Well, I am still waiting for culture shock to set in. Guinea - Bissau is dirty, but the hotel is in a more country setting than I had supposed and affords us a much nicer place. Clean bedsheets everynight and a shower (cold water, no shower curtain.). 2 huge meals a day. it´s pretty rocking. But the people are incredibly nice. I actually fee like I am staring to get a hang for the language. Enough so, that I can order cola and barter for trinkets.
Actually had a guy on the street ask me `faloo creole?´ for the first time today instead of ´faloo francais?´. Everyone here thinks we are French since so many French speaking people come from Senegal and N. Africa.

We are still waiting for the container to arrive, but we already have our work cut out for us The 360,000 students are just the start an open door for PREACH's work here. Brother Jonathon Quinn is looking for a place to move his family into within the next 2 months, so a lot of time is being spent on finding him a house (and probably remodeling slightly), getting the government paperwork done for the container storage (land was given to PREACH by Guinea Bissau but there is miles of red tape to go through), and figuring out a way to transport the 360k bibles and books to areas that require a 2.5 hr drive. I mean, if we had $360k in the bank, it would be no problem... but I'm starting to get tired of hearing the locals always talking about 'denario' (money). And it's mostly reasonable prices...just it takes money. The cool thing is that God has brought us this far And God will take uis to the end. He never takes us to the Red Sea just to watch us die...

The Government has asked PREACH to open a school for their teacher's continuing education. So that is part of the long-term goal. The people are very open. Last night we had 2 local women wander into our service when they heard our singing. They are so used to fearing the spirits....that they have very little concept of a good God that loves them and that they can serve.

But frankly, if you opened a church you'd probably have a thousand locals swarming it. There are several works here... The evangelicals were allowed to be here even before the war.. so there are several native-run churches. But there is only one tiny evangelistic (outreach, mission) effort that we have heard of, and it is nothing compared to the teeming swarm of Islam that is whooshing in. Right now we have the opportunity from the Government to put the Bible in Muslim Schools... Elections are next week: How long will this door stay open? May we work now, may God's church seize the need now, while there is yet light...

..
As the Taxi we are in drives away from our main interpreter:

Bro Joe: 'do any of you know how to get where we are going?'
long silence
Q: nope

Bro Joe: Any of you have a cell phone?
long silence
Q: nope

Bro Joe to driver: faloo ingles?
driver chatters in creole

Bro Joe: This could be interesting......
.
Thank you for your prayers. I have not been sick at all. I even got an air-conditioned ride from the air port to our hotel. That NEVER happens over here. The outlets in our room work. Our bathroom works. Some of the team members don't have those privileges. I'm pretty sure it's just 'cause I get more prayers than the rest.

And thanks to everyone who made it happen Be prepared to have to tie me back to the ground when I get home.