Things are moving

I'm sorry that I'm the only one who has posted so far. Last year we were right next to an internet cafe; this year we have to go into town to get online. Kieran says my writing is very straightforward and factual - not a lot of embellishment and emotion, so I'll force him or someone else to write a few posts soon.

This is a very interesting trip. Team dynamics are good, and overall, everything is going well. There are growing pains with our relationship with our contacts, as would be expected in any relationship. In our cross-cultural communication, things get lost in translation or misunderstood. This is absolutely a learning experience for all of us, with the possible exception of Kieran, our great cultural expert. He is an endless source of stories and insight.

And God is directing us and changing our plans and deepinging our faith, relationships, and love.

We are finding business in Burundi to be much more complex in the city center than we anticipated. We have made some very good contacts with two internet cafe owners here - one is Indian and immediately hit it off with Kieran (who is Indian/Irish). Through discussions with them and others, we are figuring out what exactly we should be doing. God is guiding and opening doors we had not considered. I'll post more when we have concrete plans in that regard.

In other news... Liz's luggage has finally arrived in Bujumbura! ...at least they told us so. After Jeremie and I leave the cyber, we'll swing by Kenya and pick her bags up. That took a bit longer than expected. She hasn't complained at all. It is rather amazing that Liz was the first person I talked to about packing, and she was the only person whom I suggested bring an extra change of clothes with her (she ended bringing like 2-3 days worth). And she is the only one of us with travel insurance. And she is the only one with luggage issues. Either provision or reverse Murphy's Law (if she hadn't taken precausions, maybe she wouldn't have had issues), take your pick. Provision makes most sense.

We are all doing well. Thank you for your prayers. Blessings!