Thursday, July 5
After 15 hours to Dubai, a 13 hour layover, and a 5 hour flight to Seychelles, we finally arrived yesterday afternoon. Crossing an international time zone, we also lost half a day, and we’re nearly halfway around the world at an 11 hour difference. It’s a different kind of experience spending the evening of July 4 in a foreign land. This place has a unique island beauty all its own, but there are reminders everywhere that it’s not the USA – from the driving on the left side of the road, to the French “Creole” everyone speaks, to the heat and mosquitoes, to the peculiar customs. When they speak English, it sounds a bit like Jamaican (Caribbean accent) to me.
We met a brother and three sisters in Christ when we arrived. They don’t have some of the luxuries we take for granted, they live very simple lives (especially the housing), and they like to “greet one another with a holy kiss,” reflective of the French heritage here. But they were very gracious, transporting our luggage to a little apartment that will be our home for 2 weeks. Children greeted us with a little island gift, and our small refrigerator was stocked with island food provided by the brethren.
We were totally exhausted last night and slept well… The work starts tonight with a men’s training class. Then we have 3 appointments tomorrow and 2 Saturday prior to beginning some extensive gospel meeting work next week.
Friday, July 6
We had a wonderful men’s meeting last night. I have lots of stories to tell, but I’ve been having computer problems, and my time at the Internet cafe is short. In summary, there are a lot of young family men here who are part of the core group, and the level of spiritual maturity is extremely high. A brother prayed that not only that Andrea and I would do some good here while we are here, but that we would grow stronger as a result of their contributions to our mutual faith. Very edifying. More stories to tell when I get back…
Keep us in your prayers,
Mike and Andrea
