Intercultural Communications.

One may think that living in a fifth-wheel would prevent you from acquiring many things. That’s what we thought when moving day came and it was time to start driving our things from the RV to the apartment. However we must hand it to the designers at Keystone, you can fit a surprising amount of things into their fifth-wheels. Thankfully it only took about 10 trips in our compact SUV to move it all. Malachi adjusted quickly and is now able to run more than 5 strides in the house at a given time. More importantly there is a swing set within eyesight of the window and he is able to make daily requests to go. This new space has been an additional blessing for Anna because we now live right next to some of our best friends on the center.

In July we completed our Intercultural Communications Course (ICC). This course is designed to expose new missionaries to some of the worldviews and cultural norms that exist where JAARS operates, along with common challenges missionaries face living cross-culturally, and equip us to navigate those differences and challenges well. Sessions included study of theological topics to shore up our foundation of unchanging Biblical truths; worldviews through which that truth could reasonably be interpreted; and practical strategies to apply what we learned. We had sessions about medicine and health practices overseas, team building, and stress management. And we practiced a variety of language acquisition techniques which can accelerate our integration into whatever national language and culture we end up in. Throughout the month-long course we heard so many stories of God’s faithfulness from the facilitators and others’ experiences on the field, which was the most encouraging out of all the training. Our brains are saturated with an overabundance of information, but we are grateful for all we learned.

Summer is almost over, but there are always exciting things to look forward to. We are so glad to be seeing our families this month. Philip’s parents are coming for a visit at the beginning of the month, and Anna’s family is having their big summer beach trip at the end of the month. Additionally, after prayer and consideration our family has agreed for Philip to go to Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) night school in the fall. We feel that this training will be beneficial in a number of ways. Firstly, it will provide a greater level of medical support to our family wherever we go. Second, it will provide a greater level of medical support to the missions team. Third, it will make us a greater asset, and give us a better opportunity to minister to the local community. This EMT training provides the skills necessary to stabilize and provide life saving care to those who have experienced some form of trauma injury, heart attack, respiratory issues, and more. Philip is doing this training with two other mechanics in his training cohort and should finish by early December. We are grateful for all the prayers and support we receive so consistently. Thank YOU for your prayers, encouragement, and support of us and our small part in the larger mission of the Kingdom. Praise God for His faithfulness. May He bless you as you live out your part in the body of Christ! Prayer requests For our family to find a new healthy rhythm while Philip is in school. For good time with family. For our ability to retain and apply all that we learned during our ICC training.