Mangos, sunshine, and roses!

We have landed, and we are well. 

Last time we lived here, my work partner and I agreed that anytime we started to feel culture stress, we would close our eyes and repeat the phrase that gives life: "mangos, sunshine, and roses" so that we could focus on the gifts of God instead of the traffic and power outages. I must have shared that with another coworker, because when we arrived--she met us with mangos and roses. Another friend made sure we were well-supplied with the dark roast coffee I have yearned for. New coworkers who have never met us provided bags of food and sweet notes. We have been hosted for dinners almost every night so I don't have to try and remember how to cook here again just yet. 

We are in temporary housing until our house is painted and prepared for us, and there are times I yearn to unpack. It's been a long 11 weeks of living out of suitcases since we left Hilliard. But we've always had comfortable accommodations, and even now we're staying in the neighborhood we lived in before, so I know how to get around to get what we need. So through it all, God is faithful. Even once we get in our house, our belongings crated from the US will not likely arrive for 6 months or more, so this life of transition is only just beginning.

We have enjoyed hugging old friends and meeting new ones. We have spent time sitting in the sunshine in wonder that God would allow us to come back and work here again. Chad has seen 50+ new species of birds just walking around the compounds. We have had team meetings and started to catch up with all that is happening in Nairobi as God works through local churches, national believers, and coworkers. We have felt so honored that we get to serve here, and so overwhelmed at the size of the task.

And we have felt the sting of culture stress as we re-engage the fight for space on overcrowded roads, remembered how to hang clothes on the line and then race the rain to bring them in again, tried to find truly gluten free foods. Omara and Isaac have had moments of enjoying the adventure of finding monkeys in the trees, catching chickens and petting cows outside church, and devouring the new fruits but they have also struggled with the slower internet, the time-change that makes it hard to talk with friends, and the newness of the smells. They miss Hilliard. 

Please praise God with us for all His blessings and for the opportunity to be here, and pray for us as we re-adjust. Pray for Isaac and Omara in particular--that God would give them new friends, and also help them to see and understand the greater purpose of why we are here. It's no small thing we are asking them to do at their age, but we know that as God has called us, so He has called our children; He will sustain us all.