April 17th marked 6 months on the field! Life recently has held meals with new local friends, taking on new roles, making plans for the future, and discovering new skills. I have felt the growth in my Arabic and seen my ability to hold a conversation and meet my basic needs. The city is feeling more like home, and I’m more settled and comfortable. The arrival of spring’s flowers ushered in a change in perspective as well. After a cold, rainy winter that brought up lots of loneliness and uncertainty, the blooms of spring were a refreshing reminder of the impermanence of life. Just like the seasons don’t last forever, neither do emotions. There were also lots of beautiful reminders of God’s presence and love in the new life of spring. Despite hearing a lot about the “6 Month Slump,” I think 6 months have brought more settling and less slump.
I’m taking a break from Arabic while trying to start at a new school to work on some different skills, which has given me time to dive into new things. A few of us on the team made a prayer guide for visitors to use to drive through the city, stopping at symbolic locations to learn and pray over a specific issue (more on this later). I acted as our “graphic designer” to put the words into a beautiful document. Another role I’ve taken on has been social media and marketing for the English center. In preparation for a new session of classes (starting now), myself and 2 others made stories, posts, and videos to hopefully reach more people. We hosted 4 events before the session started that led to 15 students signing up! It’s been encouraging to hear students say they heard about the center through social media or ads. Both the prayer guide and marketing have tapped into my love for creating beauty and been very satisfying to use in this work. I’m looking forward to what the next few months hold.