Wednesday, April 16, 2003 Moving to Lisbon Well Bom Dia, it's good to finally sit down and retell a little of what God has been doing in our lives the last month. The ride has been bumpy but extremely rewarding. Leaving the States was one of the hardest things we have ever had to do, but it was necessary, of course, for this mission to Mozambique. The airport goodbye was something that we had only imagined and dreaded for so long. Having heard the stories of other missionaries about their first goodbyes with their families, we only expected the worst. But, everyone seemed to hold up alright, even the moms! We were sent off with the blessing of our church, our family, and friends, and we couldn't ask for a better last few weeks with all of you. We arrived in Lisbon around 10:30 on Sunday night, March 16. We checked into the Hotel Canada (moving from America to Portugal and staying in Canada! eh?) where we stayed two nights. We started looking for apartments on Monday morning, not finding the perfect place, of course. Apparently the Portuguese like to sleep a little closer together on something a little larger than a twin, resembling a bed. It was good for me but we had to find a place for Ann to sleep! (just kidding) We and the Westerholm's moved into a temporary apartment (which could have used an elevator to ease the pain of 68 steps) as we continued the search. We found our apartment on Wednesday, and moved in on Friday. First floor! The only drawback to that is the nosy people that walk by and stare into our living room when we have the windows open, and the noise. But, we are adjusting. We have settled in, and it kind of feels like home. It is small, but just the right size for two, with modern furnishings. It is nice to not have to clean such big rooms! We don't have an oven, so cooking has been a little different, but we manage. We really like our neighborhood. It is an older part of town, walking distance from a nice park, and small grocery stores. No Wal-Mart Supercenter, but there is a mall with a movie theater and a larger grocery store about a mile or so away. We have a good Chinese restaurant just a couple of doors down, and a sweet older lady has a tiny shop across the street with fresh produce. We are also within walking distance from the Holton's apartment, and the Westerholm's. We haven't found anyone in our neighborhood that speaks any English, so that has been good for language practice, but frustrating at times. Language School We go to a school called CIAL, in central Lisbon. It takes us about 15 minutes to get there by bus (autocarro)and subway (metro). We are usually in a mad dash to catch the bus in the morning at 7:38. We usually miss that one and catch the 7:48, run to the metro station, and arrive only two minutes late to class. (Our class time is changing to 9:00 next week) We go to school every weekday for three hours, with a break in the middle. We much appreciate the break to let our brains return to normal size. Our team is divided into two separate classes. We have had a good time in class with our teacher, Isabel. To our surprise we have found learning Portuguese pretty easy so far. We credit all that to God answering all of your prayers for our language learning. Thank you all so much for keeping us in your hearts and prayers. God has truly been good to us this last month. The church here in Lisbon has really received us wonderfully and been a blessing to us. We want so much to be a blessing to them when we can say more to them than, Hello! and How are you? I wish that through e-mail I could express to you just how much we have felt your prayers and witnessed them being answered through and even in spite of us. A.W. Tozer once said, "God is looking for those through whom He can do the impossible. What a pity then to settle for those things with which we can do ourselves." Amen. May God use all of us in a way that would bring him absolute glory and make his name famous to the ends of the earth. "Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to your name be all the glory, because of your love and your faithfulness." We have really appreciated all the e-mails and letters we have received. May God bless you, Rusty and Ann Caldwell