Do you know who won?

Do you know who won the recent soccer game? It was My Country!! Even though I wasn’t in front of the television for the whole soccer game I could tell each time that they made a goal, since the neighborhood went wild. The game was thousands of miles away, but with each goal it sounded like the stadium was a block away with all the cheering, yelling, and air horns (is that what they were?).

That’s how a lot of my first few days have been. I understand a lot of what’s going on around me, but there are definitely things I don’t have a clue about, such as why last night for dinner I was the only one at the dining room table. But I was told to eat there, so I did.

In some ways it’s hard to imagine that I’ve been here with my host family for just a few days. Some things are like I expected (ex. the weather), some things are not at all like I expected (ex. having CNN on the tv here), some things are variable (ex. whether or not we have running water in the house), and some things are the same as normal (ex. washing your hands with soap and water before you eat).

So far I’ve been able to meet several of the leaders in the church, spend lots of time with my host family, go to the market, help wash the dishes and clothes, watch meals being made, explain about skunks, practice my French a lot, learn some Jula (the language that most people here actually speak in day-to-day conversations), go to church, and a bunch of other things, too.

Thanks so much for your continued prayers. I really appreciate them! I never quite know what’s going on, and am getting used to watching life and engaging as I can. You could pray for my continued adjustment to life here. I feel pretty comfortable around my host family now, but this next week I’ll be getting to know a bunch of other people as well.

Thanks for being part of what God is doing in My Country!