We have arrived in Albertville France. Actually we have officially been here for 1 month, but the time has flown by quickly. Our time here has already been filled with a lot of adjustments and many adventures. Let's start with our first week. Within the first week, all of us except Ahni started school, while we were still adjusting to this time zone, waking up in the middle of the night with kids, and not sleeping much. Drew's first day of school, started with ice skating at the Olympic park here with his class, and it ended in the ER after an ambulance ride to the hospital. Fortunately his fall on the ice only resulted in a small laceration on his chin and 2 stitches. His newly healed jaw and 2 week old front teeth were OK! Thank you Lord!
We have now completed 3 1/2 weeks of school including 3 weekly tests. It's already been challenging, but we are seeing some steady progress.
We have been in awe of the scenery here in Albertville. It's such a wonderful encouragement when we are tired and stressed after trying to fill our brain with French. Our fellow language learners have come up with several analogies for the various levels here in language school. Here is the analogy we found most descriptive of our current level: We are like babies being spoon fed. We quickly become full. However, the food just keeps getting shoveled in, despite our desire for it to stop.
We have already been very encouraged by two families who are also both here in France preparing to work in Togo, the Afolabis and Kendalls. They have helped us navigate many of the necessary tasks like grocery shopping, getting phone and internet setup, and doctor's appointments since we can't speak much French yet. We can't tell you what a blessing and stress reliever they have been. We were also able to celebrate Ahni and Celeste Kendall's 2nd birthday's together, since they were born only a week apart. What a treat to celebrate these two precious girls together!
This past weekend, we ventured out for a hiking break from studying. We visited a medievil city very close to Albertville named Conflans. It was great exercise, and we were able to have some great views of Albertville from above.
Prayer Requests:
Our family: We want to praise God for providing Courtney to help us during this time in France. She has been a huge help not only with Ahni, but also with the big kids especially when we need to study. Please pray for her as she makes many decisions about her future here in Albertville and future training/schooling.
Please pray for our family as we all continue to adjust to life here. We desire to find a healthy balance between the work of studying/learning French and meeting the needs of our kids/family. We also desire to begin building relationships with those in our community here in Albertville. Please pray for our wisdom as we make all of these decisions.
Our Team: Please continue to pray for the Togolese and American team at the Hospital of Hope. We continue to get reports that make it clear that God is at work in changing lives. Please also pray for our teammates who are in the U.S preparing to come to Togo long term, and those that may be considering it. In order to continue this work, there is an ongoing need for short and long term workers.
