And while I am posting photos, here is a picture of our "quad," which is where we live with some other families:
Thanks to everyone who prayed for us today! We love y'all!
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
shot day
Today was our first shot day. It was a very welcome surprise when we found out that we each only had to have 2 shots today. There will be 2 more shot days while we are here, so unfortunately we are not done yet! Here is a picture of my Hello Kitty band-aid:
Monday, August 20, 2007
a day in our life at the ILC
Before we left many people asked us what all we would be doing at our 8 weeks of training out here at the ILC in Richmond - and we were wondering the same thing! Now that we have lived it for a couple of weeks, this is what a day at the ILC looks like:
~Breakfast in the cafeteria is at 7 am. Meal times are great opportunities to meet other people and hear about where they are headed and what they will be doing there. (There are 350 people here, by the way!) It has been so interesting and exciting to hear how God has called all of these people to places all over the world.
~From 8-9 we have group Bible study and discipleship.
~Then 9-12 is class time. So far we have had sessions on everything from malaria to transition/grief to church planting. We are learning a lot! Last week Dr. Jerry Rankin, president of the International Mission Board, was here to talk about spiritual warfare. In thinking of how I could summarize three days worth of his messages to share with you, this verse came to mind: John 16:33 "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." Jesus says in no uncertain terms that we will face trouble. Besides struggling with our own weaknesses and living in a broken world, the Bible tells us that Satan is actively seeking to tear us down to prevent God from getting glory in our lives and in the rest of the world. But we know that God already defeated evil with His perfect love through Jesus. And it's in our relationship with Him that He gives us everything we need to overcome trouble in our lives each day. So take heart! His words were so encouraging, but also really challenging. I can't settle for mediocrity in my walk with God if I truly want to see Him glorified in Japan and other nations.
~12-1 is lunch, of course.
~Usually we have more classes/sessions from 1-3 pm, but sometimes they set this time aside for other things. For example, on Tuesday we have our first "clinic" day, which is a nice way of saying shot day! Trent and I both will have to have 3 or 4 shots on Tuesday, and that is only the first of 3 clinic days! Please consider this a prayer request.
~After 3 o'clock we are usually free to study and prepare on our own. That may sound like an abundance of free time, but believe me, we fill it up between studying language, culture, and missions, getting all kinds of paperwork ready, and our personal spiritual preparation. That's why we keep asking that you pray for our time management and diligence - we are very busy!
One of the coolest evening events we experienced was the "Mapping Ceremony" last week. There is a huge world map on a wall of one of the buildings, so one by one each "unit" (family/couple/individual) went up and pinned their picture to the map where they are going and shared a prayer request. It was really moving. If you are not already praying for God's work in the rest of the world, please start! There is no shortage of requests, believe me.
We are so thankful for you all!
~Breakfast in the cafeteria is at 7 am. Meal times are great opportunities to meet other people and hear about where they are headed and what they will be doing there. (There are 350 people here, by the way!) It has been so interesting and exciting to hear how God has called all of these people to places all over the world.
~From 8-9 we have group Bible study and discipleship.
~Then 9-12 is class time. So far we have had sessions on everything from malaria to transition/grief to church planting. We are learning a lot! Last week Dr. Jerry Rankin, president of the International Mission Board, was here to talk about spiritual warfare. In thinking of how I could summarize three days worth of his messages to share with you, this verse came to mind: John 16:33 "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." Jesus says in no uncertain terms that we will face trouble. Besides struggling with our own weaknesses and living in a broken world, the Bible tells us that Satan is actively seeking to tear us down to prevent God from getting glory in our lives and in the rest of the world. But we know that God already defeated evil with His perfect love through Jesus. And it's in our relationship with Him that He gives us everything we need to overcome trouble in our lives each day. So take heart! His words were so encouraging, but also really challenging. I can't settle for mediocrity in my walk with God if I truly want to see Him glorified in Japan and other nations.
~12-1 is lunch, of course.
~Usually we have more classes/sessions from 1-3 pm, but sometimes they set this time aside for other things. For example, on Tuesday we have our first "clinic" day, which is a nice way of saying shot day! Trent and I both will have to have 3 or 4 shots on Tuesday, and that is only the first of 3 clinic days! Please consider this a prayer request.
~After 3 o'clock we are usually free to study and prepare on our own. That may sound like an abundance of free time, but believe me, we fill it up between studying language, culture, and missions, getting all kinds of paperwork ready, and our personal spiritual preparation. That's why we keep asking that you pray for our time management and diligence - we are very busy!
One of the coolest evening events we experienced was the "Mapping Ceremony" last week. There is a huge world map on a wall of one of the buildings, so one by one each "unit" (family/couple/individual) went up and pinned their picture to the map where they are going and shared a prayer request. It was really moving. If you are not already praying for God's work in the rest of the world, please start! There is no shortage of requests, believe me.
We are so thankful for you all!
Thursday, August 9, 2007
We're in Virginia!
Thank you so much to every person who prayed over our trip here on Tuesday. It went completely smoothly, and we know that your prayers were a huge part of that! We are now settled in at the ILC - tomorrow is our first full day of training. It feels GREAT to be here!
There are several ways that you can pray for us during the next 8 weeks:
1. That our time here will be productive and meaningful. Please pray that we would use this time wisely and that God would enable us to learn all of the important things that we need to learn.
2. For comfort for us and for our families as we adjust to this big change.
3. For the people of Japan whose hearts God is already preparing to hear the Gospel.
4. For the team of missionaries that is already in place in Tokyo who we will be joining. Please pray that God would start protecting those relationships even now!
We also have many, many things to thank God for:
1. Safe and smooth travel here, as we mentioned before.
2. That we already have great friends here to encourage us and grow with us.
3. For all of the churches whose giving towards missions allows us to be here. I wish you could all see this place firsthand. I can't express what a blessing it is to be trained here and sent out fully supported through the Southern Baptist Cooperative Fund.
We can't say enough times how thankful we are for your prayers and encouragement. All of the emails we have received in the past couple of days have meant so much to us - we love hearing from you! As we were saying goodbye to many of you I could not find good enough words to say everything I wanted to. We just feel so blessed by you. Thank you!!!!! --Lindsey (& Trent)
PS: Mail sent to our old address on Campbell Road is being forwarded to my parents' address. They can send essential things on to us here, but most things we won't receive until October. If you would like to send us mail directly to the ILC in Virginia (like those prayer committment cards!!!) you can do so through this address:
Trent & Lindsey Roberts
International Learning Center
16492 MLC Lane
Rockville, VA 23146
There are several ways that you can pray for us during the next 8 weeks:
1. That our time here will be productive and meaningful. Please pray that we would use this time wisely and that God would enable us to learn all of the important things that we need to learn.
2. For comfort for us and for our families as we adjust to this big change.
3. For the people of Japan whose hearts God is already preparing to hear the Gospel.
4. For the team of missionaries that is already in place in Tokyo who we will be joining. Please pray that God would start protecting those relationships even now!
We also have many, many things to thank God for:
1. Safe and smooth travel here, as we mentioned before.
2. That we already have great friends here to encourage us and grow with us.
3. For all of the churches whose giving towards missions allows us to be here. I wish you could all see this place firsthand. I can't express what a blessing it is to be trained here and sent out fully supported through the Southern Baptist Cooperative Fund.
We can't say enough times how thankful we are for your prayers and encouragement. All of the emails we have received in the past couple of days have meant so much to us - we love hearing from you! As we were saying goodbye to many of you I could not find good enough words to say everything I wanted to. We just feel so blessed by you. Thank you!!!!! --Lindsey (& Trent)
PS: Mail sent to our old address on Campbell Road is being forwarded to my parents' address. They can send essential things on to us here, but most things we won't receive until October. If you would like to send us mail directly to the ILC in Virginia (like those prayer committment cards!!!) you can do so through this address:
Trent & Lindsey Roberts
International Learning Center
16492 MLC Lane
Rockville, VA 23146
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)