Thankful

God is still at work and continues to provide all of our needs. We were all greatly encouraged when our new church family and a few others came and helped us clean the house and yard. They made lunch over an open fire, completely gutted, scrubbed, and hosed down the inside of the house, cleaned and burned in the yard, removed a roof from one of the coops, and helped us get some things moved and organized. At times, the task seems overwhelming and it is difficult to see the potential, but God is giving us strength to overcome, and sending us help when we need it. We were uplifted also by some friends and family that are living here in Colombia who came to spend a couple nights with us. It was a sweet time of fellowship, and was refreshing to have some English speaking friends to talk to who could also help us with our Spanish.

The new girls are doing better every day. They seem to be getting used to structure and seem to be enjoying their new found luxuries of running water, three meals a day, and several changes of clothes, which God graciously provided this week through a family from New Jersey. It is so exciting to watch God work and provide while using so many different people to do it. We are consistently reminded that this is His project, He is orchestrating it, and we are just a small part of the big picture.

Getting Settled

We are here in Turbaco staying at a farm that was graciously offered to us until we can get settled at our own place, which is only about 2 miles away. We are finally settling into a routine and getting used to the time change. Thank you all for your prayers, God is listening! We have gotten two of the girls we have been praying for, and the transition has been pretty smooth. The language barrier is still an issue, but we are managing to communicate good enough. There is little time to study but we have some prospects of teachers that may be willing to come here to help in that area. Our kids are adjusting quite well. The food, climate, new additions, and constant commotion seem to have a larger effect on us adults than the children.

Monday we are hoping to get started back with school, at least with the older kids. We learned this week that we will be teaching the new girls in addition to our own which will be a challenge. We may mostly be teaching them English for now. God is good though and has provided a helper who will be coming 5 days a week to help with cooking, cleaning and laundry.

Right now it looks like we will be able to begin cleaning on our property by the 15th of this month. We walked there a couple days ago and realized that it needs more work than we originally thought. The main house needs to be gutted and thoroughly cleaned. The cabinets and closets are either rotted or have mold and the bats do not seem interested in moving out. Some of the doors need to be replaced and the patio will have to be removed. It seemed a bit overwhelming, but since then, the church we will be attending has offered to come help get things cleaned up! Oh the gifts that God gives us. I wish there was time to tell you all the daily gifts we receive from our Loving Father. We do not have transportation, we haven’t had a phone until yesterday, we cannot communicate well, and we don’t know where or how to get what we need. We are completely dependant on God to supply our needs and this He has done. Whenever we need something, God brings help, not because we call on men, but because we call on God, He hears us when we ask and He answers our prayers. At times it feels a little reckless, almost foolish, but God always shows up with answers when we need them and thus, encourages our faith. Often we can see how He even went before us and prepared our way ahead of time. What a mighty God we serve!

We don’t have internet at our house, so updates will be sparse. Please continue to pray for God’s work to be done among us and for Him to bring the children, helpers and disciples that He has for us. We love and miss you all!