From Africa

I have not written you yet because I didn't know what to say. There's so much to tell you and I want to say it right. Our journey here was one of the most difficult experiences of my life. I cried a lot and have been emotionally overwhelmed. It was an eye-opening experience and we certainly gained a lot by being able to see more of West Africa. We drove through Senegal and Gambia and finally into Guinea-Bissau. The picture in the car was taken at the beginning of our lengthy car trip. West Africa is not all the same, somehow, when we crossed the border into Guinea-Bissau, we felt different, much more at peace and much more secure. When we got to Bissau, I was shocked at how much has changed since I was here in 2007. The roads that were desperately potholed are now driveable, the city has lights at night in certain places and there are a lot of nice new buildings. I was told that since I was here, the city has more than doubled in size. There are a lot of people coming from other countries to here as refugees.
We arrived and realized that our immediate situation is not quite what we thought it would be and have adjusted accordingly with the gracious help of many friends. The picture to the left is of our friend, Emily Atkins and her daughter, Savannah. We are staying on their floor until we have a more permanent arrangement. This will be a few more days. We're working on getting a house and then after that's settled, a full job description. We went to church this morning and everyone there was very excited to have us. Apparently, they've all been hearing about us coming for a few months and are excited. It was quite a feeling just hoping we don't let them down somehow. There seems to be a lot of excitement, but we're still trying to get a really level-headed idea of what our immediate goals and plans are. Take one step at a time....we're here, now. That's a HUGE step.

For anyone wondering, Sheba is doing fine. She handles all the displacement better that us at this point. Pray that she doesn't get any more ticks. There have been a lot at the place we're staying right now, so she's been pretty loaded with them. She has a REALLY high quality tick collar and it does kill them when they bite her....most of the time. But they have to bite her and hang out for like an hour or so. Most of the ones we find on her are not doing too well by the time we pull them out, they're usually mostly dead. :) Sheba has discovered that she is the same size as most livestock here.
We will be blogging more often from now on, I promise, I just needed a week to get my feet and thoughts under me. This transition has been bizarre and fun and emotional and exhausting and exhilirating all at the same time. The picture below is Jason at one of the houses that we are considering renting. We have several very awesome choices to consider.