Apartment Life

Here are some photos of our apartment...

A mosque under construction right outside our apartment nears completion

Between our apartment and the mosque another building is going up!

Living Room

Kitchen

Dining Area

Apartment Play area

Our 12 story apartment!

Our wheels!

Waiting

Singer Tom Petty was right. “The waiting (really) is the hardest part.”

This painstaking word – waiting – seems to best sum up our first three weeks on the field. Praise the Lord though, our family is adjusting very well in spite of these "character-building" opportunities!

Since we arrived, we’ve found ourselves …

• Waiting in line to get blood tests and x-rays (medical clearance is necessary for a resident visa) – 6 hours
• Waiting in line on multiple trips to see the “typist” so that he can complete several forms for our visa applications – 5 hours
• Waiting to get internet service in our apartment (resident permit was required first) – 3 weeks
• Waiting in traffic – for who knows how long!
• Waiting to begin our “real” work – still waiting!

So why is this process of waiting so difficult, after all? I’ve come home, after spending hours waiting in lines or grid-lock traffic, plumb exhausted. I think it is because waiting is the work of patience and faith. Do you agree? Through our first three weeks, God has been faithful to us each and every day.

Beyond the lines and traffic, the rest of our time has been spent…

• Swimming and hanging with old college friends working in this city
• Eating meals on four different occasions with new, ex-pat friends
• Having meaningful talks with people from Pakistan, Dubai, and Egypt
• Taking road trips to Oman and Abu Dhabi for work purposes
• Going to three different churches (all were great services)
• Buying uniforms for school (gulp! Do uniforms REALLY cost that much???)
• Reading together as a family (great novel called “Blessed Child” by Ted Dekker and Bill Bright)
• Drinking frappocino’s at my Starbucks "office" and talking to my new friend from Syria (Sadly, I’ll not be going to almost daily to check e-mail now that we finally have internet at home!)

Time to wrap up this “post”. Before I close, let me ask you a question… For what are you waiting? Jot us a note. It would be our privilege to return the blessing by praying for you. Besides, we’ve had lots of practice. And chances are, it won't be long before we find ourselves back in that familar place of waiting. We'll try to take advantage of the unexpected time on our hands and remember your request!

Keep waiting and watching for the Lord’s return. It won’t be long! Then, (could it really be true?) all waiting will be over!!!

Get your Burns Bunch family photo!

If you would like to receive a family photo card shown below, simply e-mail us at: goburnsbunch@gmail.com and give us your physical address. We'll have one (or more) mailed to you from the states. Feel free to request as many as you want - one or more for yourself and as many as you would like to give away to family or friends. You can help us build up the network of people praying for us and the UAE.

Thanks for your partnership!

Front

Back

A picture is worth a thousand words

It is true. A picture is worth a thousand words.

But this picture, although it communicates great memories were made in the catching of fish, fails to convey the great time that was had by all as we invested in some very meaningful family relationships just days before heading to the field.

Thanks for praying for us. Mission accomplished!

We are here! We are here!

To quote all the "Whos" down in "Whoville" ("The Grinch That Stole Christmas").... "We are here, we are here, we are here, we are heeeerrrrrrre!"

I must admit, it all felt like a dream. And it was late enough to be one!

After a pretty eventful trip, we arrived at the airport gate in our destination city at the correct time (11 p.m.) but a whole day later than scheduled.

Bad weather in the "windy city" forced us to stay overnight. But after two cancelled flights, we were able to get back on track. All's well that ends well.

A "welcome service" greeted us at the airport gate as we de-planed and drove us through the airport on their speedy cart. Daniel was impressed. The welcome service whisked us to the front of the customs line like we were VIPs and then on to baggage claim.

As I was standing there with my family watching all but two of our trunks and suitcases unloaded off the conveyor belt (the other two arrived two days later!) that's when it all hit me.

I was overwhelmed with God's faithfulness to finish what He starts. This moment was the culmination of a year long process when we first began to sense "the call" to come to this great city. All praise and honor to our great King!

We were greeted by a team of people waiting for us outside the airport. That too was overwhelming. Our team took care of loading all of our bags and drove us straight to our apartment that they had fully furnished for us. What a blessing. All we had to do that first night was to lay our weary heads on our pillows and sleep...and sleep...and sleep some more.

We have done a lot of sleeping in our first 5 full days on the field but our bodies are slowly but surely getting over the jet lag. In spite of catching up on our rest, we have also managed to obtain cell phones and drivers licenses. We have ventured out into the crowded traffic of our city a few times and have stocked up on groceries. Our vehicle, a 6 passenger, standard shift Galloper with 109,000 km is doing just fine.

We have also visited a couple of schools and seem to be leaning towards an all girls school. We took a tour a couple of days ago and our daughters took placement tests yesterday. They really, really like this school and the faculty they have met. Our whole family seems to be at peace with it. Plus, it is only a 15 minute drive from our apartment!

The Burns Bunch seems to be adapting to the new time zone and busy city life. Tomorrow, we will travel to another city to visit and go to church with some friends. We have had a few "orientation" type meetings and dinners with two different team member families. As I mentioned earlier, the team we will be working with has done a super job of making us feel welcome.

It is great to finally be "here".