We truly love our life in Maliyali. Yes, it is very hard at times. Sometimes we feel lonely, homesick, overwhelmed, stressed, and just plain tired. It is very difficult for me to homeschool with TONS of distraction. Our kids get bored at times. I have to cook every single meal, ha. We see really hard things among the Maliyali people--sickness, sin, tragedy, death...the list goes on. But all that said, we truly love living there! Why? Here are three reasons I can think of...
1. God. It seems obvious, but it is so true. He has given our family JOY. We truly feel this is a work of the Holy Spirit--that we all love our place in Maliyali, and we love our people. By God's grace, we are content to live in this remote location! And God has allowed our family to thrive. He is so good.
Some days it's very hard for our kids to get out of their comfort zones, but they DO it! They sometimes have to be encouraged, or reminded of why we are building relationships...but they get out there with the Maliyali kids/people and we are so proud of them!
Nathan brought Kaine on an excursion with him, because his Maliyali friend Nathan was bringing his two sons! Kaine was a bit reserved at first, but by the end Nathan said he was having such a blast!
Halle is absolutely amazing. She is so great at getting out there, talking to kids, playing marbles...sometimes we have to tell her to go out with the kids, but when she does, she ends up liking it and she does so great!! She is also amazing with Rimestads' little girl, Louise. Halle and Lou are best friends :)
dead chicken, lol :) Layla is also so great at getting out with the kids. She usually gravitates more to wanting to stay inside to play legos, or else playing with Calvin and Daisy...but she is growing in her insecurities and becoming more comfortable every day! There have been multiple times that she has outlasted our other kids outside, and it has been just her with the Maliyali kids--playing tag, etc. She's so much fun!
me and daisy cooking sweet potatoes over the fire:) Daisy is such a sweetheart. She is the most shy of our kids, but yet many days she will go out and play marbles with the little kids--and she does so great! We are so proud of all of them!
Our two cats have been SUCH a blessing to our kids!
2. Our Team. Oh, there is so much I could say about the Rimestads. They are absolutely amazing. We have a very good relationship with them, which we all attribute to God's goodness and kindness to us. We have very open and honest communication. There are times we disagree on things, and we talk about them. We pray together, we talk about struggles, feelings of insecurities or jealousy...we sometimes cry together and we definitely laugh together! Emily and I got lost in the jungle together one time, lol! We love them and we are so thankful for them. And having a strong team that is NOT perfect, but DOES depend on God's grace--helps us to have joy in Maliyali! We are excited for the day when we add another couple to the mix, too! I'll say more about that later on!
Uncle David is an awesome role model for Kaine. Kaine really looks up to him--David is a man who LOVES Jesus, and LOVES Emily--and he openly talks about that all the time. And he is also a really fun guy! We are thankful Kaine has that kind of example to look up to!
Same goes for Emily. Especially for Halle, probably since Halle is a bit older--Halle LOVES her aunt Emily! Emily is so fun and creative, and she loves on our kids so so well. And she is in LOVE with Jesus, and all the kids know it! So thankful for Aunt Emily in my kids' life!
One day Em and I took a day off school and did a field trip to a waterfall...it was so much fun!
silly girls :)
3. The Maliyali people. We truly love them so much. I don't want to paint them in an unrealistic light, because the truth is--they are very lost. They live in darkness, and they have so many problems. I know we will see more of all that after we live with them for longer, too. But the fact is--we are so thankful that God has put this incredible love in ALL of our hearts for these people. And they love us, too. They love us SO well.
The Maliyali people are incredibly hard working, not lazy at all, and they love to help us. They are so helpful to our families that I struggle to put it all into words. They have done so much for us--from giving us land to build our houses on, to helping with the housebuilding, to spending HOURS teaching us language (that one is going to go on for a LONG time, too!) They give us food, weed our gardens for us sometimes, and helped us make our gardens. When our husbands need to hike the LONG hike to the "nearby" airstrip, they mark a man or two to go along with our men. They are amazing, and the more time we spend with them, the more we are so sad for them. We feel a burden and an urgency to get their language--so that we can share the Gospel with them someday. The thought that these Maliyali friends could spend eternity in heaven with us--and with all of you!!--makes us cry. Please pray for their hearts to be soft, and for us to learn this language well!
this is Adame...probably my most main language helper and my close friend. She knows how to speak Pidgin which has helped our relationship to grow close. She is Rambo's second wife. I am holding baby Halle in this picture--her little boy :) He's the cutest baby ever!
they are always nervous for us when we cross logs :)
me and my friend, Nes. She is such a sweet sweet woman.
Emily and I love to go and visit moms who have brand new babies :) On this particular day, Em and I spend a few hours on a Saturday, hiking to see two different new moms--and we brought along Louise and Halle! It was a good--but very tiring--morning!
Our people also love on the people who come in to visit. When we had our language evaluations, the Maliyali people gave gifts and said thank you to the language consultants and also the pilots who stayed with us for two nights! In this picture, Nathan (the Maliyali man), is giving a string bag to Mike (our helicopter pilot).
Kali patiently teaching me to make one of those string bags...I have a LONG way to go to actually know how to make these!
Helping us weed/plant the garden--and a crowd just watching us, which is VERY common as well, lol!
The Maliyali people are SO STRONG. The amount of stuff that these women can carry on their heads is unbelievable. Emily and I sometimes try to lift it and we can't even LIFT it with our arms!
Elainza helping Nathan with langage...
And Maso helping with language...
Some sweet kids "helping" me sweep my porch, lol! They sure are cute :)
The kids are SO cute and so funny :)
The babies are just delicious :)
There you have it! We are so thankful for God's grace in giving us joy to live in Maliyali. And we are so thankful for the team He has provided us with. And we are so thankful the the people He has sent us to reach! Please continue to pray for us and for the Maliyali people!
