From the Hills of Cherokee

Well, as you know by now, we have arrived back in Cherokee after completeing our month of Cross-Cultural Ministry Internship training.  We are so thankful for the time we had in Belgium.  It was a blessing to each of us.

 

We wanted to take just a moment to share with you some of the highlights of our month, tell you what we did, and what we learned.  One of the greatest blessing of the month was being able to build relationships with other missionary families.  We lived in close community with seven other families and MTW staff and presenters for five weeks.  When I say we lived in community with one another, I mean that we all lived in one building, shared showers, meals, and dish duty.  It was amazing!  I believe the relationships we formed during the month will remain for the rest of our lives.

 

We also spent time each weekday in the classroom.  We enjoyed the teaching of Nancy Craig who spent "Language Week" with us.  We also learned from the teaching of Jay Eastman, Bill Goodman, John Leonard, Minnette Lugo, Jeff and Misha Marlowe, Andy Warren, Rich Wolfe, and Bill Yarbrough.  The subjects covered were Team Dynamics, Gospel Connections, Church Planting, Evangelism, Justice/Mercy Ministry, Culture Shock, Team Conflict Mangement, How to Thrive on the Field and How to Make Life Great for Your Kids on the Field.  One of the greatest blessings of this time was the fact that these men and women shared not only their knowledge of the material they were presenting, but they were also willing to share their failures as well as their successes.  What an encouragement they were to us.

 

Each family received a church assignment for the month.  We, and two other families, worshiped each Sunday at St. Andrews Church which is a part of the Church of Scotland.  We had the benefit of worshiping with a group who spoke English.  The other families did not have that luxury.  We also worked with another Christian group called Serve the City.  This was truly a cross-cultural experience.

 

We enjoyed the opportunities we had to experience some of the culture as well.  We enjoyed the Belgian food we tried.  Katie especially enjoyed the Belgian Waffles, I think her final count at the end of the month was 17 (these included various toppings as well).  Katie became our family expert on reading train schedules and making sure we were at the right track at the right time.  Johnathan became quite well at it also.  I believe our children could adapt well to living in another culture, outside of the U.S., who knows where God might lead them as they grow and mature.

 

All of that being said, I must say that we are all glad to be back in the mountains of Cherokee, NC!  This is where God has called us to serve as a family and we are very excited about the opportunities that await us here.

 

As we close out this brief letter we wanted to update you on our current financial situation.  As of yesterday, we have reached 78% of our needed support.   In numbers this means that we still need $1,871.13 in monthly support.  Think of it this way, if we received 19 monthly pledges of $100.00 or 10 pledges of $200.00 we would be at 100% of our goal!  If you have been thinking about giving but have not made the commitment, would to consider doing that today?  Perhaps you have been giving, but you have not turned in a monthly pledge commitment, would you help us by letting us know how much you plan to give on a monthly basis?  Every dollar given helps us reach our goal.  Would you also join us in asking God to provide the needed support so that we would be fully supported by  the end of this year?  You can donate online by going to mtw.org, clicking on the "Donate Now" tab and setting up an account.  You can mail your pledge and donations to PO Box 2589, Suwanee, GA 30024-0982.  Also, if you would like to make a pledge you can e-mail it to us and we will forward it to MTW so it can be counted toward our monthly need.

 

We are truly thankful for your prayer support and your financial support.  With your support we would not be here serving with MTW.

 

Here are a few pictures from out CCMI trip to Belgium.

 

In Christ,

Scott, Ruth, Johnathan, and Katie