Orientation

Today has been a pretty long day. We started with introductions of the staff and a welcome message to each of the 27 countries in attendance. I was pleased to find out that there are 12 people from the US attending. There are actually 4 or 5 of us that are from Houston or are currently working in Houston. After the staff introductions we spent the entire day in orientations about the building, cultural sensitivity, computers, etc. Then after dinner they had each of the students introduce themselves, tell where they were from, what they did, what there interests are, and something unique about themselves. With 100+ people, that took a while. It was interesting to see the differences in the attitudes of the people from different cultures. Some cultures were very humble and grateful to be here, while other cultures seemed to believe they had earned their place here...I'm not saying which was which. :) There were some great stories. There is a young woman, Chabnum, that claims the US as her home, but she is originally from Iran. She told us about the struggles she had to overcome to get where she is today. It was incredible!

On the way home tonight I was visiting with one of the other US students, Marlow, and found out that she is also a Christian. She has even found a place to worship and attend Bible studies where they speak both French and English. I think we're going to check out the Bible study on Tuesday. Yet another way God is providing for me here!