We moved here just over a week ago and are already feeling
very much at home here. People have
made us very welcome and we have already had two invitations for Sunday lunch,
which is amazing! We are living in a
little flat in the town centre while we wait for tenants to move out of the
manse, but at the end of March we should be able to collect all our furniture
and belongings from various storage points and begin to settle down
properly. It is all so exciting and we
are full of hope again.
These
past few months have enabled me to reflect on the past year and all that has
happened. Despite the difficulties we
have learned so much from the experience and don’t regret that we went to
Guyana. Here are some of the positives
from our time overseas:
- We have met and
got to know some amazing people and learned a lot from their faith,
perseverance and cheerfulness despite the pressures they face on a
day-to-day basis.
- We have both grown
in our faith and developed a keen reliance on God for our daily needs.
- We have developed
a greater appreciation for every day things that we used to take for
granted.
- We have become
adept at adapting, being flexible and finding creative solutions to
problems.
- We have learned
that with God’s help we can have peace in all situations – waiting in long
queues, sitting in long services, in the midst of loss, turmoil and chaos,
and when things don’t go our way.
- Living in the
developing world for 11 months has given us a keener understanding of some
of the issues of oppression and poverty.
- We have learned
that we can actually live without many of the things we thought we needed
in the UK.
- The enthusiasm of
the youth at Mahaica and Mahaicony has given us great encouragement and it
has been great to work with them and help disciple them.
- We have been
amazed and uplifted by the constant support of our friends, family and
churches back home.
- Some of the
stories we have told people back home seem to have made an impact on their
lives too.
- We have loved working with the children in some of the schools and bringing joy and cheer to their day when we visit.
- We have enjoyed the sense of community and the warm smiles of greeting as we go about our work.
- We have learned a lot about living in a more relaxed way and not rushing all the time – we have learned that people are more important than completing tasks.
As
far as the future is concerned, I am currently exploring what my possible role
may be here. I am planning to take a
few months to settle in, unpack all our stuff (eventually!), get to know what
is going on in the area and find out what I might be able to do. It has actually been quite refreshing not to
rush into a job and to take the time to stop and get to know people and the
town where we are living. One thing is
certain I don’t want to sit idly but want to live purposefully and have an
impact on this community. I pray that
God will use the past year (and indeed all my past experiences) to prepare me
to make a unique contribution in this place and look forward to finding out
what that might be!
This
will probably be my final entry as I suspect that writing about life in sleepy
Devon won’t be quite as interesting to people as news from South America, but I
just want to thank you all for following this blog and for all your support and
help in so many different ways. If you want to stay in touch you can email me on markcarolyn1983@gmail.com A happy and peaceful 2014 to you all! J
