Chris writes - last week was a short one. We were off on Monday for the Independence day holiday so I visited a friend in his new English school in the morning. In the afternoon we visited one of the families of the children - building relationships. Had a party in the evening with some pretty amazing dancing. Tuesday was the big day and we went into Gjakova to celebrate with the guys from the Smile centre. The evening was amazing just walking up and down the main street greeting people. The whole Independance thing is quite strange and it feels a little unsteady - as you might be aware many countries still do not recognise it - hopefully given time they will. But Kosovar people are very patriotic and their flag, and many other countries flags who helped them, were proudly displayed everywhere. We got home to bed very late wishing we had another day off! Wednesday was a regular day with the addition of a volunteer from the UK who brought us some fantastic treats over - thanks Charlie!! Out for coffee to Prizren in the afternoon - Kosova life! On Thursday evening we were invited out to one of the families for a Burek (my favourite!) and some amazing Kosovar hospitality - the life! On Friday we took our volunteer back to Gjakova and went shopping - Joy! Saturday after cleaning the auto went out to Prizren with another couple and home for food. On Sunday we were at our church and after - for coffee - the life! In the evening we caught up with some langauguage and the enevitable three hour power cut - with the invertor only working for one hour this was pretty tough - Kosova! Still battling with my gremlins and find myself having to keep asking for forgiveness! Still struggling with trying to be a loving husband/team-mate. Some days are better than others - sometimes it is silly things which trip me up! Keep on keeping on!! Thanks for reading and praying!!

Lorraine writes- where has the time gone!!! Three months has just flown by. We so love being here, learning how to be part of a different culture. We have started to visit each of the children attending the day care (a long process as we have 45 on the register) Its wonderful to meet the children in their home environment; to see where they live, meet their brothers and sisters. Meeting their parents has been a privilege. Being able to encourage them regarding their child/children has given us a great opportunity to engage in conversation and to begin to establish a relationship with them and to share about what life is like in the day care. Kosova's Independence day is just around the corner (17th Feb) and we are keen to be part of a country celebrating freedom, after experiencing so much pain and oppression. Quite how they will celebrate is yet to be seen, but we are looking forward to it!

Chris writes: we have now been in Kosova for over three months and it is really feeling like home. That is not to say it has been easy. Working and living as a team for me and Rainie is new to us so naturally there have been some adjustments to make and it has not always been easy. This has been particularly hard as we live and work in the same building - often with other people around us so moments together can be precious. This has of course all stretched our relationship - sometimes more than othertimes! I must admit I have not found it easy trying to be a good boss and be a loving husband! We are also still without Dave and Cindy who hopefully will be back in one month. Yippee! We have also had big problems with getting our money - thanks Abbey! We have also struggled with the language and finding the time in the evening has often been a battle for us both. Praise God we are living through it and growing in grace for this new life we have taken on. Last night we had a mains power cut and just got on with what we were doing - sometimes by candlelight sometimes with the generator. We seem to have hit a milestone with the language and are starting to remember some of the words inspite of our dyslexia! Now that is an answer to prayer! At one stage I thought I would never remember a word! I guess our testimony is: it has not always been easy but then we never expected it to be - but we are living and growing through it. Whoever said living any kind of life - living life God's way - was going to be easy? Nobody I know. When people ask where was God my only answer can be He was right there with us all the time - His hand just so clearly seems to be on what we are doing here we have found favour with the staff and children and had some answers to prayer and watched His provision on the way too. It is not to get complacent of course or make you think that we have got it all cracked - we still have much to do and it won't be easy - but all this bodes well as we think and pray about what happens after September but that is for another day! Thanks for reading and I pray that you can know and share something of our relationship with Our Heavenly Father. :)