I have updates on the ministries I have been involved in here in Dallas. But first … some breaking news… I have been moved to “Missionary in Transition” (MIT) status!!! Woo hoo, right? I know… you thought I already WAS a missionary, right? These things take time. Pioneer Bible Translators moved me from “Recruit” up to MIT status Oct 1^st… one more step. I will be considered a real-live Missionary when my feet hit Papua New Guinea (still on for January 2014!). So now I can change the status on my blog! Thank You Lord!

Honest question: Do you ever think that you know better than someone else? Well… I wondered if it was really necessary to spend these months in residency in Dallas. Talk about pride… I thought that I knew better… couldn’t I just go?? … once again I was humbled… you would think that I would learn… but I am still a work in progress. I have learned so much since I got here and I have been stretched many times over. I would not trade this time in training and the cultural interaction for anything!! It is absolutely necessary and I am so grateful for those who had the foresight to know what we would need for pre-field training. This hasn’t just been about learning the finance system of PBT. It is oh-so-much-more! Thank You Lord!

My weeks are very busy. I go to the Finance office in the mornings, and then come home to study and do homework and sometimes go over what we learn in the office. I have my “required” cross-cultural community time during the week. Sometimes we go the the community garden and work alongside some Nepali friends. Simply living in a house with 5 others is living in community.

Joni and I have started working with “Redeemed Ministries.” It is very much like “We are Cherished” in Ohio. This is an organization that helps young ladies who are exploited in many different arenas in the Dallas area. We’ve only just begun, but it is really good so far! Their volunteers go in groups and visit “massage parlors” and befriend the girls, the bouncers and the house mothers. When they are able to go inside and build friendships, they minister to the all who will listen and hopefully the girls leave that place to be mentored with Redeemed, until they can make a better life. It is a great organization to be a part of.

I have mentioned Immanuel Bhutanese Church where we have been doing children’s church … here are pictures so that you can see more of what it is like. It has been so wonderful! Truthfully I was very out of place and nervous… until last Saturday. I was able to take part in our “Teaching the Teachers.” Here are some of the fun pictures. Check out the play doh elephant. It was created by one of the grown men ~ when they were pretending to be 5 year olds for our training. Then we turned the tables and we were the 5 year olds and they were the teacher. Then we lead them with our “kid rope” to the other building so that  they would know what it is like and why we do it (to keep the kids in a smaller area and away from the nearby busy street). They had a ball marching outside. The training was a great success. We hope they will continue it after we leave!

Pastor Tanka and his Bhutanese church family put on a cultural event to raise awareness and funds to help pay for their Christmas program. Here are photos of that event. I absolutely love their traditional dress. It was fantastic when the adults all got up and danced. They are so wonderful!! I loved it. They served an amazing lunch too.

I also attended the birthday party of the Pastor Tanka and Krishna’s son last weekend. His name is Anush and he is 7. He is in the white suit. They really do birthdays fun! There were about 45 people in the room when we arrived. They live in an average apartment (not large). I tried to get a picture of what the room looked like. I hope you can tell. The ladies got up from the sofa and sat on the floor and Joni and I sat with them. They physically picked us up from the floor and had us sit on the sofa. These ladies who gave us their seats were most likely 20 years my senior. That really did not feel right! Then the Thompson family of 5 arrived and crammed into the standing room only space. The men got up so that they could sit on the other sofa. After Anush was honored and we sang worship songs and Happy Birthday 3 times.  Then, we honored guests were ushered into the back bedroom where they had set
up a table and some chairs. They served us an amazing meal ~ a lot of it! We finally figured out that if we left some food on our plates that they would stop filling them. They are so gracious and giving! The food was really good; pretty different from what I typically eat ~ one item was hot as all get out~ but yummy~ and then they served us cake.
It was a really great experience. I am so glad I went.

A couple of weeks before all of those events we visited a Mosque.It was very interesting. Like the Bhutanese church, the women sit separate from the men. But in the Mosque the women are on a different level than the men. The women are upstairs and can only see through a window to the lower level where the Imam and the men are worshiping. The visit was really good for the ladies (nobody talked to the men downstairs). We had several ladies address us and ask if they could help us get situated, or show us around. One lady gave us seats of honor. We were right up against the window. She said that I could take a photo, so  here is one looking down at the men. Unfortunately we had made arrangements with the others that we were with, to meet them outside at 1:45 because our leader had to get back to work. I was really disappointed because that is exactly when the Imam was to begin the service. Some of our group was not able to go that day, so I hope to get another chance to attend their service. I didn’t know that Muslims believe that they have an angel on each shoulder to keep track of “rights” and “wrongs” done. They need to make sure that their “good” outweighs their “bad” deeds or they will not go to… heaven? I have questions that are unanswered. As simple as “do they believe in Heaven?” and “where do they believe they will spend eternity?” I

was completely up front with the lady that I spoke the most to. She asked if I was new, I said yes. She asked where I had come from. I told her that I am a Christian and that I plan to be a missionary overseas and I was there with my class to learn about her culture. She was wonderful! I really hope that I can go back and learn more about their religion and their culture.

I have started my language lessons. I am so excited!! My friend Ellen is teaching us the trade language (Tok Pisin). We have had 3 classes and love it!! This week we had “conversations” with each other. It was so much fun! This language isn’t that far from English. Sometimes I feel like I am talking like/to a very small child when I use particular words. They don’t pronounce all of the letters that we do. Ellen prays at the end of our evenings and I understand quite a bit of it. Next week we are going to discuss our favorite Bible verse. I want to try to memorize some of it.

To end this month’s update … let’s see what you think of the language I am learning.

Here is one of my favorites verses in English and then in Tok Pisin ~ see how much you can understand.

Jeremiah 29:11-14

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity.I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

JEREMAIA 29:11-14  (Tok Pisin)

“Mi Bikpela, mi tingim pinis ol samting mi laik mekim bilong helpim yupela. Mi laik mekim gut long yupela. Mi no laik mekim nogut long yupela. Yupela i ken tingim ol dispela samting mi laik mekim, na yupela i ken wetim dispela taim i kamap. Long dispela taim bai yupela i kam klostu long mi na singaut long mi na beten long mi, na bai mi harim beten bilong yupela. Long dispela taim bai laik bilong yupela na tingting bilong yupela i strong tru long painim mi. Olsem na bai yupela inap i kam klostu long mi. Mi Bikpela, mi tok stret, bai mi larim yupela i kam klostu long mi. Na bai mi mekim yupela i stap gut gen. Na bai mi kisim yupela long olgeta hap na long olgeta kantri mi bin rausim yupela i go long en. Na bai mi bringim yupela i kam bek long dispela ples bipo yupela i bin i stap long en.”

That’s it for now… I have tons more to say… but I will hold it for another time…

Thank you so much for going on this journey with me!

 Praise ~

• For the Lord leading me to learn about our Bhutanese church family and Redeemed Ministries
• I just started my last required class … and it is an amazing LAST class! PRAISE! I’ll share more about it later ~ but please pray that I will learn as much as I can and take all of what I have learned in all of these classes and all of the life experience that has come with the journey ~ with me in January

• please pray that the Lord will raise up people to volunteer with Redeemed
• that our Bhutanese friends will continue to teach their children on Sunday mornings and that they are ministered to at a level that they can understand
• that I can go back to my old sleep habits, and take them with me to Papua New Guinea. I haven’t slept well since I left Ohio and I’m exhausted

Prayer/praise ~ that the Lord continues to be sought after ~ by all of us ~