Erisman Family Mission: A Glimpse into Intake

We just finished our sixth week of Intake, the 3-month training that we're going through with Family Missions Company. We arrived here on Sept. 8^th, which happened to be our 12^th wedding anniversary. If you had told me even 3 years ago that we would be celebrating our 12^th anniversary driving to a small town in Louisiana to start training to become foreign missionaries, I wouldn't have believed it!

There are 5 other families and 15 singles going through Intake with us this year (60 people total). Next year's Intake will be even larger. In fact, it they won't be able to house everyone here at Big Woods (what they call the home base where we're at); it will have to be split between Big Woods and another location nearby.

These past few weeks have flown by! Most days, we have meals and prayer in common with the other Intakers at the “big house.” There are two morning sessions (a study on Act of the Apostles, a study on John Paul II”s encyclical “Mission of the Redeemer,” a teaching workshop or a teaching class). The afternoon is spent on work projects, assigned chores, prayer, and study. Thursdays are a service day where we go into town for different works of service. Saturday morning is designated for work/cleaning projects and the afternoon is a “desert day” for extended prayer time. We celebrate a Lord's Day meal that evening, and Sundays are our day off.

Some of the things our teaching class has gone over is the Great Commission (Mt 28:16-20 & Mk 16:14-20), evangelization, to love and serve the poor, living the charisms of Family Missions Company, preparing for missions, what to expect at our arrival in country, working with the local people, and forming disciples. Our teaching workshop gives us the opportunity to develop 5-10 minute talks on a certain themes that we give to our teaching small group. These themes have been: our personal testimonies, giving the kerygma, the “5-point catechism” (prayer, God's Word, sacraments, community, and service), Bible teaching, and explaining Catholic teaching.

The kids have loved developing new friendships with the other kids going through Intake. There are 25 other kids besides ours, along with about 20 more kids belonging to the missionaries on staff at Big Woods.

One particular blessing of our time so far has been meeting some of the missionaries that have come back temporarily in between mission posts. It's been great to hear about their experiences in the countries they've been in (both the hardships and joys) and to be able to ask questions and solicit words of wisdom to us newbies. We've been able to meet the Carmody family, the Herrmann family, and the Wilde family (who are currently living just a few houses down from us!). I've linked their blogs to their names so you can read about where they've been or are now.

This coming week, we will be preparing for our 3-week trip to the mission in General Cepeda, Mexico. During our time there, we will continue with our formation in the morning but in the afternoon/evening we'll be able to enter into the ministries that the full-time missionaries are doing there. Our last week in Mexico will be serving in conjunction with a number of people who are coming for a short-term mission trip. Before coming back to the States, we will also be finding out which country we'll be getting sent to for our first mission post! It probably goes without saying that we're really excited for this part of Intake!

Please continue to keep us in your prayers and let us know how we can be praying for you!