Developments...

Phew!  I have taken WAY too long to write another blog post!  For a period of time, we did not have internet.  In that time, I started teaching English three days a week at an orphanage about an hour outside the city for summer school.  That has been keeping me pretty exhausted! But, let me bring you up to speed:

1 - God dropped an amazing apartment right into our laps!  We had been searching and searching, and to make a long story short, we couldn't find anything that was within our wishlist and budget.  (I felt like I was on the show, "International Househunters" - Where is HGTV when you need them?? :) )  But, we finally asked the right people, who told us the right price, who showed us the right apartment, in the right location, and we are VERY blessed to have found a great place for a great price!  God is good!

2 - We found a great church to plug into!  It is an English speaking church, which we felt was important to be fed on Sundays in our heart language.  The people are very friendly, love Jesus, and are active in outreach!  We have already joined in with many opportunities!

3 - I started teaching summer school!  This was HUGE that God brought a "purpose" to my time here (at least for the next two months).  And the children really bless my heart.  They come to one orphanage from 6 or 7 different orphanages in the area for English, Myanmar, and Guitar lessons.  I teach the beginner English class.  At the beginning of March, my class consisted of 60 or so students, but two more teachers came, so now I only have about 20 middle school age girls.  At the start of the day, they spend time praising, and it really blesses my heart to see their love for the Father.

I will try to post some photos soon that apply to these three updates, but at least I can catch you up to date somewhat.  Things are going well for us.  We really feel blessed to be here!  Thanks for being interested in our lives here!

Distribution!

We returned to the little village this week, 4x6, laminated photos in hand.  Again upon arriving, the group, mostly women and children, had already gathered and were eagerly waiting to see their simple portraits revealed.  They all sat quietly in the little house, while we one-by-one stuck each portrait with sticky tack to a dilapidated white board.  After each photo was attached to the white board and I stepped away to get the next one, they would all clap and smile.  I was so humbled by this immense portrayal of gratitude for something, in my mind, so small.

  

So then, there the photos hung throughout the next couple of hours.  Each in our group got up and spoke, some, like me, through an interpreter.  We shared our hearts, our stories, and also sang some songs and played some games.  One Myanmar girl helped lead them in a game similar to "London Bridges"... a little bit similar.  It looked like a lot of fun!

I shared some of my story, and Jason also taught a short English lesson and song which they thoroughly enjoyed!

Then it was time to give the photos out.  Oh my, I was certainly in for a blessing.  They took them down one at a time, and I also gave out one group photo for each person as they came up to receive their portrait.  It was like an award ceremony.  I will try as long as I live to remember to be so grateful for the "little" things in my life!