Missionary Care Workshop

A few weeks ago, Jolanda, as part of the YWAM North American Member Care Network, was asked to give a workshop on missionary care at a YWAM conference here in Colorado Springs.

For the most part, this conference focused on people who are doing a Discipleship Training School (DTS) at the moment. The conference was attended by about 200 students from different YWAM locations (from various states). There were also missionaries who have been on the field awhile who came to receive input and to get equipped to go back into ministry. A perfect mix of people with a heart for frontier missions.

She spoke on the missionary “life cycle”, how to get started in missions; what preparation needs to happen; what happens when you arrive on the mission field in a new country, strange culture and language, not to mention working with a team of people that probably come from different cultures themselves. How do you keep your vision strong and how do you stay effective in your ministry with all these adjustments and impressions.

And when it’s time to return back to your own country, how do you prepare yourself for “re-entry” into your own country and culture? Also known as “reverse culture shock”. She was able to share the experiences Rodney has had returning to his own country after having been overseas for 16 years.

Our cross-cultural marriage, 21 years experience in missions, living and working in different countries provided plenty of (sometimes humorous) personal anecdotes about the “life cycle” of a missionary.

As icing on the cake, she also met six Dutchies at the conference. It was great for her to be able to speak Dutch again with compatriots.

Missionary Care Foundations Course

Starting the new year there will be a 3 week Missionary Care Foundations Course (MCFC) at YWAM Richmond, VA from Jan 15th to Feb 2nd. Missionary care is about equipping the messengers of the gospel who carry God’s shepherd heart in their relationships with one another, permeating our teams with the caring actions that makes our gospel message credible to the watching world. As such this foundational course looks widely at a missionary’s life and the interpersonal skills that promote unity and enhance effectiveness.

Jolanda took this course two years ago, and it gave her new “tools” and opportunities to empower people to fulfill their calling with resilience.

Jolanda Travelling to YWAM Orlando

Speaking of equipping missionaries, Jolanda will expand her networking Feb.4-9 by attending YWAM’s International Member Care Consultation (IMCC) at YWAM Orlando, FL. Together with other missionaries who have a heart for missionary care, she will receive input, share experiences, hear testimonies, and, of course, pray and worship.

Baby Shower for Niang

We have shared before that two churches hold services at our Y360 location. One of those churches is the “Myanmar Christian Fellowship”, which consists of a group of refugees from Myanmar (formerly Burma).

One of the Myanmar families is expecting a baby anytime. As Y360 ladies, we blessed the mother, Niang, with a baby shower. She had no idea what a baby shower was, but had tears in her eyes when they told her that they wanted to bless her and her family with presents for the soon to arrive little one.

This family has no other family here, so we get the privilege of being her “family”. The Y360 ladies invited a group of women (most of whom didn’t even know Niang) to come to the baby shower to bless her, not only with presents, but with love and prayer over her, her family and the baby daughter that will soon be born.

And now a word about Lisa and Sarah

Lisa is 14 years old and doing great in middle school. All of her classes are advanced classes, she’s a member of the National Junior Honor Society which means extra hours before and after school. Another requirement is that she volunteers 30 hours in the community. She does this, with much enjoyment, with the 2-4 year old Sunday school at our church. She also enjoys attending a youth group on Sunday evenings, and will be going to Winter Church Camp in February.

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Sarah will be turning 11 in December and is already in her last year of elementary school. Last week we went to the open night at Holmes Middle School where she will be going next year (the same one Lisa is going to now). She works hard and is showing great improvement. Last week, she got the honor to help out with the Veteran’s Day flag ceremony at school.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is already upon us, and we have so much for which to be thankful. Your prayer and financial support makes it possible for us to do the work we do. It is truly a blessing to be able to bless others.

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now - Phil 1: 3 - 5

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