Our First Month at Big Woods by Carson
Leaving Missouri was sad, but our farm friends showed up around 5:00 in the morning to say goodbye to us. It was a very joyful send off! Heading down to Louisiana, we made a detour into Memphis to check out a pay it foward rock climbing gym that was really cool. We also got to have breakfast (and talk a little about our mission) with our friend Mr. Jonathan, Mrs. Pauline, and their son Mr. Patrick at their restaurant, Brother Juniper's, which was really nice. They were so kind as to pay for our meal, and even gave us some bread to take with us! (It was delicious, Mr. Patrick!)
Arriving at Big Woods in Louisiana the next day we were greeted by many fellow and familiar missionaries, who quickly helped us unload our van full of luggage. This was so nice, as it would have taken us forever to do it ourselves. Our apartment is next to the Caldwell family, another big Catholic family we coincidentally know from Florida. We immediately got to go to Friday Praise and Worship in the chapel (right by our house), which was a great way to start our Intake.
We had a "First Week of Intake" schedule, but that got thrown out the window since a hurricane threat rolled in almost as soon as we arrived. Luckily, a family on the FMC board was kind enough to let us stay in their house while they were away, though they had never met us. Luckily, Big Woods was missed. Unfortunately, this was not the case in North Carolina and other near states, so definitely keep them in your prayers if possible.
In Formation we've mostly been working on learning about where we are in our relationship with Jesus, and working on improving it. This seems to be very important as we can't really minister to others effectively if we ourselves are lost or confused. It's been very healing for me to have so much prayer time. Usually while the adults are having their sessions, the kids go to kids' ministry (I bounce back and forth between the adult and kids sessions). This is basically a few rooms in the back of the big house where all the kids can do schoolwork and work on their gambling skills (we taught them blackjack).
Other than Formation, our weekly schedule has community meals, bible studies, small groups, and different ways we do Outreach, which is basically just serving in a physical way. (This last week we went to the Christian Service Center, where we talked and prayed with some of the people there who were there for a free lunch. The week before that, we did a nursing home visit.)
Our weeks look more or less the same until November, and then we'll head over to Mexico for the mission trip there. We also have a healing retreat sometime in October, and we are also hopefully going to get to go backpacking in Arkansas on a free weekend as well.
By the way, for those who don't know, we're on a technology fast over here, meaning we only have two hours on Sunday to communicate with people! That being said, just be aware that if you call us or send us an email or whatever and we don't answer, we're probably fine, we just can't look at it or respond until Sunday. Even then, our Sundays are usually very busy anyway, so it can be hard to find time then as well. Thanks for understanding, and we really appreciate you reaching out either way!
That's all for now. I hope you enjoyed this update, please continue to pray for us! Thank you so, so much to all of our mission partners, you are in our thoughts in prayers as we begin our life in missions!
-Carson!
