A Week to Go

Hi friends,

All of us except Luke will meet at the San Francisco airport a week from tomorrow! (Luke is flying directly from his home in the UK to Amman.) It doesn't seem real yet. Thursday we talked to the short- term host in Jordan. We made plans for getting picked up, and the first couple of days. We are very excited. A Safeway grocery store is two blocks away, so we will be on our own to go shopping. We'll have to set up a schedule for cooking, cleaning and the like. We'll let you know what our schedule is like once we get there and get settled in. The short-term hosts live across the hall from the guest quarters, so they''l be close to help us get started.

Kim and I packed up four large bags our team is taking with us for workers there. Two are going on to Iraq! I think we take for granted how easy it is to get things here and the amazing variety of goods we have available. We packed lots of baby things, "HappyAnniversery" napkins, Peet's coffee, books for a women's study, and more. This has made me stop and confess how attached I am to "things." We have so much more than what we need in the this country. I remember that Jesus did not even have a place to lay his head! Wow.

Grace and peace to you!

Michael

Update - 2 1/2 Weeks Before We Leave

Hi friends,

I owe you all an update on my mother. She was diagnosed with diverticulitis. It should not be serious, but she has to watch her diet & drink plenty of fluids. (Don't we all?) Her doctor also has to adjust some of medications that thin her blood. I am very thankful I was there to help and encourage my parents. I also spent good time with my sisters and their families.

Luke finally got to go home to the UK. He left the 24th. Right now everyone on the team is at home.

Kim is working on the English lessons we will teach when we are there. We will teach two 2-week sessions, four days a week. Some of the students will take both classes. We are all excited about going. Some friends who work in the Middle East gave each of us a book to read as some background for visiting Jordan. It is an amazing story of one man's quest to simply help the Christian church be light and peace in the Mideast. I recommend it for a different perspective on the political situation in Israel and Palestine. It is helping me understand the conflicts from the point of view of the ordinary Arab. This is important for us because we will be developing relationships with these people. E-mail me at mhuster@simpsonuniversity.edu and I will tell you the name of the book.

Pray that God's peace will come to the men and women of Jordan.

Michael

Team Training Week

Team training week ended Friday with a solitude time followed by a BBQ at Whiskeytown lake. The teams are all really motivated and filled up spiritually for the ministries this summer. Kim and I couldn't attend many of the team events, but we went to a few.

The students came out of the training week excited, and motivated. They were stretched, and worked through a number of unity issues during the week. Of course, this is one of the goals of the week, to learn how to work through issues here before we go to Jordan.

Kim did some TESOL training for our team and the team going to Chile. She is going to give "homework" assignments to everyone on the team. We have a lot of lessons to prepare, so if we can get started on them here, it will make things easier when we are in Jordan.

Claire was able to catch a ride home with Micah, so it is a blessing to her to be at home until we leave. The rest of us will meet at Jackson's house and be driven to the San Fancisco airport on June 15th.

I am visiting my parents in Hemet California this week. The day I got here, we had to take my mother to the hospial with a GI bleed. She will have tests tomorrow. It was a blessing that I was here when this happened. Pray for healing for my mother, Dolores, and God's comfort for her and my father Larry. They are very anxious about her health.

Grace and peace to you this day!

Michael

Surprise Team Reunion

Claire and Luke have been staying with us since school ended. We knew Jackson was returning from Conquest, the training for team leaders. Jackson called this afternoon asking if he could come over tonight. We invited him for dinner at 6:30. When the doorbell rang, Micah was with Jackson, so the whole team was here! I was the chef and we shared a meal out on the deck. The weather is beautiful. We're going out for ice cream in a few minutes.

Meanwhile, Jackson has challenges ready for the team, but he isn't telling them very much. He is all pumped up from Conquest. Starting tomorrow at 1:00 all of the teams are on campus for team training, so they don't really know what Jackson has planned. You can pray for the team as they bond this week and plan for the trip.

Grace & peace,
Michael

Micah

Micah is is from Everett, Washington. He is a history major with a Bible minor. He also wants to complete a certificate in Islamic Studies. This trip will be his first time out of the country. He likes sports, music, and cars.

Claire

Claire is the only woman on the student team, but she is used to this: she has five brothers. She is a communication major and has been very active in the student community at Simpson. She worked with First Year Experience, an orientation program for freshmen, and worked with enrollment services.

Claire also got caught without a job this summer, so she is staying with us and is working small jobs like babysitting and housecleaning.

Like the others, she is very excited about going to Jordan and working in the Community Center.

Luke

Luke is from England, or The UK as he says. He is the son of missionaries. His parents served in Ecuador, and Luke went to the Alliance Academy in Quito. He is staying with us for a couple of weeks. He will return to the UK and meet us in Amman. He is a freshman studying history at Simpson.