End of Orientation!

Today was the last day of Orientation.  This week was some heavier material, focusing on finances, grief and loss, saying goodbye, and culture.  We got to have a whole day with an excellent Christian anthropologist – it was so fascinating!

Maybe one of the most interesting things we’ve been learning, though, is all about Islam.  The fastest growing religion in the world, and certainly popular in many of the countries where MAF serves (our biggest program is in Indonesia, the largest Muslim nation in the world), it is important to understand the basics of their faith.  It was presented in a video study, put together by a former Muslim, turned Christian, who didn’t condemn any Muslims, but rather presented the basic theology of the religion and discussed ways to enter into the discussion of Christianity.  It was really interesting, mostly because I knew very little about Islam!  While Congo doesn’t have Islam as a predominant religion, it is growing exponentially in that country, and there are plenty of expats from the Middle East there who do business and it is nice to have a bridge to talk to them.

Tomorrow and Saturday morning is another lecture, but since I’m not actually sure what it is, I guess I can’t say much about it.

Other than class, we’ve been busy trying to put together the house little by little, but have been out each evening, so it’s fairly slow.  Sadly, Levi is done with swim lessons.  While the first lesson went swimmingly (ha!  pun!), the following two had him refusing to get in the water, only wanting to play by himself in the pool.  Ah well, maybe next time.  (I’m totally down playing how frustrating the whole thing was…we’re not saints!)

Baby’s due date is still technically 3.5 weeks away, but things feel like they’re drawing to a close.  I’ve had a few contractions, but just the practice kind.  The kids are getting excited about a new little one…Amelia has pointed out my baby belly every day.  But, then again, it’s really in the way, so I don’t blame her for drawing attention to it.

So, back to grind of the evening with two tired little ones…