Send off to Africa

I had the greatest college experience and it is mostly due to my wonderful roommates. We lived together for 2 years in the dorms then 2 years in an apt. They met in high school and we all met the first week of college. We were all 18 years old.

We had a couple other gals that lived with us for a while, but we three were a cord that has not broken. We have watched each other grow up in our faith, cry over break-ups, share our deepest hurts without condemnation and truly rejoice in blessings.
Here we are all youthful looking- atop of bad haircuts, bushy eyebrows, outdated clothes and as you can tell from Shannon on the right- she didn't learn how to smile in a picture until like yesterday. But that is just one of her quirks that we like.
The girls came over this weekend along with their husbands and children. We celebrated our last meal together as the Jones' are heading off to Africa for two years. (I also just noticed we are in the same order as the pic above.) Vanessa is in the middle and their family has committed their lives to God's service and to His people in other countries.
Kyle (top right) is a doctor and will be working at a hospital in Kenya. Vanessa and their 3 boys (all under four) will be doing school at home and ministering to the women of the village.
They also came bearing gifts...
They are all from Amani Ya Juu. All the items on their site are handmade by African women who are in need. The words Amani Ya Juu in Swahili means, "higher peace," which they are learning comes from the Lord. The women made our family an angel, a purse and a kickball. The ball is made of grain sacks from relief agencies. The refugee's in Kakuma make everything from curtains to roofing from these sacks.

We had a wonderful time eating delicious food, letting the kids play and spending time in prayer. Their family has been attacked in many ways, especially in forms of sicknesses, and it was time the enemy knew they have a whole army behind them sending them off to Africa. I look forward to the letters sharing how Kyle was able to pray for someones healing and they were healed and how Vanessa's househelper notices this home is just a little bit "different" because the Lord lives there... you will be missed, but are exactly where you are supposed to be!

RANDOM LANGUAGE THOUGHTS:
We talked about learning Swahili in Africa and I wanted to share a statistic I heard:
To become fluent in a foreign language requires 800 hours of conversation. OH My Word.

As you know we started Vietnamese lessons in August. I REALLY LOVE learning the language and can tell that I am actually learning something. I can say short sentences (like my name is..., hello friend or thank you very much), I know individual vocab, numbers and introductions.
My favorite website for basic instruction is everydayviet. Donna's tones are awesome and you can actually hear the slight tonal differences when she teaches! And of course we love our teachers at language school. We would not be where we are today without their kindness, patience and one-on-one instruction.
I did have my first dream in Vietnamese. I was buying a purse at the market in HCMC and I started talking to her in Vietnamese. "How much Dong is this purse Miss?" I woke up happy!
My next thing to figure out is how to write on our computer in Vietnamese. Like with the accents an everything. I can go to a language converter and do it word by word, then paste it, but yuck! Adam says they have Vietnamese keyboards. I don't know, I want to be able to type... we will see.
Mrs. Anna, Avi Joy's Vietnamese teacher, sent us a Christmas card this year. I loved what it said... "Wishing you a beautiful Christmas season. May your New Year be showered with blessings and steps closer to God's dream for you." Is that NOT precious!

"I will praise You, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of You among the peoples." Psalm 57:9

Natasha