A week in the life...

In a recent newsletter, I offered to answer questions about living overseas that anyone would like to ask. The question most often received was, "What does a normal week look like?"
The answer to that question is, "There is no normal week."
Every week is astoundingly different. (Is that even a word?!?)
This city is a juxtaposition in itself with areas of both impoverishment and extreme wealth.
There are people who are highly educated and those who have never been to school because necessity led them to begin work very early in their life. There are people who were born and raised in this culture and then many who are transplants from other countries (especially other Asian countries.)
Different backgrounds, different ideologies, different problems, different demands - we face all these polarities in the people who live here, yet our job is to work with them all.
That's why each week (each day sometimes) we find ourselves in completely different situations.
There is, however, an overall pattern that has figured into our lives that I will attempt to share through pictures to show our friends at home what "normal" looks like in this amazing and beautiful city.


The one constant so far in our time here has been where we live.
We love our apartment and are very thankful that we are able to live here into our second year of being in this place. As this city has opened up to the outside world, prices have increased considerably. Most of the expats we know living here have to move every year, because rent prices are doubling and tripling in places. Our apartment building is one of the largest in the city and is situated above a small "mall" with shopping and restaurants and a department store. We have made many friends with the people who come to work here everyday, and they are often are best source of information and news.

The other constant in our lives has been language learning which is something we do absolutely every single day.
We happen to have the best teachers who are both challenging and compassionate. We enjoy class time with them even though it's so difficult.
Most of our language classes are held inside our apartment, but my favorite classes are the ones where we go to our teacher's house. I love being in her community and getting to know the people who live near her.

Every Sunday we go to a local "gathering place" and three weeks out of four, it's a local language service we attend.
We don't understand most of what's said throughout the meeting because the speakers use a very formal form of the language, but it is a great opportunity for us to connect with local brothers and sisters.
The local language meeting places do not have air con, but they have fans throughout the building.

About once a month, we visit the international meeting place where everything is spoken in English so that we can get refilled and refueled for Father's service. Our children also need the camaraderie with believers their age who are encouragers and accountability partners in the midst of their predominantly non-believing environment.



Each week, we have a group of people who meet at our house for English language learning and Good Book study. This group has become family to us and we look forward to being with these funny, energetic and devoted friends.

We usually spend a fair amount of time each week, out and exploring various parts of our city. We enjoy learning about the habits and culture of the people this way. There are areas of great beauty and serenity in the midst of this bustling city.

We also inevitably spend a lot of time sitting in our car in traffic.

Sometimes we get to do special programs involving teaching or sharing. We love making new friends!

We often visit local tea shops.

And we even enjoy eating the local food - especially when it's homemade.

Sometimes we get to meet other foreigners who come to talk about the best ways to reach our city and how to provide programs to benefit the people living here. Sometimes we get to meet those people in nice restaurants which is always a treat. But the best part is making connections with people we might not have otherwise met in the States.

Of course everyday we get to spend time in the Word which is the most important thing that we do.

But the most fun part of being here is the quality time we get to spend together as a family.

What more could we ask for?

Many years ago, Father put this city on our hearts. We didn't know of the blessings that awaited us here.
Each week is often full of ups and downs, but the love we feel for the people here and the desire to do His work is what drives us. Then it's the joy of family and friends and other followers in faith that amplifies our endearment, making this place feel more and more like home.

Don't you want to come visit?
Our door is always open. Come join us!