MKLM Joint Mission Sending Ceremony

This past weekend we had a ton of family and friends up in Ossining to witness our Joint Mission Sending Ceremony. This ceremony marks the end of our Orientation Program and culminates in us being officially "sent" to our mission countries. It was a jam-packed, emotional weekend, but I had a great time with everyone!


On Friday we went out to an Ethiopian dinner with my parents, Chris's sister and bro-in-law and fellow missioner, Darren.


The Ceremony was full of symbolism and quite beautiful.

Missioners from each region were "called forth" by someone who had previously served in that region and then they were given their mission crosses by MK leadership.







Me and Chris receiving our crosses by Sam and Janice.


After the ceremony we all went out to the mission sending bell for pictures.


It was so great that some of my NYU friends came up for the day!

The dress that I'm wearing is from Tanzania. There is a returned missioner, Bertha, who was coming back to the US after completing 9 years in mission in TZ. She happened to be in Ossining this weekend and she gave me this dress. It fit perfectly, which was amazing because it was made specifically for her. I was so excited about it that I decided to wear it to the ceremony.

It's unbelievable that the next step is simply getting on a plane in exactly 2 weeks from today. There's a lot to do between now and then though and it puts a knot in my throat and stomach to think about it!