The last month was a bit of a whirlwind for us. We ended May going on a visa trip to where we lived until last July. We got 5-year visas, so it will be nice to not have to renew those every single year.
Right as we got back, the biggest holiday of the year was starting. Idul Fitri marks the end of the month of fasting. Families go back to where they are from to see family and neighbors visit each other. We visited around 10 houses and still could have visited a lot more. At each house, you eat a meal, so if you visit multiple houses in a row, you end up a little sick at the end.
Anyways, the holiday is finally over now, so we are back to business as usual. Only there is a lot more business than usual because we are taking on some new roles since our co-workers went on furlough. In addition to language consulting, I will also be supervising the maintenance jobs needing to be done before new people move in as well as handling some new financial responsibilities.
We have a new group of people come every three months here. They stay, studying language and culture for about a year, and then move on to another region. So there is a quick turnover, and just when you get to know someone, they move.
Alisha is working on editing the orientation booklet for new families, organizing loaner items (sheets, dishes, pots and pans) for each of the new families and trying to tie up any other loose ends to make sure everything is ready for them when they arrive.
We have about a month or so of overlap after the new group gets here until another group leaves. This first/last month will be full of doing language evaluations for the older group, answering final language questions for them and doing kick-offs and orientations for the new group who will be anxious to get started on language learning.
Elroy and Scout are out of school until August, so they are busy being best friends and also worst enemies. If we can keep them alive through summer, Elroy will be going into 6th grade and Scout into 5th. Meanwhile, Davis has been getting into everything. Tonight, he busied himself carrying all the contents of Lish’s purse to her for inventory. Also, somewhere in the house, he found glue. He is going through a special phase.
On a more somber note, our pastor here died a couple days ago from diabetic complications. The way the local people comfort each other after a death is by constantly being with the family. So our church has held services at his wife’s house the last three nights to make sure she is not alone. She also has two adult kids who are with her right now.
Praise:
-New families coming to serve on the field
-Renewal of our visas
Prayer:
-To be able to keep up with language consulting and other responsibilities
-For the family of our pastor
Thanks for your continuing prayers and support!
The McIlroys