The clock strikes 9 am as 4 college students head out on an 8.5 hour drive to Hartford City, Indiana. Their mission, should they choose to accept it:
Attend 11 sessions over the span of 42 hours in the middle of nowhere
Survive on camp food, coffee, and sparkling water alone
Lead a last-minute worship set
Form an "unbreakable bond"
Will they succeed? Tune in next time to see what happens next . . .
. . . hold up, what does this have to do with orientation?
Let me break it down for you.
Four Messiah students, me, Micah, Molly, and Erin (pictured left to right), all decided to sign up for student teaching abroad. Micah, the math major and travel expert, decided it would be a good idea to carpool to our orientation in Indiana because it was the cheapest option. You may be wondering why the orientation was in Indiana . . . we have absolutely no clue either. However, this long trip gave us the opportunity to connect with each other on a deeper level. We had time to hear some of each other's stories, laugh to an African love song involving a banana, have Micah experience french fries in a chocolate frosty, and ultimately form an unbreakable bond (which overjoyed our one professor).
During our time in Indiana, we attended 11 different sessions on multicultural kids, culture shock, grief/loss, etc. We each were given a journal to take notes in, which we ended up filling half of by the end of the weekend. It was an amazing opportunity to learn more about what our future travels may be like, become close with a like-minded group of people, and learn about other cultural norms/values all while keeping Jesus as the focal point of our weekend.
One of my favorite parts was leading worship on Sunday morning and the sharing time that followed it. The four Messiah students and one Taylor student led several songs with very little preparation yet I could still see God moving in the hearts of those worshipping. It reminded me how we don't need to have everything perfectly prepared in order to follow God's will. We just need to be present and willing to be a conduit for God and He will do as He pleases.
After worship, we had a time of sharing whatever was on our hearts. It was so refreshing to hear what was going on in other people's spiritual lives at the time. I feel like often, as Christians, we try to hide the fact that we may be struggling with our faith because we want to appear like we have it all figured out. But God thrives in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9) and we should, therefore, be open about our struggles so that others can help lift us up (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12).
This orientation was more than just a preparatory meeting for teaching overseas, it also acted as a spiritual revival, a welcoming home, and a supportive family for all who were involved.