face of the earth

After 15 hours in a van, we ended up here!

We were looking for those people. And I have no idea where we were but I guess that can add to the "fun" of the whole thing. During our traveling and meeting new people, encountering a new cultural- I kept thinking back to a passage in Exodus I read last week. (yes...I'm reading through the Bible in a year)

And he said, "My presence will go with you, 

and I will give you rest." And Moses said to 

him, "If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us,so that we are distinct, 
I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?"

Exodus 33:14-16

His presence makes us different from every other person on the face of the earth. So I knew we could walk forward in confidence and joy because he came before us, and with us, and behind us. The gospel truly brings light into darkness!

Sean standing proudly with his big lettuce

We picked our own vegetables for lunch one day...right off the farm behind the house! A guy in cooking school in a nearby city cooked for us. I'll just say, it wasn't the gourmet meal you might expect.

Here's my friend Conner standing with the chicken we ate for lunch. A few minutes after the picture was taken, he had the honor of slicing the chicken's throat. Yet again, I had high expectations for a good chicken dish, but it ended up mostly chicken feet and organs. (And you should see the video of the chicken killing on my iPad, actually I won't even watch it)

Sam and I living the explorer life

making friends left and right

This next lady was the true shining star. She said she was 80+ years old. She had such a thick accent, even our Asian friends could barely understand her dialect. She is one of the few people from her village who can still speak the original language. The language was never written down but only passed verbally, which I guess accounts for why few people can remember it! She has 4 children- 2 boys and 2 girls. All of them have moved away from the village now and into bigger nearby cities. She never took a smile off her face. Oh and I'm pretty sure our group was the first foreigners to visit their village, like ever!

Sean got a good ear cleaning

my cute roommate wandering through the fields