So We Go

Submitted by Jason

     Here I sit at the makeshift computer desk on the backside of our hosts', Mark & Pam Proper, home that they are renting. It's 6 am. The house is quiet. Outside the window I face a man made pond about 50 ft in diameter. The turtles swim freely as the horse, cows and chickens enjoy sharing the land surrounding it. Over the ridge of the far side of the pond is a row of trees, bush or jungle, whichever you prefer. The morning is alive with the sounds of roosters, thankfully, in the distance, groups of parrots flying over the coconut trees, chickens cackling, doves sounding off and the constant buzz that a field full of insects generates.
     Yesterday we went to our home, in progress, to survey the land in hopes of getting a better idea of the logistics of our new homestead. We are considering everything from the placement of a grazing area for a cow, the chicken coop, the compost pile, the brick oven, the garden and our trees. We have much to learn and little time to make critical decisions on these considerations. We have been told that the next 7-10 days is the ideal time to plant. I'm confident that the acceleration of the Lord's timing of our move had several purposes and this is just one of them.
     Each day that we've been here we have met new people. Everyone has been extremely friendly and willing to help us obtain the information and resources that we need for this task. Friday we met a single man from the states that spent 8+ years living among the amish. He has a greenhouse and has invited us to come see his property and offered the use of his greenhouse to us to get some of our plants or trees going in the meantime. Our means of communication are limited here for now, but we are hopeful to arrange a day and time to visit him.
     Yesterday we met a man that attends a local church here. He invited us to his house. We visited with him and his family for about 3 hours. They have 6 children, four of which where away at a Christian camp. They had friends of their children visiting when we arrived and they, with our children, enjoyed volleyball as we, adults, sat and talked. Isaac and Anna are originally from Canada. Their use of the German language is obvious even in their English. We felt extremely welcomed by, and comfortable around, them. Through our discussions about our current task at hand regarding our homestead, they strongly recommended that we meet a couple that they and our hosts, the Propers, are mutual friends of. Today we, and the Propers, have agreed to attempt to visit this family. They apparently live completely "off grid", so without the use of a phone, we will have to just drop by which appears to be much more commonplace and acceptable practice here than in the states.
     So we go, 12 people raised in the suburbs, in a foreign land in more ways than one, seeking to accomplish the necessary every day tasks to lay a foundation on which generations to come can build upon, furthering the gospel of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of our God.
     I'm being informed by my bubbly, early rising, 3 yr old, Liberty that the task at hand is actually feeding her. Adios.