Now the Fun Begins...

by Rob Hindman ('98)

If you are familiar with AIM, you are aware that our training consists of an eight-month portion in Lubbock followed by over a year on a mission field elsewhere. It seems that every year, we get at least a couple of students who come with the plan of staying only for the first five to eight months of training. This is fine, and these students are admitted as readily as any student planning to go to the field as an AIM student. However, for AIM staff, we cannot help but knowingly smile when we meet such students, aware from experience that nearly every student who has ever come to AIM for only the first few months of training has ended up with a burning desire to serve on the mission field with his or her classmates.

"One day it just clicked," said Tim McVicker (pictured, right), a student in the current class who came with such an intention. "I want to make a difference," Tim went on to say. "If I go to the field, it will be a strong foundation for my life."

Tim's story reflects what are truly two undeniable strengths of the AIM experience: team formation and service on a mission field. Each of the 49 students in the current class have now experienced the beginning stages of the mission team formation process, starting simply and naturally with the friendships developed among the AIM class. Then, starting in September, a series of 17 presentations were made by missionaries around the world recruiting students from the class to come join their work. In early November, each student submitted a list of preferred fields and teammates. A committee of AIM staff then began the prayerful process of forming the students into teams, culminating with the team announcements just before the students left for Christmas break. The current teams and fields will be available on aimsunset.org soon.