It's Been Tough

So Wednesday was probably the hardest day since Bethany and I left. We decided to not rent the first house we saw but rent the second one instead. We called the landlady and told her what we had decided. I won’t go into the details but the landlady from the first house was very upset with us. That may not seem like a big deal. But in Laos (and probably most of Southeast Asia), offending someone is a very big deal. Bethany and I were feeling both guilt and pressure to take this house we didn’t want for many reasons so that we could make amends with the landlady. We were feeling so much pressure because in this culture, this situation could damage our reputation and the reputation of who we work with.

This went on most of the day Wednesday, and was not resolved until Thursday afternoon. Wednesday night was very emotional for Bethany and me. We were both sick about it. But we asked the Father to redeem the situation. And he did. It’s kind of like a miracle. The landlady called back and said, “Don’t worry about it.” Or at least that’s how it’s translated into English from Lao. This is a phrase that releases us from feeling obligation or guilt and it did just that.

On Thursday we both taught at the university. Bethany taught one class and I taught three. It’s been raining non-stop for the past two days. And our university only has dirt roads. Today’s sunshine dried the roads up some but it was still difficult to get around. Today was my first day teaching and I thoroughly enjoyed my students. They were excited I was there. I’ve already been invited to another province to visit one of my student’s families. And another class invited me to go to a waterfall with them. It is amazing how the Father gave me so much opportunity today to build relationships.

Something funny happened this afternoon. One of the goats outside my classroom was so loud that it was hard to concentrate. I know you just read that last sentence twice. And note that I said that “one of the goats.” There are many farm animals just outside my classroom, but this one was feisty today.

Please continue to remember Bethany and me. Some days are easy and some are not so easy. This is harder than I thought it would be. But I have a feeling the rewards are greater than I can imagine.