Over the River and into the Hills

I am five days into my home stay. I am not sure how much it is helping my language learning since the dad knows some English and likes to practice it, but it is cool to see how the nationals live and to live like them. The mom is a really good cook. They make me feel so lazy because they won't let me or my teammate help with anything. They say that we are guests. I say that we are family. They don't buy it. My teammate and I sleep under a pink mosquito net. There are many mosquitos in this house...I am becoming quite the mosquito killer. :)

A few other things to get used to:
1. cold showers (no hot water heater)
2. squatty potty
3. the chirping of the gecko who lives in our room

This is a late culture so they usually eat dinner between 9 and 10. They know that that is when we are getting ready for bed, so they make supper for us earlier. I told them that we would eat with them, but again, request denied.

Here is my home stay family:

This weekend I had the opportunity to visit a rural area of the country where the tribal people live. It took us four hours to drive up into the massive hills but it was a beautiful drive. We stayed at a motel not too far from town where my field advisors did discipleship training for new believers. One of the girls from the Center went with us, which gave me an opportunity to build on my relationship with her and practice the language. The countryside is absolutely beautiful and the sights and sounds made me miss home. I forgot how much my heart is in the country. The best part, though, was fellowshiping with national believers. We spent last evening at a national's house where we sung a song to the Lord and read His Word together. I was reminded that JC tells us that we will show our love to Him by obeying His commands and one of His commands is the GC found in Matthew 28:18-20. JC continually reminds me that He is with me and that He is at work here. I am so thankful to join Him in what He is doing. It is truly a privilege. This morning, I had the opportunity to break bread with another group of new national believers. Many of them had never observed this command of JC before. Please lift up these new followers of the Way. They have a tough road before them but they have counted the cost and found JC to be more than worth it.

I have been in South Asia for almost a month now. Isn't that crazy?! Until this week, I have been sick at least once a week. I am so thankful to be healthy again and to have my appetite back and have been reminded through this trial that good health is truly a gift from the Father. Thank you for your prayers on my behalf!