MTI Training: Week Two

And what a week it was.

First of all, last weekend I was able to do some sightseeing in the Colorado Springs area. A few of us traveled up to Pikes Peak in the hopes of getting to the summit of the peak around 14,000 ft. We could only get to about 12,000 ft. because there were very strong winds at the summit so the rangers were not letting anyone go to the top. Boo on that. We were also able to visit these very cool rock formations called Garden of the Gods. I will post a photo album when I finish my training so stay tuned.

And now for a training update. I have to tell you that the sessions just keep getting better and better and my list of notes and reflections just keeps getting longer and longer. There is no way that I will be able to process all of this stuff while I am here. God is really speaking to my heart during my time here. Maybe sometime in November it will all sink in. I can’t tell you how helpful this experience has been for me.

We finished the week where my previous post ended - discussing our different conflict management styles…the advantages and disadvantages. Very eye opening stuff. I now have a greater understanding of my natural tendency with regards to conflict management but I also know some stuff about other styles as well so hopefully as a result I will have a better success rate at “speaking someone else’s language” once I get to La Paz.

We have also talked a good bit this week about basic cultural differences and also transition. What will some of the characteristics of my transition to Bolivia be? In most cases, people experience a honeymoon stage when they first enter their new culture followed by an unsettling phase, followed by a CHAOS stage (I can't avoid this one), followed by a resettling stage before finally beginning to feel settled in the new culture.

The length of these transition periods varies for each person but the bottom line for me is that I will be changed.

I will not come back to the states the same person I was when I left. It is impossible. I am just going to let that sink in for awhile.

But I don’t necessary think that is a bad thing either. I am hopeful that I will eventually find balance between my home culture and my host culture of Bolivia. But it is definitely going to take time. More time than I actually think.

Probably the biggest thing that hit me this week were the words that God spoke to me during our sessions on Soul Care. Just FYI…Soul Care is just that – taking care of my soul on the field. How am I going to take care of my soul while I am in Bolivia? I don’t want to become just another bad missionary statistic and return to the US after my term in La Paz burned out on God and dried-up spiritually. Basically, how can I avoid coming back a battered and bruised missionary? This is way more common for missionaries than I ever realized. You would be surprised.

I learned this week that a big key for me is going to be the Sabbath. Which doesn’t really mean anything to a lot of people in our culture anymore but as I came to find out this week the Sabbath actually means “to cease.” God’s model of resting one day after every six days of work. Having a day each week when I turn the cell phone OFF and don’t turn the computer ON will care for my soul in ways that will make me endure and last on the mission field.

Me finding a day each week to be UNAVAILABLE will save me. I spent some time with God this past week practicing solitude and silence and I can’t tell you the impact it has had on me. Imagine that, actually being silent so God has a chance to talk to me and I have a chance to actually listen.

It’s a big change from me just jabbering and filling the air with all this stuff that I need to let God know about. Me talking to God has its place. But too often I find myself talking too much.

I think I got a better understanding this week of that verse that talks about God knowing what we are going to say before we even say it. And I figure it’s time I stop giving God info all the time and actually give Him the mic for once.