We're having a great time at our training. It's really encouraging to be surrounded by missionaries and to-be missionaries from all over the world. We are hanging out with people who have lived in South Africa, Congo, Romania, Poland, Latin America, Germans who live in Colombia, France, etc. It's been very fun. Although the information is great, I heard a quote that goes something like this: your brain can only learn that which your behind can endure! We are so tired of sitting! Most - well, ALL of the training is sitting in lectures so it's very hard for us to sit for so long. We're learning about culture, conflict, multicultural ideals and ways of handling things and how the U.S. does not know everything! :) Our job is not to go in and change their culture and way of life - they are happy with their culture and who really cares what they wear? Our job is to go in and love them and try (although we will always be outsiders) to be an insider in their culture. We are also learning about things like emergency plans, financing, budgeting, learning what embassy's do for you, how to get international health care, and how to live and operate as Jesus wants us to.
The church that is hosting this has been amazing! They have treated us like kings and queens! Their hospitality is something of a model to the rest of us. They put their best foot forward - all the time! Tristan summed up our time well - we were on a break and he said "we're either sitting or eatting and since I'm not sitting right now, I guess I'd better eat". yep - too much food! They cooked us authentic Iranian food one night and it was amazing - right down to the decor of the tables! We have also had a candlelight dinner - including a chocolate fountain for dessert and a Cuban meal.
We went to this church on Sunday morning for church and it was great! There are over 40 cultures represented in this one church! Wow! They also have about 25 steel drums and they played for us - it was incredibly beautiful!
So, three more days of training. Time is going by pretty quickly - it doesn't feel like we've been here a week already! we've never stayed in a hotel for this long before!
Love ya!
1 comment:
Guys~ Glad to hear that you're having fun and learning lots at your conference! Wow, Iranian food, how amazing! Was it spicy? Got your email about the floods in Honduras, really thinking about the people there right now. Hope your last 3 days are great also!
Post a Comment