Here are a few pics from our 2nd week of training called "Pre-Field Connection" (PFC) at Pioneers HQ in Orlando, FL. Click on the pics below to see larger versions.
1. Juhee having fun in the dining room with new friends. She loved hanging around the older kids, holding their hand, and bossing them around. The older kids loved her and took really good care of her, for which we were very grateful. She ate really well while we were there too - yay! :)
2. About to give the tallest attendee there a "five". He's very tall. It's not the angle. :D Unlike the one-week training / orientation we attended in Jan '09, childcare was provided - except Juhee refused to stay! We tried every single day and on Monday, she did actually stay the whole day. But from Tuesday to Friday, she cried and cried so we ended up having her with us. She walked around the seminar room making people smile and being her cute little self. :)
3. Having a blast playing with another older kid's toy (the girl behind her), who thankfully knew how to share!
4. Juhee's not the only one who made lots of new friends. Peter and I met many more wonderful, like-hearted, passionate people who are also wanting to obey God in His calling, wherever He may lead, in His perfect time, and in His awesome way. It was so sad having to say good-bye to them!
5. We left San Jose around noon on Feb 28th, arrived late night in Orlando where we were once again picked up by volunteers and driven to Pioneers HQ. It was surreal being back there again, knowing that it would be a different group of people this time, that we would be one step closer to getting to Japan. Here we are, one week later on Mar 7th, waiting to board our last flight - well, for a while anyway! Juhee actually looks like she might be doing some "business", but I think she was just making a face. Juhee's already been on 12 flights and she's only 15 months old. This year, we still need to travel to SoCal and Dallas/Houston, Texas too.
PFC was a great time to connect with the Pioneers family as well as other missionaries who were in a similar stage of preparing to go to the mission field as we are in, but just a few steps ahead of us. We were so encouraged by the stories we heard and the advice we received on how to best prepare ourselves for the field. We also learned so much about church planting and team building, that we’re still processing all the information.
One of my favorite sessions was the special impromptu evening session we had with just the moms that were there that focused on the challenges experienced by missionary wives, especially those with children. It was such an eye-opening time for me and I hope I'll be able to retain at least some of the wisdom and encouragement that was passed on to me that evening.
Another one of my favorite sessions was one that wasn't part of the program, but one that I specifically asked for. After the formal program had finished, we asked Linda, the Clarion Consultant who we'd been working with during our sessions, if she could go through our individual FIRO-B & MBTI test results with us so we can have a more in-depth understanding of how we're wired and how this affects our communication, our needs, and how we can use this tool to gain a better understanding of not only ourselves but also of each other as well as to improve our marriage. There's always room for improvement, right? :) The session ended up being much longer than I'd expected and we learned a lot. I think it was one of Peter's favourite sessions too. We like this kind of stuff. :)
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