April had showers, and May has... showers.

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Hello from the end of the rainy season(rains are late this year!), where our definition of cold has changed to anything requiring more than a sheet at night.

PRUF:
- Please be praying for our language learning- the more we learn, the more we realize how little we know! We’re like a walking/talking example of the Dunning-Kruger Effect, hopefully climbing up the Slope of Enlightenment.
-We are praising God for His providential protection as we watched over 12 kids for 12 days. No crises, injuries or illnesses to speak of!
—Please pray with Rebekah and I that the Lord would provide us with National Partners here. This would be another believer who can help us navigate language and culture as we do ministry together.

fsThis has been a busy month- sorry for the late update! This one should be a doozy though, with a lot to report!
We’re ALMOST done with school for the year, which we’re ready for! The boys haven’t had a long break for our a year because of the traveling and the different transitions. We’re all ready for a break!


Before the McDonalds left on their trip, we had a birthday party for Eric. The theme was 80’s, and Rebekah stuck with the theme as she humiliated us all with mullets, neon and jorts.


The boys have also been getting to know some of our neighbor kids better and spend a lot of time playing in the yard together. Below is a picture of two of our neighbors playing duck-duck-goose with the boys, making furniture with Judah, and showing off their coloring in their Easter coloring books(thanks Clevelands for sending them!

We celebrated Easter Sunday with our church here, which was a sweet time together. The highlight was singing hymns acapella while the Lord’s Supper was passed. Later in the day we celebrated with our teammates, which was another sweet time.

In the beginning of April, our team-mates Eric and Heather went to a medical conference in Greece and we watched their 7 kids. With a lot of help, we all survived!

In the middle of being responsible for 12 kids, the biggest news in a while showed up at our gate- our crate of household goods from America arrived!! It’s always a little convicting when we realize how attached we are to things, but MAN are we glad to have this stuff! The unpacking continues, partly because we’re still building storage options for places to put things. But our living room looks like our living room! Much credit to my bride who is in her element figuring out how to get everything organized, functional and beautiful.
We’re especially happy to have our bed, kitchen stuff, and our tools. Just today I was outside working on a bed for Zeke, and didn’t have to go next door or into town to borrow/buy anything!

In ministry, I(Josh) have continued to be active in getting out with the “bucket ministry” that we do for palliative or bed-bound patients. We’re also in the strategy phase of coming up with a plan to use healthcare strategies to assist rural villages with improving care. Rebekah is starting a cake-baking class ministry that a dear friend of ours has used extensively in Dar es Salaam. Finally, we’re working with another organization here to plan a multi-day trip down south along the shores of the lake to survey villages and do medical clinics.

Lots happening! Mungu ni mwema(God is good!). I’ll leave you with a book recommendation. If you’re into missions or missiology, this really is an excellent book. The author doesn’t pull punches in his critique of many modern methods. No Shortcuts to Success

May the Lord bless and keep you all!