ICC Week 1

From our archived blog:

Our ICC classes began last Thursday. The pace isn't frantic, but is definitely challenging. Our usual schedule is -

• Morning routine, leave house by 7:45
• Drop Talia, Nehemiah, and Isaiah off at MK Station
• Drop Makaylah and Sophia off at a home nearby where they join another JAARS family for their school work
• Get ourselves to class by 8:10
• Classes until 11:45
• Pick Talia, Nehemiah, and Isaiah up from MK Station before 12pm
• Pick up Makaylah and Sophia
• Come home, fix lunch, debrief with the kids on their days
• Homework (for us!), laundry, dishes, cooking, grocery shopping
• Try to get the kids outside for a bit
• Dinner
• Kids to bed
• Prep for next day
• More homework

It's a very different flow from our days then what we've been used to in the past, but we are starting to find our rhythm. The kids are all enjoying their mornings, even Talia! Both Talia and I fought some sinus stuff this weekend, but we are both feeling much better today. We continue to appreciate your prayers for health! Highlights of the week:

• Talia started crawling! She is fully mobile, and loves crawling all over the house trying to find trouble. She's also started saying, "Hiiiii" while waving, and babbling "buh buh buh"
• Ephesians study: We began this before ICC, and are continuing to delve into it deeper with our other classmates. My favorite part of our study so far has been going through chapters 1-3 and listing who God says we are. As we head into cross-cultural ministry, many of the things that we can find our identity in are stripped away - we need a deep awareness of who we are in Christ, which can never be taken away from us!
• Ethnic church: Each Sunday of ICC we will attend an assigned ethnic church. We joined a Latino church this Sunday in worship. Even though we did not understand the majority of the service we could tell that Christ was lifted up. It was super obvious that these folks are indeed our brothers and sisters in Christ even though our understanding of what was said was vague. We did at least pick up on the main point of the message. La alegria es el producto la savacion! Joy is a product of salvation! Makaylah stayed with us in service even though she was very hesitant to do so. She even told us she was sad when service was finished!
• We set up appointments at the JAARS clinic for us to get needed blood work and physicals done before we go to PNG. The appointments will happen after our ICC training is finished.
• We are learning about our own unique strengths, and how to use them well in a team setting. We are each assigned to a table group of 5-6 other people. These are the people we sit with, learn with, work with and pray with over the coming weeks.
• We began memorizing Phil. 2:1-11.
• We met with staff and talked about the individual goals we have for this course, and the areas we are praying and asking God to grow in us.
• Health issues on the field: We learned about how to safely prepare food and water, and how to collect symptoms for doctor consultations over the radio or phone.