One Month In

Today is a month since we got here, and it has been a pretty good month. Even though most of our time is spent with preschool/school and the babies, we have also been connecting with some of the older kids recently. School is officially back in session, so our time is more structured. 

With one month down, we are now mostly accustomed to life here in Burkina. We feel pretty comfortable shopping in the market, although sometimes it’s confusing with the different money (and that slight language barrier). We are getting used to our schedules, and are enjoying our time here. We especially like how relaxed the culture is, and usually get a nap during sieste(from 1-3) every day. 

Yesterday (Tuesday) we experienced our first Muslim holiday. Lauren was a little disappointed since she was supposed to teach for the first time, but school was cancelled. African organizations are not that organized. She found out a couple of hours before school started (through our tailor). Everyone was dressed up for the holiday, and the kids looked especially adorable. It was cool to see everyone very excited and pretty, and the music went well into the night (past Lauren and Bekah’s bedtime- who go to sleep around 9 and midnight respectively). 

Lauren also found out today that she will be teaching on Daniel 3 tomorrow in class. If anyone has any suggestions n this, please feel free to email her at lp1218@messiah.edu. She has never studied Daniel in depth before, so any help would be greatly appreciated!

Some prayer requests we have are: 

The husband of one of the tauntes (who take care of the babies) in our orphanage passed away this past week. Please pray for her and her children as they mourn and adjust. 

One of the Air Force men is returning home this upcoming Sunday, and he and his family will be starting the adoption process soon thereafter. Please pray for Joe and Christy as they begin this exciting process!

For us as we continue to adjust to life here without our families. 

A praise that we have is that all of the babies that are adoptable right now have families! We were hoping for a family for one boy in particular, Haruna. He is blind and deaf, and has had very little stimulation in his life, but we are hoping with more stimulation and attention, he will flourish. Just on Sunday, a family from the States accepted him, and we are very excited that he will have a family within the next couple of years!