Our short term missions training....

Holly and I are spending the weekend in Philly for an Alliance Short Term Missions training event. We've been so blessed by the sessions, the worship time, the cultural food and the fellowship! The only minor mishap we've encountered is being left on the subway with no real idea where we were supposed to end up! How we managed to miss 15 loud people getting off w/out us, we have no idea!

Our worship leaders...

Matt Peace, our host...

I know you're laughing..wondering why on earth we are wearing head coverings and looking so strange! The story behind this picture is that we spent some time at a Sikh Temple as part of the cultural experience of the weekend. We were required to take off our shoes and wear a head covering before we could enter the Temple. (MY covering is from the extra bin that the Temple provides in case you forgot your own....Holly conveniently brought hers from home--hoping to avoid a possible case of lice from the community coverings!)

It was a great experience...sad though, as we realized there is so much of the world....of OUR part of the world even.. that lives in such spiritual darkness. Tomorrow we head back to the church for more leadership training, food, and fellowship!

This is one of our "cultural experiences"...it's called a Durian fruit from Asia. Not only is it strange looking fruit, it's widely known for its' SMELL....which can only be described as sewer-like! Seriously...cut into one of these bad boys and you would swear you're standing in a port-au-pot!!! It does not lend itself to being appetizing! (I must admit, we passed on this delicacy-hoping no one would notice...and stuck with the fried rice and salad!)

Holly and I are blessed beyond words with the training we've sat under. Mel and Deb from the DayBreak Alliance church have been AWESOME speakers! We're inspired to return home to the students and pass on all that we've learned in preparation of our departure!