From a Live Dead team member:

The morning starts with a call, a call to prayer. I hear the muffled voice and the words of a language I do not know and realize that I am no longer home. The sun is rising and so are the followers. We rise with them to start the day. We are now living in our new apartment with our team members close to the new place we will work at. Living here is like a dream and at times a little overwhelming as we try to become a part of this small community in this giant city.

Everyday my husband and I put our minds to the test as we strive to become fluent in the language of the people that we will be working with. From the voices that fill the evening air of the apartment complex, we are encouraged by the few words we understand, “A**” – “You”, “H**” – “Yes”, “M*a” – “No” (This word seems to be a favorite of the children in the complex. I am pretty sure they have a song called “M*a”). After hours and hours of learning, this what I know so far. We are assured we know more than we think. The technique we are using is the “GPA – Thompson Language Method” Apparently an unseen vocabulary already taught to us will slowly reveal itself. Compared to others I have used, this method has allowed us to make major strides and feel confident with our abilities.

As we sit and sip our tea during class we laugh at ourselves as we all try to make noises I was pretty sure could only be made when one sneezed or coughed. We often stare blankly at our extremely patient teacher A**d as he demonstrates the difference in the words “Gii**” and “Gi**”. Thank you, A**d, for your patience with us!

We strive to be better neighbors, better teachers, better friends and better foreigners in our new land.