Ch-ch-changes

First of all, Kensey told me today that I forgot to sign out of Blogger yesterday, and she implied that she did something to my blog. I think she's bluffing. If you notice anything crazy, please let me know.

And it will be crazy.

In the past couple of days, I've had some new readers: Tatiane, Eliane, Ivanmar, and Ludymila. They are all very excited about the sessions (like everyone else!), but their level of English conversation varies tremendously. But I'm glad to have them all!

We have some readers who can barely speak any English at all. If I was in their position, I would have decided about three minutes into my first session that I had come to the wrong place. Thank you for your time, have a nice life. But even though it's very difficult for them, they want to keep coming back. In fact, some of them just want to come more often so they'll get more practice. Of course, no matter how much they struggle, we're here for them. If my reader wants to come try his or her hardest for 45 minutes just to form a sentence, I'll help them as much as I possibly can. I won't lie, it's exhausting to have that kind of session. But seeing them smile when they say they are happy to be there is well worth my effort.

We have had some (just a few) people who signed up not show up for their sessions. That's very common in this kind of program. The weird thing is, most of them have been my readers. I'm not scaring them away--no one I've read with has dropped out--they just never show up for their first session. We still have plenty of readers, though. Missy is leaving this Sunday (she was only staying for the first two weeks from the beginning), and we'll adopt her readers. I'm looking forward to meeting them!

Another big change is that we're moving! When Missy leaves on Sunday, the rest of us will be moving in with Randy and Kathy. We're very happy about this, because it means our team will be together all the time, and William and I will be much closer to the Escola da Biblia. Danny has been a wonderful host to us, though, and we will miss living with him. He's shared everything he has with us without even a second thought. We'll still see him a lot and he'll hang out with us, so we don't have to be too sad. Thanks for sharing your home, Danny!

Everyone's reading sessions have been going very well, and we're all getting to know our readers better. Our first party is Friday. ("What's the theme?", you ask? Why, it's an Elvis party, of course. And yes, William has a costume. Expect some wonderful pictures.) We hope a.) lots of people show up, b.) we'll be prepared to entertain lots of people, c.) our readers and their friends will get connected with Boa Viagem Igreja de Cristo, and d.) everyone will have fun!

Please keep praying for us, our readers, and our hosts. And keep sending messages! We love to hear from all of you at home. Let us know how you are, too!