Day One

Hi!

It is the end of day one of training and I am both excited and weary...

We are staying at a host church off site of the training church, UPSTAIRS, which means that we had to lug ALL of our luggage up.

We arrived at church for breakfast and as soon as that was done, my team, Cross Fire (2 words!), was whisked off to the Stillwater Travelers Clinic to get our shots (it sounds like we are puppies!). I need 7 - one of which I got today, the rest of which I need when my insurance goes thru. We learned all about the risks of the disease and the risk of the vaccine and not to go in any freshwater and to cook our food properly and...

We had training sessions this afternoon about who Youth Encounter is and how to answer questions (or who to contact to find out!), and about faith and how some people value or promote head faith (study, knowlege, history) and some heart faith ( experiential, feelings based) and how neither is wrong, but you need a balance.

We also had our very first Meet By Team. I am not so sure about the name, but the object is teambuilding and communication skills. My teammates are
Kaitie
age 25ish (guitar, supporting vocals) child psych and youth work major
Elliott
age 25ish (guitar) communications/journalism major, wants to get into sports broadccasting
Dave
age 25ish (supporting vocals) interned with the Timberwolves for 4 years, wants to be a firefighter or highschool teacher
Ludvigs
age 32 (djembe, supporting guitar, bass) electrical engineering degree

Tonight for dinner we had chili. With green chilis. I had a lot of sour cream, but toughed it out - practice for Africa you know.
After dinner, we had van driver's ed. Corny video and all. Our test is tomorrow.

Over all, I feel like I am where I need to be, that God has led me to this group, and that He has some Good stuff in store. He sought me out and wooed me to the place where I would even consider something like going on team. And now that I am here, I need to continually seek Him to be able to do what is asked of me.

Prayer list:
connections with teammates
no bad reactions to vaccines (or reasons to try out their effectiveness!)
my medical insurance to go through so I can get my shots
Milder Food!
Marcela from Columbia whose visa was denied

I miss you lots and love you more!

erin<3