7 strangers...

Ok so we're not exactly strangers anymore... but that's a line that has been amply quoted since the beginning of our journey. You must forgive me if I begin to write a bit old timey, as I have been reading through the Chronicles of Narnia during our trip.

So we have a bit of news to tell! Two of our very own family members have been injured, and within a matter of 7 minutes to be exact. The first was Sidney who, in an attempt to lead us to a victorious win over "The Flock" (the other team here) in a football game, was suddenly elbowed just below her left eye. It was shocking how quickly it puffed up to near the size of a golf ball. Thought the swelling has since gone down, Dad has shown us quite an array of his magnificent rainbow on our darling Sidney's face.

The second, though less colorful, turned out to be much more serious. And by serious, I only mean has required quite a bit more care. Fatima, running her hardest to catch the running back from the opposing team, ran out of bounds and was unable to stop herself before slamming smack dab into a wall, hitting her left knee on the concrete. And to make a long story short, she is now walking stiff-legged with Dad knows how many stitches.

Both of our injurees have been quite the troopers.

As for the rest of us, we're all just trying to think of anything but the heat and humidity, which seems to be even worse than Houston at the present. The pollution doesn’t help much either. But talking to Dad every day as we walk to class has seemed to raise our spirits a bit when it comes to actual classes. We only have one more week of classes to go!

But Dad has been faithful, in that He has provided us endless times of enthusiasm with our new toys: mosquito zappers. The tennis-racket-shaped objects are quite the delight of both Sidney and Sammo, who seem to go at the little suckers night and day.

So that along with singing our lungs out to songs from the 90's (well the girls were. the men refused to participate) have made quite a wonderful week. But we are tired. So please ask Dad that we may have the energy and love to continue His work while we're here.

We miss you all and long to see your beautiful faces soon!

With all the love that our hearts contain,

The Family

家庭

Big Gulps Uh?

I know we would all agree that our trip has been a good one thus far. Our time in Dallas was short but sweet, and our time in this beautiful country has had Dad’s hands all over it. We have already seen a girl meet Dad, which has recently brought us much joy and encouragement.

Our days look a little something like this: wake up to noisy hall-monitors, fire-crackers, old men hawking loogies, drinking “coffee,” and then going to class to learn about this country’s language and culture. Our favorite days of class, however, are the ones that we spend doing tai chi (like asian yoga) and painting.

But the real fun starts after that. Since our classes are only in the morning, the rest of the day is devoted to spending time with students and building deep and meaningful relationships with them. I think we have each grown in our own ways from these afternoons full of conversation about anything ranging from classes to Dad.

Evenings are the real joy, though. We either have dinner with one another or with students, and each night is something different. Whether that’s “Sidvicious” throwing deadly passes to to her Jordan Shipley, “The Clift Bar,”; Davey singing his lungs out to Phil Collins; Jordan preparing for his modeling career; Abby (aka “homeschool”) begging people to play Catch Phrase; Fatima doing.... what exactly is she always doing?; or “Texas Daddy” (David Betts) reminding us all of how many days are left till Texas football kickoff (86 by the way), there is never a dull moment in our “family.”

We already have so many crazy stories, like about eating frozen duck blood, and going on jogs that made us need the “tulet” (cough* Sidney cough*), and are so excited to share those with you upon our return. Our adventures with the “squatty” and the “pooping chair” are ones that you should be desperately excited to hear about in 23 days when we fly into D-town (perhaps with feet the size of cantaloupes). There are so many other experiences that I could write about, but that would take all the fun out of our home-coming!

So keep us in your “thoughts” as we wake up each day and seek joy in Him. Remember that we are here for a purpose, and petition for “the bird” to accomplish that purpose in us while we’re here.

Until next time,

The Family