One of the assignments that we have while at training is to attend a church in the area from a tradition that we are not used to. For example, someone who grew up in a contemporary, white, suburban mega-church would have to attend an urban African-American congregation for six weeks. At first it was challenging for Kathi and I to come up with something because both of us have had such a variety of church experiences. But, we noticed that there was an Episcopal church down the road from the center. Since neither of us have had much contact with a liturgical worship service, we decided this would definitely be different.
The church itself is this beautiful old stone building with a wooden arched ceiling and stained-glass windows. It felt like we were in some English hamlet. The service was much as we expected - very high-church. Surprisingly, I found myself worshiping even in ways that I don't normally. The liturgy, which follows the Anglican Common Book of Prayer, is rich and saturated with the Word. Even though the actual sermon was only 10 minutes, the worship was so Christ-focused and Word-centered that I did not feel as if I missed much.
Anyway, we're excited about the experience especially considering that the people we'll ministering to predominately come from a high-church background. On top of that, it was interesting observing how we dealt with a "cross-cultural" environment.
Just thought we'd give a quick update. Sunday afternoon, after attending a supporting church in Indianapolis, we hit the road back to Ohio to spend 36 hours of doing laundry and packing. This morning we left early and drove down to Union Mills, North Carolina to the campus of the Center for Intercultural Training where we'll spend the next six weeks working through a cross-cultural preparation course. We got to have a brief meet-and-greet this evening with all of the attendees and the staff. From first impressions, it seems like it's going to be a pretty amazing time here. We'll be sure to post some regular thoughts and impressions as we go along.
We experienced one simple blessing yesterday that we though would be neat to share. One of the many errands we had to complete while we were home Monday was change the oil on our car. So, Monday afternoon, I drove 20 minutes into town to the auto parts store to pick up a few quarts and a filter. On my way out of the store, I happened to notice something strange on our front tire - there were two softball-sized knots bulging out of the wheel. This is very bad. I knew immediately that we couldn't drive this car all the way down to NC. One small bump, and we'd be on the side of the road with a flat tire.
As I drove home, my mind raced trying to figure out how we were going to get a new tire so late in the afternoon. The nearest discount tire shop was a good 45 minutes away, and there just wasn't enough time to make that happen. Luckily, we drove by our family's mechanic on our way home. I quickly pulled in thinking that we could at least when they could get us in to change the tire. Amazingly, they immediately started working on it, and we had a new tire in half an hour. Praise God for small miracles. (Big shout out to Ron Ruegg Automotive in Malvern, Ohio!)
It's nice to be back in Indianapolis after six weeks in Ohio! We spent the weekend reconnecting with supporters as well as giving an update at Walnut Grove Chapel. It was great seeing so many wonderful friends. It reminded us how blessed we were by our time here. We'll be in the area for the next week. The plan right now is to go back to Ohio on Sunday at which point we turn around and drive to North Carolina on Tuesday. It's going to be a busy couple of weeks ahead.
In other good news, we've had some really encouraging movement in our support. We added a few more supporters and we also received a lowered support budget from Greater Europe Mission as a result of the weakened Euro. We're now at 97% needing only $200 per month to finish! It's unreal that we are almost finished. We don't really have a category for it in our minds and hearts. To God be the glory!
