Belgium

So here we are in Belgium...and many have asked why.

In the year prior to us departing for Honduras, our mission agency, Mission to the World, had us attend a 1 month intensive training in New York where we learned working cross-culturally, took classes on everything from Team Conflict, to Evangelism, and language acquisition.  In the afternoons we worked with a church and did ministry with them, and on the weekend we worked with the same church in Sunday School.

Why is this important?  Working (potentially) WAY outside of your comfort zone is what missions looks like.  Most of the time you are leaving your home country and headed to a different country, a different culture, and a different language.  This training is a way to get a taste of what that will look like, and equip you with lots of tools to help you succeed.

We have been asked here to act as coaches for new missionaries headed to fields all around the world.  We meet weekly with our group, and individually with the couples, and we also participate in the training.  I will be teaching a module on Mentors and Thriving on the Field.  It is great to have coaches from the MTW office with experience on the mission field, but it's also great to have people who are currently on the mission field - us - to give another perspective and to be a resource.

talking about how speaking the local language can have a huge impact 

I have always loved teaching and being a mentor to new nurses when I was in the hospital, and to new missionaries in my role as a missionary.  Having had people who have spoken into my life has been an invaluable asset to me and has helped me grow as a missionary, a Christian, a mom, and a wife.  Being able to do this for others just brings me great joy.  In addition, it's kind of nice having "modern" 1st world features like running water, potable water, flushing toilets, fast internet, consistent electricity, lots of ethic foods, and laundromats has just been a nice added bonus.

Mike heads back to Africa soon, and after this training I will be headed to the U.S. for a few church visits, see Madison for a few days, and then back to Africa.

I love how invested Mission to the World is in equipping, preparing, training and vetting their missionaries - this training is just a small example of what they do to set their missionaries up for success on the mission field.