Saturday, January 17, 2009
Arrival
So, I've made it to Cambodia and I am slowly adjusting. There is a 13 hr time difference from Kansas City, so I'm still adjusting to the time and travel. Overall, I really like the city, Phnom Phen. It's fairly clean and everyone is very helpful and nice. Everyone is pretty used to Westerners, our team doesn't get too many odd stares. The most challenging thing so far is trying to learn two languages! Khmer is necessary to get around the city and Vietnamese is necessary for teaching the Vietnamese people English. Whew! Please pray that I can pick up the languages quickly. I will write more soon, however the computers are slow here and time is ticking.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
The Kansas City portion of my CPx training is over. I leave for Cambodia for the final three months of the program on January 14,2009.
Here is a copy of an article I wrote for the All Nations Family Newsletter in November. It sums up some of my thoughts about my experience in CPx.
The Church Planting Experience has definitely been just that - an experience. When I entered the program, I knew that it would be non-traditional. However, in my former teacher mentality, I still expected a classic school setting. I soon found that when they say experience, they really do mean experience! During our first weekend of training we had the opportunity to test our evangelism and cross-cultural skills in a simulated "real" village. At one point during the weekend I remember thinking, "Wow, I really don't know what I'm doing!" It was a cold, hard truth.
Fast forward ten weeks, and I'm still reflecting on what I know or don't know. From my weeks of training in the program, I've learned more in content and knowledge than from most of my previous college courses. I feel that the experiences in the program have challenged me in areas where I haven't been challenged in the past. With these challenges, I've gained many new cross-cultural tools that I otherwise wouldn't have known without this specific training. One of the biggest benefits of the program is that the decisions I've made in CPx have brought me to a new and exciting place of dependency on the Lord.
And thus, the feeling from the village experience subsides, a little. While reflecting on the last eleven weeks, I wonder does the feeling of not knowing what you're doing ever completely leave or is there always some aspect of not knowing the answers? I remember Pam Arlund saying to us, "If the training confuses you at any time and therefore you become paralyzed not knowing what to do, then don't worry about the training - just go with the Holy Spirit." To me, this statement is the answer and one of the strongest points of CPx. We can be well-prepared but if at some point we decide to lean only in the confidence of what we know in our heads, we miss great opportunities to learn much more as we partner with the Holy Spirit.
Here is a copy of an article I wrote for the All Nations Family Newsletter in November. It sums up some of my thoughts about my experience in CPx.
The Church Planting Experience has definitely been just that - an experience. When I entered the program, I knew that it would be non-traditional. However, in my former teacher mentality, I still expected a classic school setting. I soon found that when they say experience, they really do mean experience! During our first weekend of training we had the opportunity to test our evangelism and cross-cultural skills in a simulated "real" village. At one point during the weekend I remember thinking, "Wow, I really don't know what I'm doing!" It was a cold, hard truth.
Fast forward ten weeks, and I'm still reflecting on what I know or don't know. From my weeks of training in the program, I've learned more in content and knowledge than from most of my previous college courses. I feel that the experiences in the program have challenged me in areas where I haven't been challenged in the past. With these challenges, I've gained many new cross-cultural tools that I otherwise wouldn't have known without this specific training. One of the biggest benefits of the program is that the decisions I've made in CPx have brought me to a new and exciting place of dependency on the Lord.
And thus, the feeling from the village experience subsides, a little. While reflecting on the last eleven weeks, I wonder does the feeling of not knowing what you're doing ever completely leave or is there always some aspect of not knowing the answers? I remember Pam Arlund saying to us, "If the training confuses you at any time and therefore you become paralyzed not knowing what to do, then don't worry about the training - just go with the Holy Spirit." To me, this statement is the answer and one of the strongest points of CPx. We can be well-prepared but if at some point we decide to lean only in the confidence of what we know in our heads, we miss great opportunities to learn much more as we partner with the Holy Spirit.
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