God uses. If we are willing, He is able to do mighty things with us, even though we feel inadequate or unqualified. I have no seminary training, no church leadership experience. I am merely following a call on my life that I cannot call my own choice, and one that I cannot ignore. As Luke 9:23 says, "Then he said to them all: 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.'" I must deny myself to have a willingness to follow a call from the One who saved me, and has given me a purpose. My goal is not only to glorify God in in my life and in places He is given no glory, but to encourage others who have the privilege of being a follower of Jesus to share the good news to people who have never heard His name. Whether that is half way around the world or across town or right next door. What is God asking of your life? Are you available and willing to answer a call from Him? What are you willing to deny yourself of? Ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers into His harvest field. One of those workers may just be you.
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