Training at Houghton College, New York - PFO

from Seth

Birds singing, trees swaying in the breeze, bright sunlight shining over everything ... such is my experience at the present moment. I am sitting in my dorm room, on a Saturday afternoon of our training conference (Pre-field Orientation, or PFO for short) here at Houghton College in western New York. If you want to find out what sort of place Houghton is, you could probably get a good idea by looking it up on Google Maps. It is about half an hour away from everything, and about an hour or so away from Buffalo, which is the nearest sizable city, so we are really out in the middle of nature for the most part. Presently, Laura and I are winding down and taking a little bit of time to catch up on some things that have been waiting for me to do them (such as making a blog post about our training experience so far).

We have been here since last Saturday, and have spent this first week "drinking from a fire hose" of information. We have had about seven to eight hours of intense information and training every day since Monday morning, and we are feeling a little bit overwhelmed with information, but all of it has been very practical and useful to us as we prepare to go teach overseas. We will continue the intense information overload on Monday morning, and will finish up with our training next Friday.

But not everything here involves working and studying and learning. There are also social times to be shared with fellow trainees, and we have developed good relationships with some of them, relationships that we expect will last long after this training conference is over. I am including a couple of pictures of some of those people below (one of them was taken yesterday evening during an excursion to a nearby state park).

 A group of us learned how to make Arabic Tea, a very popular social event in Africa

Us along with several of the other people with whom we are starting to develop good friendships. (That is indeed a waterfall behind us, just in case you were wondering)

Overall, our experience here has been excellent up to this point, and we hope it continues to be so through the end of next week. 

The Best-Laid Plans...

from Laura

“Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city…’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow!” James 5:13-14

Currently, one of my most important possessions is my calendar. I carry it almost everywhere, and we consult it regularly—generally with an eye to adding something else in. With only a few weeks left in the U.S (and much to do), the calendar has begun to feel like a jigsaw puzzle—with no nice picture on the box top!

Those who know me know that I am a planner. I like to know what’s coming up, and I’m not a huge fan of last-minute changes. By mid-day on Monday, I usually have in mind what I’ll do with Tuesday evening’s free time. I have, over time, learned to be more flexible, at least some of the time, but I still really like my plans.

What I have been learning over the past few weeks is to hold ‘my’ plans more and more loosely. Many of our recent plans have remained unpredictable up to the moment of the event. Things that were ‘completely set’ have ended up completely changed. My task has been to see these changes in a positive light.

Making plans IS important. It’s hard to meet up with people if you don’t pick a time for it! But if my days actually belong to God, which they do, then there is no plan-change that He will not use. If the things I am doing with my time honor Him, then switching the order of activities is neither here nor there, ultimately. I’m finding it challenging to balance this perspective with the need to have good priorities and make good choices with our time. We still need plans, but I must hold them with open hands, be willing to let go of them peacefully, and be ready to drop them entirely for the sake of something more important.

(Seth and niece, catching tadpoles)

I know that as a missionary in the field I will need to be flexible. I know that if our goal in Manila is to build relationships, I will need to put people above my calendar. I know that when my priority is people, plans will change mid-stream because life is unpredictable. So I am grateful for these lessons now, in a less stressful time. I am praying that I will learn the balancing lessons and then apply the lessons consistently—now and as we go—so that my attitude truly will honor God and show love to His people.

Our Filipino House

from Seth

Well, it has been a while since we posted something new on here.  I suppose it has just seemed like there has not been a whole lot to talk about lately, so we have lapsed a bit on the blog posts.

However, since this is a question we have been hearing a lot as we have been meeting with small groups of supporters over the last month or so, we thought we would make a post about the house where we will be staying for our first year in Manila.  Below you will find some photos of the house we will be "sitting" for a missionary couple that is returning home to the States for a year starting this summer.  We are excited about God's provision of this house for our first year, and as you can see from the images, the house is furnished, which makes our lives much easier as we begin adjusting to the culture there.

1.  A view of the front of the house, as seen from the street:

 
2.  A view of the porch:

3. The kitchen:

4. The staircase:

5. And the living room:

The house also comes with an outdoor dog and cat, and an aquarium, all of which will need to be cared for.  But also, we will have a "helper" who will live at the house during the week.  She will help us with cooking, cleaning, and other things of that nature.  God has blessed us with this arrangement, and we look forward to getting to see this house in person when we arrive in Manila later this summer!