Highlights of my time at CIT

So much happened during my 2-week stay in North Carolina that I felt too overwhelmed to try to put it in words. But at the same time I can't not say anything. I'm convinced that one of the reasons my visa was delayed was so I could take this class, learn what I learned, and meet the people I met.


Here were just some of the highlights:

• On Sunday I was the first person to have arrived for the new course-there were many still there from a previous course that were staying for SLA. I was invited to worship with the other students who decided to have their own church service that day and it was a great start to the course between the awesome worship (led by a couple going to Ireland to train worship leaders) and getting to know some of the students who made me feel so welcome. I got to go out to lunch with the couple headed to Ireland and a family heading to Thailand-I had forgot what it was like to be around other people who are going through the same journey as me and it was so encouraging.

• Every morning of class began with an in-depth devotion, worship, and prayer. This was unexpected and made such an impact on learning the rest of the day. We were reminded throughout every day that we can only do this by being dependent on Christ and we were poured into and challenged on a level that I hadn't been since Bible school.  

• Meeting and living with 3 other single women-I had been nervous before going that I might not get close to anyone-2 weeks is a good amount of time but can you really bond with people in that short amount of time? God answered that prayer in the most amazing way. To be around other single ladies on the same journey, struggling with the same things, was such a God thing. By the end of the 1st week we were all cooking and eating every meal together, sharing very personal things and struggles and praying earnestly with and for each other. It was so beautiful and those ladies probably don't know how much they each impacted me. These ladies are not going to easy countries either. They are risking and sacrificing a lot to take the gospel to unreached people and I would love if you would add Alison, Joan, and Christy to your prayer lists. 

My badge for the course..so official! :)

• After classes and on weekends we had free time (although homework took up a lot of it) where we had bonfires, potluck dinners, movie nights, a day in the crazy-hip(pie) city of Asheville (where we got to go to a place called The French Broad Chocolate Lounge: it was more amazing than it sounds!) and much more! 

• All of our teachers were amazing! They had all learned multiple languages and had done some type of ministry/living in another country. So their experience, advice, and stories were invaluable. One of them was even told that she should choose a different country because she had scored so low on her linguistics aptitude tests. She went on to learn Bulgarian and Polish. She learned it because she was motivated and felt called to go to Poland...as a person without a high aptitude for language learning, this was so encouraging!             

• I got to have authentic food from: Liberia, Indonesia, Thailand, Italy, and India...just to name a few. Ya. It was awesome.

• Phonetics class, although challenging, was so beneficial! There are some ka-ra-zy sounds out there that I don't think I could ever reproduce but it made me aware of a lot that I can do and questions to ask when I come across unfamiliar sounds. Like, "where do you place your tongue when you make that sound?". Weird? Maybe, but you better believe I'll be asking! Each of us also received a chart of all the different sounds/consonants/vowels that our desired language has so I could start practicing some now...

The Blue Ridge Mountains were gorgeous!

• The teacher that taught us Phonetics was on staff at New Tribes when I attended there! This was only the second time she has taught for CIT..how awesome is that! It was so good reconnecting, hanging out, sharing meals, and times of prayer with her! 

•  I mentioned prayer being a big part of this time, but the highlight would be when us single girls, the single guys (we lived in adjoining dorms while the marrieds lived across the road), and two of our teachers got together several night in a row to pray specifically for and lay hands on each person. This is one of (sadly) few times where I felt God's presence in a group of people in a very powerful way. Maybe it was just me, but God really spoke to me during those times and even gave one man some words to say specifically to me that  I know could only have been from Him (this guy barely knew me). 

• As a way to get hands-on-practice for the methods we were learning (to learn a language), we were split into groups on the first day and assigned a language and Language Helper that we would be with the rest of the course. I was with 3 other people and we were assigned the Tagalog (Filipino) language(others learned Russian and Cebuano). Our LH grew up in the Philippines but had moved to N.C. with her American husband. We learned how to make our own lesson plans and teach our LH how to teach us (in this method, we are the ones in charge of our language learning). It was good, challenging, frustrating, and encouraging. We all absolutely LOVED our LH! She was hysterical, so full of energy, and so sweet. It's very neat that CIT uses these people from the community that benefits them and the students.   

Outside the classroom and offices

• Leaving this course full of motivation, a deeper faith in Christ, confident that I can learn another language fluently, and with new friends, soon to be scattered across the globe taking the gospel to the lost, was more than I set out to gain!

I apologize, I made it as brief as I could! 

I'm so grateful to my supporters who made it possible
and so thankful that God orchestrated the perfect timing of this and that He didn't answer my prayers
 (at least in the way I wanted Him to) 

and allow me to be in Nigeria when I was supposed to have been. 

Once again proving to this selfish girl: His plans are better than mine!

*Unfortunately I can't post any pictures of people because of the sensitive areas they are heading to