My various accents might (finally) come in handy.

Do you need a visa if you're going to spend 6 weeks in France? What's the U.S. exchange rate in Australia? How many airplanes you have to take to fly from Minneapolis to Accra, Ghana? (And in what part of Africa is Ghana located, exactly?)

I don't know the answers to any of these questions, but I'm about to find out.

There have been a few changes in the regional office this fall. Because of this, the Upper Midwest is in need of a staff member to oversee the operations aspects of our region's US Summer Missions Projects for 2011. Last week, I was asked to step into this role, and after considering it, I've decided to temporarily take on this new ministry position.

Simply put, this is huge. Not that my old ministry assignment isn't important (they're eventually going to need me back in that role), but this is maybe a bit more time-sensitive. Planning is already underway for the 2011 Summer Missions Projects. We in the Upper Midwest have strategic partnerships with 6 different countries, each on a different continent. As part of our vision to build spiritual movements everywhere, we are committed to sending students and staff to these 6 countries for 4-6 weeks each summer, and STINT (Short-Term International) teams for 9-10 months each year.

You're probably wondering what these countries are. (Drumroll...)
Uruguay (our newest partnership)
Accra, Ghana (only two? years old)
Brisbane, Australia (about 4 years old)
Montpellier, France (don't ask me how to pronounce that)
4th Journey (Middle-eastern unnamed country)
East Asia (like, a big one)

You're probably wondering if I'll get to visit any of these countries. I have no idea (I doubt it, but the way life on staff goes, I'm not ruling anything out).

You're probably wondering exactly what I'm going to do. A lot of things, yo. This role involves working with summer missions project directors, making travel arrangements (did I mention the 6 countries are all on different continents, with different international rules?).

Another thing I'll be heavily involved with is one of my very favorite conferences: Kingdom Called, which occurs early April each year. At this conference, students going on summer and year-long projects will receive vital training for raising their support, cross-cultural evangelism, and what to expect to feel when they arrive and leave their countries. (We also have a track for students who are about to graduate -- they receive information on how to transition to the marketplace, how to make big life decisions, how to reach their new coworkers, etc. It's a new thing we're trying).

So, this is right up my alley, and I'm very excited for a chance to jump into such a challenging role. I'm going to stop blabbing all about it now, because this is a huge post. Stay tuned for more!