Hey there, I know it’s long but read the whole post!

It is hard to believe we were in Georgia last week. (By the way: Atlanta seems a lot smaller now compared to LA, I miss the humidity, and we love having our own home!) It was information packed and a very encouraging trip for us.

We stayed with the Director of Long Term Missions, Mark, and his wife Jana, and their family. Jana served in Romania and Eastern Europe as a missionary before she married Mark. It was so fun to sit down and talk with her about all the great things about Romania and how the country has changed since then.

On Wednesday, we had a meeting with Seth Barnes, the founder of Adventures in Missions. We wanted to get to know more about him and his vision for Adventures. It was great to hear his heart for missions and wanting to send out missionaries from all different countries.

I think one of the best sayings I heard this week was, “the goal is to work yourself out of a job.” I have heard this before in human services but think what the world would be like if we didn’t have a need for missionaries! (Mind Blown!)

On Thursday we had an interview with Gary and Nancy, a couple who has been on the field for 35 years doing discipleship. The interview time was one of my favorites because it was so relaxed and it was wonderful to be encouraged in marriage and vision from the Lord.

Nancy also taught a class called “getting to know yourself.” We had taken the Myers-Briggs test before we came, as well as “Leading with your Strengths.” It was during this session that we were able to interpret the results and see how they applied to ourselves. Here are some fun facts about how different Jeff and I are:

– On a scale 1-10 (10 being the highest), Jeff is a 10 optimist. I however, am a 9 realist on the opposite side of the scale.

– Jeff is strong in pioneering but I scored high in structure.

– We are almost the same on the Myers-Briggs except I am an introvert and he is an extreme extrovert. ( surprise surprise)

I just love how different we are and yet how God uses us to balance each other out.

We also had some sessions on financials, healthcare, practical skills for the field, and support raising. It was so interesting to look at support raising because the mindset is completely different than raising support for a single trip or a short term trip.
Also, long term financial support no longer means quick gifts and then forget about us. We need and want people who are willing to give a monthly gift for an extended period of time. (Yes, this means you will never stop hearing about Romania, but let’s be honest, its not like you don’t already!)

Some people may ask, “why not go with a denomination/organization where you don’t have to raise financial support?” First, God has not called us there but has showed us that Adventures in Missions is a good fit for us. Secondly, it is a great step of faith for all involved to rely on God for everything. Thirdly, many organizations where that is not needed have found a great disconnect between the home churches and their missionaries and that relationship is lost.

Long term missions requires more commitment from us and more from the people supporting us. Support doesn’t just mean finances and prayer but also accountability and lasting relationships. We want to be supporting and praying for you just as you are for us. Adventures’ Long-Term department requires us to have a system of people who want to partner with us in this journey. Also, we will have a small group of people who commit to communicating with us on a weekly basis to hold us accountable, in addition to our group as a whole, so that we may encourage each other. If you would like more information about being an active participant in our support team or want to send us a prayer request, you can email us at thecardells@gmail.com.

All that to sum it up that we had a great week at training! And we are excited to be partnering with you as long term missionaries – because we are accepted and now part of Adventures International!

Here are a few pictures from last week!