Orientation with Hurricane Irene

It's another big Sunday night. Another one of those Sunday nights where I wonder if this is all reality- last week it was leaving for Stony Point, and tomorrow I'm flying to London and then Bahrain.

I arrived in Stony Point this past Sunday for YAV Orientation. All the YAVs (there's about 70 of us) are staying at a conference center up in the mountains of New York. It's been a great week. It's been a rich time together spending time with all of the other YAVs and making lots of new friends. This week was all about preparation and relationships-sharing with one another our fears & anxieties, learning, praying for one another.

We spent all week hearing from different facilitators on topics such as cultural competency, personality types & interactions (I'm ENFP in case you Meyers-Brigss fans are wondering), conflict resolution, and cultural sensitivity. We've discussed living in community, self-care while abroad, gender & race issues, and globalization, as well as a lot more. It's been a very full week-lots of information to process. I have been challenged by lots of what I've heard this week which was hard at first but I think that's a good thing. We also spend much time hearing the stories of former YAVs. In small groups, we reflected and shared how the week was going for us. We've spent some time in the Word through Bible study and in worship, where I got to help out by playing violin & singing, which was a treat because I thought I'd said goodbye to the violin for awhile.

But along with all of the sessions, we've also had some serious fun. :) Lots of games, late nights, talking, worship music-it's been enjoyable.

What crazy weather we had this week! Some of us felt the earthquake on Monday during our Cultural Competency training, and then before we knew it Hurrican Irene was headed our way! We spend time yesterday preparing for the storm-putting out sandbags, putting away outdoor furniture. The rain began yesterday-TONS of rain for hours! During the night, there was flooding in the conference center rooms and in the rooms where we're staying.  Water leaked in through the ceiling in my room, and later down the walls. My poor roommate woke up sputtering and coughing from rainwater in her face-how awful! We moved her into a different room during the night, but I never got wet. We're all okay-lots of flights delayed and cancelled, though. We were all supposed to leave tomorrow for our various sites but some of us aren't leaving until Tuesday or Wednesday.

As of right now, our flights for today still seem to be set. So in a few hours after lots of goodbyes, we'll head for JFK airport where we'll fly overnight to London, and then to Bahrain, then to Cochin, India.

I'll keep you all posted during the travel. Please be praying for His travelling mercies, especially as things at the airports are crazy right now! We're leaving for the airport 6 hours before our flight! Pray also for the YAVs stuck here waiting for flights-though, honestly, we're all having so much fun together that no one is minding being delayed at all. :) It's amazing how much of a community we've become in just a few days.

So-leaving tomorrow. Ready or not, here we come! Will post on the way or once we've arrived!

Blessings & peace,
Claudia

Being Filled Up & Sent Out: NWMC & Preparations

So much has happened since I last posted- I can't believe how incredibly busy this summer has been.

When I last posted, I wrote while at Crestfield Camp & Conference Center where I was visiting for a couple of days. I am also writing this from a conference center, but from a different one now-Stony Point Conference Center in Stony Point, New York, where I have been for the past week for YAV Orientation. I'll get to that but first I want to share a bit about the time up until now.

After a couple days at Crestfield, I went straight to the New Wilmington Mission Conference where I served as high school staff. On Saturday I attended a friend's wedding in Poland, Ohio, and then came back to Westminster where I met the ten amazing girls that would comprise my small group for the week.

It was a really intense week. The first night there, at our first group devotions, I was astonished at all of the issues and tough circumstances my group of girls were facing-all situations out of their control. All ten of them were facing something monumental. When our devotions together ended that night, I was so overcome by the enormity of the things they were facing that I wept. "How are you going to redeem all of this, God?" I asked Him to take all of their situations and to work powerfully in their lives that week, but in reality I was so discouraged by the things they were facing that I just had no idea what kind of a week they were going to have.

What an incredible work God did in each of their lives that week!!! They were encouraged, heartened, and inspired by everything by all the speakers. They were able to surrender their situations to the Lord, to lay these things down, and thusly were open to all of the blessings God had for them that week at conference. And I got to see my conference family- to soak it all it, to learn, to laugh, to just absolutely fill up spiritually. I spent every lunch and dinner that week with a friend and a great conversation. I met and conversed with missionaries from Pakistan, India, and many other places. As it always does, the week felt like it was about a month. I leave every year thinking that conference can't possibly get any better the next year, and I'm always wrong. The things I witnessed that week, the way God worked so powerfully in my group of girls, and in my own heart, were awesome. One of my girls, upon leaving, handed me an 8-PAGE letter that she'd spent all week writing. She said that this week had been the most eye-opening and biggest life-changing experience of her life. The letter detailed all of the ways that Christ had worked in her heart, what she'd learned this week, and lots of thank-yous. I was just floored on receiving this, and I reread it all the time. It really just blows me away each year what all the Lord does at and through conference. I couldn't have been more encouraged.

The day I came home, deliriously tired because no one goes to bed the last night of conference, I was commissioned at my home church at all 4 weekend services, the Saturday night and the three on Sunday morning.  I was able to share both about my week at conference and a little bit about what I'll be doing in India. What an awesome time to be commissioned and sent out. I was so ready to go then!

But I still had all of my preparations to do and lots of family & friends to see! My sister Jocelyn was in town from Houston for ten days and we took a brief family vacation to Nemacolin Woodlands Spa & Resort together where we majorly relaxed, slept, enjoyed excellent food and spa treatments. It was a pampering but fun time for us. We also had a chance to visit Fallingwater while there. Once we got home, I had my last day of work at Memorial Park, wrapped up lessons with my private students, and had family photos taken with my mom and Joce, something we hadn't done before.

On Friday the 12th, my parents hosted a going-away party for me at The Cider House-what a wonderful evening it was. There was lots of food, fellowship, and music. How beautiful it was to see friends from so many different areas of my life all mingling together-college friends, church friends, family-a foretaste of heaven. I was so touched by everyone's kindness & by the many people that showed up (way more people than I was expecting!) I am very grateful for all of the support and will miss seeing you all.

I then had one week to get everything reading for India. Note to self for future reference-next time I do this I need to stop work earlier! I had a TON to get done in a very short amount of time, along with helping with worship on the weekends or leading, and singing at a wedding, teaching lessons, visiting with family, etc. etc. I was able to do all my shopping and packing, finishing just in time. It's just been a huge whirlwind of meals with friends, doctors appointments, and continual trips to Target. Additionally, I got to visit with my aunt who was up from Nashville and we had a big family cookout. My cousin Mark from DC even came up to Pittsburgh as a surprise to see me before I left-although I accidentally ruined the surprise!

And all of a sudden it was Sunday night and I was leaving the next morning. Where has the time gone? Was I even around for this summer? I have hardly been able to keep up. It's all felt like a huge, wonderful dream. I have been showered with notes and hugs, encouraging words, gifts, to the point of being overwhelmed. God has provided so abundantly. It's been a glorious, rich, and very fulfilling summer.

Sigh.