Some MTI pictures to help you understand.

So here are some photos to illustrate some of the things Heidi talked about in our newsletter. The picture below is another way of looking at the process of bridging two cultures. It shows a missionary being transplanted. 

I tried to transplant a pine tree in our yard. It died, but I learned some things about being transplanted. Roots go deep, and a lot of them get cut. A plant begins to die immediately after it is uprooted. It takes copious and consistent watering for a long time for a plant to re-root itself in a new location. 

This happens in some way ever time a missionary leaves. 

You can imagine how much this helped our children understand what they are headed for. We were able to have some good discussions with them at MTI.

Drew dives right in to new situations. His personality is shy, but he is emotionally eager to be a part of other peoples lives. The hurt of leaving and transitioning catches him by surprise. 

Joe sees it coming a little more, and he's a little less likely to attach himself emotionally. He says he knows the places we're going "aren't home."

Below is the bridge illustration. It starts with those sturdy, firm chairs. Next comes rocking office chairs.

After the shaky office chairs came exercise balls held together with Saran Wrap. This guy (Isaac Barnes) actually made it all the way across (He's an MK). 

After Isaac they had 4 people cross together, and they were all linked together with climbing gear to represent family bonds. No one was on the same stage of the bridge at the same time, and they were able to help each other make it across without falling off. They told us not to expect everybody to be experiencing the same thing during transition, but to help each other at each stage.