Vancouver Missionfest

Last weekend was the annual mission's conference in Vancouver, B.C. Ryan and I would have liked to have had the whole weekend there, but alas we had too much homework. This was our third year attending together, I had gone in the past before that. We want to stay in tune with what God is doing in the world with live interaction with other missions-minded brothers and sisters. At home we read a lot of updates of various organizations, but it's great to be able to go to seminars all day on educational topics such as reaching our Sikh and Hindu neighbors, the mentality of Post-modernism, and what should be the Christian response to homosexuality (which by the way should be the same as we respond to all types of sexual immorality, not holding up signs saying that God hates them. There must be grace and truth together).

Ryan and I are also investigating possibilities for overseas travel and service this fall. If Ryan is accepted to the University of WA, it looks like he will not be able to start taking the classes that he needs until next Jan. Therefore, fall quarter we can hang out here or take advantage of the time and go somewhere. We need to get out of our current apartment anyway to move further south by Jan, so it's a great time to put things in storage and head out for a few months (an advantage of renting a place). I wish it could be for a year or two, but we'll have to wait until Ryan is done with school for that. : /

The hard part is that I will be able to get a short-term international job much easier than Ryan with my ESL experience/credentials. We're looking for work as opposed to going with a mission organization at this point due to price. We are still considering some organizations, but it costs a lot more than having a place to work. However, I have to continue with my master's degree classes (which are online) while Ryan won't have any school. So, I'm looking for something where I'll be able to do both, and that limits a lot of opportunities since many require long hours of teaching.

We're interested in the Middle East, China, and Southeast Asia....maybe even Central Asia. We've thought about possibly even looking at countries where we could use some Spanish, but those aren't as much of an interest at this time. We're looking at options, making some contacts, and praying for God's will.