Culture School Part 2 (and beyond)

​The second half of culture school continued the great experience we were having from the first two weeks. The training continued to be very well thought out, well taught, and extremely helpful. It was also challenging. The focus in the latter half of school was cultural transition training, particularly stress and conflict management. Our group bonded even more as we shared stressful experiences and vulnerably processed through our feelings.
 
We weren’t really expecting it, but we became very close with the other missionaries at the school. It was hard to leave everyone and say good bye. However, we are very thankful for that. The pain we experience from saying goodbye is a sign that we have loved well. It is a lesson that continues to pay dividends. After school we went back to Idaho. We had the opportunity to be sent by the Assemblies church in Sand Point and say many good good-byes. We are very thankful for the community we have there. We also had the chance to stop in Tiller Oregon for almost a week to spend time with friends. The community there feels like family and it was very refreshing and fun to see everyone. I also had a chance to preach at the church in Tiller on Sunday and share about our move to Cambodia. The response was overwhelming supportive and we were very blessed to say many hard goodbyes.
 
We got back to Redding Thursday before last and have been so excited to see all our family and friends before we finally move to Cambodia. As we get closer to our leave date of August 6th, God continues to impress on us His desire for others to be part of what he is doing in Cambodia. He keeps pressing us to invite other to be part of what He is bringing us there to do. We are so grateful for everyone partnering with us in prayer and financial support. We have had several events the last few weeks, which were great opportunities to share about Cambodia, and see everyone. For our last week here, we have a marathon of seeing friends and raising support. We are so excited for what is to come, but also enjoying our time here.
 
Our next blog will be from Cambodia. Thank you everyone who has helped make this possible!
 
Blessings,
Aaron, Megan, Harper, and Ember Holmes