Published on March 4, 2005
in mlc.
After our visa adventure we turned our sites towards home. Karen Price got us new plane tickets for 11:30 Thursday morning. The Worthys were leaving at 10:30 from the same airport. So we worked together packing and such. We left MLC at around 8:15. We got to Richmond Int’l and checked in.
This was the sad part. We waited at their gate for boarding. We got to give the kiddos a few more hugs. We gave Charlie and Shannon hugs and told them bye. Sniffle.
Then to our flight. An hour to Cinncinatti. A quick sprint to our connecting flight. An hour and half to Little Rock.
Published on March 1, 2005
in mlc.
Everybody started getting excited about the end of FPO. And why not? We’re finally about to get to go where we feel God is sending us. Everyone finished up their final reports, met with their coaches on last time, and filled out all the required evaluations. We started to think about packing. Families started showing up. On Monday, we all met in the KGC to end how we began, with a mapping ceremony. Each unit shared a prayer request and took their picture off the map. A lot of people cried.
At eleven we had a walkthrough of the commissioning service. It was lighthearted. Everyone was enjoying each other’s company and being free of responsibility. The ceremony was at 2:00. It was awesome. The best parts where the video and the worship. I will remember it for a long time. During the worship, we sang in each language that we had sung in over the past seven weeks and ended with He Reigns by Newsboys. I could barely sing because of the lump in my throat.
Then to the reception. The cafeteria was packed. A lot of hugs and pictures. My stomach was in knots. I hate this feeling. We said goodbye to some folks. I gave Ken P. some Kentucky Pencils. Gave the Xtremers hugs goodbye.
We spent the evening in Quad 21 making the most of the last hours together. We ordered pizza for a late snack. We sat around telling stories and talking about the future. We said goodbye to the Whites. They were leaving early the next morning. We got up at about 8:00 and hugged the Pirkle family goodbye.
This is the hardest thing. Saying goodbye.
Published on February 26, 2005
in mlc.
Today begins our last weekend here at MLC. I can already feel a lump in my throat! It is amazing how attached I have gotten to people here over the past seven weeks. Ryan and I both have grown very close to the people in our small group: Brad and Cassie (who also live in our quad) John, Tina, Rebecca, Katie, and Joshua (John is our group leader. They served in Portugal and are now going to Brazil.) Jayson, Christie, Arwen (the Xtreme Teamers) Arwen and I graduated together from Ouachita. She is a native Texan. I also have grown very close to the Fore’s-Michael, Cynthia, Christopher, Joseph, Carilee, and Jennilyn. (The Fore’s are going to Brazil, and they are the family that had to leave because Cynthia’s dad is in the hospital.) Of course I have also grown very close to those in our quad: Brad and Cassie, the Pirkle’s-Vance, Susan, Elizabeth, Rebecca, Sarah, Caleb, and Phillip (Zimbabwe) and the Worthy’s-Charlie, Shannon, Micah, and Emma Grace (Italy). I have also grown to love Bob and Lourdes. They are in the Masters program (which means that at least one spouse is over 50). They call Ryan and me their adopted kids! (Don’t be jealous Mom-they mean well!)
Of all the relationships I have made here at MLC, I have become closest to Shannon Worthy. I only have a few very close friends, but I have made a new close friend here at training. Shannon and I have been able to spend a lot of time together, and lately we have become very comfortable with each other, become real with each other. I have really connected with Shannon. She is such a good mother. I have learned a lot from her by watching her with her girls. I hope and pray that Shannon and I will be lifelong friends. I am planning a trip to visit them in Italy!
Before we came to MLC, I told Ryan that I wasn’t going to make any real friends here. I thought we were going to be here too short of a time to get attached to people and then have to leave. I am so glad that didn’t happen. I am so thankful I opened myself up to meeting people and making true friends. I thank God for relationships!
Published on February 24, 2005
in mlc.
It’s the last week and we’re scrambling to make the most of it. We spent Saturday with the Worthy’s at Potomac Mills (apparently the original of the Mills outlet malls). Monday night we went out with Bob and Lourdes. We ate at the Cheesecake Factory. Tuesday night we ate dinner with David and Janene, our regional associates. We went to Casa Grande, fittingly Mexican. Then last night we had a quad outting to Cheeburger Cheeburger (hold the s). I (Ryan) didn’t go, I was sick in bed. Tonite, cafeteria. But who knows what tomorrow holds!!!
Published on February 19, 2005
in mlc.
Well, it has been a busy week, so I have a lot of catch up “blogging” to do! I need to first give an update of last weekend, which involves a praise. I asked everyone to pray for us because Ryan and I were going shopping together last Saturday. I think I was part of a miracle last Saturday. Ryan and I shopped ALL DAY, and we did not fight once! (We had a few “discussions” but no fighting!) That is a first for us! We both got some clothes and things we need for Peru. We really had a fun day together.
Published on February 15, 2005
in mlc.
Time is FLYING here!! We have one more full week after this one. Then back to LR, then to Lima. It seems unreal, but is slowly becoming more and more real each day. It’s hard to imagine stepping off the plane and standing in the somewhat overwhelming Lima airport and thinking . . . “Home sweet home.” For the next two years at least . . .
Published on February 9, 2005
in mlc.
We ate lunch at David and Janene F. house yesterday. They are the Richmond Associates for SAM. The food was great! Especially after eating in the cafeteria for four weeks straight. Dickey and Dee N., the SAM regional leaders, are here in Richmond as well. They live in Santiago, Chile, but were in town for SAM evaluation and have been spending RLT time with us.
We just ate and visited. We heard some great stories. We have met so many people here and I feel like we are gaining family members here. We have grown really close to some folks. It will be sad to leave.
Published on February 7, 2005
in mlc.
This week is RLT week here at MLC. Regional Leadership Time (I think . . . too many abbreviations!). Basically we are spending our day just with our region and the Richmond Associate for our region. This is really exciting because now we are learning specifically about OUR region.
Some things I learned today:
350 million people live in South America.
315 million don’t know Christ.
There are 428 unique languages spoken in South America.
There are 650 people groups in South America.
500 of these people groups are less than 2% evangelized.
300+ of these are unengaged by any evangelical group.
To put it in perspective: For every 100 people who die in South America today, 92 will spend eternity separated from God.
Published on February 7, 2005
in mlc.
There is a lake here at MLC, and Ryan and I walked down to it Saturday afternoon. It was a really sunny and beautiful day here, and we sat by the lake and talked a lot. I feel that I am growing a lot in my walk with the Lord, but I had a few questions for Ryan. He is such an example to me and such a source of encouragement. When I feel down about myself, I just tell myself that I can’t be too bad because Ryan picked me! Oh how he lvoes Jesus!
Today we had church with our small group. I have really grown to love that time. Ryan leads worship and we have the family that plays the violin. Last week, we began meeting with our small group every morning, and we will continue to meet everyday until training is over. On Friday, our small group leader made us pancakes. It was a lot of fun!
Tonight we had our ethnic worship service–it was African and boy was it exciting. All the women wore long, colorful skirts. There was a lot of dancing and bongo playing. Afterwards, everybody went over to the auditorium to watch the SuperBowl. Ryan and I just came from there. It is amazing how you can bond with a group of people in such a short time.
Published on February 7, 2005
in mlc.
Boy was I glad when Friday came! After being sick, I felt like last week was catch-up week. Friday night, some of us in our quad decided to go out on the town and get off campus for a while. Shannon, Cassie, and I went and got our nails done, while the guys went to Best Buy! Imagine that, missionaries with manicured fingernails!!! Then we all met up at Chili’s and ate. It was the first time Ryan and I had eaten out since we got here. It was good!
Charlie and Shannon are the couple with two little girls, Micah and Emma. They are going to Italy. Shannon’s dad works for the board in Richmond, so he kept the girls Friday night when we went out. Since the girls were good for Grandpa, Charlie and Shannon and Ryan and I took them to none other than Chuck E. Cheese on Saturday! So Ryan and I ate out for the second time on Saturday!!! Ryan really liked playing the games. I think I saw him stealing a little kid’s tickets at one point!!! On the race car video game, I am the champ!
We had lots of fun, but the experience made me decide that waiting to have kids for a while is probably a good idea!
Published on February 7, 2005
in mlc.
Elizabeth’s 13th Birthday. 
Published on February 7, 2005
in mlc.
Thursday was Elizabeth Pirkle’s birthday, and we had a party for her in the quad. Elizabeth is the oldest of the Pirkle family, and she turned thirteen. Ryan and I gave her a computer game. We had lots of fun–we ate snacks and played games. Good times with the Quad 21 fam!
Published on February 4, 2005
in mlc.
We just finished up our last session of the week. We spent a lot of time on practical applications of evangelism. We talk about it a lot, but when I think about the last time I shared or the frequency at which I share my faith, it’s pretty sad.
It has been a busy week and we are very excited it’s the weekend. For tomorrow, the only things on the schedule are breakfast, lunch, and dinner. That’s a nice feeling. Our quad is talking about maybe going out to eat to night. We haven’t eaten out since we’ve been here. That’s like three full weeks. That’s a long time for us!!
Some restaurants I’m really missing at the moment: Arby’s, Luigis, On The Border, Dixie Cafe.
MMMMMM………
Published on February 4, 2005
in mlc.
The Famous B.Wayne & Cassie White (Quad Mates)
Published on February 2, 2005
in mlc.
Our sweet little MLC niece, Emma, Micah’s sister.
Published on February 2, 2005
in mlc.
It seems like forever since I have “blogged.” It has been over a week, so I have a lot of catching up to do.
Last week is somewhat a blur to me! Last Monday and Tuesday I was Nurse Amanda to Ryan. Then on Wednesday evening I came down sick as well. I don’t remember being so sick in a long time. Thank goodness we had Dr. Vance in our quad, so he wrote us some prescriptions. Basically Thursday through Sunday I was in our room in the quad! Friday we had our second immunization clinic. I wasn’t able to work the clinic, but I still had to get my shots: rabies, yellow fever, typhoid, and a TB skins test! One good thing about being stuck in the quad was that I had some really great listening material. Cynthia (the mother of the kids who play the violin in our small group) has the audio CD’s of Beth Moore’s Believing God, so I borrowed them and listened to four or five of them. Boy are they powerful! I started the Bible Study during the fall, but Ryan and I got busy packing and visiting family. I didn’t finish the study, but I plan to eventually. I was really blessed and challenged, even with the flu, listening to those CD’s.
Sunday morning I didn’t feel well enough to go to our small church group, but I was feeling a lot better by Sunday night. Sunday night we had an Asian worship service, and I was able to go. It was really interesting.
Monday and Tuesday of this week have been catch up days for me. I have felt behind from being sick, so I’ve been busy trying to catch up and get back into a routine. Two assignments that I have been working on are my personal testimony and an evangelism tract. The staff wants us to be very familiar with our testimony so that we can share it with ease. They asked us to write it down, and we’re going to share our testimonies in small groups tomorrow. One of the workshops I missed last week was on the worldview of the people in the different places we’re going. We were asked to develop a tract geared towards our people group. Even though I missed the workshop, I felt okay, since I’ve been to Peru a couple of times. I’ve been working on my tract, and we are going to share them in small groups on Friday. I’m excited about it! I want to be able to share the gospel with ease. I want to be excited about sharing–I want it to be a natural overflow of what God is doing in my life.
Last night those of us doing the ISC program went to Clyde Meador’s house. Clyde is Senior Vice President. He and his wife were there as were Dr. and Mrs. Rankin. I enjoyed getting off campus for a while. I thought it was a lot of fun. I really had a good time. Dr. Rankin asked if we had any anxieties, and I said eating guinea pig! That began a conversation about all the “different” foods of the world, foods that made guinea pig sound not so bad!!!
Even though I have been sick and busy, I still feel that I am growing so much in my walk with Christ! Well, I guess I’ve written more than enough for now!
Amanda
Published on February 1, 2005
in mlc.
Our Niece and Nephew (Micah & Phillip) in Quad 21.
Published on January 18, 2005
in mlc.
Well, first of all I have to give a shout out to my seventh graders: Riley Roberts and Laura Shuler. If some unnamed twins would ever e-mail me, they would get a shout out too!!!
Ryan already talked about our worship service yesterday. We have been divided into small groups for worship. The purpose behind this is to help us get used to worshipping in a smaller setting. Many places we are going won’t have organized churches for us to attend.
Our worship time went really well. I enjoyed it a lot. My favorite part was when the family played the violin for us. The youngest is seven, and she has been playing the violin since she was three and a half. The Dad was a music teacher, and has played and taught the violin for years. This family is going to Brazil, and they seem really neat. They seem like the kind of family I want to have someday–close to Jesus and close to each other.
Last night, as Ryan already mentioned, we had a ceremony with all the families. We all went up to a huge map and put our pictures on the country we are going to. It was so neat. It was my favorite thing we’ve done so far. It was neat to see the families go up there together. I liked seeing the kids excited to place the picture on the map. We all also shared a prayer request when we went up front. There are some heavy burdens and requests people are dealing with. It is pretty amazing to see obedience to Christ in light of what some are dealing with.
I have missed home. Oddly enough, my brother is who I have missed most. (Sorry Mom) He is a great friend and someone I look up to a lot. Even though I miss my family and friends, I am loving being here. God is gracious. He has called us, and he will be faithful to give us the strength to follow Him.
Amanda
Published on January 17, 2005
in mlc.
Things are about to get really busy for us at MLC. We have our first full week ahead of us. We’ve only been here a few days, but it feels like longer. We’ve taken in so much information, met so many people, and felt so many feelings already.
We worshiped in small group yesterday (Sunday) morning. 4 families and 3 journeyman. There are 6 children in our small group. One of the families played the violin for us. 5 of them. The dad and four kids all played at the same time. It was pretty incredible. I led in a few songs. John (Brazil) led the Bible study and prayer time.
After lunch we went to a hispanic service in Richmond. It started to snow a bit, but didn’t last long. We met a couple going to western europe.
After dinner we had the mapping ceremony. There is a wall-sized map in the lobby of the KGC. We all went through one by one and placed our picture on our country. It was awesome to see the map filling up with faces. And it was awesome to realize we were one of those faces.
Published on January 15, 2005
in mlc.
Well, Ryan and I are in the process of experiencing our first weekend at MLC! The couple in our quad that we talked about earlier, the Whites, brought a car to MLC. Last night the four of us ate in the cafeteria together. We had pizza! Then we made a trip to none other than Wal-Mart. I am trying to appreciate every trip to Wal-Mart, since I will have no such luxury in a few months!
When we came back to the quad, we played UNO with some of the kids in our quad. There a five kids in one family in our quad and two kids in another–seven total!!! We have a lot of fun with them. The kids won all the UNO games!
It has turned FREEZING here! This morning Ryan and I tried to go on a walk–not a good idea!
Well, the rest of the exciting news about weekend number one is to be continued….
Published on January 10, 2005
in peru.
It was so good to see all our friends in Arkadelphia New Year’s weekend. We ate, talked, played charades, burned Christmas trees . . .
The guys played a round of golf at the illustrious Caddo Creek course. 2 man scramble. D.B. and I didn’t win, but I did break my six iron on a tree trunk.
We leave for Richmond tomorrow morning. 8:57 on Delta, I think. We are ready. Almost. We’re spending today packing and trying to get all our ducks in somewhat of a row.
Published on October 6, 2004
in mlc.
We made it to Richmond. The day started out exciting when our airport parking shuttle had a head on collision with a van. We got to the Missionary Learning Center at around 9:00pm, had a sandwich, and now we are in the library sending a few emails. It is so exciting to be here! To see what is going to happen.
Published on October 3, 2004
in mlc.
We fly out of LR this Tuesday (Oct. 5th) for ISC screening conference at the IMB headquarters in Richmond. What a whirlwind. Despite fears, sadness, worries, excitement, and just emotions in general, we believe that God is calling us to live for Him in Peru. We have long since learned that the important thing to God’s heart is the condition of our heart and the outflow into action . . . no matter where we are. And we have been trying to do that…….to be serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ. But now, it seems that he wants us to live this new light-life a little farther south. We are excited and scared and sad . . . but above all that we are confident in the power and love and mission of Christ. So we’re off . . . to be “screened.”
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