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Takeaways from CIT

We were blessed to spend the last five weeks at The Center for Intercultural Training (CIT) in Union Mills, North Carolina. We were there along with several other missionaries, learning from each other and from the facilitators who are all seasoned missionaries! Below are some of the highlights of our time.

Spiritual Growth
Our time at CIT was one of incredible spiritual growth! The first week we were there, we had the Engage Retreat, which focused on spiritual formation—allowing God to work in us and change us so that we can be more effective as His servants. A key concept we looked at was examining our desires, and how God ultimately satisfies our desires more fully than anything on earth can. It was truly a transformational week for us, and God continued working in us throughout the rest of our time there as well. We have both experienced new depths in our personal relationship with God.

New Friendships
Another blessing from God was the formation of some new friendships. One of our prayers heading into CIT was that God would help us connect with some of the other missionaries there. God answered our prayers and helped us develop friendships with other missionaries as well as some staff there.

Working as a Team
As we shared in a short update while we were at CIT, one of the topics we covered were working together in a team, both with other missionaries and with nationals. We learned about how we each bring not only our unique personality to the team, but also our family and cultural background. Having all of these differences in a team is a great asset to ministry, because each team member can complement each other with their gifts and abilities. However, we must be intentional to value the differences and not let them cause unhealthy conflict.

Other CIT Topics
Some of the other topics we covered in class were:
-Cultural differences and the importance of cultural awareness
-Folk religion and spiritual warfare
-Ethnocentrism (Believing that your culture of origin is superior to any other)
-Third culture kids (TCKs) and how to help your family thrive in a new culture
-Worldview and how to most effectively share the gospel in different cultures based on their cultural worldview (cultures view the world through either the lens of guilt, shame, or fear)

We still have a lot to learn!
Probably one of the most important things we learned in our classes was that we still have a lot to learn. One of our prayers heading into CIT was that God would help us to be teachable so we could learn a lot. We are thankful for how He answered this prayer and how He continues to teach us.


Thank you for your prayers for us during this training. This was an extremely helpful and valuable time for us as we prepare to serve the Lord in Mexico!

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