Final Training!

It has been a week or so since we left MTI (Mission Training International).  Our brains have had some time to process all that we have learned and we are more excited than ever to get to Kenya and put some of it into practice.  My last post explained some of the language training we had the first two weeks at MTI. Our second two weeks we learned about life in a new culture.   They trained us heavily on reasons why missionaries leave the field early and how we can best thrive in our new host culture.

The whole crew! Blessed to spend four weeks with these people!

We spent a whole day talking about CONFLICT. First, we learned what our own conflict management style was then grouped up with those like ourselves and as a group went around to talk with another group about what we like about their conflict management style and what discourages us.  I (Kenzi) am not one to throw my emotions out for everyone to see so this was hard for me to be open and honest.  My style of conflict management is called 'Teddy Bear'.  In my style we seek harmony and want to make sure the other person is happy, content, and leaves feeling good.  We don’t share much of how we are feeling and just really want things to be peaceful (for the other person) as quick as possible, then we handle our own emotions later.  Spending a whole morning confronting people about how they handle conflict was mentally and emotionally exhausting for me because it is not something I am used to doing.  That afternoon we learned about conflict between spouses, with kids, and in team settings. By the end of the day we were ready for a nap! Even though it was hard for me to open up at first, I am glad I was able to embrace this training and I really learned a lot about myself and how to understand others better in conflicting situations.

My Growth Group (small group). I love these women! We never had conflict….just chocolate!

A few days were spent on how we are under STRESS and how we manage it.  It was a stress-filled day (hehe J).  We had a few different simulations to help us recognize how we are under stress.  After each one we would come together and debrief about what we were feeling (again with pulling the emotions out!). We were asked questions like if we talked with others during the simulation, if we talked with ourselves, and if we talked with God.  We learned whether we are more task focused or relational in stressful situations.  I learned I am much more relational than my husband in stressful situations, but this helped us be able to talk about it and recognize how we need to help support each other when we are in stressful situations.  I was so thankful for this! Mark and I kept joking that because of this training we feel like we jumped ahead 5 years of marriage because of how much we learned about each other. After learning about healthy ways to manage stress we feel as though we have a better game plan and know how to help each other out when these situations arise.

Our little family at Garden of the Gods.  Emma was dealing with a little stress and didn’t want to be held.

She should have been in our training…J

One of my favorite trainings was actually a pretty short one and it was about Third Culture Kids (TCKs).  These are kids who have grown up for some of their developmental years in another culture that is not their parents.  During this short training I learned so much about my husband (Mark grew up in Kenya until he was 7 years old). We heard from a TCK who is now on staff at MTI and his story.  He explained why sometimes kids who grow up overseas or in another country do not feel like they fully belong to their passport culture or their host culture.  They are stuck between two worlds.  He helped us understand that when traveling back to America sometimes even the phrase “Welcome Home!” can be a complicated one for TCKs to hear because their home isn’t the U.S. Some have never even lived in the U.S., it is just what their passport says. If you ask a TCK where they are from it’s often hard for them to answer with just one sentence.  Most have lived in multiple places.  I noticed this a lot with my husband.  He will give a quick answer if he can tell the individual doesn’t want a long story, but if someone is really interested and wants to know he loves sharing about growing up in Kenya and Kentucky and all the trips in between. 

Emma with her teacher, Miss Anna.  Anna is also a TCK!

 Emma loved her and so did we!!

Overall, this training was amazing!  I am SO thankful we were able to attend! We learned a lot more, but hopefully this helped to give you a little glimpse. Thank you to everyone who has partnered with us on this journey.  You all are a blessings and we pray God blesses each of you! I still cannot believe we are finished with all our training!!!! Woohoo!!