The Storm of the Century

we had a terrible storm which knocked down trees and the power for 4 days. today is the first day that it's been back on.

i don't have much time to update, but i wanted to let you know that i'm alive and doing well. i'll update more later. thanks for all your emails and your encouragement. those words mean so much!

here's an expanded version. i'll have to update the photos later, since it's already 10.40 at night, and i need to finish my homework. but before i do, here's a brief update:

things are better with the language barrier. tho i don't understand most of what is being said, i have a peace about it. i'm enjoying being in the presence of the others students. one of the students just accepted Christ about 30 minutes ago. we are all rejoicing over this! dancing and singing galore!

dancing and singing seem to be the way of life. each day w/ start w/ dancing and singing... for an hour or so. then we have tea. then we sing and listen to a lesson. then we eat. then we have a break for a quiet time and rest. then we have a lesson. then we do laundry. then we eat. but there is a great dea more to add, but right now i don't have much time to go into deep details.

these sleepings nets are wonderful. there are bugs buzzing outside my net, but right now i'm safe and bug free!

the weather has been warm - in the 80's. it's wonderful!

gas is over $4/gallon

i'm learning to have friends who don't understand me. it's a new experience for me, but God is opening some doors and allowing me to see their hearts. we laugh at each other a lot, and they laugh at me trying to pronouce some of their words. i'm slowly catching on to what they are trying to say.

doing my laundry in a bucket was a first for me. not sure i got any of the stains out, but my clothes smell a whole lot better. and having them dry on the 1/2 of clothes line which wasn't damaged from the tree falling on it helps too. (that's a terrible, grammatically nightmare of a sentence!)

i love my dts leader. her name is jemma (gay-ma). she invited me to her apartment last night for dinner. she's taken me in and continues to question how i'm doing. she had made banana soup which was amazing. it was really great to have that time with her and her family.

we have 20 students going thru this DTS. we are getting to be a close knit group, even tho we still struggle to understand each other. our translator tries very diligently to make the english clear for me, but some of the times the stories are not quite communicated clearly. it's funny when he gets stumped and the other english speaking student translates for him. it all works out perfectly in the end.

thanks for all your prayers - they are availing much in africa. i'm really glad to be here.