week 6 of training...

whew! i feel a little like a broken record, but every single week things here get more intense! so much has happened in the last week! it's been amazing! here are some highlights:

- the first half of the week (mon-wed) was contingency/security training. 3 days of absolute madness. ask me about it!

- monday night about half of those going to sub-saharan africa met in the home of our deployment consultant for an authentic western african meal experience. 20-25 of us crowded around 4 common bowls on the living room floor with bare feet & using only our right hands (no utensils). why? google "right-handed cultures" if you really want to know :) the food was absolutely incredible & the fellowship & discussion on african hospitality afterwards even more so. several of us, on the way back, commented that the more we learn about african culture, the more we realize we're just not made for america! what affirmation! :) one of the best pieces of advice from the night was this: "if someone gives you a chicken as a gift, don't get attached...just name it something like 'stew.'"

mark your territory & dig in!

- thursday we had another session by tom elliff on maintaining spiritual thirst. so good! just some thoughts i took away from his session:

"we can get so engrossed in doing the things of God

that we fail to focus on that which matters most."

"if you take care of the DEPTH of your walk,

God will take care of the BREADTH of your ministry."

"if you refuse to break up the fallowed ground of your heart,

your greatest days of service are OVER."

"if you haven't been broken by God, you're easily bent by others."

- friday we had our 2nd personal spiritual retreat. from 12-3 we all went our separate ways to spend much-needed time in the Word & on our faces in prayer examining our own hearts. i was lying under a tree until it started raining...dumb. but a great time of rest nonetheless!

- saturday we finally got somewhat of a break. all those going to sub-saharan africa are required to do a number of things. so as a group, we decided to knock a few things off of that list:

1. cook a meal from scratch without using an oven. i spent the afternoon learning to cook authentic indian food with a sweet lady who grew up in india. we made dal & puri - two of my absolute favorites from the 3 weeks in spent in india. dal is more commonly known as lentil stew. it's super yummy...& a great source of protein, especially when meat is too expensive or not readily available. puri is a puffed, fried flatbread.

genesis 25 - esau sold his birthright for a bowl of lentil stew (dal)

fyi: dal is made with mustard seeds

rolling & frying puri

the entire spread!

2. spend a night (5-10pm) without electricity or candles. we had a blast! we'd been preparing the 2 kids in our quad all week by telling them we were camping out in the living room. so, right before 5 i set up a tent in our living room! they loved it! we ate dinner & dessert, practiced storying through Scripture & played games...all by flashlight! like we always say, "we're family!" it was a blast! more pics to come!

all in!!

overall, it's been an awesome week!