Wrap-Up of Training in Nampa, and Looking Ahead

If you're ever planning to visit Idaho, there are three things you should know. First, people always seem to go missing. If you turn on the local news, chances are they will be reporting on someone who went hiking and hasn't shown up to work in a week. Which brings me to the second thing you should know, which is that it doesn't seem like a good place to hike. The third thing you should know is that it's important to mute the commercials, because there is this one really annoying commercial promoting the Idaho State lottery, and you will not be able to get the tune out of your head. You will not.

We have now spent a total of seven weeks in Nampa, Idaho (two weeks in April and five this past July and August). Judging by my familiarity with the local programming, you may have guessed that we didn't get out very much. Our apartment was across the parking lot from the MAF headquarters, and our next door neighbors were a bunch of super cool families who are doing exactly the same thing we're doing. If living two feet away from your new best friends is your kind of thing, and a two minute stroll to work is your kind of commute, you should become a pilot and join MAF! (Of course, moving to the other side of the world has to be up your alley, too.)

Here's a little look at our life in Nampa:

(HQ from the apartment complex)

(At one of our weekly bbqs)

(Some of the gang, waiting to hear our regional assignments)

(Anders with his new pal)

(After a chapel session where we each practiced presenting MAF)

It wasn't fun saying goodbye to these new friends, but it was exciting to know that our paths would cross again for future training. And who knows if some may become our neighbors in Indonesia!

Now that we're back in Crystal Lake we're in the full swing of our Ministry Partnership season, which will entail some travel and a lot of phone calls, as well as our favorite thing: spending time with people. Before I understood Ministry Partnership I was dreading it. But now that I have a better understanding of it, I'm pumped. I'm excited to get to Indonesia, but by no means would I wish this season away to get there faster. Partnerships is where it's all happenin'.

Big picture: here's what our timeline might look like over the next couple of years:

September 2011 - July 2012 Ministry Partnership, including a November trip to Texas and a February trip to Denver

July 2012 - August 2012 Safety standardization and cultural orientation in Nampa

Late fall 2012 Depart for language school in Indonesia. Language school is ten months long, after which we--at last!--go to our assigned region within Indonesia.

May God bless YOU in whatever task and mission he has set before you at this time. And remember, don't go hiking in Idaho!

{Joy}