Renewal Conference

 To many people, the words "renewal" and "conference" may seem contradictory. Conferences are typically filled with busy schedules, lots of people, breakout sessions and very little down time. Not too many conference experiences are restful or rejuvenating. So going into a week called "renewal conference" might lead someone to be skeptical. We are thankful, however, that WorldVenture (our missions organization), keeps true to its word and takes the conference name seriously. 

Last week, we gathered with WorldVenture home office staff, regional staff (recruiters from different regions of the U.S.), board members and missionaries for a week of worship, prayer, teaching, learning and networking. The entire first two days were dedicated to just prayer and worship, allowing us to spend time praying for our world, our staff, our missionaries, people groups throughout the globe and many specific needs. We also each had the opportunity to experience an hour long "prayer labyrinth", where you walk a path in a room, listening to an audio track that guides you through a prayer exercise.  These first two days were very renewing.

 The second three days, we were blessed to hear the challenging and engaging words of Ryan Paulson (pastor of a local church). His message on worry and anxiety really hit home for me, and I really felt the Holy spirit speaking through him to me about releasing my worry. We also got to hear from WorldVenture leadership and attend breakout sessions about medical coverage, finances and other helpful topics. At every meal, we sat down with different staff and missionaries. These impromptu conversations were always great, as we compared cultures, swapped language learning stories and discussed thoughts on how to challenge the next generation to consider missions.

Childcare was provided for kids under 5, so Ellie was in good hands all week. I was quite nervous about this going in and the first day was a bit rough for her...but each day was better and better. It was such a gift for us to be able to attend all the sessions and to know she was having fun while we were doing that.

We came away from the Renewal Conference truly renewed!

The Beauty of Colorado

It has really been a joy for us to complete our training in the great state of Colorado. When free times come (which sometimes feel few and far between), we have really enjoyed getting out and exploring the sites with our new missionary friends. Here are a few shots from our time here over the last 3 weeks!

 

Posing at the top of Pike's Peak (which we drove up...not hiked!)

Mountains on the way up to Pike's Peak. The tree line you see near the bottom is around 12,000 ft, but the top is over 14k!

Beautiful mountain wild flowers

Our MTI group at the top of the Peak. I have my sunglasses on because this was moments before a bug flew in my eye! The photos preceding this are quite entertaining :)

Did you know Big Foot was a threat in CO?

Exploring Garden of the Gods

Cactus flower

Nate caught this photo of a beautiful butterfly!

Hiking the Reservoir trails in Palmer Lake, just a mile from our training facility.

Mission Training International Week 1

Bethany and I have been at Mission Training International in Palmer Lake, CO for the last week. We have made it through dehydration (we are up at 7,000 ft or so), new people, and full days of discussing challenging issues we will face as we go about the process of crossing cultural barriers.

We have been talking about different metaphors to help us process through the changes that we have and will experience. We talked about two ducks. The first is our "yay" duck. These are times in our life where we have things to celebrate; these are the things we are excited about and thankful for. The other is our "yuck" duck. That duck is the times in our life that are hard and the challenges and struggles we face.

The hard part about transition, including going to the mission field, is that the two ducks travel together. When we experience change, we have things that we look forward to and things that will be hard. And we can't separate them - they move together. This is the paradox (pair-of-ducks) of transition.

We will continue to share what we're learning as the weeks progress. For now, here are some pictures from our time here. Enjoy!

Nate was a visual aid for how we are all affected by expectations

The mountain behind the MTI building

The sun setting behind the mountains

This is our part of the valley

The MTI building

We're Here!

I apologize for the lack of blog posts this past week. Nate was up in New Hampshire on his annual ice climbing trip, while I was working at an event in San Diego. We meet up in Denver today at WorldVenture headquarters for two weeks, and we're excited we are finally here!

Our first week at WorldVenture...we will be going through Pre-Departure Training (thanks to the prayers and support of so many who helped us reach 60%!). These 3 days are focused on preparing for departure. Part of the training is about the logistical side, discussing things like visas, shipping containers, departure requirements, and the like. But another very important part is the emotional and spiritual side. During this training, we will meet with staff and counselors to begin talking about saying goodbye and going through the major transition of moving to Austria.

This training comes at the perfect time for us. We are just beginning to do things or see people "for the last time" and the goodbyes are slowly ramping up. We have been focusing for the last year on building our team of financial and prayer supporters, but now we must shift our focus to also include how to emotionally, spiritually and mentally prepare for the stress, sadness and adjustment that a cross-cultural move can create. We are looking forward to what we will learn this week about culture shock, maintaining connections to home, and saying goodbye well.

This weekend... we will attend two days of a Missions Symposium at Denver Seminary. This is a first time event and we look forward to hearing from experienced and charismatic speakers who are well-known in the missions community. We will also get to meet and network with many other missionaries and missions support staff, learning from them and building new relationships.

 
Next week in Colorado...we will attend WorldVenture's Renewal Conference. This week-long event is a time for WorldVenture missionaries and staff to come together for worship, prayer and updates. We will spend time sharing and hearing from the field and home office, praying for one another, and seeking the Lord's guidance in our lives, ministry and direction as an organization. Nate and I are especially excited to spend time with several Austria team members at this conference, whom we haven't seen since our Vision Trip last April!

Please pray... for 2 weeks of blessing, encouragement, learning and growth. Please pray that the Lord would protect us from feeling overwhelmed, stressed or fearful of the transitions ahead, but that instead, these 2 weeks would excite us about the journey He has laid out for us and the team that surrounds us at WorldVenture.

Thank you for your prayers!

WorldVenture Appointment Service

As part of our 2 weeks at the WorldVenture headquarters last month in Littleton, CO, Nate and I participated in an "appointment celebration service". All of the newly appointed missionaries were given the opportunity to briefly share their story with the WorldVenture staff, family, mentors and some retired missionaries living in the area. It was a wonderful time to celebrate God's work in the lives of each of the new missionaries and pray for the journey ahead. Our appointment class of 15 people are headed all over the world - Africa, Europe, and southeast Asia - and it is exciting to think about where we will all be in a few years time.

Here is a video from the service, including an introduction from Linda Gawthrop (from the HR/recruiting department of WorldVenture) and our 3-minute presentation:

Appointment Recognition Service - WorldVenture from Bethany Johnson on Vimeo.