Our house and prayer requests

The African soil feels good beneath our barefoot feet. The weather has been beautiful. Elijah has adopted our yard and calls it his forest. He spends time running around with sticks chasing “monsters” which are really the exotic birds we have here. He tries to mimic their call and comes pretty close. Here are some pictures of our house.

Church on Sunday was great. African really know how to do hospitality. They really seek out the visitors and spend more than just 45 seconds talking with you. Everyone we met wanted to know us, not just our names and our titles. They even had cake with icing for all the visitors to eat. I had to graciously talk them into letting Dan and I share because a large piece of cake was WAY too sugary for me on an early Sunday morning.

We went shopping on Sunday afternoon. I spent $100 and got just the basics. I've forgotten how expensive food is in Africa. Cooking will be a challenge but it's one I'm excited to face. It will be an awkward dance between having the right ingredients on a shoe string budget and getting everything cooked before the power goes out. We do have running water, a stove and a refrigerator, so that's great.

We had a meeting with the team Sunday night. There are three guys and one gal from Gordon Conwell here doing the same internship. It's nice to know other people are here on the same page with us. Dan began his internship on Monday and has been put straight to work. I'll let him tell you about that later.

Please continue to pray for us. We feel pretty adjusted and are thankful for that. Pray for health as stomachs usually start to hurt about a week in. Here is how you can pray for us specifically this week:

Dan: He's feeling tired from quickly wrapping up school and then travelling. Pray that he will make time to connect with the Lord and pray against the temptation to crawl inside his mind and checking out when things get stressful.

Bethany: I need wisdom in dealing with the kids. Pray that I will be gracious towards them, knowing that it's been a tough week. Pray that I will find joy in cooking and hand washing our diapers. I know that God will be using me here in other ways, too, but the majority of my time will be spent keeping everyone fed and clean. I need to remember that God delights in those services.

Elijah: Pray for his heart. So far, there's been no culture shock for him. I'd like to thank our church (New City Fellowship) for that. He attended his first Sunday School at church and apparently did very well. However, I'm afraid he will begin to act out as time goes on. We are traveling every weekend and that might get confusing for him. Pray that he will understand our purpose of being here and that he would feel safe and confident in the fact that mommy and daddy are always nearby.

Lazarus: He's getting four teeth right now, poor guy! You can pray that he would continue to be the amazing, fun and laid back baby that he's always been. So far, he's slept well on airplanes, the sling, and in my arms on bumpy drives along dirt roads. Pray that he will continue to do those things!!! We cannot afford for him to become high maintenance.

Praises:

• We made it here safely without any hitches, including not having the deal with customs at the Bulawayo airport.

• We feel settled. It's only been a day and the boys are back on schedule as far as sleep goes. Dan and I have been able to hang out in the evening (shocking!!) and we are enjoying family time together.

• God has given us good friends in the Matt and Kayle (pronounced K-Lee) who are teachers at TCZed. They have a 3 yr old boy who has quickly become Elijah's best friend and Kayle has helped a ton with making baby food and lending us toys.

• We had an encouraging morning at church. It's an amazing thing to be able to worship with God's people so far from home.

  Thank you for your support. I hope to write again, soon!