Kim and I have been officially called to be Humanitarian Service Missionaries for the LDS Church for the next 2 1/2 years. Our mission began on July 12, 2010 and we will serve as a Development Couple as well as a Trainer/Technician team for the Church Wheelchair Initiative. This "journey" began almost 3 years ago when we were asked if we would be a Trainer/Technician team. After saying "yes" to this opportunity, Kim was called shortly thereafter to serve in a Bishopric in a Weber State University Young Adult ward. We called the Wheelchair office and said we would need to be put "on hold" so that Kim could serve in the Bishopric and still work his full-time job. Little did we know that a year and a half later, he would retire from his Physical Therapy practice AND be released from his Bishopric call. We were immediately called again to serve as a Trainer/Technician team and received additional training during a 3 day seminar this past March. In June, we received a call from the Wheelchair office and were asked if we would submit our official mission papers to accept a call as a Development Couple! We are thrilled with this opportunity to serve a mission especially because we are serving at the same time as Mitch is serving his mission in Canada!
Our mission is unique in that we travel for 2-4 weeks at a time to third-world countries and then we come home, travel again, then come home, and on it goes! Our first assignment will be to travel to Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Ghana in West Africa in October to learn how to evaluate previous wheelchair projects that have been done by LDS Charities. Our second assingment, in December, will be to go to Guyana on the northern border of South America to do a Training session. The Phillipines is on the docket for 2011 and who knows what else?! We are grateful for this wonderful opportunity to use Kim's professional skills and talents, as well as my past travel experience and work with Reach The Children and other NGO's.
