So Close And Yet So Far Away

From June 16th through June 29th, twenty some twenty somethings and a few young-adult-at-heart Episcopal missionaries experienced the 2013 training session for the Young Adult Service Corps. Meeting at the Stony Point Center, north of NYC on the Hudson River, we mixed logistical and abstract training sessions to help us prepare for integrating into another country. A big THANK YOU to the YASC staff and all of the others that contributed so much to our training and preparation for our mission years.

I'm amazed by how at home I feel with this bunch of missionaries, given we've only spent three days of discernment weekend and about 14 days of training together. After getting so close during this time, we all embark for distant lands in the next couple of months. But through that, we will all be there for each other for support as we navigate this calling.

It's Fun To Stay At The YMCA. No really...

Will Bryant and I finally arrived home in Asheville yesterday after two days of traveling from New York City and the YASC training in Stony Point, NY. We received early practice in using the f word of missionary work. Flexibility came in handy after a delayed flight from LaGuardia led to an extra night for us in the Big Apple.

We stayed at the YMCA in the middle of Manhattan, something I never thought one could do. It is fun to stay at the YMCA... in Manhattan.

Anyway, in this first post about the YASC training, I'll share two things from training that to me capture both the work we will be doing and how we are preparing to do it.