Welcome to Amman!

(Ignore the date on the picture...my camera is loopy)

Greetings, Friends!

I arrived in Amman on Friday evening, along with Kristy Guertin, a fellow SALT intern serving in Irbid, Jordan. We were picked up at the airport by Daryl and Cindy Byler, who oversee much of MCC's work in the Middle East. To my pleasant surprise, the Bylers were joined by my friend Agnes Chen, a current Wheaton student who is working in Amman for six months.

No one could ask for a better reception. Kristy and I were welcomed with enthusiasm and blessed by a hospitality worthy of the Arab culture into which we were thrown. Many thanks to Daryl and Cindy for catching us!

After receiving our initial orientation over the last two days, Kristy and I began a month-long Arabic course at the Kelsey School today! Five days a week, three hours a day, and lots of studying outside of class. Prayers for a productive start are appreciated.

Only recently did I learn that I would get to study Arabic in Amman before beginning my work at the Holy Land Institute for the Deaf in Salt. I am preemptively grateful for a linguistic foundation that will serve me well in the following ten months.

While enrolled at the Kelsey School, I will be living in my own apartment, just off of the proudly trendy Rainbow Street. Moved in this morning and stoked about the living situation. I'll take pictures in the next day or so.

In closing, a praise report and a prayer request. Praise God for a relatively smooth transition thus far! The effects of jet lag could be much worse, and I am not feeling too terribly drained or disoriented. That said, I am drained (understandably so), and the transition has really just begun. Please pray that God would continue to sustain me in body, mind, and spirit.

Grace and Peace.