Christie is now at Jonathan House quickly settling into her new life! When she came with a whole team, people mostly spoke English to everyone all the time for the sake of all the Westerners. Since she is the only American, they speak English to her and their native Mindi or Creole amongst themselves. This proves difficult when her charges are fighting among themselves and she is the Authority Figure who is to "solve the problem" and she can't understand the language to decipher what just happened! She is having to learn the languages QUICKLY!! She already understands several phrases in both languages "Good Morning", "How did you sleep?" etc. but speaking these phrases is more difficult.
They were very accommodating to her - giving Christie her own small room and walling off one of the communal showers and toilets for her private use. She has a bed complete with netting to keep the bugs away. She is grateful for their concern for her need for personal space and privacy. She is no longer able to just blend in tho. She is still constantly watched just because she is the only Westerner on the compound. She said they are not bad stares, just curious. And at night, everyone fades into the darkness - while she said "her skin glows".
Another thing she's hadta get used to again is the food. Since they don't waste anything, the whole chicken or the whole fish goes in the pot - so there are parts of the animal that we've never eaten before included with supper! At first she wondered if she could do it - but after only five days she is adjusting quite well.
Her schedule is roughly:
5:00 am - Quite time
6:00 am - make breakfast for kids and get them ready for and off to school
8:30 am - 1:30 pm - care for pre-schoolers - have some time to herself then older kids start coming back from school
afternoon and evening - help kids with homework, chores, supper, etc. and nightly prayers
Wednesday night she is to lead a Bible Study for everyone.
She said that by the time she gets to bed she has packed so much into the day that morning seems like it was yesterday, not just that morning!
When she got to Jonathan House she discovered that there currently is no Internet service into the compound. Her desire is to get a modem and bring Internet service to JCC and pay the monthly fee out of her support funds as her contribution to the Orphanage. There are some questions as to how this would work and the feasibility of it all - so until this is worked out, either I will update her BLOG or she will walk to town and use the Internet Cafe to keep you all updated.
We are sooooooooooo grateful for your prayer support. God's presence in this Ministry are evident in many, many ways throughout her trip and these first five days there! She said to thank you all for your support and your prayers and let you know that she is doing well. She got a SIM card for her cell phone and we are able to call her whenever we want. It costs big bucks for her to call us - so if she wants at talk she calls and says "call me" and hangs up! Then we call back with a calling card we got that is 11 cents a minute to call Africa. Her incoming calls are free - good for her!!
We all know this is a team effort. Christie is at Jonathan House because of your prayers and financial support. Thank you for your continued prayers during these next six months. God is at work!
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