The past couple of weeks have been exciting yet challenging. It certainly has not been easy to move somewhere new where so much has changed at one time. Although it is exciting, it has taken a toll emotionally, spiritually, and physically. Thankfully the Lord is good and he is always here to sustain my team and I everyday. There is no way to completely prepare to move to another country; likewise, there is no way to fully explain what these past couple of weeks have felt like. I know this year is going to be hard but I am so excited to grow. There is no growth without hardship, so I'm excited to see how God is going to teach my team and I how to trust Him in new ways throughout this year.
Throughout the past two weeks my team and I have really just barely dipped our toes into life in here in Cape Verde. We have had Creole lessons, which have been challenging but fun. Creole is a simple language similar to Portuguese meaning it is also similar to Spanish in some aspects. Luckily I have been able to make some connections between Creole and Spanish to ease the learning process. I am very excited to learn Creole and possibly Portuguese and am hoping the inability to communicate to locals here will fuel a fire to study the language.
We are beginning to start ministry including our main preschool ministry called Pepe. My team and I have been split between two church locations: Terra Branka and Sao Filipe. I will be working with the Sao Filipe team and be involved in their church and Pepe location. The other half of the team will be involved in their church and Pepe location in Terra Branka. I have only visited our Pepe location for one day but this week, as we begin our normal schedule, I will go Tuesday through Friday. We will also be involved in a basketball ministry one night a week where we will go play basketball for a couple hours then have a devotion. These are couple of ministry opportunities of which I am sure more will come throughout this year. My team and I have visited both church locations and have begun to make relationships with the people here. Church here is a challenge right now due to the fact that we do not know the language well enough to really be able to follow a sermon. (other than to follow the scripture and try to listen but it is hard to stay focused when you do not understand) Worship is by far my favorite part of church. Almost half of the songs we know the English version making worship special and easier but their songs in Creole or Portuguese that we do not know are amazing too! They love to sing, clap, and dance in their worship which I think is so beautiful. We were able to go to an event that happens monthly where the different church location come together for worship this past Saturday night. I think it was my favorite thing we have done so far. It was so different but incredible. We sang, we clapped, we danced and we had an amazing time even though the songs were not in English. That night was amazing and I would go over and over again.
These past couple weeks have been hard, and I have been homesick. But I know I am going to have to learn and adapt to being in a new place and learn to trust the Lord in many, many ways. Please continue to pray for my team as we continue to bond and begin to be immersed in this culture and ministry. Also pray for our faith to grow as we trust God daily.
