Today is day 1 of orientation which will go until August 21st. There are 8 of us total preparing to be Incarnate Word Missionaries at missions in Mexico and Peru. 3 of the other women and the one guy in the program are all right around my age, and we have two women in their 30s and one in her early 50s. All of us 20 somthings hail from the Midwest and so it has been fun to find all of the connections we have and people we know in common. It is a wonderful group of people and I am really looking forward to the next few weeks we have together. If you are wondering what exactly we do at orientation, below is a list of topics that will be covered in different sessions each day:
CCVI (Congregation of the Incarnate Word) History, Spirituality, Charism
Enneagram (shout out to all my Catholic Workers!)
Journaling
Missionary Community
Cross Cultural Issues
Personal faith and spirituality
Social Analysis and Critical Thinking
Conflict Resolution
Christology (study of Christ)
Catholic Social Teaching
Missiology (study of mission)
Ecclesiology
So we have a pretty packed schedule but also lots of down time to get to know one another and really reflect and prepare for our mission site. We obviously have internet so I will try and keep posting interesting thoughts or reflections as I go through the next few weeks of orientation.
Peace and Love always