Finding our Feet

When we arrived in Worcester, lots of people told us how difficult it is to find houses for rent here.  Others said that we might find something, but only if we were willing to drive further out of town.  It appears that God has heard our cries.  :D

It has not been easy for us living on the base - our quarters are cramped and it's cold at the moment, so it's not always possible for the kids to play outside.  It has been GOOD for us to experience this - we are living in luxury compared to most of the world!  But we are very, very thankful to have received the news that we can move into a rental house on September 1st!  

When we went to the Estate Agent's during our first week here, there was only ONE 3-bedroom house within our budget that was available to rent (in a town of 120,000).  So we went to see it, decided we liked it, and that's the one we're moving to.  It's 10-15 minutes walk from the base (although not really safe to walk alone), and 2 minutes walk from the local shop.  

It's on a dead-end street, except for pedestrian traffic coming from the bridge that crosses the railway lines.  This is facing the other direction, towards town: 

 We will be turning the house into a 4-bedroom - just don't tell Ashani that her room is actually our walk-in closet...  All the kids are very excited to have their own space without sibling interference!

We all went to see the house again the other day, and mentioned to the lovely older couple who are moving out, that we are thinking about getting a dog.  (We have been strongly advised to get a dog, for security reasons.)  The lady said that they will be bringing 4 of their 5 dogs with them to the retirement home, but there's just no room there for the 5th dog, a 12-year-old Jack Russell named Timmy.  They were going to have him put down, as they didn't know what else to do with him and he's quite old already.  So of course we met him, and he's very sweet and surprisingly sprightly for an old guy.  He loved the kids and they loved him, and the rest is history:

  Thanks to all who have been praying for a house (and dog!) for us - we are very excited to move!  Having our own space as a family and being able to cook our own food will be huge factors in enabling us to stay here long-term.  Over the next few weeks we will be looking for furniture, appliances, curtains etc.  This might take some time as these things are harder to find than in the US, and more expensive (even second-hand!).

As many of you know, it was the prospect of staffing the Foundations in Counseling Ministries school that first drew us to YWAM Worcester.  But we were also aware that that particular school does not run every year.   So we have been thinking and praying about how we can serve in the meantime.  We know that we are in the right place, we're just not sure of the details yet.  

I have been reminded recently that our main focus is not to make a difference, disciple the nations or be world-changers.  Our main purpose is to love and serve God wherever we are, and whatever that looks like.  

At the moment there is a need for someone to manage the Transportation Department on the base:  YWAM Worcester has a fleet of vehicles that are used for many different local ministry projects.  These vehicles have to be scheduled and managed so that they are in the right places at the right times, and also overseen so that they are maintained and used properly.  It's one of those behind-the-scenes jobs that is crucial to the smooth-running of the base.  

We have offered to take on this responsibility until Christmas.  As well as being a great way to serve YWAM Worcester, it will be a good way for us to get to know the different people and ministries, and figure out how things work here.  We will begin our training next week. We plan on both of us working in the mornings, and just one of us in the afternoons when the children are out of school.  It seems like a good fit for us what with my (Rachel's) admin ability and Kevin's knowledge of cars.

I'll finish off with some photos of last weekend's trip:  We visited a crocodile farm, with our Brazilian neighbours.

Functioning

Veggie Tales aficionados like myself will be familiar with the Veggie Tales version of "Give Me Oil in my Lamp".  One of the verses goes "Give me umption in my gumption, help me function function function", and Larry interjects "I'm functioning!"

After today I finally feel that we might actually be functioning.  The first couple of days here at YWAM Worcester were a little rough. Turns out there had been a small miscommunication regarding our arrival, so our room was not ready, and of course we had no electricity on our first evening.  Add to that the logistics of trying to unpack our 5 very full suitcases plus all the hand-luggages into our 2 small rooms, and the realization that eating the cafeteria food was just not going to work for our family, and we had a rather chaotic environment.  

But after 1 trip to a hardware shop for planks (shelving), 3 trips to the mall for, well, everything, and a well-deserved 4th trip to the mall for Kevin and the kids to see the Minions movie so that I could scrub our rooms from top to toe, rearrange furniture, and unpack some more, we are finally in functioning mode.

Here are some pictures of our newly cleaned and organized living quarters:

The above 3 pictures are of the kids bedroom / kitchen / dining room / living area, all combined into a 12ft x 12ft room.  We ate dinner here this evening - cup-a-soups and grilled cheese sandwiches that Kevin whipped up in the communal kitchen. 

And this one is our bedroom.  That beautiful fireplace was hiding behind a chest of drawers so I did some rearranging and gave it a good scrub (sadly it is not a functioning fireplace).  

The kids have already started to make friends.  The base is very family-friendly and there are tons of kids around.  Our next-door neighbors are from Brazil, here on the English Learning School.  So communication is tricky but Daniel is already firm friends with their son Juda.  Here is a picture of them playing together on the soccer field this evening (you can just make out Daniel's red T-shirt):

....and one more of the beautiful view we enjoyed this evening:

It honestly does still feel like camping in many ways.  To get something from the refrigerator, it's like walking out of your house and to the end of your driveway, and back again.  It's the same for the bathroom and nearest sink. Hot showers are not always an option. Everything takes a lot more effort and time.  But we are reminded that we are currently living in more luxurious quarters than most of the world.  And it's good for us to get a taste of what it's like to live here on the base before - hopefully - moving into a small house within the next month or so.  We know we are in the right place, and we are very thankful.