My friend Rachel had volunteered to help me move in - we both used it as an excuse to get together - and though I thought at first I might not need help, I was very grateful for her help throughout the afternoon. Arriving at my new apartment around noon we carried, unpacked, organized, and decorated until around 4pm. In typical Karlynn and Rachel style, we had a little project that needed work and tried to fix it, which turned into a rather funny situation. The closet rod was trying to fall down - this was after we had hung stuff in the closet. We were able to fix it, after a few laughs and reminiscing back to other somewhat similar situations when we were roommates in college.
After that we made a trip to Target. The trip was less for the few things that we needed to buy, and more for the opportunity to get out of the apartment after spending so much focused time on unpacking. I was very thankful to get it all finished in the one afternoon. Rachel was helpful, but also understood when I needed to think things through to figure out where things should go.
That evening we had a welcome dinner at Gospel for Asia. Right before dinner we were all welcomed by the School of Discipleship coordinator, and then we ate. The students from the January class - who will be here until December - were also a part of the evening which was fun. I had met a number of them before when I came to visit, so it was fun to meet them again. After dinner people hung around visiting and getting to know one another as well as playing four square. I was fairly exhausted after unpacking so I spent time visiting rather than playing. Rachel was able to join us for dinner, other people had family members there, and unintentionally we matched each other after changing out of our moving clothes, it was kind of funny.
On Sunday the students all went to church together. The church is actually in between our apartment complex and the office. We walked in groups and met there before the service. I really enjoyed the church and the pastor is preaching through Matthew. The sermon was very good and grounded in scripture, which is very important to me.
After church we had a meeting with all of the girls and our house mentor which covered some basic details about our apartment life, the upcoming schedule, and other things we needed to know. Then we had a potluck in the Cafe at GFA with all of the staff. This was a great opportunity to get to meet more people. In the afternoon some of the leaders came to pray with the different apartments as we start out our year. Later we played volleyball. I use that term loosely because we basically put as many people on each side of the court as we could and then hit the ball back and forth at each other - growing up we called that kind of play chicken ball. It was fun and lasted a couple of hours. I came in and my roommate was making quesadillas and offered me on, which I of course accepted (my roommate is from Mexico). Then I went and had tea with another student who also enjoys tea - I introduced her to Bengal Spice and she is now a fan.
Monday through Wednesday was orientation for the School of Discipleship. We had different staff members sharing about some of the aspects of the ministry. We took care of schedule details, policies, and all that kind of important stuff. We also took some tours: one was to the various locations of the previous GFA offices before our current one, another tour was around the main areas of the building, and the third one showed us important other locations such as libraries, janitor closets, emergency shelters, and the like.
Thursday we began our office placements. I am serving in the Call Center, so in the future if you ever call GFA for something, I may be the one answering the phone and helping you with your questions. There is a lot to learn in the call center, so I am not nearly fully trained yet, but since I started last Thursday, there has been definite progress. We couldn't even really start training right away because of one person being gone on vacation so our supervisor was busy filling in.
Last weekend I was gone for Renee's wedding up in Edmonton, and life was very busy this past week with training. There are many things that I need to learn to be able to answer all the questions that come in on the phones and through emails. During our building tour - before I knew I would be in the Call Center - our tour guide told us that the people in the Call Center are some of the most knowledgeable people about the ministry because they get so many different questions, and if they do not know the answers they figure them out. It sounded a little intimidating, but I know that God has placed me there and I want to serve there for his glory. It is also an exciting placement because we get to interact regularly with supporters and share so much about the heart of the ministry with people who call.
The first couple of weeks have been challenging but also a blessing. I have been challenged to daily die to myself in a variety of ways, I have learned many things, and I have been blessed to be surrounded by such a loving and encouraging Christian community. God has a plan for this year, and though it will be hard in many ways at different times, I am excited to be here living out His plan for my life.
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