A little update about our family

Blog post:

               4 weeks!

               We have been here 4 weeks now and are starting to settle in a bit.  Our home is almost all set up and we are starting to learn where to go to buy our vegetables, meat, groceries, etc.   Bucket showers are no big deal anymore and the dogs barking all night no longer keeps us up.

The Arusha YWAM base is about 15 minutes drive from downtown Arusha.  The base has a main hall, a dining hall with a kitchen, a row of offices, classrooms, dorms and then a row of staff/family housing. We are at the end of the staff housing in an apartment on the lower level.  In order to get to classes we walk along a dirt path lining the housing to the main area of the base which takes about 2 minutes if you are by yourself but with the girls who trip over everything and have to stop to fix something it takes about 8.  With my parents here they are along the row of the houses as well and so the girls are able to go back and forth by themselves which is a huge step towards them being a little more independent.  All around us are lots of kids around the girls’ age but they only speak Swahili so it has been hard for the girls  to be able to play with them.  Also they like to pull the toys apart that aren’t supposed to be pulled apart which makes Hannah a little upset.  There is a family that has a little girl named Rita that Hannah really likes but they live out in Engikaret and only come back once every couple weeks for a day.  Yesterday when Rita showed up at our house Hannah went crazy. She became this social butterfly and couldn’t get enough of Rita.  She only speaks Swahili as well and is 5 but her and Hannah seem to be the same temperament so they seem to like each other because of that.  The couple days we were out in engikaret Hannah and Rita played so well together.  At the Arusha base the kids are a little pushier than Hannah and hailey would like. Hailey likes a couple of the kids but follows Hannah around mostly and copies everything she does.  Hannah loves it but also wants a break every now and then. They have been becoming better friends every day. Hannah has stepped up her role as a big sister and Hailey has really enjoyed watching and learning from Hannah.  They are starting to say Swahili greetings to people and wave.  Nobody here has been able to pick them up but them even saying Hi is a step in the right direction.  They are learning more every day. The biggest thing that they are struggling with right now is being a bit bored. We were so used to going somewhere every day that they are having a hard time just being at the base. There is only so many places to walk to on base and so many things to do in the house.  They want to go to town or do something different than what we do every day.   Once we get a car it will get easier to get out a couple times a week but even then it is not very safe to drive around Arusha.   We will get the hang of it once our car arrives.  Nick has tried to get his license but our Residence permit visas still have not been issued so we are here still as tourists. 

               Nick has enjoyed DTS thus far.  He has classes Monday through Friday and then once every month there is an outreach.  There have been 3 weeks of class and last week was a great week.  A lady from South Africa who works in Tanzania came and taught the class. I was able to sit through class and I really enjoyed her teaching. It is so interesting to see the difference in teaching/learning styles between Tanzanians and Americans.  On Sunday the DTS starts its mini-outreach and they have decided that this year it is in Engikaret so the girls and I are able to come.  They will be helping teach the preschool, doing door to door (well boma to boma evangelism), and some other things.   Saturday is a Massai Christian Wedding that we will be attending out there and then we will be staying through the week.  The week following they are holding classes out in Engikaret so Nick will be gone 2 weeks out there.  The girls and I are going to try and be out there as much as possible but we am leaving that up to how the girls do the first week.  We are excited to be out there as a family.

               We are learning a lot about surrendering every day to Jesus and hearing what He wants us to do with our time.  We would love to hear how you are.  You can email us at nhforrest@yahoo.com or post on here how we can pray for you and how the ministry you are involved in is going.  Thank you so much for your prayers.  We are doing better and better every day we are here. We love you and appreciate you all soo much.