Day Number ?

I actually have lost count of the days now. We had a good day today – overcast and rainy so it was quite comfortable for us. Walked with the kids to the small market about a block away and bought them a few peanuts. Jack gave all of the nationals – and his sisters - a good laugh when he shoved a peanut shell and all into his mouth and started crunching away. He was actually enjoying it but I made him spit it out and picked out the peanut pieces for him. :) People are very friendly and love to watch us. Occasionally we’ve made a small baby cry as they maybe have never seen a white skinned person before. Our kids are warming up to being stared at and touched and are learning to smile politely and not comment audibly on the smells/sights (which are many!).

It’s certainly fair to say that we’ve begun to adjust to life here. It always takes at least a few weeks to start to settle in somewhere. The kids have insatiable appetites. Not sure if it’s the heat or maybe the absence of snacking and dessert type foods. It’s crazy! We’re also becoming accustomed to the absence of hot water. Even in this heat a cold shower is a bit shocking when you first get in – especially for the kids! Especially shocking when you discover you’re sharing the space with ant eating geckos. Have so far shared the shower with many ants, gecko’s and cockroaches. Well, only one cockroach. I made Jay go in and kill it before I re-entered.

We spent an evening last week with the New Tribes missionaries again to celebrate American Thanksgiving – complete with pumpkin pie and football! It was nice. We’ve been enjoying the incredible hospitality of Mike and Ruth (our hosts) and the kids just LOVE them. It was neat the other night to sit around and talk of home as they are originally from Port Sydney as well. The missionaries who are here are so amazing. I’ve really been trying to understand how they can give up everything and make sacrifices that seem so huge to me to be here. Missing relatives and friends, churches, communities, comforts, familiarities. Yes, the palm trees are beautiful but seriously – a lot of what we see isn’t. And yet they are so humble and gracious and thankful. So passionate to share Christ with the people here. People who desperately need the gospel and have never heard. I’ve been reading through Mark as that is what Kaj has been preaching on at our church in Muskoka. Stuck on Mark 10:29. “Jesus said ‘Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundred fold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last and the last first.’” Trying to really get it. I certainly don’t think we all need to leave home and embark on overseas missions. I am wondering how my ‘normal’ life fits into this. What have I sacrificed for the sake of Jesus Christ and His gospel? What would my ‘normal’ life look like if I was willing to sacrifice in this radical way? I’m thinking that it comes down to (at least in part) where my priorities in life lie. What’s on my list of important things to do? I think my list might look a bit different from now on…