Kirstin Heyne: June and July Updates: Next Steps and Training

July 31, 2017

Monthly Snapshot
Volume 11, Issues 6 and 7

NEW DIRECTION

As you may know, my life and ministry plans were thrown into a bit of (happy) chaos when Adam proposed in February. His immigration status in the United Kingdom, combined with his calling to workplace ministry and passion for church ministry, and mixed with my calling to continue to serve with Cru all jumbled together to make a very complex… well, mess, really. After months of conversations with the United States’ ministry leadership and the United Kingdom’s ministry leadership, we have a plan for next steps!

First, my current role (Associate National Director of Global Missions for the Mid-Atlantic Region) will no longer exist after August of this year. The U.S. Campus Ministry of Cru is going through a massive re-organization in order to more faithfully live out our mission of reaching “Every Student, Every Campus” with the life-changing power of the Gospel. It’s a big mission, and our current structure is limiting our ability to go for it fully. The complex process of reorganizing the world’s largest parachurch missions agency began a while ago, at the Lord’s leading, and it is being rolled out as we speak. As part of the national Global Missions team, I got to participate in the conversations over the past year, and I am excited about the steps we’re taking. Cru will continue to reach the college students of the world, but there will be changes in how we do what we do so that we can be more effective. I had reservations about leaving my dream job to get married and move overseas, but it seems the Lord took care of that for me! My dream job no longer exists.

I applied, and was accepted, as a Staff STINTer. STINT is a short-term designation meaning I will officially serve with the U.S. Campus ministry in an overseas location for 1-2 years. I will be serving on the West Midlands team in Birmingham, England from January 2018 to July 2019. During that time, Adam and I will get married and pray about our next steps as a couple. I am so very excited to live and serve in a city again! The ministry and the city are quite similar to Pittsburgh, too. You can check out Agape U.K.’s website to learn more about Cru’s presence in the United Kingdom over the past fifty years: http://www.agape.org.uk/

I have recently started the process of saying goodbye. I’m beginning to sell my things, and I’m making plans for “lasts” over the course of the next semester. My last task in my current role will be to lead the Botswana Summer Mission team through a debrief when they return to the U.S. next month. I will tell you all about that in the next Snapshot!

My next task is to build my team of ministry partners so I can leave for the U.K. fully funded in January. That task will receive my full attention for the next several months. I will also be connecting with current partners before I move overseas and communication becomes a bit more difficult.

Map of the United Kingdom and Ireland

Birmingham skyline

XTRACK: CRU'S CROSS-CULTURAL TRAINING

XTrack is by far the best (and most intense) training I have ever received. That says a lot considering all of the excellent training I have received from Cru over the past sixteen years as a student and on staff!

One of the requirements for US staff who plan to serve overseas long term is to participate in a five-week training. We spent four hours in the classroom each day, learning from experienced Cru staff and experts from other organizations, and then spent several hours each afternoon reading and processing the things we were learning. Topics covered included language learning, conflict resolution/team dynamics, worldview, cultural awareness and sensitivity, and logistics.

Even though some of the content didn’t apply directly to my ministry in the UK (an English-speaking nation with a culture and worldview that are fairly similar to my own), each piece was helpful as I enter into a cross-cultural marriage! I started to learn Setswana more intentionally this summer and applied the content from language week as I started to pursue my in-laws with my little attempts at speaking Setswana. The conflict resolution discussions were especially helpful for me and Adam, and I learned even more about Adam’s culture.

In addition to the content, the community was also helpful. It was so refreshing to spend the summer with people who “get it.” All sixty-five participants and all of the coaches have served overseas. When someone would share a ridiculous story about miscommunications or travel woes or sneaking out of a country during a coup, everyone would just nod along with a knowing look. My coaching group was especially life-giving. Chelsea and Laura will also be serving in Western Europe and have been on staff for a long time like me, and our coach Marian has served in multiple international locations for twenty-seven years!

My coaching group: Marian, me, Chelsea, and Laura

Praying for me at the Commissioning

Praise and Prayer

Praise the Lord for opening doors and making my path to the U.K. (mostly) easy!
Praise the Lord for awesome training this summer. I’m still unpacking it and figuring out how to apply the things I’ve learned.
Please pray for me as I travel to the U.K. to meet my team and help them start the school year in September! I’ll spend the week of freshman orientation, called “Freshers Week” doing ministry with them on our campuses in Birmingham. I will also get a few days to spend with Adam and his family on either end of the week!
Pray for endurance and excitement as I “hit the bricks” and build my team of ministry partners.