Candidate & Orientation Course
Greetings from the Hideaway Retreat Center near Colorado Springs.
This week we are conducting our twice-annual Candidate and Orientation Course… one of the most exciting weeks on our yearly calendar! All that we do as a U.S. center is focused on sending new missionaries to Asia to begin training and preparing to share the love of Jesus with those who have not yet heard.
This week we have a total of 13 people with us who are preparing to leave extended families and careers behind and to join in sharing Christ with those who have not heard. A family of five is preparing to go to the Philippines. A young family with a 4-year-old daughter is responding to God’s call to relocate to Japan. A young family will head to Indonesia, as the wife walks away from a promising career in medicine (12 years of training and preparation, followed by seven years in family medicine… all given up out of a desire to serve God). Two other couples in their fifties and sixties are leaving their careers, retiring early, and choosing to serve God in China rather than seek comfortable retirements. These are just some of the inspiring people that are here this week and who have blessed us so deeply with their testimonies and their lives.
Tomorrow (Thursday) we hold our Candidate Council during which we will decide whether to appoint each of these 13 people. Most of the hard work of application is behind them, so we do anticipate a positive decision for each one. Perhaps the bigger questions will be whether we appoint each of them without reservation, with recommendations, and/or with conditions. If we appoint “with conditions,” it means that further steps will need to be fulfilled before departure for Asia. Conditions may include requirements for further Bible training, counseling, and/or more practical ministry experience, among other things. We are dealing with people’s lives and futures, and so would ask prayer that good decisions will be made, and that all 13 will not only make it to the field, but have years of fruitful, life-changing ministry ahead.
Thank you for praying, supporting, and remembering us, and for praying for these important interviews tomorrow!
With appreciation,
Barry and Jan