Orientation in Virginia

Well, everything has been going at a very fast pace here in Virginia. Orientation is almost over, just a few more days and we’ll be heading out across the globe. It has been an amazing time – learning a lot and getting to know some unbelievable people. I’ll be sorry to leave everyone, but I’m eager to get to Mozambique and get started at the work God has prepared.

The time here has been spent mostly in classroom sessions where we’ve studied how to be effective on the field. This has included prep for cultural adaptation, studies of the cultures we’re going to, language learning techniques, and many issues that missionaries commonly deal with.

The primary goal of everything here is to improve our ability to share the gospel in a new environment, and so each session has that underlying structure. I have learnt (and already forgotten) a lot and it has been a huge blessing to have this opportunity to prepare for the time ahead.

In addition to classroom time, we meet a lot in small groups to discuss lecture topics, go through bible studies and just share our thoughts on the flood of information coming at us… We also have had a lot of time to spend playing soccer, basketball, ultimate Frisbee, or just goofing around. It’s nice to get outside after being cooped up in a classroom all day.

As far as my assignment goes, I still don’t have much clear information. I know that I will be studying Portuguese in the city of Nampula for the first few months. For that time I’ll be living with a missionary family already over there. From there I’ll move my home base to Cuamba – a small city located about nine hours west of Nampula.

I’ll be traveling among the villages in the northern region of Moz., doing some surveying to see where people are located and what Christian influence there has been. I’ll be getting to know the people and telling stories from the Bible. A lot has changed in my job assignment since I’ve been here… everyone just keeps telling us to “be flexible” - apparently that’s the name of the game. I’m not too stressed; I know it’s all in the hands of Someone a lot more capable than I am

Here are a few photos from my past several weeks...

Small Group

This is my small group. We meet pretty much every day to go through a bible study, share thoughts on everything going on and sometimes sing a few songs.

Singing Praise

I believe we were waiting for dinner when this was taken. Someone said, “Why don’t we just sing a few praise songs while we wait?” That’s what I love about the people here.

Balloon Animals

During our immunization clinic we had to find creative ways to keep the kid’s minds off of the shots they were getting. Luckily I have some experience in making balloon animals from my time in Texas. That’s a bird on my head, in case you couldn’t tell...

Missionaries Around the World

This was my little art project. I started out just to make a snowflake, but I couldn’t stop myself from taking it a bit further.

Heading out

That’s me pointing to Mozambique (in case you aren’t sure where it’s located) and David pointing to Peru. He’s going to the Amazon, so keep him and his teammates in your prayers as well.