Our pilot flew a long, slow loop above the village we have called our second home away from home. We weren’t sure what condition the grass landing strip might be in so we all peered down to investigate. We could see so much more than just the landing strip from our bird’s eye view. We could see in one glance nearly the entire reach of the average Amdu person’s world. We noticed new gardens that have been cut into the jungle and saw that there had been recent yard work done near our house because of the burnt off grass. As we slowed into our final approach we even saw some of our friends on a ridge waving and dancing as we glided in for landing. Ten days after leaving America we touched down in Amdu and our traveling was finally finished. As we tumbled out of the plane the Amdu language came fast and familiar to our ears from the lips of so many friends. There were sweaty fore head rubs and lots of knuckle pops which translates into a whole bunch of affectionate greeting. For the rest of the day we were greeted by those returning to the village from their gardens each one excited to tell us where they were when the plane flew over and all of them saying, “I was dancing when you came!” This is the ultimate showcase of Amdu approval. We’re so happy to be back safely and so glad that we have found it easy to express ourselves again using the Amdu language that lay dormant in our hearts for a season. We even feel, that perhaps, our communication and ability to hear the language has improved with the time we spent away. This is thrilling, to say the least! Not so thrilling was the cleaning we had to do just to get ourselves ready for a night sleep the first night. The house was filthy, but in good working order. The only hiccup was our large generator we use for running our shop vac which comes in VERY handy for deep cleaning, wouldn’t start. We just had to leave that in God’s hands and trust that we’d find a solution eventually. Everything else was in good working order. The solar electric system was ticking away nicely. The fridge and freezer were appropriately cold. The water ran unimpeded through all the faucets and the toilet hasn’t lost its flush. We had our fill of jumps and screams as death was unleashed on resident cockroaches and one lizard trapped in the kitchen sink. Our dependable neighbor took care of that for us. By dark we were clean and comfortable in our beds praying that whatever critters we hadn’t killed yet were off to bed too. Day two and three were taken up with more cleaning and visiting. We got introduced to the new babies and enjoyed hearing stories about the big events that transpired since we were gone, like huge gardens planted and harvested, houses built, and feasts shared. In between cleaning, organizing and visiting we spared some time to get our Christmas tree out and put up some decorations. We enjoyed a simple Christmas celebration together. Now nearly ten days after arriving in Amdu we have seen the Lord faithful in so many areas. For instance, the Lord granted wisdom and technical help via email for Benjamin to get the big generator running. We found our wifi router that provides a local network for syncing our laptops together was dead. This little local system is important for projects our team all works together on and would allow us to see what our teammates, Bart and Emily Allen, had accomplished on these projects before they left for furlough. Again the Lord supplied needed wisdom and creativity to get the system going using a smart phone hotspot. While the phone is useless here in Amdu for making calls, it can still serve as a router of sorts that helps us to create the needed network. Little victories like this remind us of our frailty and God’s interest in us as a Good Father. Yesterday we took a thirty minute hike out to a nearby hamlet to visit a sick friend. We’re thankful for how our feet are remembering how to walk, or clamber, on these trails again. And we’re renewed again with the reality that personal relationships through community is the only way for discipleship to succeed. We’re so happy to be a part of this mountain community and are thrilled with the healthy relationships God has given us. Tomorrow Benjamin will be announcing our plans to restart our post literacy program. This is a program for the graduates of the literacy course. It is designed to be done at home on the student’s own time each day. Once a week we’ll meet and evaluate each students progress. They have a series of books to progress through. Since we were gone the graduates made some progress and we are going to take a look at just how far each one got, starting this week. Then we will meet each day until all the students are confident with how to continue on their own. This is a watershed moment for these students. Will they be motivated enough to discipline themselves to practice each day and advance? We’re also hoping to start building a classroom of our own. Thus far we have been borrowing space in a local meeting house. All the supplies are set for constructing this new classroom. Pray that we’d have enough interest to see the project started and completed quickly. Important as these projects are we are hoping to keep them on the periphery of our time investment and spend the bulk of our days on moving translation and Bible curriculum development forward. While Missy devotes time to home schooling the kids she also will be giving time to translation and the many steps of that process we tried to explain to many of you while on furlough this year. Pray for her as she produces rough drafts and then gets with language helpers who will help improve it. Benjamin has been devoting his time to writing Bible lessons that will clearly explain the Gospel in a chronological approach from Creation through the ascension of Christ. These lessons are a synthesis of all we understand of the Scripture, the Amdu language and the Amdu culture. We are trusting the Lord to help us create the clearest explanation of God’s expression of His love to us in Christ Jesus. These are very exciting days as God gives insight and Benjamin sees more clearly how best to communicate the truth of the Gospel. Continue to pray for great wisdom, insight and opportunities to learn. The lesson writing process necessarily includes Amdu language helpers. These few will become the first to hear the Gospel clearly. Folks, we are really into it now!! I have goose bumps while I am writing this. Pray the Gospel of grace comes clearly and powerfully to these people through our frailty. There is something so satisfying with spending all our energy in this effort to make disciples in Amdu. But even this sense of satisfaction pales in significance compared with the satisfaction that comes from fellowship with our Heavenly Father. He has placed us in His Son Jesus through faith in Christ’s cross and as we walk with the Spirit there is nothing sweeter than knowing His presence and filling. This is something we can all enjoy no matter where God has us on this planet. We pray that you are enjoying His presence as you pray the same for us. Together for Gospel Day in Amdu, Benjamin and Missy