the door is open

Sunshine and hamburgers outside the mall

K has her new residence permit in hand and P is expected to go to the entry and exit bureau to apply for his in mid June. The doors are open for us to continue to be here in this place. We are grateful that the process and paperwork has been smooth, and all the officials have been encouraging and supportive, thus far. Many even talk enthusiastically about next year. Our Father is faithful, and we celebrate the end our 12th year on this side of the globe!

Exams with our freshmen... Emma, Tina and Lucky.
Each class takes 2 hours for one-on-one exams.

We wrapped up 26 days of work in a row, catching up with the classes that we missed in March. We've only been teaching for two months, however, we were able to fit three months of classes in by working on weekends. As a result, we will be able to end classes toward the end of June as expected!

Our students are engaged and continue to be interested in learning. They are tired... tired of staring at their phone, tired of trying to catch the words the teacher is saying, tired of power outages and bad connections. But they persevere and continue to learn. Many of them seem to have done better learning online at home with nutritious food and fewer distractions. There has been so much less sickness because our students aren't sharing colds and fevers. They look so healthy! PTL.

The lilacs in bloom!

But everyone needs a break and summer is ready to provide, though in our corner of the world, the virus continues to wreak havoc on daily life. We are having more severe outbreaks than other areas of our country of residence, forcing our hair salon to close and our leader to tell us to stay in the house (just this week), unless it is absolutely necessary to go out. They are concerned, and we are grateful for their advice and offers of help.

Grateful many still enjoy learning
with us using our videos!

This past week it was more difficult for us to get into the big supermarket where we buy cheese and beef. We were denied entry until our leader called the manager of the supermarket and explained that we had the correct identification and health pass as required. Everyone is cautious but friendly. We walked by a bank on a warm Friday afternoon, drinking our cold drinks at the end of our prayer walk. One of the workers who we have talked with before was standing at the entrance of the branch. She called out for us to be careful and wear our masks, before asking where we lived and welcoming us to come back when we needed to pay our electric bill. (Electric bills can be paid at certain bank branches). We are blessed that our neighbors are friendly and helpful.

Our housing community has once again issued us passes for going in and out of the complex, in order to limit entry to residents only. A person is in quarantine in our complex, which makes our colleagues and leaders nervous. We aren't worried, but we continue to follow the guidelines and directives and only spend time with our family and friends online. There are always opportunities for helping others, making new friends and sharing hope and joy in meaningful ways. Our Father is the Way Maker.

Kevin and Ana, former colleagues, have a
daughter, who celebrated her 2nd birthday!

We pray for peace and justice for so many in the US. There are many things that need to change and many people who are suffering. We pray for more compassion, generosity, forgiveness and understanding. We pray for those who are in power to favor the people and make wise decisions. May our Lord give us mercy and change our hearts to be more like Him. May we be willing to sacrifice and suffer for our neighbor.

getting a cold drink after our afternoon prayer walk,
making friends, supporting local businesses that
 have been hurt because university students
didn't come back this term

Our students send us their homework as videos,
sometimes twice in the same week!