6+ month update

We’ve been here for over 6 months. It is really starting to feel like home. Our life here is full and good in many ways. We have a growing network of friends; they are made quickly here, kind of like freshman year in college. Happily, we’re now “sophomores.” We’re the ones who can help newbies find the grocery stores, a good pediatrician, where to buy meat, flowers, etc. It’s a good feeling. We have more play dates and people we’d like to see on the weekend than our calendar can fit.

We’ve settled into an international church in the city. It is truly international with many Africans, Asians and Europeans in addition to the locals. It’s been great to worship with that diverse community each week.

We’ve been hosting a series of dinners to get to know more of the folks on the teams that Shae’s responsible for. I’ve really enjoyed this.

The kids are pretty settled into preschool. Shae takes them on his way to work; they love the Daddy time. They are enjoying playing with one another quite a bit, though they have the typical squabbles. Hannah has episodes of homesickness and is really looking forward to our trip back next month.

Shae and I have been talking about how we feel this last month has held a transition from being observers to discerning our participation in life here. Culture and religion are so fused here. We’ve been talking and thinking about how to engage and participate while maintaining (and instilling in our children) our unique identity as followers of Jesus.

We haven’t felt significant conflict in these things until recently. For example, we received the following e-mail from the private, secular school that Hannah and Matthew have been attending:

“August 14 Friday is Sri Krishna Janmashtami which marks the celebration of the birth of Lord Krishna. Janmashtami is celebrated with pomp and grandeur all over India. Krishna is Lord Vishnu`s eighth avatar on Earth and is considered to be the Lord`s most glorious incarnation. At WeCare, we are celebrating Sri Krishna Janmashtami with zest and enthusiasm on Thursday 13th August with fun-filled events, such as cooking projects, dandiya, puppet show followed by Krishna songs and special menu for the day. We request parents to send their children dressed as “Kanhas” & “Radhas”.

More thoughts to come…