Orientation Course
We've been in Singapore for about two weeks now and are well into our Orientation Course (OC) at OMF's International Headquarters. We are here together with other new OMF missionaries (and their children) from a variety of countries - USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Switzerland, Philipines, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, etc. There are about 40 adults and 16 kids. Fortunately, there are some kind grandmas from UK and Australia are helping with childcare so that Sun and I can attend the lectures and not have to watch Joshua all the time.
The content of the lectures have covered medical issues (insurance, malaria, dengue fever, where to get medical advice and care on the field), finances (how OMF financial system works), the vision and mission of OMF International, times of Bible study, prayer, and worship, and meetings with the International Directors and Intl Medical Advisor. Joshua was able to get his six month shots right here at OMF HQ so we didn't have to go look for some place around town or wait.
Joshua and Connor
Here are a few pics of Joshua visiting with his friend baby Connor at Grace PCA's Reformation Day Picnic shortly before we left the States. Connor is the son of our friends Matt & Kathy.
The Ferber Method
Joshua is sleeping quite well in his new tropical environment. We were so busy in the weeks before we left the States that it was difficult to get him into a regular sleep routine but now that we have a more regular schedule (and more free time), we have found much success with the Ferber method. The first night, he screamed for more than an hour but since then he will go down to sleep in about 10-20 minutes, or sometimes 30 minutes. This is awesome because rocking him to sleep for an hour multiple times a day gets old really quickly. We praise God that he is sleeping well. Other than a bit of heat rash, Joshua is adjusting quite well. Thank God for a happy baby.
Arrival in Singapore
We arrived in Singapore around midnight on Nov 1st and have been
catching up on sleep ever since. Joshua did well in the airplane and
more than one fellow passenger remarked on how good our baby was. We
are relaxing for a few days at the OMF guest home and have had some
extra time to read the Bible, pray, and talk which has been very good
after our busy final weeks in the States. Our orientation course starts
next Wednesday, I think. Until them, we are enjoying a little bit of
down time as a family.
God was really good to us in the final weeks leading up to departure and provided so many friends to help us with packing, moving, and so forth. The night before we moved out of our apartment, the doorbell rang and UPS had a surprise gift for us. Someone had sent an anonymous gift of a full set of Calvin's Commentaries. Awesome. So I put them right into the pile to ship via ocean freight and will get much use from them starting in a couple months when all our possesions catch up with us in Thailand.
We've been learning about the city/nation of Singapore. It only takes an hour to go from one end to the other and it is super clean and highly regulated. It feels a lot like Thailand in some ways, but different in others. Maybe I'll write more about Singapore later, but in the meantime, here's a map of Asia to show where we are right now. You'll see Singapore at the tip of the Malaysian penninsula.
God was really good to us in the final weeks leading up to departure and provided so many friends to help us with packing, moving, and so forth. The night before we moved out of our apartment, the doorbell rang and UPS had a surprise gift for us. Someone had sent an anonymous gift of a full set of Calvin's Commentaries. Awesome. So I put them right into the pile to ship via ocean freight and will get much use from them starting in a couple months when all our possesions catch up with us in Thailand.
We've been learning about the city/nation of Singapore. It only takes an hour to go from one end to the other and it is super clean and highly regulated. It feels a lot like Thailand in some ways, but different in others. Maybe I'll write more about Singapore later, but in the meantime, here's a map of Asia to show where we are right now. You'll see Singapore at the tip of the Malaysian penninsula.