I must admit a few things right off the bat. God has been amazing to me on this excursion so far. In saying this I will probably ensure that I have some soon, but thus far I've had no stomach issues which is a tremendous blessing. It is much easier to get adjusted to life in a new place when you aren't running to the "comfort room" as it is called here every 10 minutes. Food so far has been pretty good. A lot of rice. A lot. Of rice. In fact I eat mostly rice because I'm unsure about other things, but so far it seems to mostly be small amounts of fried meats like corned beef or pork mixed with boiled vegetables. Also a lot of fish in various forms. The mangoes have probably been my favorite thus far. Very tasty. I'm a little worries about my calcium intake though, I'll have to ask around and see what is available. If nothing else I can just chew tums I suppose.
I had no idea what to expect regarding my quarters, but I am living in the mission house here at Aparri Bible Seminary, and it is a lovely little house that I'm very pleased with and I feel very blessed to have such a nice place to stay. It even has a window air conditioner if I want to turn it on, but I've felt worse after the two nights I used it, so I don't know if I'll be using it much or not.
It is very warm here. Pretty much 90 Fahrenheit everyday and humid like the Ohio valley, so I should be used to it, I think it just caught me a little early this year. But it feels like late August in Cincy every day here. Just found out that there is a typhoon messing around in the Pacific reasonably close to the Philippines, it not supposed to get real bad here, maybe some much needed rain. The rainy season is supposed to start next month, as I understand it we're not quite far enough north to be heavily involved in the monsoon, but it mostly gets cloudy and rains more often.
I spoke with Manang (term of respect for a woman older than you) Leolinda Columna who teaches many things here at ABS, and we agreed that I would teach Greek 1 for the upcoming semester. I've started my preparation for this class and I'm looking forward to it. Also I will probably teach an exegetical course on some New Testament epistles and a class called intro to Bible study this first semester. Definitely looking forward to teaching these courses.
I have been truly blessed thus far. There have been many situations where I was unsure of what I needed to do or how things would turn out, but I've had a lot of practice praying "As you will and as you know; Lord have mercy." or "Lord, I'm worried; Please take care of this." Of course God has been doing just that and it's been wonderful to see.
If you wish to pray for me, please pray that my understanding of the culture and the local dialect, Illokano, would increase. I listened to an entire sermon in Illokano last night and I have a long way to go. Also, please pray for my continued health. Well begun is half done as they say, hopefully that is the case.
Thank you so much to those of you who made a donation or will make a donation in the future. It has enabled what appears to be a mutually beneficial relationship for both myself and the school.
Nick
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