I FOUND A HOME!!!

After months and months of transition and preparation, I've found a room in a slum! I was trying to be patient, to wait for God's good timing in this complex searching process. Well, I'm really glad to have waited (I had little choice in the matter), because it's a good fit at a good time.

J (my roommate) and I have visited quite a few slum communities together in recent weeks and months. But we felt a gradual peace and assurance that this community was a place to return to in case it could be a place to live. It's a long strip of different communities that line a ditch along a railroad track on the fringe of the city. We would walk slowly through the communities, greeting people and often stopping to chat with people. This helped us feel out the people and climate of the communities.

We were offered a "less ideal" room in a section of the strip that wasn't our first choice. We politely declined. But right after that, we entered into the section of the communities that we had the most peace about. We got a room smack dab in the middle of this ideal area! We're in a pretty central location also, so when J and I make our rounds to meet, greet, and practice language, we'll be able to go two separate ways to maximize our learning and understanding of the strip of communities.

Anyway, our room is made of brick, with a light, fan and window. We had been prepared to use a "toilet" that many people in our community use - a bamboo structure on legs over the sewage ditch, with a tarp flap for privacy. But in our room, we actually get to share a proper squat toilet with around six other families, and there's a water source just outside our room.

This is a big deal for J and I. We've enjoyed the gradual process toward where we are now, but now we get to immerse ourselves in the community we came to live in. We're thankful for the culture and language experience we've been able to get already, which will help make an easier transition. But there's no way to prepare perfectly for this move. Our lives are about to change.

We're about to be refined with a new perspective on life. Please pray that we have humility and patience to live with joy and contentment, whatever our circumstance throws our way.