Katie’s Missionary Training Journey

Week 2 we were all asked the question, "What is your current perspective and/or mindset as you prepare for cross-cultural ministry? What am I headed for? All great questions, ones I don't think I had stopped long enough to ponder. My perspective, maybe it was a little of fear and trepidation, what can I possibly have to offer, maybe a little of this is going to be an amazing adventure, God is going to do great things through me. But as we walked through the big picture of where we are headed, my heart began to sink a little as I beheld the gravity of the mission I have signed up for.  This is the most challenging work on earth, I am preparing to go to a place where Satan has had his way for potentially centuries, where people live in constant fear and darkness. It is also the most exciting work on earth. The privilege to partner with the Lord, to evangelizing to His people, to see a thriving church established among people who have never heard the good news of Jesus Christ.  W

Hey Friends, I wanted to share some of the things I’ve been encouraged and challenged by in my first week here at the Ethnos training center . It has been a joy to get to know my fellow classmates and hear their stories of how God brought them here. My days and evenings have been filled with sweet fellowship and  many game s nights ! God has answered so many prayers, some not even uttered. Already I feel a connection and friendships with my fellow students, I laugh as I think about how ner vous I was in coming. Financially, God has provided in abundance through the generous giving of those around me and I stand in awe, humbled by the Almighty God who sees my needs . Below are a few pictures of my classmates along with a family w ho generously provided a meal for us. They are in the process of raising support to head up to the Artic to bring the gospel to the Inuit people in Iqaluit.     Paul Fleming, the founder of Ethnos, (formerly New Tribes Mission) sai

  "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths." (Prov. 3:5-6)  In many ways this verse has been the theme verse of the week.  Rarely do God's plans seem to include smooth sailing, rather they are often filled with opportunities to trust that He will provide. I don't know about you, but my go to when things don't go as planned is to freak out, I don't default to trust. Trust is hard, it's hard relinquishing control to someone else (even though that someone else is God and He has proven himself again and again and again). This week was one of those opportunities to relinquish control and trust in God's provision. My folks and I planned on renting a minivan to haul my stuff up to Ontario but unfortunately the rental company advised there wasn't one available, but they would see what they could do. I was so blessed by my dad's calm, unperturbed demean

Life has finally slowed down enough to allow time to sit, process and put pen to paper the emotions that have been swirling in my head (sometimes leaking down my face). Life as I’ve known it for the last while is inside out and upside down, like the legs have been kicked out from under me, like a person sitting on the seat above a dunk tank and the seat has just given way plunging you into the ice cold water. On the one hand there is so much eager anticipation of all the new adventures about to be reality, on the other hand a whole heap of unknown and worst case scenarios run through my mind. How easy in these moments it is to forget the faithfulness of God. From eternity past to eternity future, there has never been a time when he hasn’t been faithful. It’s in these moments of feeling like I’m floundering in the dark that God shines so bright in the darkness drawing me back into the truth of who He is and who He always will be. I can thrive in this upside down because I know He who is

  A thriving church for every people. OF THE WORLD’S 6,900 LANGUAGE GROUPS, 2,500 ARE STILL UNREACHED Ethnos Canada, founded in 1942 as New Tribes Mission, helps local churches mobilize, equip and coordinate missionaries to these peoples. Out of all the mission organizations out there, why Ethnos? Simply put, I love their missional long term strategy. Having grow up overseas, I saw first hand relationships built through the process of learning language and culture, the gospel presented through the lens of their context, lives transformed as truth was revealed, God's word translated into their heart language, leaders raised up, equipped and discipled to begin the process of multiplication. This was something I wanted to be apart of, not a short process by any means, but the life long results far out ways any cost that may be involved. The below excerpts are taken from Ethnos Canada's website and provide a short summary of their primary focuses, for more information about Ethnos

The question before me has been simple, “Katie, do you trust me with your heart and with your deepest longings and desires? Do you trust that what I have in store for you is far greater than what you could ever dream?” I ran from that question for a long time but slowly began to see the destructiveness of the heart that seeks its own desires above the Lord’s. I grew up as a missionary kid overseas and always assumed that was where I would end up as well. That is what I thought was expected of every missionary kid. Little did I know that was where God was actually leading me. That decision however, took a long sabbatical as I pursued my own desires, jumping from job to job, interest to interest and place to place. But God has faithfully pursued my wandering heart to bring me to a place of surrender. In August of last year I began the process of applying to Ethnos Canada’s missionary training program. Ethnos Canada is a mission organization that seeks to reach the unreached people groups