1 October 2011 has been on our calendar and radar for many months. (Okay, it is on everyone's calendar, but it was marked as a special day on ours) We have been making plans and doing all the required things to meet the legal requirements for our country of residence and to follow the requirements of our sending organization. Everything pretty much makes sense and we are almost ready.
But then reality sets in and we realize we are leaving home for 6 months and going to another culture where we will have to adapt. It is true that you cannot go home again, especially when home is here and no longer where we grew up.
Here we know most of the challenges to expect and how to handle them. But for six months we will face new challenges and no longer know the in's and out's of handeling them. That brings some discomfort.
Language should not be a challenge. We speak a dialect of English called southern and unless we forget the words, we should be able to be technically fluent. But being fluent in the culture, that is something else. God told Abram to follow Him and to go to a land "he knew not of". Thus he did not know the way or the destination, only the One who would lead him there. Fortunately we know a little about the destination, but the getting there is still like Abram. It will be a daily journey of faith as we walk with Him. It will be much easier if there are pillars of cloud and fire as with Moses in the wilderness. Time will tell.
Here this would end with "wordt vervolgd" but stay tuned and tune into the account of the journey. We are expecting great things from Him who loves to do great things for which only He can get credit.
But then reality sets in and we realize we are leaving home for 6 months and going to another culture where we will have to adapt. It is true that you cannot go home again, especially when home is here and no longer where we grew up.
Here we know most of the challenges to expect and how to handle them. But for six months we will face new challenges and no longer know the in's and out's of handeling them. That brings some discomfort.
Language should not be a challenge. We speak a dialect of English called southern and unless we forget the words, we should be able to be technically fluent. But being fluent in the culture, that is something else. God told Abram to follow Him and to go to a land "he knew not of". Thus he did not know the way or the destination, only the One who would lead him there. Fortunately we know a little about the destination, but the getting there is still like Abram. It will be a daily journey of faith as we walk with Him. It will be much easier if there are pillars of cloud and fire as with Moses in the wilderness. Time will tell.
Here this would end with "wordt vervolgd" but stay tuned and tune into the account of the journey. We are expecting great things from Him who loves to do great things for which only He can get credit.
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