Week One

Hello, hello. Well, I can’t believe this is finally here. I’m in my new home in South Asia! Whaat? But it is absolutely wonderful, and I feel like I have been here forever [in a “feels like home” kind of way, not a “get me out of here” kind of way]. There are a lot of things to catch up on… So…

Traveling days:

My flight out of DFW was super fancy! I mean, talk about luxury. They had a menu for the meals that had many different choices for lunch and breakfast as well as a little note that said “veggie wraps and assorted chocolate bars available at your leisure”… so basically they just came around with a basket of candy bars and you got to pick whichever one you liked! That’s what you want. I watched about 6 movies, and managed to sleep for a little bit [14.5 hour flight].

Once we arrived, I followed all the signs for the transfer flights… there were a ton, so I was like “oh, this will be easy to find, no worries”. Then all of the sudden the signs led me to an abandoned part of the airport and I see one security guard so I ask him where to go and he says “Sit there. Wait for bus”. So… I sat on a bench [by myself] and waited for a bus to come. The bus came and there was no one on it. Everything in me was like “don’t get on this bus by yourself”… but I didn’t know what else to do… So I got on the bus. I had flashbacks to East Asia when I had to give all my luggage to the shady guy in the van, but that turned out ok, so I figured this would too! And even though I had no idea where I was going and at one point it looked like the guy was going to get on the highway and drive far away from the airport and sell me for my blonde hair, I made it safely to my terminal! [Stop worrying mom, I’m ok, he wasn’t really going to do that ;)]. I then waited around for a while and boarded my next flight. It ended up taking off an hour and a half late, so I just slept for a long time! Once I arrived at the airport, I made it through customs and got my luggage just fine! Then headed to our hotel where we spent the night! The next day we went to a part of the capital where they make pottery! That area is known for it’s wood carving, paper making, and pottery, so everything is super detailed and very intricate. It was so beautiful and historic. The next day we headed out on a bus for the city I live in [we call it hippyville – and it is]! It was about a 7 hour ride and I got to see so much of the country! It stopped at two places and we bought vegetables from a market at one stop and had a good lunch at the other! Once we arrived home, I unpacked and got all settled in! We went out to eat that evening and I had my first Daal Bhaat [rice with lentils]. It was pretty tasty!

Other days:

Now that I am all settled in, most of my time has been focused on meeting people and getting to know the area! It’s not that big of a town, so I’ve figured out how to get to most places! I start language classes tomorrow, and I am so excited!! I’ve picked up a few words, but it will be so much easier when I actually know what’s happening. However, one of the coolest things so far is that the lady that comes to help clean our house once a week [absolutely the sweetest lady –and tiniest] ate lunch with us and she prayed for our meal. It was just so amazing to hear her passion and love for the Lord shine through even though she was speaking in a completely different language!

There are so many things happening that I can already tell this is going to be a time of both educational and spiritual growth and I am excited to see all that the Lord does over these next few months!

Things I'm learning:

• Everyone says “no problem” a lot.
• Nobody pushes in their chairs.
• Bring socks with you everywhere that way if the tile is cold in someone’s house you can still take off your shoes at the door and your feet will stay warm “no problem”.

Things I’m thankful for:

• God is the God of all nations
• Safe travels
• A beautiful place to call home the next 5 months

Things to pray for:

• Health – I have a little bit of a cold, so that’s not been great, but other than that I am feeling absolutely wonderful, so pray for the cold to go away and continued good health!
• There are some other things going on ministry wise that I can’t really put on the internet but God knows what they are, so please be praying for some of the families and the girls here.

^{Colossians 1:9-14: "9} For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, ¹⁰ so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹ being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, ¹² and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. ¹³ For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."

Blessings.

P.S. For those who know about NSN... It's going quite nicely so far! For those who don't... Don't worry about it ;)