I received my psychological evaluation forms (Life History Questionnaire) and test from CSI this week. The life history covers everything from mental illness in any blood relative to medical conditions to spiritual history. It feels as though I have bared my entire live in these pages. Then they ask for a autobiography defined as "very brief summarization of life from childhood through the present time." So what exactly is "very brief" when it comes to almost half a century of life? It feels weird to summarize your life in a couple of paragraphs, but that to me is what very brief means.
The test is called the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. It took me a little over two hours to answer all 566 true and false questions. While I believe that the cumulative answers to these questions reveal a persons personality, each question on it's own seems a bit strange. I wonder what the questions I liked "Alice in Wonderland" by Lewis Carrol, My hands and feet as usually warm enough, and I think Lincoln was greater than Washington reveal about your personality.
So my part of the next step is completed and now I wait again for the results......
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
Next Step to Jamaica
I had my meeting this morning with the staff as CSI and I feel that everything went very well. They ask me many questions which lasted about 2 hours. When asked about my call to long term mission work, I was able to quote the scriptures that God has laid on my heart and also explain about the many other ways God has confirmed this call to me. In my last post I let you in on two of the scriptures that God opened up to me as I was considering this calling. We had great conversation about CSI ministries, their vision for short term mission trips, the role of being a long term missionary with CSI. The next step is the psychological testing. This comes in the form of a questionnaire which I will fill out and Pastor Kris acting as my proxy will return to the company that evaluates the forms and sends the results to CSI. After this test, I will possibly have an interview with CSI's personnel committee and or the executive board. The board does not meet again until May but they may agree to meet with me prior this. So as God leads I will follow him step by step.
PS: I feel so excited I can hardly contain myself. I want to move to Jamaica right NOW! But my self disciplined part knows that God's timing is perfect and anything outside of his timing just wouldn't be as good.
PS: I feel so excited I can hardly contain myself. I want to move to Jamaica right NOW! But my self disciplined part knows that God's timing is perfect and anything outside of his timing just wouldn't be as good.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Jamaica Update
Bright and early on Monday morning (9:00 am)I have a meeting with the CSI staff at the Muncie office. I think this is steps 5 and 6 as listed in this post. I am excited about visiting CSI World Headquarters and learning about my next steps in the process of becoming a missionary in Jamaica. However I am a bit apprehensive in communicating my calling. I find it difficult to adequately describe exactly what God has done in my heart and how He has communicated to me this calling on my life. Some of the things I will be sharing are how God placed a desire in my heart to live with and minister to the Jamaican people. How I believe that God has revealed to me in a dream that I would be moving into a new opportunity, and the instructions that He gave me in that dream. I will also be sharing how God has confirmed this calling through the words of fellow Christians and the bible. The following is a part of a letter I wrote to family and friends to describe my future plans.
"My first trip to Jamaica was last August and after that trip I came home with a tremendous love for the people of Jamaica. The desire to serve the people of Jamaica continued to grow in my heart; as Psalm 37:4 says “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart” I know God placed this desire in my heart because it is not like me to want to make major life changes. I have lived my entire life in this area of Indiana, close to my family, and until this trip I did not have any desire to move anywhere else. But now I know that God is calling me to explore a position as a full time missionary to Jamaica. I have heard him call me as he did Jeremiah in verse 1:7 But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. So I made a second trip to Jamaica in October and at that time I investigated the ministry of CSI in Jamaica and spent time with the other missionaries posted there. We discussed what God has placed in their hearts to do for him. I am beginning to understand what God would want me to do in Jamaica and as the vision becomes clear I will be sharing with my family and friends at the proper time. So I have surrendered to God in this matter and have begun the process of becoming a full time missionary. I can not begin to know God’s timing in this but will be faithful to move forward each step as he leads."
I will keep you updated as I learn more about this journey.
"My first trip to Jamaica was last August and after that trip I came home with a tremendous love for the people of Jamaica. The desire to serve the people of Jamaica continued to grow in my heart; as Psalm 37:4 says “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart” I know God placed this desire in my heart because it is not like me to want to make major life changes. I have lived my entire life in this area of Indiana, close to my family, and until this trip I did not have any desire to move anywhere else. But now I know that God is calling me to explore a position as a full time missionary to Jamaica. I have heard him call me as he did Jeremiah in verse 1:7 But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. So I made a second trip to Jamaica in October and at that time I investigated the ministry of CSI in Jamaica and spent time with the other missionaries posted there. We discussed what God has placed in their hearts to do for him. I am beginning to understand what God would want me to do in Jamaica and as the vision becomes clear I will be sharing with my family and friends at the proper time. So I have surrendered to God in this matter and have begun the process of becoming a full time missionary. I can not begin to know God’s timing in this but will be faithful to move forward each step as he leads."
I will keep you updated as I learn more about this journey.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Jamaica Update
Because I have had several people interested in what my process of becoming a long term missionary with CSI will be like I am posting the document from CSI titled:
1. Send a current resume to the office headquarters.
2. Complete an application, and return it to the office.
3. If thought necessary, administrative personnel from CSI will conduct a reference interview with the applicant's pastor.
4. Reference questionnaires will be sent to all of those listed as references in the application. A second roundof reference questionnaires will be sent to those listed by the primary references.
5. CSI will follow up with the applicant concerning the reference questionnaires either in person or by electronic means, determined by the matters that may need further explanation or discussion.
6. Applicant should schedule a visit to the home office in Muncie, Indiana, after the references have been completed and are acceptable.
7. Applicant will complete psychological testing under the direction of a Christian psychologist or psychiatrist designated by CSI.
8. Schedule a two-week visit to a field (at the discretion of the International Director).
9. Undergo a complete medical/physical evaluation by a licensed physician. This evaluation must contain all elements required by the current "Plan Administrator" for CSI's group medical/dental insurance plan.
10. Upon successful and acceptable completion of the foregoing items, the applicant will be designated as a "missionary under appointment" with CSI.
11. Newly appointed missionaries will work with the CSI administration is setting budget and target dates for departure.
12. CSI will help the appointee with putting together a ministry support team.
13. The appointee will attend a pre-field orientation at Mission Training International in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This is a three-week program, and the cost for this training will be included in the "one-time" expense portion of the budget.
14. New appointees must raise 100% of annual support, in cash and faith-promise commitments that will provide sufficient support for at least 18 months (commitments plus reserves). as well as 100% of one-time expenses before the final process of securing visas, work permits, airline tickets, etc., is initiated.
15. The appointee arrives on her/his field of service and begins serving as a CSI missionary!
As of this date I completed items one and two. I think that, Ronn Oren with CSI, has spoken to Pastor Kris about my desire to become a long term missionary to Jamaica. I may have a bit of an in here since Ronn is Kris' brother in-law and I have ministered under Kris for two years. The reference questionnaires have and are being completed by those I listed as references. So the next step I am waiting on is CSI to contact me about the references. Others who serve as missionaries with CSI have said that it took two years before they arrived in the field. For me it is still very early in this process and only God knows exactly when I will begin serving as a CSI missionary in Jamaica.
Becoming a Missionary with CSI Ministries, Inc.
Any applicant seeking a ministry assignment must be a committed follower (disciple) of Jesus Christ, must agree with the doctrinal statement of CSI Ministries, Inc. (hereinafter refereed to as "CSI"), and have a clear understanding that missions is God's will for his/her life.1. Send a current resume to the office headquarters.
2. Complete an application, and return it to the office.
3. If thought necessary, administrative personnel from CSI will conduct a reference interview with the applicant's pastor.
4. Reference questionnaires will be sent to all of those listed as references in the application. A second roundof reference questionnaires will be sent to those listed by the primary references.
5. CSI will follow up with the applicant concerning the reference questionnaires either in person or by electronic means, determined by the matters that may need further explanation or discussion.
6. Applicant should schedule a visit to the home office in Muncie, Indiana, after the references have been completed and are acceptable.
7. Applicant will complete psychological testing under the direction of a Christian psychologist or psychiatrist designated by CSI.
8. Schedule a two-week visit to a field (at the discretion of the International Director).
9. Undergo a complete medical/physical evaluation by a licensed physician. This evaluation must contain all elements required by the current "Plan Administrator" for CSI's group medical/dental insurance plan.
10. Upon successful and acceptable completion of the foregoing items, the applicant will be designated as a "missionary under appointment" with CSI.
11. Newly appointed missionaries will work with the CSI administration is setting budget and target dates for departure.
12. CSI will help the appointee with putting together a ministry support team.
13. The appointee will attend a pre-field orientation at Mission Training International in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This is a three-week program, and the cost for this training will be included in the "one-time" expense portion of the budget.
14. New appointees must raise 100% of annual support, in cash and faith-promise commitments that will provide sufficient support for at least 18 months (commitments plus reserves). as well as 100% of one-time expenses before the final process of securing visas, work permits, airline tickets, etc., is initiated.
15. The appointee arrives on her/his field of service and begins serving as a CSI missionary!
As of this date I completed items one and two. I think that, Ronn Oren with CSI, has spoken to Pastor Kris about my desire to become a long term missionary to Jamaica. I may have a bit of an in here since Ronn is Kris' brother in-law and I have ministered under Kris for two years. The reference questionnaires have and are being completed by those I listed as references. So the next step I am waiting on is CSI to contact me about the references. Others who serve as missionaries with CSI have said that it took two years before they arrived in the field. For me it is still very early in this process and only God knows exactly when I will begin serving as a CSI missionary in Jamaica.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Paradise?
Allow me to tell you about an experience I had while in Jamaica. I wish that you could see what I saw, feel what I felt, and smell what I smelled. I will do my best to describe to you this experience. Come with me now and stand in the hot sunlight, narrow and shade your eyes, and look at the two long block buildings painted in worn pastel colors. Step inside and allow your eyes to adjust to the dim light. Don't breath too deep the odor is offensive, make sure your hands are empty, you will need to shew the flys away. Now brace yourself as you look at all the people lying in the small beds lined up against both walls of the narrow room. They are sick, weak and many are not mentally alert. I want to look away, fix my eyes on the floor, the ceiling or the door. Really I just want to run outside, but instead I watched as the sound of a single guitar began filling the air with music. As the voices of the visitors began to sing praises to God the people in the beds who has at first appeared to be just this side of death, came to life. They clapped their twisted and gnarled hands, some sat up and sang along. One woman even began to dance around.
Now let's muster up all that is good within us and go speak to the shrivelled up old man, lying in the bed, next to the screen door that is hanging about half open. Say hello and he will responded with a smile and introduce himself. Then he will tell you just how blessed he is that the Lord has given him one more day to live. He will tell you about what a good life he has had and how good God has been to him. He will then tell you about what he has heard as he lies there listening to the "BBC" on his small transistor radio. He says that he has heard about the financial problems in your country. He is concerned about the war in Iraq. He knows more about the Presidential candidates than I do and is concerned about the upcoming election. He then says, "I am praying for your country." There is nothing to say. All I can do is express my thanks, wipe my eyes and walk away.
Now let's muster up all that is good within us and go speak to the shrivelled up old man, lying in the bed, next to the screen door that is hanging about half open. Say hello and he will responded with a smile and introduce himself. Then he will tell you just how blessed he is that the Lord has given him one more day to live. He will tell you about what a good life he has had and how good God has been to him. He will then tell you about what he has heard as he lies there listening to the "BBC" on his small transistor radio. He says that he has heard about the financial problems in your country. He is concerned about the war in Iraq. He knows more about the Presidential candidates than I do and is concerned about the upcoming election. He then says, "I am praying for your country." There is nothing to say. All I can do is express my thanks, wipe my eyes and walk away.
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