I can’tt believe it’s been almost two weeks since I last wrote an update. The days are over before I know it and then a week passes by. It seems impossible that I have already been in Africa 3 months! Without a doubt I am settling in and feeling more at home here. Having a place to live that has water and power at the same time and most all of the time has helped. However, one of the best things I’ve been given here that has helped me feel more at home than anything else is having people around me who have become my family here.

Benedicts and I met not long after I arrived here. He works with the church association here on various projects and has been helping me with some of the projects I have been working on. From the very beginning he has looked out after me and my well being here. He and his wife Getrude are the ages of my children and their children are the ages of my grandchildren. God has blessed me abundantly with this family to call my own here. I had such an empty void in my life here until they became a part of it. This past Sunday they came and spent the afternoon and evening with me, their visit was what officially made this new mission house my home. Children everywhere being happy and so excited to be here with me just like my grandchildren back home always are.

Benedicts, Getrude, Abigail, Tony and Dorothy

Everywhere I go I have to be so careful and I don’t always get to hold and snuggle the little children, my arms have ached so many times to be able to do so. Little Abigail is 3 years old and she just lets me love on her all I want! Tony is 9 and at that stage of I’m too cool to hug, but he lets me anyway! Dorothy is the quietest of all the children. She is not Benedicts and Getrude’s biological child, but they are raising her as their own. Her father died and the Mother couldn’t care for her. She has experienced a hard life to only be 9 years old. She doesn’ smile much, but when she does, she glows!

And of course as I’ve written before having Jimmy around just makes everything good! He and one of his friends came and visited for a while Sunday afternoon too, and it was awesome to have all of them here.

Jimmy

I leave today for Kenya for a few days and once again find that I don’t have a lot of time to write as I would like. I have much to share from the past couple of weeks and will hopefully get it posted when I return~

Love to all,

Joy Breedlove

Missionary -East Africa