Settling in

Wow, I can't believe it's June already! May went by so fast, and so will this month with another workshop just around the corner, and a Bible dedication coming up too!

Another intern and I moved into a house in the city of Nampula on Saturday as we are housesitting for a missionary family who is out of town for a couple of weeks. It has been a great opportunity to see life from a different angle and to experience things that we wouldn't have by simply living on the center. My spanish background has definitely come in handy these past few days because there have been multiple times when I need to talk to someone here. At the center, everyone knows at least a little English, but no one does here! So, I basically tried speaking Spanish while throwing in a few Portuguese words and pronunciation, and to my surprise, people can understand me! Unbelievable! So, my prayer for communication really was answered! And I can understand a great deal comparatively speaking. Praise God!

This week we are preparing for another dictionary workshop that will be held at the center beginning on Monday. This time we will have 4 languages represented instead of the 2 we had in Lichinga, so there will be a lot more going on. We are trying to somehow simplify the process for the speakers so that the process will be more efficient and less confusing. Pray that we would be able to remember all the things that we need to prepare, and that next week everything would go smoothly and that all editing 'homework' would be done quickly and with ease. This is the last dictionary workshop I will be involved with here since the linguist who does dictionary work will be leaving on a mini-furlough a week after the workshop is completed.

I think that only now has the culture shock faded and adjustments been made, and now I am feeling more at ease with being here. I really enjoy the work and being around linguists and other missionaries associated with Wycliffe and other organizations. There's something incredible about meeting someone for the first time and just feeling like you already have some deep connection, just because we both serve the same God and have a passion for His word to be given to all people. I am excited to see how God will use this experience to point me in the right direction so that I can do something like this long term.

Thanks so much for your prayer and support! Feel free to email me!