MK forum

I've done quite a bit of tramping over the years and for some reason seem to end up sharing the huts with Americans (Perhaps Someone is trying to teach me something ). I've found them to be really good company and have kept in contact long after the tramp was over.
Like 22 years ago points out, there are strange people in any group and there are also many good genuine people too.
My humble opinion is that it comes down to the way one sees others. If one sees others as purely existing to provide oneself with a better existance then one has a narrow of the world. If on the other hand one sees others as fellow travellers in life who by engaging with enrich both lives, then one is a better more balanced individual for it.

Bemused fellow traveler
Along this interesting MK path
Share the journey a while
Pause to have a laugh

For life is to short
To not pause to share a smile
And even nonsense
In poetic or cheeky style

Not sure what others did, but my parents sold their house and possessions before they went into training.
Not everyone thought this was a great idea, but onward they pressed. Arriving in Australia, it was a bit obvious that this was a very different and strange world called NTM. But to go back would have been a major embarrassment and quickly my father was spouting the same mantras as every other adult, he even did it better than most.

I think we should have just taken the major embarrassment option and said, "oops got that one wrong" but we didn't and here we are today. A family in name only.


Just curious, do candidates still sell all, before they enter training?

It used to a badge of faith to do it.
We got some very bad advice from NTM
We realize in looking back.
Today?
Others will have to answer.

Great post, 22yearslater ( I probably got that wrong. )
We have to take each person on an individual basis.
Or we will miss some great potential friends!

22_years-ago.
Now I've got it!

Greetings! We're traveling, internet is iffy, but am popping in here to see what's going on...will reply a bit more later when I have a bit more time...in the meantime, will be thinking about the comments...

Thanks, 22_years_ago for your encouragement...I, too, have met many great people from different places and others from the same places who are not so great. Americans included.

I don't know if candidates still sell all or not these days, since I'm a bit out of the loop myself, but I know my parents did. I do know of a few who kept property or a house, but not many.

My dad inherited some land from his parents and on top of deciding to keep it, he also bought some land from his siblings to complete a 25 acre piece. Since my dad had grown up on that farm, having a piece of that property brought a comforting sense of 'roots' for me and while I might not necessarily consider it to be 'home', it's still a very special place and I feel very much at home there.

I recently offered some advice to a friend getting ready for the mission field who was trying to decide whether to 'get rid of it all' or to store some of their things...I think she was feeling the pressure to put all those things behind her as a show of faith or commitment, but I told her that one never knows what lies ahead and they might even be back home sooner than they thought due to sickness or team issues or political unrest, whatever. Then it would be really nice to have at least a few of those familiar, comfortable things to go back to...if the commitment on the mission field ends up being longer, then it might be easier to sort through things later, when in a different state of mind.

My advice kind of surprised me because I grew up very differently, where attachment to material things was viewed as a bit, maybe, suspect? I remember the agony of cleaning out my dorm room every year and having to get rid of all of my hoarded 'treasures'...most of which were junk, perhaps, but probably an attempt to find comfort and stability? With my kids now, I try to allow them a certain amount/number of special things, trying to take this need into account...