RAFTing Home Together.

Nige came home from an International Council meeting in the USA, in April, with a DVD for us to work through. It's called "Exit Right - Enter Right" and is produced by Interaction International (see their website http://www.interactionintl.org). It introduced us to the concept of RAFT which has become a key theme for us in this current time of transition.

RAFT stands for:

R - reconciliation. Making sure that your relationships are right before you leave, ensuring that there will be no regrets or hard feelings with others.
A - affirmation. Affirming those people who have made a special impact on your life.
F - farewells. Saying goodbye to places, people, possessions and pets.
T - think destination. What are the expectations you have for the new place you are going to.

We watched a short DVD together as a family where these concepts were outlined and then we individually worked through worksheets identifying people in each area that we wanted to focus on. Surprisingly enough it worked really well! The boys both got into it and identified people that we had forgotten about or pets that they specially wanted to farewell (needless to say we will be visiting all our friends houses to say goodbye to their pets as well!). The whole process has helped us focus our jumbled thoughts and feelings and given us a clear strategy to leave Ecuador well. It has meant that we have intentionally thanked some people and purposefully said goodbye to others (there is still a lot more of that to come). But so far so good!

I think I will encourage other missios and internationally mobile families to use this great resource.