After an amazing and hectic weekend, we are falling into a bit of a schedule now that the retreat has started in San Bernadino. It has been incredible. There have, of course, been moments of culture shock: putting used toilet paper in a waste basket, adjusting to hours of turned off water/electricity, and adapting to a schedule that is ever-changing, to name a few. However, the joys have greatly surpassed any frustrations.

We are among missionaries now (from the U.S., England, Canada, and South Africa) so we do have a pretty regular schedule:

7:30-8:30: Breakfast
8:30-10:00: Worship Service for the adults/VBS for the kids
10:30-11:00: Snack
11:00-12:00: Missionary Prayer team/Beth's parenting session on Tuesday (SMMC providing child care)
12:00-12:30: Lunch
1:00-2:30: Siesta (and when we as a team get our heads on straight preparing for the next worship sets and VBS session!)
2:30-6:00: Family Recreation (and when we as a team get our heads on straight preparing for the next worship sets and VBS session...and also when we can connect with others.)
6:00-7:00: Supper
7:00-8:30: Worship/Message/VBS session

Even as I type the schedule, it seems like there should be more down time, but up to this point, this has not been the case! You can prepare and prepare and prepare, but until you get in the environment where you're going to be, there will still be a lot of troubleshooting. This was definitely the case Monday (especially the morning session!) But God is good. I don't say that lightly, either. Karl has often joked with me that tears are not necessarily a sign of the Spirit moving (or not moving!), but I know the tears that I have been shedding consistently in these last three days have been largely based on seeing the Spirit move. Seeing the church in Villarica reach out to nonbelievers in their community (there were at least five first-time families at the Sunday morning service!), seeing the poverty, by our standards, of the church in Kapi'i and yet the INCREDIBLE JOY, joy that I'm not even sure many Americans have experienced at knowing Jesus, seeing the missionaries share in true community with each other and worship so wholeheartedly, hearing testimonies (both the SIM team and ours), all of these are causes for deep awe, thankfulness, and reflection.

There is an unpredictable internet connection, so hopefully we will be able to start posting a little more consistently.We are learning; we are growing; we are connecting. Thank you so much for your continued prayers and for helping to make this trip possible. We feel very blessed to be here.

(posted by Danielle Black)