I do not know where to begin with describing my recent adventures in our new home. We have been here for a little over one month and so far have been highly active in learning the language, setting up and cleaning our apartment, hosting a team of eight (right after finishing up a weekend retreat where we were given great vision and direction), and making contacts of our own. I last wrote about the craziness of last minute packing and saying our good bye's to family and friends. Wow, that time seems so long ago! I was asked by one of the visiting team members what has been the most challenging part in transitioning here so far. My answer to her was that time had not been our friend in our transition here, meaning that since we've gotten here we have been quite the busy bodies. But after talking with her I was prompted to think of our month here so far. Our first week was spent looking for a place to live, and thankfully we were able to make some really good friends with the Realtors that helped us find a home. Our second week was spent signing up for language classes and getting our apartment necessities in order (such as electricity, Internet, gas, and cable). We also began to meet with a tutor weekly who focuses us on learning spiritual language; I spend three hours a week with the tutor and my husband spends six hours. Our third week here was spent preparing for and taking midterm exams, pretty stressful. We also had our first guest come and stay with us over the weekend and I was greatly encouraged by his visit. He was an old student of mine that became one of my first believers; he shared how the work in my old city was still going strong. That really warmed my heart to hear. Our fourth week we took a lot of time to prepare for a small team coming in from the Sates and also had a retreat to attend to. These past two weeks have been time spent working alongside that team and learning with them more about our city and the people in it. I don't imagine that we will be this busy all the time, yet God is so faithful to be our strength during eventful times like these. I love how God brings Himself Glory in every situation, because with this team that has been visiting we have witnessed our first harvest of fruit! I am thrilled to be seeing this already! Last week we had one local receive Christ and last night two more made decisions and the team is still on the ground yielding more fruit I don't doubt as I type this. I was overjoyed that God had brought us such wonderful folks to help start the work here so quickly. The energy they are pouring into this city blesses my husband and I by advancing our work here by about six months. The urgency to get the Gospel out grows and many share the same vision of spreading the Truth of God with zeal... "For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task? Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men SENT FROM GOD."
2 Corinthians 2:15-17
2 Corinthians 2:15-17
