Missionary Preparation

This is starting to look like all my past journals.  I start out strong, and then before you know it the entries are further and further apart.  I'll try to do better.  I mentioned to someone recently that I started the blog exploring things that are different and unusual here in New Delhi, but the longer we are here the more the unusual becomes normal -  whether it be the constant honking of car horns, cows everywhere you walk or the stark differences between the rich and poor.

 Saturday, we started the first district-wide missionary preparation class.  There is a great desire among the young people here to serve the Lord on a mission, but in many/most cases they are ill-prepared for the schedule, rigor and knowledge necessary to be effective missionaries.  For the short time that we have been here we have seen significant differences in the missionaries that have left for the Manila Philippines MTC.  We currently have 5 missionaries with MTC start dates of December 15 - 4 in New Delhi and one in Nepal.  While we also have missionaries also being called and serving in their home land of Pakistan, we don't have any contact with them, and rely on the indigenous members of that country to prepare them.   

 

We have 5 enrolled in this first class.  We hold the class in our apartment and have tried to create a teaching environment similar to what they will experience in the mission field.  All of these missionaries will be serving in their own country of India in the India Bangalore Mission which covers the bottom third of the country.  On a side note, it is interesting to see that the Bangalore mission includes only 1/3 of the country whereas our mission includes the top 2/3, as well as Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Bhutan.  Of the 4 we have in our class leaving on December 15, one has a passport, two are in the process of getting a passport and one is still trying to get a birth certificate so he can apply.  3 of the 4 are young women.  I'm quite certain that at least one or more will need to have their MTC start date changed due to passport issues.  The last one we have attending is 19 and is attending because she is excited the Church has now dropped the age for young women who want to serve to 19 years old.  We had a great introductory lesson and look forward to working with these young people as they prepare themselves to serve.  We'll keep you posted on how things progress - and who actually will be leaving in December....