The new job begins!

The handover has officially taken place and I've moved into my new office!

The first month of my life at YFC has flown by and I've learned so much I feel like my brain is bursting! I'm LOVING IT!!!!!!!!!!

I've been training for the past month with Sharron Wilen (see our cute picture?) and she has been an incredible blessing! She's patiently shown me the ropes and has provided me guidance and support! Working in a non-profit Christian organization in a ministry position is VERY different than working in corporate America and there have been moments when I wasn't sure if I had bitten off more than I could chew!! (HA HA!) But Sharron was there to answer questions and reassured me on numerous occassions that I was exactly who they'd been looking and praying for to fill the position.

So why was I feeling the heat so intensely?

After two weeks of training, Sharron and I started preparing for Candidate School. CS as it's affectionately called is primarily my responsibility to plan and organize. It's a week long orientation/training for all of our missionary candidates. Anyone who wants to serve overseas for more than 6 months comes to Candidate School so that they can get a feel for YFC and so that YFC can get to know the candidate. During the intense 7 day orientation, the staff rarely sits down!!!!! So- I was WAY excited to dive into the preparation for CS but this didn't turn out to be a normal CS. We had not one, but FOUR last minute candidates register. Normally, you work on processing someone to come to CS for several months before they actually arrive and it's normal to have one person register last minute- but NOT 4!!!! So imagine if you will...trying to train in a new position (that's sort of a foreign career to you...) while DOING the new position, planning for your first 7 day orientation and then in the meantime, having four people join in at the last minute. Do not get me wrong, PRAISE GOD!!!!!!!!!! But OHMYGOSH!!! Sharron and I barely sat down the week before and my head was overflowing with new responsibilities and even the lingo in the office was foreign!

On one particular day, I felt like I was going to either burst into tears or maniacal laughter at the amount of pressure I was feeling. So in true-Megan-like-fashion I brought my hand to my head and pretended to faint in front of my team as they were discussing what still needed to be done. It was a complete joke and everyone burst into laughter as I lay on the floor pretending to hyperventilate while proclaiming that they were going to kill me with all this craziness!!! My supervisor began laughing even harder than the rest of the team and finally said "Megan, I'd like to introduce you to the president of Youth for Christ International." I was lying face down on the floor at this point still putting on a scene and I felt my heart stop at this point. I barely looked up-I couldn't! I was mortified. Iinstead I stuck my hand up in the air and said into the floor "Nice to meet you. I'm Megan." He took my hand and burst into laughter exclaiming "what are you doing to this girl?" We all laughed and I pulled myself together grateful that it seemed like this group was going to be more than okay with the dramatic theatrics that I sometimes like to pull out for sheer laughs.

Candidate School went off like a charm- not without a lot of minor blunders- but it was awesome! I had an absolute blast with the missionaries and got to spend a lot of time one on one with them. We dove into deep conversations about life, faith and our pursuit of God's desire for our lives. I went to dinner with them several nights, participated in their devotions and even led one of my own! I co-led worship with one of the girls who wanted to lead music in Botswana, Africa and swapped stories with Lauren who is leaving for Benin in less than a year! She was the first candidate I processed through and it's obvious that we have an awesome connection!

I can tell that CS is going to be one of my absolute favorite parts of this job!!!! I loved laughing, connecting and sharing with these people and hearing their stories was inspiring. So although this CS was crazy (and I vow that preparations for the next one will be smoother) it was amazing! I left CS two days early to travel to VA with a heavy heart since I had to say goodbye. Each one of these candidates touched my heart in a very special way! I've attached the picture of my very first CANDIDATE SCHOOL CLASS!!!!!!!!! Enjoy :)

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