{"id":627,"date":"2011-10-21T09:33:15","date_gmt":"2011-10-21T13:33:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stearnsinafrica.com\/?p=627"},"modified":"2011-10-21T09:33:15","modified_gmt":"2011-10-21T13:33:15","slug":"hey-guys-sorry-it-has-been-so-long-since-i-have-posted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.stearnsinafrica.com\/?p=627","title":{"rendered":"Hey guys! Sorry it has been so long since I have posted."},"content":{"rendered":"

First, I want to thank everyone for all your prayers when I was sick.\u00a0 I am very grateful.\u00a0 God’s healing hand was definitely on me and I was better in a few days after I had taken the medicine.\u00a0 Now I want to tell you about an amazing opportunity I have.\u00a0 When I was sick with malaria the doctor I went to is actually the brother of the deputy head(vice principal) at CCM Trust School.\u00a0 While I was at his office, Dr. Silumesi and my dad were talking and he had found out from his sister that I teach P.E.\u00a0 Last year his wife has started a school called Rose of Sharon and he asked me if I would consider teaching P.E. at their school.\u00a0 What is so neat is this school is the school the orphans (that we have been playing with every Monday and Wednesday) go to.\u00a0 So the next week when I got better I met with his wife to discuss this opportunity.\u00a0 The only free day I have from teaching P.E. at CCM is Monday.\u00a0 So the past two Mondays I have started going to the Rose of Sharon School at 7:30 teaching until noon.\u00a0 I feel like this opportunity coming up is God just giving me more direction that I need to teach Physical Education when I get older.
\nOn Mondays when I am done teaching, I get to walk the orphans home from school, which I LOVE!\u00a0 Then I just stay at the orphanage since my family comes in the late afternoon. While I am there, I get to hang out with Andrea for the afternoon.\u00a0 Andrea is in her mid twenties.\u00a0 She grew up and went to college in Indiana and she is a social worker missionary at the orphanage for two years.\u00a0 I have really enjoyed having time to hang out with her.\u00a0 She is so sweet and fun to talk with.\u00a0 Yesterday she took me on public transport and to lunch because I have always wanted to ride public transport.\u00a0 It is quite an experience!\u00a0 Public transport are these mini blue buses and they cram\u00a0 20 people in them when they should only seat about 12 people and sometimes guys will ask you for your number or want to marry you etc while you are one them.\u00a0 I am glad I had the experience and eating lunch with Andrea was fun.<\/p>\n

Someone asked me about a week ago if I think I could live here the rest of my life and I said I would just have to see where God takes me but I am open to it.\u00a0 So, I can see God working in my heart because when I first got here I told my mom I did not think I could survive past Christmas and I thought we should come home in December.\u00a0 But now thinking that our time is just now almost half way up, I am excited to come home and see all my friends and family, but I realize I am going to miss everyone here so much.\u00a0 We have met so many friends that we have become really close to.\u00a0 Leaving America was hard, but I knew I would get to see everyone again. But leaving here I think may be harder in a way because I don’t know if I will ever see these people again.\u00a0 I have realized as long as I don’t think about my friends and family back home in America and all the things I could be doing to entertain my life back home then I really don’t get homesick.\u00a0 So I guess I have just been trying to embrace everything here and realize this is where God has me for the year and to be grateful for this AMAZING opportunity!\u00a0 When I first got here everything was so new and I was so homesick.\u00a0 Especially at nights when it would be like 7:00 and it was dark outside and not safe to go out then I would just be stuck inside and I would get so homesick and be thinking of all the fun things my friends were probably doing that I was missing out on.\u00a0 But I have learned just to embrace the slowness of life here and the fact that there is not much entertainment here but just talking to people can be fun.\u00a0 So most nights we will go over to Annie’s house or she will come over here and talk\u00a0 or play cards with her and sometimes her brothers Cha Sha, Andrew, and Masiliso and their friend Grenda.\u00a0 We have really enjoyed getting to know all of them.<\/p>\n

Well this is what has been the latest opportunity that has happened to me and how I feel God working in my life.\u00a0 I love and miss all you guys!\u00a0 <3 Lydia<\/p>\n

Here are some pictures:\u00a0 I will try to get some more pictures of all our neighbors so you can see everyone!<\/p>\n