Back Home, (for now)

Well, I am back from SIMO. In total, I have been gone about a month. Two weeks just for SIMO, alone. I really enjoyed being out in PA with all the other missionaries. We had a incredible time. I couldn't begin to talk about what we learned because there was so much. This orientation taught a lot of what we didn't learn in college. There were many practical aspects of mission life that we talked about. Living in another culture is like playing in a game where everybody knows the rules but doesn't know how to explain them to someone else. We all have culture norms that are things like how to eat, or dress. We also have rules on how to thanks someone or accept a gift. They are things we just grow up knowing. We were learning how to work in a other cultures. There are a lot of frustration that can come when working in another country. One of the ways that our teachers taught us was by playing some culture games. One games was called Luna. Maria Hunsaker and I were Eagles and the rest of the missionaries were called Luna's. We had to go into their culture and "evangelize" them. They talked a different language and we wore hats that went with our culture. You try telling someone about God when they don't understand you and they keep asking what that plate is on top of you head. We learned that you had to learn their language and then listen to them. The other culture told us thier history that we were able to use to relate the Bible and God to them. Let me tell you it was frustrating at times. The other team did there best to not understand us and ask us frustrating questionst that were hard to understand. But we learned some techniques that we can use in being missionaries. You have to go as a listener and a learner because that the best way to get people to listen to what you have to say. Here are some pictures of that game we played.

Me and my funny hat
Trying to evangelize but not getting very far

What is that funny thing on your head?

While we were there we also go to have some culture experiences. We went to a Hindu temple. It was mind boggling to think that people believe that thier god is seven years old. They push the image of their god in a boat, wake him up and even feed him. They are so misled and lost even here in America. We also went to a Ukranian church for a service. The service was all in Russian and all the girls had to cover their heads for services. So many cultures, so many lost... The harvest is truly white.

The Lotus Hindu Temple

One of the head gurus

The muscians who play for the gershin or services.

The music was all Indian and very different than what we are used to.

The inside of the temple before a service

All of us girls with our heads covered for the Ukranian service.