So it's been about 2.5 months since I last posted. John and I are so thankful for the time that we got to spend with family and friends. It went by really quickly and we were a lot busier than we thought we would be. Nevertheless, we came back refreshed and ready to see what God has in store for us.
We arrived in-country 33 hours after we left Arizona. Aden did really well on the flights. The hardest part was waiting for our luggage on the carousel. It was literally like a sauna inside. We were all dripping with sweat and Aden was an unhappy camper because of it!
Our teammate Chad wasn't able to make the ferry over to pick us up but it was a blessing in disguise because I really enjoyed taking a small boat instead of our cars onto the ferry. The boat was small but the seating was spacious and cool. There was a video of various people running with the bulls in Spain in the background. All the Sierra Leoneans that we were riding with us thought it was the most peculiar thing! (I tend to agree!)
When we arrived in Sierra Leone, our wonderful teammates had moved all of our stuff into our new compound. Instead of paying rent for another year, we decided to live in these "mostly" fixed up houses that we are leasing from the government for free for 20 years. Its in Newton (right outside of Waterloo) We packed up most of our belongings before we left Sierra Leone, and that was the first thing we had to do when we arrived... unpack! It seemed a little overwhelming at first. I tend to prefer packing... and John likes to unpack so I guess we make a pretty good team... I think what took the longest was decided where all the furniture would go so we could unpack our things in and around it. We were lucky to have our teammates watch Aden during a lot of the unpacking stage so we could get to work!
It took about 5 days and we have a majority of our house unpacked. I think we probably won't be entirely moved in for about 6 months and I'll tell you why later...
But 6 days after we arrived, a team from Chile arrived. One guy will be living here, another young nurse Valentina will be staying 6 months, and another man is leaving on Sunday (we'll call him Mr. P...he likes to remain anonymous but he's one of the big reasons that John and I are in Sierra Leone now). We have been having a BLAST with the team. A major reason Mr. P came was to lead us in a 5 day spiritual retreat and encourage/challenge us to a greater relationship and intimacy with God. And if that was his goal, he did just that! I think our whole team is very excited about the growth in each of our personal walks with God and what He has in line for each of our ministries. I hope to be mixing in some of my favorite quotes, current meditations of my heart, and ways I believe God has been challenging me... as well as the usual day-to-day stuff I usually post about (AKA... pictures of Aden :)
Here is a picture from our new compound with a lot of our Sierra Leonean, Chilean, and American team members (minus John who was taking the picture and Aden who was sleeping during it)
We arrived in-country 33 hours after we left Arizona. Aden did really well on the flights. The hardest part was waiting for our luggage on the carousel. It was literally like a sauna inside. We were all dripping with sweat and Aden was an unhappy camper because of it!
Our teammate Chad wasn't able to make the ferry over to pick us up but it was a blessing in disguise because I really enjoyed taking a small boat instead of our cars onto the ferry. The boat was small but the seating was spacious and cool. There was a video of various people running with the bulls in Spain in the background. All the Sierra Leoneans that we were riding with us thought it was the most peculiar thing! (I tend to agree!)
When we arrived in Sierra Leone, our wonderful teammates had moved all of our stuff into our new compound. Instead of paying rent for another year, we decided to live in these "mostly" fixed up houses that we are leasing from the government for free for 20 years. Its in Newton (right outside of Waterloo) We packed up most of our belongings before we left Sierra Leone, and that was the first thing we had to do when we arrived... unpack! It seemed a little overwhelming at first. I tend to prefer packing... and John likes to unpack so I guess we make a pretty good team... I think what took the longest was decided where all the furniture would go so we could unpack our things in and around it. We were lucky to have our teammates watch Aden during a lot of the unpacking stage so we could get to work!
It took about 5 days and we have a majority of our house unpacked. I think we probably won't be entirely moved in for about 6 months and I'll tell you why later...
But 6 days after we arrived, a team from Chile arrived. One guy will be living here, another young nurse Valentina will be staying 6 months, and another man is leaving on Sunday (we'll call him Mr. P...he likes to remain anonymous but he's one of the big reasons that John and I are in Sierra Leone now). We have been having a BLAST with the team. A major reason Mr. P came was to lead us in a 5 day spiritual retreat and encourage/challenge us to a greater relationship and intimacy with God. And if that was his goal, he did just that! I think our whole team is very excited about the growth in each of our personal walks with God and what He has in line for each of our ministries. I hope to be mixing in some of my favorite quotes, current meditations of my heart, and ways I believe God has been challenging me... as well as the usual day-to-day stuff I usually post about (AKA... pictures of Aden :)
Here is a picture from our new compound with a lot of our Sierra Leonean, Chilean, and American team members (minus John who was taking the picture and Aden who was sleeping during it)
