The week before Ragnar and Elizabeth Niclasen left the Philippines, they attended a four-day intensive seminar in Manila with several Global Equip groups. It went very well with encouraging sessions, time to meet lots of the Asian students and great fellowship during mealtimes. They are thankful that the mission could accommodate them all. The seven students that Ragnar and Elizabeth were mentoring this past year were able to attend. It was also great for them to see the Kankanaey students graduate after two years of hard work. The meetings (which Ragnar took part in) were very uplifting and brought the course to an encouraging completion. It will be exciting to see how they will go on to share what God has taught them with others. It is also exciting that three Kankanaey sisters have signed up to take the course next year.
The week after they arrived in Ontario for home assignment found Ragnar and Elizabeth at ‘Connect ‘26’ in Durham. It was an amazing time with fellow missionaries on home assignment, as well as those on staff at the training centre in Durham. They were impressed with how well it was organised and how smoothly it flowed. It was a wonderful few days together, studying God’s Word, sharing with each other about the work around the world, getting to spend time with people they hadn’t seen in many years, as well as meeting quite a few for the first time. There was lots of time to fellowship and share meals together. They even had a talent night and sang hymns around a campfire. It reminded them of their time in missionary training back in 1976. They were encouraged and very thankful for those few days on the grounds where they met 50 years ago!