35 Days and 1/2 Way Through!

Tomorrow marks 35 days until we leave for Haiti... and today we are officially halfway through our Cross Training here at OMS Headquarters in Indiana...

I just want to catch you up to speed on some of the awesome things that are happening here... and I can think of no better way to do that than through pictures!!

Each day, as I mentioned in a previous post, we spend time in the training room, hearing from different OMS staff in different areas of expertise.  They are helping us to understand who we are in Christ and how we function so that we can best serve on the field... they are equipping us with interpersonal skills so that we can better relate to one another- whether it be fellow missionaries or the people we are going to minister to... they are teaching us OMS Core beliefs, the process of spiritual formation, the doctrine of holiness and the reality of spiritual warfare and how to defend ourselves against the enemies attacks!

All of this has been REALLY GOOD stuff!!

Every Tuesday and Thursday morning we come together for chapel services (the cross trainees and the OMS staff) and after a time of worship and announcements, each missionary is given the opportunity to share testimonies...

 This is a picture of Chuni and Carolyn Pema, an amazing couple from New Zealand, sharing their hearts and telling about their call to serve the Lord in India...

And Steve and Melissa Gross (our fellow Haiti missionaries and dear friends!) as they share about how God used experiences to lead them to the mission field to serve at the Cowman International School, just a few miles down the road from where we will be serving.

The kids have been doing some SUPER exciting things in their Cross Training sessions as well!
Earlier this week they worked with missionaries who do puppet ministry and they made their very own puppets...

Then they put on a puppet show!....

And yes...  you are seeing that correctly... Ethan gave his puppet armpit hair... OH the joys of having a teenage boy!!!

The kids have continued to build bonds of friendships with the Gross kids and they are growing closer each day!

Today was the perfect "half-way through Cross training" celebration for us... OMS held an all campus picnic full of FUN for everyone!!!  Check out some of the fun that was had...

Ethan was ON FIRE today!... many of the OMS staff mentioned wanting to get him an agent because of that pitching arm!  He was dunking people left and right :)

Haylie and Hannah are having a blast in the inflatable slip-n-slide!

This is Phil and David Long, the OMS president, playing a non-competitive (haha!) game of Cornhole!

Ethan, once again, using that arm to win himself some fun prizes!

I LOVE this picture!  This is Carolyn (the missionary to India) and Melissa Gross having a TON of fun in the sun!

Phil and Ethan preparing to race to the finish!

Haylie taking on that challenge as well!...

Below are missionaries Melissa Reese (heading to Spain with her husband to work in church planting and teach English) and Andrea Walker (working here at headquarters on the Mobilization team)...

And Jeremy Reese (Mel's husband!) and Steve MacInnis (Also heading to Haiti to work in the area of discipleship training and encouraging Haitian pastors!)

Losing to the OMS president in Cornhole made Phil all the more eager to dunk him... he did it on the first throw!!

All of the kids then had a chance to throw water balloons full force at some of the OMS staff and CT missionaries while they were being shot at with water guns!

AND THEN... The meal was AMAZING!  Pulled pork, hot dogs, and TONS of homemade salads and desserts!  They are feeding us well!

Today was another awesome day here at OMS and another reminder of the blessing it has been for our family to be here!  And as you can see above, the kids are continuing to make connections and are truly loving this experience!  Praise God!

So much more I want to tell you... but I will save that for next time!

Please continue to keep us in prayer!

2Haiti4Him.