Dear Friends and Family,
Have you ever had one of those days when just the thought of all you have to do and the decisions that have to be made makes you want to dive back under the covers and refuse to face the world? (Maybe I should ask if there are any days most of us don't feel that way J ). Anyway, the word that best describes us this week is OVERWHELMED. As my mom mentioned, we were met at the airport by 13 people who came home with us and prayed a blessing on us, our house, and our time here, so we are feeling supported and encouraged by those around us, but the things before us waiting to be done and the decisions needing to be made are extremely overwhelming, especially when mixed with the needs of our family in transition. I am so thankful that "because of His great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new EVERY morning."
The boys have gotten over jet lag to the extent that they have stopped waking up for several hours a night wanting to play, but they are still waking at least once each night afraid and unsettled. Micah has hardly been eating anything, and all of us have had a stomach bug. Zach feels at home for the most part, though he is missing having friends to play with and is a bit frustrated at not having as much attention from mom and dad. Micah, on the other hand, seems completely overwhelmed by all the changes and just wants to be held most of the time. I can sympathize J , especially after a bat got stuck in our house Wednesday night… you would have laughed at the way I was peeking out of the bedroom door ducking and trying to decide if it was safe to scamper to the boys' rooms when they cried. We finally trapped it by closing a window and then let it out by going outside the house and loosening the screen, so I can breathe a sigh of relief about that. One family highlight of the week was going to Ken and Melli's for two birthday parties-- one for Zach who turned four on the 16th, and one for Uncle Ken, who is just a bit older than that J . It was nice not to have to figure out those meals, and the boys loved playing with the cousins. We even got to swim in their neighbors' pool.
Back on the overwhelming side, the film team reports that their equipment is in a sorry state and needs repairs. Many of their DVDs are scratched and the amp is broken. Our car is in the shop and the brakes are out on the other car we usually borrow. Since we arrived, our desk top computer and laptop have both stopped working well-- the desktop won't even come on and the laptop has stopped recognizing its' disk drive. We are still relying on occasionally being able to get a dial up internet connection to work since our slightly more high speed connection is defunct. Thankfully Jesse's water system is still holding up well-- once I talk myself into climbing out of bed to face the day it is awfully nice to be able to take a shower!!!
I was also extremely encouraged by my initial visit to Discovery School-- the artwork on the walls and the lists of songs the kids know showed clearly that they tried their best to follow the lesson plans I sent. Envoys from the Ministry of Education visited the week before we arrived, and left declaring that this was one of the best preschools in all of Burundi and that they had no suggestions for improvement! Praise the Lord! Even this encouragement brings with it more decisions, though. The demand to sign up students for next year is extremely high. The community, the teachers, and the church elders all want to almost double the size of the school for next year-- they want to add an extra class of three-year-olds and an extra class of four-year-olds as well as adding the kindergarten class. I think we could manage this except that it would require building two classrooms this summer. The school has made a profit of $3000 USD, and someone in the US has sent $1000 toward the building, but to build and furnish two classrooms-- even just hangar style ones with only half walls in the front-- will cost about 14,000 USD. We are praying that the Lord will show us what to do-- we don't want to run ahead-- but we need to make a decision by early June so that we know how many students to allow to sign up.
Two short termers are arriving in the next few weeks. Karleen is an MK from Bolivia and she will be staying through the beginning of August. She is in nursing school and will be doing some medical teaching seminars as well as helping me with the school. Joel is from Canada and will be staying through October. He is a carpenter and will be putting finishing touches on the school playground as well as working on other maintenance projects and hopefully working with the high school youth group. This will be his first time overseas. Please pray for both of them as they adjust and for us as we plan for their activities.
Planning for Karleen and Joel will occupy much of our time next week, and what isn't spent on that Jesse will be spending teaching a class on Spiritual Disciplines at the Bible School. He is scheduled to teach every afternoon and is really looking forward to being involved hands-on again.
Please write and let us know how you are doing. It helps reduce the feeling that we have dropped off the face of the earth J . Thanks for your love, prayers, and support and for reading this long email!
Joy for all
