It has been so long since we updated this blog. The months since December 2012 have certainly been very busy. We left the USA on February 7th, and spent about a month in France visiting our family. We hit the ground running in Mauritius. 3 weeks after our arrival, my father and mother were leaving for the USA to visit some of their supporting churches. I was to replace him as the interim pastor for about 3 months. Being back in Mauritius itself was a bit of a challenge and having the responsibilities at church certainly added to that. But, I was glad that I was able to help and serve the Lord in that capacity. People were very helpful and gracious. One challenge that was unexpected was difficulties with communication. Most of my preaching experience was in English. The biblical and theological terms I am familiar with are the English ones. While communicating at the conversational level was not hard, communicating a sermon was indeed a challenge. We have been in Mauritius for 6 months now, and this is still a challenge. However, it is getting better with time.
My father got back to Mauritius at the beginning of July, and we have enjoyed the opportunity to work with him. It has also been good to be able to concentrate a bit more on settling in. We were quite busy the first 3 months, and at times it was hard to find time for some of the things that one would normally do shortly after moving overseas. For instance, it is only in the past few weeks that we were finally able to go shopping for plates and to buy some. In hindsight there are a few things that we would have done differently, but that might be a post for some other day. Perhaps our experience might profit somebody else.
Over the next year or so, while we work with my father, we also want to be thinking about the particular area of Mauritius that we would want to settle in and work in long term. The needs in Mauritius are great, and we want to be as strategic as possible. May the Lord guide our steps as we devise our ways.
