Training
Sitting in sunny St. Augustine, Florida, it’s hard to believe that Christmas was barely two weeks ago. Our holidays went past like the Roadrunner speeds by Wile E. Coyote in Loony Tunes; it was a blur and gone before we knew it. This was also our first Christmas season together as a married couple, which presented new challenges and joys. Despite the chaos, our holidays were filled with the blessings of “good food, a warm hearth, and all the comforts of home” (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey), and of course, our families.
Just a few days ago we began Young Life New Staff Training, which ironically takes place in the state we just finished moving away from. But we’re not complaining—St. Augustine is beautiful, the weather is paradise, and we get to spend two weeks with other new staff members just like us, intensively learning and preparing for our Young Life staff jobs.
It’s a little overwhelming; there are over 750 people here for this training conference. That’s A LOT of extroverted youth ministry workers crammed into one hotel! Although how amazing is it that all of those people will go out into their communities around the world to share the Gospel with teenagers? What praise for Jesus that we get to sing!
At the end of the week New Staff training will end, and then we will begin Cross-Cultural Orientation with about 60 other new Young Life Military or International staff members. We’ll be back in Colorado before we know it, and anticipate going through additional training at the MCYM headquarters in Colorado Springs. Our deployment date is fast approaching . . . we have reached 83% of our financial goal, and as long as support-raising continues to go well, we should be on track to get on a plane to Belgium in February!
In other exciting news, a few weeks ago we had the opportunity to meet with the previous community director in Brussels, who has recently moved to Denver to work with Youth for Christ. Josh will be taking over her job as soon as we get to Brussels, which means that the Club Beyond there has temporary leadership until we arrive . . . so the heat is on! The students and community in Brussels already know who we are and that we’re coming, and we cannot wait to get there to finally meet them. It’s an incredible feeling to know that God has been preparing us to be an answer to others’ prayers.
Speaking of prayers, we’re in need of them. We ask that, if you are willing, to pray for miracles to happen with our last 17%. We also ask for prayers of encouragement and protected emotional, spiritual, and physical health during our time at New Staff Training. We continue to thank the Lord for you, our friends and family, and pray for you as well.