My Shopping Adventure

Today I went shopping with our guard and house helper. What an adventure. Okay, so we walked to a market where they sell secondhand clothes, toys, curtains, sheets, prom/brides maid dresses, and more. I wanted to buy Shelbyanne some dresses for her birthday, since she has grown too tall for the ones she has now.

Imagine if you can a flea market where the booths are side by side, made of 2 X 4s, tin roofs, are maybe 5x7 feet, and covered in hanging clothes. The people, young guys especially come out and beckon you into their stall, or want you to follow them to their stall to look at what they have.

I was able to buy 4 really cute dresses for Shelbyanne for about $3 each.

And then...

A guy had us follow him to his stall where he was going to show me some long skirts for me, which I need a few of. His stall was one with a lot of prom/bridesmaid dresses. He had us sit down on a small bench. Then he pulled out a very big bag of clothes. He started pulling out clothes from the bag (shirts, shorts, pants, skirts) and asking if I liked them. As he was going through the bag another lady came up and he asked us all to scoot over so she could sit down. He was showing us all his wares.

I found one skirt that I liked, and the negotiations began. He gave me a price and Upendo, my house helper, made a face. I knew what she was thinking, I just didn't know what to say to him. He spoke some English and tried to explain to me how they do business here. We ended negotiating a good price, $5, after things got a little heated. Upendo really stood up for me. It was awesome to watch her. It just reinforced my decision never to go to that market alone until I am fluent in Swahili.

Hope your day was just as interesting.

Blessings,

Amy

Just thought I would post some pictures from when the team from FBC Ft. Lauderdale came to visit.

The Blessings of Friendship!

Today we said goodbye, for now, to our coworkers. They are currently living and working in a neighboring country. They came here to spend a few days with us while traveling in the area. What a blessing it was to have them stay in our home with us. They have two children who are in the 5th and 7th grades. All of our kids had a great time together. Our family is really going to miss having them around. Please be in prayer for their family as they travel home, and as they make decisions and plans for moving here.

Since we moved here we have had many blessings and many challenges. One of the challenges and the thing we miss the most is the time we spend hanging out with family and friends. We are slowly making friends here. All of the other missionaries that we have met live too far away for us to fellowship with them very often. Plus, they have their own families and ministries that they are involved in. We do get together with a group of other missionaries once a month for a pot-luck lunch. There are usually other kids there which is good for our kids. Sometimes there are even pets there, which is the highlight of the day for our kids.

I would love to find an African friend around my age. The biggest hindrance to that is most ladies here work and then have to go home and take care of their families. We are also needing to find language helper to continue our Swahili studies. I know that God knows who would make a good fit for me and for Rob. We are trusting that He will show us who to "make friends" and who to have as "language helpers".

Well, that's what is on my mind for today. Hope you are sleeping well and that you wake up healthy and enjoying the presence of the Lord today!

Blessings,

Amy

Habari Moto Moto?

What's The Hot News??

Have I told you lately that I really appreciate when we have electricity? The power has gone out for at least 5 hours almost everyday lately, and some days more than 12 hours. We are in the dry season now and the power company isn't able to produce enough electricity for the whole city at once, so they ration power in different areas everyday. It is so nice to have electricity to keep the fridge cool and for fans when we all go to bed.

We have been spending several hours a day Monday through Friday with our language helper. She is a student in college studying to become a primary teacher. She was teaching us during her winter break from school. We had our last session with her yesterday. She is returning home for a week and then heading back to college. We are praying that we find someone, or a few someones, to be our "Nurturers" in the Swahili language. We are in the 2nd phase of our language program and really need someone who knows English enough to understand what we are trying to say. Our teammates who will be moving here next year arrive tomorrow to visit for a few days. We are looking forward to spending some time with them to chat about their upcoming move and language study.

A few of my thoughts...My faith is unwavering. My relationship with the Lord is strengthening. I know why we are here and am convinced that God will be glorified through our lives if we keep focused on Him. I miss our family, friends, and churches more and more everyday. I get a bit discouraged the moment that the electricity goes off. Rob is a rock! He has been such an amazing support through all these adjustments. I am so thankful to have a wonderful husband.

Hope all is well with you. If you get a chance, write us a note, we would love to hear from you. We love and miss you all. Here are some pictures of us.

Blessings,

Amy

Shelbyanne climbing at a playground! She will have her 6th birthday in 17 days and will be in a new school in the first grade a few days after that.

Donovan loved jumping on the trampoline. He is growing up so much!

Emily is our little treasure hunter. She looks for treasure in the dirt everywhere we go. One person's trash is another's treasure.

Rob and the kids hanging out under their fort. Rob is playing on his new musical instrument.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ulzj1JEgyw4

Check out this video on you tube of Donovan playing with his toys. He is getting so big!

Blessings,

Amy

I am Swamped!!

When I say that phrase, what do you think I mean? I have been thinking about my words so much lately. Especially since I have been trying to say them in a way that is totally unfamiliar to me to people who don't think the same way I do. We have been spending 5 hours a day for the past two weeks with our language helper. My brain is full, at least I feel that way. So when I say I am swamped, I mean my cup is full and overflowing with so many new Swahili words, that I don't know how I will ever remember them all. Someday all the words I am learning are going to all fit together in an amazing way to communicate the most wonderful story in history to people who may have never heard it before, and THAT is what keeps me motivated to press in when I feel like I can't stuff another word into the dictionary in my brain.

We had an awesome visit with a team of 17 folks from home. They went first to Rawanda to help with water projects. Then they came here to see us, see where we live, and connect with the local church here. It was an amazing time of fellowship and encouragement. One of the team members, Miranda, who will be a senior in High school next year, stayed for an extra 3 weeks. She has been such a wonderful help to us, not only with watching the kids and cooking with me, but also as a friend to talk to, watch movies with, and play games together. Rob and I have been able to play games that we haven't played in a long time. Tomorrow she and I will be going to an African arts and crafts market. She needs to buy some things for people back home. It will be a lot of fun.

Have a blessed day wherever you are!

Amy

Habari Moto Moto!?

What's the Hot News?

Today is Rob's 33rd Birthday...AND...We are going to start learning Swahili from the beginning...again!

Last week we had some teammates from Mozambique come up to consult us on our language program. We didn't know what to expect from our time together. We just hoped that we would get some direction as to what to do next. We are so excited about a program they orientated us to. In this program we will start over from the beginning to make sure we don't miss anything. We are so thankful to have some direction and a plan. We are preparing to start the program next week. A really cool aspect to this program is that the kids can be involved. WooHoo!!

We are preparing for a missions team to come from our sending church in Florida. They will be working with well projects in another country in Africa then they will come for a visit to see us for a few days. We are very much looking forward to seeing them and showing them around our area. Please pray for their travel safety.

Rob, kids, and I are all doing great. We are all healthy! Shelbyanne told me the other day that she loves living in our house. It is comforting to know that the kids are adjusting so well. Today I was changing Donovan's diaper and I told him, "I love you." It really sounded like he said back to me, "I love you too." It was so sweet. He is such a loving little boy. He will walk up to me while I am cooking in the kitchen and turn me around so he can give me a hug.

So, that's it for tonight. Thanks for all you love, prayers, and support!
Usiku mwema! Good Night!
Amy

A visit with friends and a "typical" day...

Another great week. We are all doing really well. Rob and I are progressing in our Swahili studies and building relationships with those around us. Shelbyanne is doing great in homeschool to finish her kindergarten year. She absolutely loves all the "wild" animals around town (goats, chickens, cats, dogs, cows). She wants to hold/pet them all. Emily is not afraid to jump right in with the local kids and play. Language is not a barrier for her. Donovan is growing like a weed. He loves to play and climb and jump. He is a fun boy to have around. He makes the people here smile. Especially when he speaks his 1 year old Swahili. :) We had our pastor and his family over for a meal last weekend. We ate lunch, then Donovan went down for a nap. The girls had fun showing them their stuff. (Emily- her leapster; Shelbyanne- her bug that she caught) Pictures below.

A Typical day for us!
Wake up between 7-7:30. Have breakfast. Clean up then Shelbyanne and I do homeschool. Rob watches Donovan and Emily in the playroom or from the window right outside the room while he works on Swahili with our guard. After homeschool it is time to prepare lunch. This is when Upendo and I work on my Swahili. She has been teaching me to cook the food from here, and the vocabulary that goes along with it. It has been great. We are able to communicate pretty well, in Swahili since she doesn't speak much English. After lunch we clean up then I do some communication stuff on the computer/internet while the kids rest and Rob prepares for our language session with the Pastor. He comes 4 days a week at 2pm, and we sit for 1-2 hours asking questions and learning new pieces to the language puzzle. After he leaves we get Donovan up from nap and play for a bit while I or Rob prepares dinner. We eat, bathe the kids while watching a bit of a movie, get them ready for bed, and its nighty night time for the kiddos. Then Rob and I spend some time catching up on communications, laundry, and whatever we didn't finish in the day before getting ready for bed ourselves. Some days we get to walk around our area for different reasons, although walks haven't become part of our routine, yet. They will soon. I took Donovan to the clinic in our area yesterday because he has a bad rash in his diaper area that isn't going away. I carried him like the women here carry their young children in the material pouch(like a baby sling in the US). It was so much easier to carry him and so many people were watching me. I don't know if they were amazed or thought it was funny. I was excited that I was able to do it, it worked, and was much more comfortable than carrying him on my hip. Anyways, that is a day without any surprises which rarely happens. Hope it helps you to get an idea of our life right now.
Make Each Day Count! Blessings,

Amy