NTM

We can’t believe it: the time has come and we are moving to Guinea, Africa tomorrow!

We are nervous and excited at the same time. We know we serve a mighty God who is going with us, and we trust Him as we step into the unknown.

You can pray that:

- We have a safe trip.

- That we will adjust to the new time zone, the heat, the new cultue, foods, etc.

- That we will be relationship focused.

- That our African host family will find a house for us.

We would LOVE to keep in touch with you from Guinea.

You can e-mail us at shawn_deatley@ntm.org anytime.

Flying out tomorrow,

Shawn and Jenn

The time has come for us to pack up our belongings, apply for our visas, get our shots and fly to Guinea. We have our tickets reserved for June 23rd! We’re certainly staying busy with all of these "to do’s" , but we are excited for this new and quickly approaching step.

THANK YOU to everyone who has helped us cross off some of the things on our needs list! We really appreciate the sacrifice! We still have a few things left on the list that we need to purchase before taking off on this great adventure. To see what has been provided and what we still need, you can follow the link below:

http://shawnandjenn.wordpress.com/needs-list/

Now, if you’ll excuse us, we must get back to, "Let’s see…should we take this book? How about this pair of shoes?"

Your friends preparing to leave,

Shawn and Jenn

You Might Be Preparing To Move To Guinea If… 
-You don’t take for granted a 99 cent cheeseburger at McDonalds
-You buy socks, underwear and toothbrushes in four year quantities
-People often mistake you for the red cross
-You watch Man vs. Wild…just in case
-You buy birthday presents years in advance
-You try and work up a tolerance for the spiciest of the spicy
-You brainstorm activities that will occupy your time during the long flight across the ocean
-You find it comical when people think that driving to the nearest big city is a long trip
-You are used to strange looks and reactions when you tell people that you’re moving to Africa
-You own stock in multiple deodorant companies, since you plan to be sweating like crazy for the majority of your life
-You begin to sort through all of your belongings singing, “Take, leave, sell or trash?”
-Your ears perk up when you hear someone mention the words, “solar powered”
-You stop and talk to the people selling African drums at mall kiosks
-You’re beginning to think that “Just add water” foods are looking more and more appealing
-You take notes at every doctor and dentist appointment knowing that it will be a good while before you’re back for that “regular appointment”
-You’re always prepared to say, “It’s just Guinea; not New Guinea.”
-You can recite forwards and backwards what kind of work you think you’ll be involved in: even though only God knows for sure
-You’re often tempted to order a croissant with a full fledge French accent
-Getting shots becomes a regular thing like getting the oil changed in your vehicle
-You can recite what the visa process is for the country that you’re headed to
-You can proudly win a packing competition
-You enjoy family gatherings and get together with friends more than ever
-You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into, but you are willing to follow a good God!

We spent the day in Columbus, Ohio on Monday. It turned out to be a beneficial time for our French because we visited an African store. As soon as we entered the store, we could tell that we had walked into a cultural event as people spoke numerous languages, bartered for their food and socialized with the others.

We bought some seasonings for a friend, and met some of the shoppers who were speaking French. In fact, the owner was from, you guessed it, Guinea!!

Some of the others recommended the ginger juice. So, we took their advice and tried the ginger juice. It was spicy but delicious!

It was a good opportunity for us to practice our French, and we continue to look for ways to keep the language alive in our minds.

Vos Amis (Your friends),

Shawn & Jenn

Praise God! He has provided the $2,000 we need to purchase a used solar power system, a fridge, and some other household items from a missionary woman who is retiring from the field of Guinea.

Oak Dale Christian church in Moorefield, West Virginia asked if we had any projects that they could be involved in, and sure enough, we did!

This is a huge blessing and encouragement to us as we prepare for Guinea. There are a lot of initial costs such as plane tickets, solar system, etc. and  it can be overwhelming at times. Yet God reminds us that He is bigger than all of that.

Yahoo for God, and thanks to Oak Dale!

Your co-workers,

Shawn & Jenn

In the past month we have wrapped up our French studies, packed and moved back to Ohio. After 16 hours of driving, we flew to Colorado. Two days after being there, we drove 10 hours to Durango, where Jenn’s brother Daniel married Sara Cummins. It was a wonderful wedding!!

We spent our Christmas there in Colorado with Jenn’s family, and had an enjoyable time!

Now we are back in Ohio where we will be living until we leave for Guinea in April. We have lots of travels up ahead, visits with family, friends, churches and supporters. We will also be keeping busy as we prep for our upcoming departure in April. We have to pack, clean and organize what we plan to ship, get shots, and make arrangements.

If you think of it, you can keep us in your prayers as we head that direction!

Surrounded by boxes and messes

Shawn and Jenn

Our time of studying French is coming to an end in just a few weeks. We are encouraged to look back and see the progress that we have made!

We leave Sherbrooke the 12th of December, and then we will be in Ohio for a few days with Shawn’s family, and then in Colorado for the marriage of Jenn’s brother and Christmas.

After that, we will be preparing to leave for Guinea in APRIL!
Happy THANKSGIVING!

Keeping busy with final exams and packing,
Shawn and Jenn

Well, they say that all good things must come to an end! So, we’re kissing our fun, eventful and busy summer, "goodbye" and heading back to the classroom this week.

 We have an afternoon class this semester, a different teacher, and about 15 new students in the French language program. The students are from all over the world, all here with the common goal of learning the French language.

We have been meeting about once a week with our friend Charles who has been teaching us some new verb tenses and grammatical rules that we need to know. We are very thankful for his help!

We will continue to live here in QC and learn French until December.

PRAY that we will make the MOST of our time here!

Jenn with Charles’ wife Rachel and baby Sephora.

To help keep you, "in the loop" we have created a new website in addition to our existing NTM website.

CHECK IT OUT!

www.shawnandjenn.wordpress.com

Sometimes we find ourselves practicing our French in unexpected ways. Granted, we are here in QC to do just that, but sometimes we are thrown off guard.

Today I, (Jenn) babysat a little girl and the two of us decided it was a beautiful, park-going kind of day, so we headed in that direction. Once there, we were entertained by day cares, day camps, lawn mowers and athletes all around us. The little girl and I headed over to the swing set, and that is where we spent the next hour or so. She was loving the continual pushing, while I, on the other hand, was thrilled to chat with the Moms as they pushed their little swingers. I met a number of very nice people, all very interested in why we’re living in QC, and why we’re heading to West Africa. After all of that practice, I think I just might grab a nearby phone book and look up, "rent a kid" in the yellow pages! Ha.

Next was the video store scene. I walked over to the store to return some movies from the night before and to try and explain that one of the two that we rented didn’t work. Luckily I think I explained it well enough because the owner said, "Go get another one." At least, I hope I understood him correctly…    Ha.                                            

Then, this evening Shawn and I had a GUINEAN over for dinner! We met him through a friend. It was a great cultural time as well as French galore! I think he maybe said one English word the whole evening, and he said something like, "yes" or "it’s". Which doesn’t really fill you in on much if you’re already lost in the context of the conversation! We met him tonight for the first time, and we had a really good time.  We talked a lot about Guinea, and what life is like there, etc. He said he’s going to have us over to his house for a meal sometime, and we look forward to that. 

After dinner, Shawn was able to practice his mechanical French terms by helping our neighbor with his car. 

There’s always a way to practice, you just have to open your eyes, and, "violà"  there it is!

Talking to park Moms, and fixing our neighbors car,

Shawn and Jenn DeAtley