This last month feels like a dream. A wonderful, crazy, hard, incredible, educational, relational, beyond-words dream! We left July 31st to spend 4 weeks just outside Colorado Springs, CO at MTI - Mission Training International. MTI explains their program like this: Mission Training International’s vision is to see cross-cultural messengers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ experience effectiveness, endurance and personal vitality. MTI accomplishes this through two main programs:  COMPASS  and  DAR . Doing cross-cultural ministry is difficult and requires more than a sense of calling. It requires a broad set of skills and a healthy approach to life and ministry. A large majority of cross-cultural workers aren’t adequately prepared for their calling, which leads to frustration, burn-out, or more destructive patterns.  This is where MTI can help.  For 60 years, MTI has been providing relevant, practical, in-residence training on the make-or-break iss...

I can NOT believe that it is August 1 already! Since my last post we have had the honor and privilege of celebrating this new chapter with so many of the people that we love ❤️  My (Katelyn) co-workers from Lox gave me a surprise going-away brunch 😊 My group of friends from high school, two of our small group leaders, and our families celebrated our new adventure as well as the marriage of one of our other friends  Aaron's boss and co-workers took him out to lunch Our small group had a pool party to celebrate with us  Our families had dinner with us the night before we left My parents dropped us off at the airport at 4:40am Sunday morning And all of a sudden, but also not suddenly at all, we were no longer an employed couple with kids living comfortably in East TN. We are, well, Dean said it best this morning when he looked up with a big smile and said "I'm a missionary now!" As we checked in to MTI this afternoon and started chatting with the other attendees, we rea...