Heading Out!

Oh man! Training is officially over in the states, and we are leaving in....7 hours for the airport! My flights will take me from Denver, to DC, to Brussels, and then I'll be landing in Abidjan at 9:30pm their time on Friday night - that means like 12:30pm in Fresno.

Training was a whirlwind of intensity! So much info crammed into 3 days, I'm feeling a bit mentally spent! It was a lot of fun, and so very informative as well. The way God has been bonding us journeyers together as a family has been amazing, I can't wait to see how we will relate to one another in a year's time! I've been learning SO much about Ivorian culture, and how we can assimilate into that culture. They have so many huge differences from us, I know that God is going to be stretching me so much! I can't wait though, I welcome the difficulty! The hardest part for me is going to be conflict resolution. It is a very shame based society, unlike the guilt based system in the USA. I'm so used to direct confrontation when there is a problem between me and another individual....but in Cote d'Ivoire, problems and conflicts between individuals are handled as a community. Everybody knows each others business, and the sense of privacy is very different than in Western culture. Also, I need to learn not to cross my legs in public. Feet are considered "dirty" and therefore it is offensive to point them at someone.

I am going to Cote d'Ivoire feeling much more prepared to face the struggles that await. God has been doing a lot in my heart here in Colorado, and that goes for everyone in the team. Journey Corps is such a new program, and this first team (10 of us) are going to be the trailblazers. These "tracts" of ministry that are offered - we are going to be playing a big part in creating, developing, and growing those. Until WorldVenture see's how successful JC is, the amount of access to experts in certain areas is going to be limited. The experiences that this first group of journeyers has is going to shape Journey Corps for later groups, and is also going to provide WorldVenture with a lot of resources for better promoting JC to people stateside. WorldVenture has a vision of having Journey Corps operations all around the world in the next several years. I like to think of Journey Corps as the Peace Corps, but with Jesus in charge, so basically it's way way better and way way different lol. And way way smaller of course (for now), but I really see Journey Corps growing into a much larger ministry in the next few years.

Training has been an arduous time for my brain, but it's been great. Colorado has also been great. Super beautiful, dry and windy, and not a ton to do in Littleton. My skin is incredibly dry here. I'm using lotion all the time to keep the snowing down! The best part of this week has been community. The community I experienced this week was SO amazing, and it's been a lot of fun being in a different part of the country. The only disappointment really concerning Colorado is that I cant hit anyone for Colorado plates being out of state!

I am looking forward to more blogs, I hope you are enjoying my updates! Maybe I'll throw down a little update at Brussels Airport...

PS

I shaved my beard! I got tired of how dry my skin on my face is getting here, so I want to put some lotion on my chin but I cant get it through my thick beard! Seriously, it was getting pretty beastly the last several days, I hadn't shaved in like 6 weeks! I'm going to grow my beard back out as soon as I get to Cote d'Ivoire though...I prefer the look more than shaved. Here is a picture of me having fun mid-shave. I can't believe how red my facial hair is!

The Journey Begins!

Well, the Christian Music Awards went great. They will be airing in a few weeks on TBN. I was totally blessed to be a part of Shabaglian's band, we did pre-show worship and lead worship the day before in a chapel service. I had the chance to spend an afternoon in the recording studio as indie artists came in. It was so fun! The awards themselves were AMAZING, I cant wait to see a recording of the TBN broadcast. It was so great to connect with some great artists and industry folk, and especially to reconnect with my bro Phil Stacey. God is doing some sweet things through that bro and his voice; I was totally ministered to! Well, with the weekend coming to an end, it marked the end of one season in my life and the beginning of another! I'll miss my guys: Jon, LB, Gaylon, Jonas, and Ed. What an amazing crew to minister the gospel with the last several years! I look forward to more work with them when I return, Lord willing.

Sunday morning I flew out from Nashville at 5:45am, landed in Denver at 7:45am, and got picked up by Aaron from Journey Corps! It was so great to meet him, it really was beginning to feel like this mission is actually happening! Because I got in so early, he took me to drop off my things at WorldVenture's HQ (here in Littleton) and then took me to 1st service at Mission Hills Church down the street. Church was great and then I had a nice relaxing walk back to HQ. I hadn't slept the night before, so I hung out with Aaron a bit more and then passed out into sweet bliss for a couple hours. I was awoken to the sound of Naomi, Devin, and Chazz at the door. More journeyers, awesome! We had a few fun hours exploring the grounds and waiting for the rest of the Journey Corps missionaries to arrive, which they did a few hours later. In all there are of 10 of us leaving this Thursday, they are: Myself, Naomi, Chazz, Devin, Steph, Caitlin, Holly, Heidi, Jaime, and Alyssa. They are all solid brothers and sisters in the Lord, and God is already giving us a total spirit of unity! We all got to meet Jessica Sveen yesterday too, as we all were getting settled in. It was a good night, and I was ready to begin training in the morning at 8am.

So that takes me to today! This morning we started training by getting a guided tour of the facilities and meeting all of the WorldVenture staff that work out of Littleton. Man this organization is way bigger and more awesome than I expected! I'm really pumped to be a part of such an amazing organization, shining God's light in the darkness all over the world!

During training we spent some time getting to know each other, including going over our DISC personality test results. That test was fairly accurate, and I learned a lot about myself and my compatriots! We then spent several hours learning about cultural norms in Cote d'Ivoire, which was really interesting! Here are a few things I need to really keep in mind:

• At road blocks, it's better to give soldiers tea bags or tracts instead of money
• It's offensive to use your left hand for things, it's considered dirty
• To show respect, shake hands while grabbing your arm, or shake with 2 hands. Also show respect to people, but it's offensive to show respect to "lower" status people.
• Don't give money to begging kids with tomato cans, all the money goes to the Imam. An Imam is like a Muslim pastor, and they take bad care of these kids. Instead of money, give the kids ice cream or something that the Imam won't take.
• It's common to pay a kid to guard your car for you. I like this!
• Girls/girls can hold hands/hug. Guys/guys can too. It's a sign of friendship! However, if a guy/girl hold hands or especially hug, it means they can't wait to get into the bedroom. I guess I'll have to be careful then, because I'm a hugger!
• African culture is very relationship based and event based, not time based. It's almost expected that you will be late to most things!

Anyways, there is a lot more I learned too, I hope you enjoy these few facts. The day has been great, I'm learning a lot, and the reality of the situation is beginning to set in! Please keep me in your prayers! Also a huge THANKS(!) to all those supporting me financially! Without God compelling you to give, this mission would not be possible for me. God is going to be doing some amazing thing through YOUR giving, so be excited! I can't wait to give you all updates on how I'm doing, and on the things God is teaching me and doing in and through the whole Journey Corps team.