We're here!!

Just a quick note to say that we've made it and are waking up to our second full day in India! And boy the days have been full!! We arrived in Kolkata early Wednesday morning, made our way to Sarah's apartment, had a little rest and then ventured out in the afternoon to see an apartment that the team had found for us on the south side of the city. It looks like this will be our new home assuming all goes well in finalizing the deal with the landlord this afternoon. (I'll try to post some pictures soon). Anna is excited to have a small balcony off of her and Asha's bedroom (she calls the balcony her living room) and we envisioned that this will be where she can have her very own container garden. It will be so good to finally settle there......but first, staff retreat outside the city tomorrow until Monday and then an early bus to Bangladesh on Wednesday morning.

We had hoped to do lots of little updates this week knowing that so many are praying for us and thinking of us in these initial days, but I'm afraid that our internet access has been and will continue to be (until next week) very limited. We'll try to post once more before Tuesday.

If I had to summarize the first few days here I would use the word INTENSE!! There is no way to avoid the intensity of this city--noise, smells, crowds...and for me, taking it all in with one eye on the girls to see how they're reacting to it all raises the intensity a bit. Beyond that though, we have been remembering the past couple weeks and feel intense gratitude and amazement over the love and care poured out on us by our friends and family in our departure. In the face of the instability of our life in transition, we feel bolstered even now by your words and prayers and acts of kindness and service! We miss you severely already!
The nearness of God too has felt intense, particularly since arriving here, and for this I am the most thankful, for it makes every hardship bearable.

We love and miss you tons!