week 7 of training...

as i sat down to lunch at the beginning of the week, i was introduced to an older gentleman named sam james. i honestly thought it was a joke. surely that was not him...but it was. that name may not mean anything to you, but man - what a faithful servant of the Lord. among other things, he's served with the IMB since 1962. he helped to found the training center where we've been for 7 weeks. he served in vietnam for over 40 years - where he founded & served as president of a seminary all the while faithfully proclaiming the message of Jesus. when he was first appointed as a missionary, he signed an agreement that stated, "as far as i know, this assignment will be my 'job' for the rest of my life." it took him - & his family of 5 - 3 weeks on a ship in one room to get to his first assignment in hong kong. needless to say, the 5 of us who ate with him walked away from lunch feeling like we'd been with billy graham...& went back to our session to scribble down notes from things he'd said as quickly as possible! the lessons i learned from that 25 minute conversation are both priceless & endless.
- laugh at yourself...making mistakes often leads to incredible relationships
- remain in the Word always. check out psalm 91 - which he quoted from memory as a piece of Scripture to which he clung on the field. how much of the Word have you hidden in your own heart (psalm 119:11)?
- want to hear more? check out this video & meet him yourself! Legacy of Love

later that week SO much happened. here is a quick fly by view to hit the highlights:
- special meal #3 (indian food) = SO GOOD!
- shot clinic #3 which means NO MORE SHOTS! 11 total vaccinations under my belt!
- true love waits & AIDS education sessions for those of us working with students in areas of the world where AIDS is prevalent. i could write a book on everything i learned, but just chew on this with me:

on september 11, 2011 6,000 people died of AIDS in sub-saharan africa.
since then, 5,000 more died everyday.
since then, 7,000 more are infected everyday.
in a month, 190,000 people die in sub-saharan africa due to AIDS.
70% of the world's population of AIDS infection is in sub-saharan africa.
(22.5 out of 33.3 million people).
what concerns us more?

that weekend was absolutely incredible. my on-field partner & i got to skype with a few people on our team in cape town for 2 hours. a ton of questions were answered & the fellowship was sweet. we learned a few stats from that convo as well:

in america, 25% of the population is under 25.

in south africa, 65% of the population is under 24.

we must reach this generation for Christ.

we make this our goal!

later that day, a friend & i had an incredible opportunity when we left campus & stopped into a nearby coffee shop. be on the lookout for an update called "the daily grind" for the full story.

heavy stuff!
sorry for the delayed update & the lack of pictures, but i promise there's a ton to come in the near future, including:
- a really incredible story on "the daily grind" coffee shop
- a amazing answer to prayer about "accountability"
- a ton of pics from the last 2-3 weeks
- a video of us killing chickens!! that's right...with our bare hands! :)