What a week it was, Josh and Seth went to the city 3 times, the boys and I joined them on 2 trips. It’s a roughly 3 hour trip one way on winding up and down, mountain roads. We did get to celebrate Josh’s 40th birthday in the city which was fun! We struggled through the visa process, but praise the Lord that is almost finished! 4 out of 5 of us went down Thursday hard with a stomach bug…so, not fun. We had to travel to the city Friday morning for a visa appointment and we’re so thankful God strengthened us for the trip…no one threw up on the drive!

We got to see beautiful sunrises on our drives to the city, had some delicious desserts and had sweet fellowship with friends.

This week certainly wasn’t easy and we felt the unpredictable lifestyle of third world living. We threw up a lot, had a lot of diarrhea, had unexpected meetings, have had mosquitoes galore (anyone who has any ideas on getting rid of mosquitoes please, share your insights), lacked hot water, don’t have furniture besides beds, and had most things not go according to plan. Every time I begin to struggle and dare I say even complain, we are overwhelmed and hit square in the face with why we are here.

Burundians are very loving and caring people, they consider us family. When Josh had to leave for the day the two guards made sure me and the boys were comfortable and knew they were here for us. When we threw up our house girl cleaned and helped take care of us. Her only English is thank you, and somehow she was genuinely smiling and thankful that she was able to help us. Our neighbors came and checked on us. One of my English students said, “you are raising up my life in a way I never imagined.”

Whenever we’re struggling, God has been so faithful and His hand has been so evident. The struggle is real and feels miserable in the moment, but He not only doesn’t leave us, He carries us through it and strengthens us. We know He won’t fail and He makes it all worth it.

Here’s some photos we took specifically for our Wild and Free friends! These are all found in our house or just outside of it. We think you can use your own Seek App to figure out what each thing is; some are pretty obvious what they are. 🙂 We miss you all!

Thank you all for your prayers and support!