Well, now that I’ve been here almost two months (what???!!! So crazy!!), a routine is starting to form. I think it feels more like home and a real life now, which is good. Days continue to march on, and it is amazing to me to see how quickly the days pass.
Each day somewhat differs from one another, but I will share about a whole week, since overall, they slip into a pattern. Right now, I am a full time student, which means that I try to get up to 30 hours a week in language study. Three times a week, I have two different language classes. One of my teachers comes to where I live and works with me on nouns, verbs, and now we are starting to describe and tell stories with the words I have learned and am still learning. Our lessons go for about two hours. My other classes take place at a school, and my teacher and I go through a book with lessons with new vocabulary, grammar, and different worksheet/homework questions. Our lessons last about an hour and a half. That totals to about 11 hours a week of just language classes. I also eat with my host family four times a week at dinners. I usually stay afterwards and play with their children, garnering me another eight to nine hours of language practice. That leaves about another 10 hours of just language study on my own. Those hours I usually spend doing homework, practicing vocabulary, and trying to memorize all the words I have learned. Those ten hours are usually scattered about the week, depending on when I have time.
Two days a week, I go to pr_ meetings that last about an hour. We believe that is truly how He moves. We cannot do anything without it. There are other meetings that I go to, as well, but those two meetings are very regular for me. For example, there was a few of us who stayed up all night just pr_ing for the country, government, believers, the persecuted, and different villages. It was my first time, as we try to do this monthly. I really enjoyed it, and I was very surprised that I made it all the way through the night. I did think I was going to have to stop and go sleep.
I have also started stepping into a small role helping with engineering. Right now, I am helping my leader with different metrics as well as creating a Gantt chart for more organization between my leader and the local workers. Since language is my top priority, I only spend about five hours a week on this. As more time goes by, I will slowly start to step into a bigger role of engineering within my team.
Please pr_ for me as I continue language study. Endurance, perseverance, and wisdom are all at the top of the list. He is good, and He is here. Pr_ for courage for local believers as they go out and tell their families about His amazing grace.