Much has changed since our last letter and there is lots to update you on.

We have been in Tubakuta for almost three months now. As you would expect, there have been highs and lows…

Highs

• Our new surroundings - spectacular sunrises and sunsets over the bush, a beautiful array of colourful birds, cows jingling past every morning and evening, the peace and quiet, the incredible stars, our spacious house. We have also had a lovely welcome from our neighbours, especially the cattle herdsmen next to us (great excitement on our part about being able to get fresh milk rather than UHT). The wider village have also given us a warm welcome (and our 4x4… we offer lifts to people whenever we can and end up with some very entertaining carloads including live chickens and labouring women!).
• Being so near the students and the deepening of our relationships with them. Two more were added at the end of last term (John and Simon) which takes us to 10. They are making real progress in their understanding and teaching of the Bible. Most of the teaching is done in the classroom but it often feels like almost as much is picked up over casual conversations on campus during breaks or when they drop in at our house. We’re grateful for their hunger, humility and their sense of fun! We have had some great evenings at our house playing games and enjoying food together and there is a sense of friendship with them that has helped us feel less lonely.
• Phoebe has ditched the spoon at school lunch in favour of being like everyone else and eating with her hand. Phoebe and school. We are so thankful for the way she has settled in to the local school. It feels miraculous given how intimidating it was at the start with the other children crowding round her and trying to touch her and stroke her hair. It has been such a blessing to have her there - a great connection with the village and it means she takes social situations in her stride because she knows so many from school. When we first drove round the village all the children would shout ‘Toubab’ (foreigner) at our car. Now they shout ‘Phoebe’! Which, as you can imagine, we much prefer!

Lows

• Obviously we had to take a picture of the scorpion before dispatching him. He was just hanging on the net next to Harriet... not much sleep had that night! Lowest low is awarded to the time we discovered a scorpion INSIDE our mosquito net at 3am. The only unexpected benefit of having a number of scorpion encounters is that our fear of cockroaches and spiders has all but disappeared - suddenly insects that don’t actually harm you seem a lot less scary. More seriously, we are really thankful for the way God has protected us and given us awareness of the scorpions before anyone has been harmed.
• Another phase of culture shock/clash, the need for adaptation and the accompanying ‘can we really do this?!’ emotions. We’ve felt overwhelmed, confused, sad, isolated and inadequate at times… all emotions that we know are common with any move but particularly intensified by the cross-cultural aspect. Our lack of local language is especially challenging as very few people have much English here. We haven’t been able to find a suitable Mandinka teacher so we continue to think about how to address this challenge.
• A number of the students are facing very difficult personal situations. Sadly two of the students have lost their mothers in the last few months. They have had to go and visit their families in Nigeria and Guinea Bissau. We long for them to know the Lord’s comfort and wisdom as they discuss with their families if they are needed at home. It looks unlikely that one of them will return.
• The unreached nature of this area. There are just four Christian households in the village. There is no church in the larger neighbouring village. Our priority here is training those at SOW that they might go and reach the lost but we feel the tension and burden of the many living and dying around us without the opportunity to hear about Jesus.

Coming up…

Harriet is starting to teach a few English lessons in two of the local schools, including Phoebe’s. The hope is that this will benefit the children and strengthen our relationship with the village as we show we want to serve them. We’re grateful to the Crosslinks gap year team who make this possible by sending two members to stay with us for 24-hours each week.