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September 1st, 2010

Our Boxes Arrived

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Written by Israel Filed under: BFA, Family, Life, Video

Our Boxes Arrived For those who don’t use Facebook here is a link to the video! Enjoy this short video.

Tags: BFA, Dani, Family, friends, Israel, Israel's Video, Video

June 27th, 2010

We’ve Been Oriented

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Written by Dani Filed under: Life, Spiritual Journey, TeachBeyond

Right now, I’m sitting in an armchair at my Mom’s home in Telephone, Texas. In a few days, we’ll say goodbye to them for the last time before we move to Germany. I want to treasure these last few days with them, but I find my mind wandering back to Minnesota.

We spent the last seven days with about 35 other new staff at our sending organization’s orientation. It was amazing. We met some amazing new people—MKs, teachers, staff folks. We learned some amazing things—about Christian Education, living in another country, Third Culture Kids. In short, it was a wonderful time.

Since I’m finding it hard to put my thoughts into words, I’m just going to hit some of the highlights of the week.

Hearing about the vision and mission of TeachBeyond

We have an amazing sending organization, TeachBeyond. We originally picked TeachBeyond because their application process was streamlined with Black Forest Academy’s. We didn’t know much more about their overarching purpose, but now we do. This organization is using education to change the world.

At our orientation, we had new staff members going to 10 different countries in Europe, Africa and Asia. A few years ago, TeachBeyond was sending staff only to BFA. We were also the largest group of new members ever. TeachBeyond is growing. They are using the need and opportunity of education to further the kingdom of God. If you’re a teacher or want to serve overseas, check out TeachBeyond. God is doing amazing things through this group.

Meeting our mission family

When we went to Orientation, I didn’t expect to find a new family, but that’s what happened. Every person there shared our passion for loving students and MKs. These are people who know what it’s like to sell all of their belongings and leave their lives of comfort for the sake of the Kingdom. People who know the humility, dependence and miracle of asking people to join you in a mission. People who have agreed to step into the unknown, for the sake of Christ. I expected to enjoy getting to know new people, but I didn’t expect to be sad to leave them. I was always excited about loving the students at BFA, but now I’m excited about loving the staff as well.

Not only did we get to meet all the other new missionaries, we were also able to meet the TeachBeyond staff who have supported us during the past year. We met Mike, the first person to contact us. We met the amazing women who handle all of our pledges and finances. We even met the President of the organization. It was a privilege to see these people. There’s no way we’d be going to Germany without them.

Being Encouraged and Affirmed in Our Purpose

More than anything else, this weekend was an encouragement. For the past year, I really didn’t plan to be at Orientation; I planned to be in Germany. Fortunately, God is much wiser than I. I’m so thankful we were at Orientation. Throughout the entire week, we were strengthened in our desire and purpose for BFA. We saw more clearly the need for our skills and passions. We were even able to talk with several MKs, two who attended BFA themselves, about their lives and experiences. We feel more prepared and purposed because of Orientation.

Meeting Anne

Anne is an MK from Central Asia. She spent 10 years living in another country and attended BFA for three years. While she was there, God used one of her RAs (Resident Assistants) to help her understand the depth of his love, which is why she’s going back to be an RA herself. I loved getting to know Anne. There have been two people in my life with whom I’ve had an instant connection. One of these people was Pam, who changed my world by introducing us to BFA. Anne makes a third. I was so encouraged by Anne. She is wise, and thoughtful and insightful. I am so excited that I’ll be able to spend the next two years loving MKs alongside her.

Hearing the Stories of our Fellow Staff

One of our favorite parts of Orientation was hearing the testimonies of other staff members. Each night, we would gather to share what Christ had done in our lives. It was amazing to see the work of God in the lives of these 40 or so people. It was wonderful to see the way that God drew each of us to himself and then gave us the opportunity to serve him overseas. I can’t wait to hear what God does over the next few years through us all.

Please pray for these people. I can promise you, they are all amazing, and God will use them each to accomplish his work. Pray for their support. One couple learned about a school opening only two days before Orientation started. They (along with many others) have got a lot of support to raise by August 1st. Pray for their transitions. Almost all of us are going to cultures that are unfamiliar to us and we will all face discouragement, confusion, and doubt. Pray that God would be glorified through our triumphs and failures, good days and bad days, certainty and confusion.

We’re Official

On Friday evening, we were commissioned by TeachBeyond. It was a short, simple service, the staff simply prayed for us, but it felt like the culmination of the last 12 months, and the beginning of a new and exciting adventure. We leave for Black Forest Academy in 18 days. I have no idea what the next few years will look like for us. I have no idea if we’ll be any good at our jobs, or like German culture, or want to stay, but I know that God has prepared us for this. We’re ready.

Tags: BFA, Black Forest Academy, change, Family, friends, Germany, minneapolis, Missionaries, missions, moving, Orientation, personal journey, preparation, TeachBeyond, Travel

December 9th, 2009

Grief

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Written by Dani Filed under: Life, Spiritual Journey

Hopefully you know by now (unless you’ve just stumbled across our blog) that we are planning to work with missionary kids at Black Forest Academy. As part of our preparation, I’ve been reading (rather slowly) Third Culture Kids by David Pollock and Ruth Van Reken. Missionary kids are third culture kids (TCKs), which means they’ve spent a significant period of their formative years outside their passport countries. I’ve also been going to counseling for the past few months. One of the things that keeps coming up, in the book and counseling, is grief.

I moved a lot growing up. I believe I moved 12 times in my first 14 years of life. I don’t know if I technically qualify as a TCK, but I do relate to some of the aspects of TCK life. One thing I’d never realized is that there is a grieving process to moving. Let me tell you, that was an eye-opening chapter. According to the book, the transition cycle for moving is Involvement, Leaving, Transition, Entering and Reinvolvment. Okay, in and of itself, that doesn’t really mean much. The wow moment for me was reading about the Leaving stage, which isn’t talking about getting on a plane and heading to your new home, although that’s part of it, but about emotionally removing yourself from your home. You begin to loosen emotional ties, back out of responsibilities and refrain from taking new ones, and stop making new friends.

So, for the first time, I’m aware of this process. We’re in this strange sort of limbo. We’re preparing to move to another country to start a whole new life. We’ve basically sold all of our possessions, we’ve moved in with friends, we’ve given our cat away, we’ve quit our jobs, but we’re still here. And, instead of pulling away from our relationships, we’re strengthening them and making new ones, because everyone here is vital to our success at BFA. And I don’t mean financially, although we do need money, but, emotionally and spiritually. The people here will, in many way, sustain us as we serve in Germany. Instead of distancing ourselves from friends, family and church, we’re trying to become even more connected to our lives here, so that we have an anchor of people from which we can launch ourselves into BFA.

And it’s weird.

People ask me how things are going and how we’re doing, and I don’t really know what to tell them. We’ve sold all of our stuff, all of our wedding gifts. We never took any photos of our apartment, the only home we’ve know since we’ve been married. We’re living with someone else. We gave our cat away, and I bawled and I want her back. We want to be in Germany, but we’re not. We want to get to know our friends better and to love them better, but then it will hurt that much more when we have to leave.

So I think I’m experiencing grief. I’m glad to know that is what’s happening, and that it’s normal, and that it will keep happening. But it’s strange.

I’ve been thinking about home, and what that means. TCKs often don’t know where home is. I can identify with that right now, because, apparently, home isn’t a place. It’s not your things. Or where you live. Or comfort food.

What I’m trying to get at is that this whole missionary thing can be hard at times, and we haven’t even left yet. We’re in process. We’re learning and changing and grieving. I’m grieving the apartment (that I never liked), and our possessions (that I wasn’t very attached to) and our cat (whom I loved). I guess the fact that I even care about leaving our apartment shows that this really is a transition. And maybe it really is a sacrifice. It didn’t seem like much of a sacrifice before it happened, and even now, it doesn’t seem like much of one. And I’m actually glad to do it, because I’m so excited about what God has for us at BFA. But I guess it is a sacrifice to leave all of your things and what you’ve known, for something that has no guarantees.

I guess I wanted to let you all know how we, or at least I, am doing. In one sentence, I think this whole transition period is strange. That’s really the best word I can think of to describe it.

Tags: apartment, BFA, Cat, church, Family, Felin, friends, Germany, grief, home, missionary, Missionary Kids, moving, possessions, strange, stuff, TCKs, third culture kids, transition

October 5th, 2009

A Visit to Texas

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Written by Dani Filed under: Family, Life, Travel

Just so you know, the photo header is not Texas. It’s Arkansas. I took it on the way back from Texas. I felt obliged to tell you. You know, just in case you decided to move to Texas just from looking at that photo and then were really surprised when it wasn’t hilly and green.

Last week, Israel took a couple days off so we could head to Texas to see my family. It was a crazy-busy weekend, with not as much family time as I wanted, but we got to see a lot of people, which was the point.

Israel’s sister Hannah has been in Australia for two years studying at the Hillsong International Leadership College. While there, she met her soon-to-be-husband Ashley, who we call Ash. They came in on Thursday evening, so we headed to Muskogee to see them. It was so good to see them. They were exhausted, of course, but when we arrived everyone was playing Apples to Apples. It was the first time the whole family, all 14 of us, had been together in almost two years. Friday morning, we went to IHOP for Ash’s first American breakfast. I’m sure he was very impressed.

After IHOP, we drove to Telephone, Texas, where I spent my high school years.

Yes, there really is a town called Telephone. It’s tiny, which is why you’ve never heard of it.

My parent’s divorced when I was 13. Shortly after their divorce we moved in with Grandpa and Grandma. We were supposed to be there for one year, but ended up staying for six. As my grandpa is a Southern Baptist pastor, we were required to go to church, something I wasn’t always happy about. But that little Baptist church is where I got my spiritual foundation.

After the three hour drive from Muskogee to Telephone, we spent the afternoon with my grandma, aunt and cousins. Then we headed into “town” where we met my mom and Uncle Louie, Aunt Charlotte and cousin, Joel, for dinner. I haven’t seen them in about six years, so it was wonderful to reconnect. When I called Charlotte to finalize our plans, Joel answered and I thought I had called the wrong number because his voice was so DEEP! I mean deeeeeep.

On Saturday, we met up with Charlotte and my cousin Bekah for breakfast at Starbucks, since Bekah was working the night before. She REALLY wants to live in Europe and work with kids. So, of course, we tried to figure out what she could do at BFA. Then we headed to Dallas where we met some college friends, Rachel and Chris, for lunch at Cafe Brazil. I think four different people told us to go to Cafe Brazil. They had about 30 different kinds of coffee. Israel had breakfast tacos. I had loaded fries. Because I wasn’t very hungry. Hmm…..

Then, we met up with Israel’s old roommate, Chris, at the NorthPark Mall, which is where we always meet Chris. We got another coffee and walked through Anthropologie. Can I just tell you how much I love that store? I love it a lot. If only it were about 70% cheaper. Sigh.

Then, we drove to Waxahachie to see Israel’s Great Aunt Helon. I’d never been to her house before, so it was nice to see where she lives. We should really make her tell us her life story sometime, because it sounds like she’s done a lot of interesting things. Once we got back to my mom’s house, we watched half of Stardust but couldn’t finish it because we were so tired. I really like this movie, by the way.

On Sunday we visited Telephone Baptist Church, where I grew up. I hadn’t been in a couple years because my grandpa helped start a cowboy church that we usually go to when we’re in town. It was so nice to see everyone again. People didn’t recognize me because my hair is so short now (actually, it’s rather long at this moment and desperately needs to be cut; short hair doesn’t look good grown out). It was the first day of a revival, so we were invited to attend lunch after the service. Brisket and potato salad and lots of dessert. Mmmm.

We spent the rest of the weekend hanging out with my family. We addressed envelopes to mail, fried okra (of course), ate Philly cheese steaks, and watched The Amazing Race while petting Samson the Pitbull. Israel and I both really liked Samson, which is surprising because we’re not dog people. We have Felin for a reason.