We graduated! So...what's next?

Last Friday, Nathan and I had our official graduation from New Tribes Mission's training!  Nathan has earned a Bachelor's degree in Intercultural Ministries...good job, babe!  

Our graduation was very Christ-honoring, as we sung worship songs together and heard from a couple of our fellow classmates and a staff speaker...it was a really neat and moving night.  

 (here we are with Larry and Carol, our small group leaders/disciplers/friends...they have been invaluable to us while we have been here at the MTC!)

(and here we are with David and  Emily, our very good friends/fellow classmates/future partners.  We love this couple so much!) 

Okay, so even though we have officially graduated, we are not quite done with our training yet!  I know our training schedule can seem very confusing to a lot of you...so let me try to simplify this as to what is coming next for our family.

Our Next Thirteen Months

• Right now:  We are in Indiana, on our Christmas break.  Spending as much time as possible with our dear family, friends and supporters!

• January through May 2015:  an intensive Linguistics Program--down in MO at the MTC where we just graduated.  Some of our classmates are staying for this Ling program, and some have opted not to.  It is optional.

• Summer 2015:  We will be home in Indiana.  Summertime activities/goals will include:
• Finishing up Partnership Development (check out this link for more on that)
• Family vacations (with both my family and Nathan's family)
• More traveling (to various places, including to visit our wonderful church families in both Leo and Detroit)

• August-October 2015:  We will do a practicum in Oklahoma, to put our Ling training into practice!  This includes: living among the Cherokee, having a Cherokee language helper, and basically doing what we have been trained to do!  Figure out the language, develop an alphabet, etc.  We have heard from many people that this part of the training is hugely beneficial, but also hugely challenging :)

• October--December 2015:  Back in Indiana.  We will be:
• spending lots of time with family and friends, soaking it all in.
• finishing up paperwork for Papua New Guinea
• packing stuff up
• celebrating "one last" Christmas, etc etc etc...

• January 2016:  Our departure date!  Saying goodbyes, flying to Papua New Guinea...man, I get teary-eyed just typing this.

I hope this helps!   These next thirteen months are going to fly by, we just know it.  We are praying that we will just keep gaining momentum, fixing our eyes on what God has for us in Papua New Guinea.  We appreciate you all so very much!