Martin and Janel Diatta serve in West Africa and are finally living in their own place! It is their garage/studio apartment, but it is on their property, and Martin is no longer making the almost two-mile trek to work on the house every day. Although it is only one room, thanks to a couple of curtains, plastic shelves, and a portable ‘closet,’ it is quite functional. In the meantime, the work on the house continues.
A huge change about living on their property is location. It is almost two miles away from their co-workers’ house. Since Janel’s language helper lives a short distance from their house, it is now her turn to make the long walk every day. At times it can be inconvenient, like when she needs to charge her laptop but does not want to make the 35-minute walk to their co-workers’ house. However, it has some unexpected advantages, too. For one, she is getting in a lot of exercise, which in turn has helped her back feel much stronger. In addition, it is forcing her to meet and interact with more people while she is walking and she realises that she needs to be intentional about having longer conversations outside of her language sessions. Pray that Janel would find other ladies that she can talk with.
Martin and Janel also made a trip to a nearby city to meet with their field leadership who wanted to hear how they are doing as well as what their vision is for the future.
Martin and Janel feel like they have been in a transitional stage with building their house and sorting paperwork for a visit to the USA. Leadership encouraged them to look beyond what is in front of them right now and start to plan and pray for what the Lord might have for them in the future. They are praying about whether the Lord would have them continue as they are or if He has something else related or totally new for them. Janel has visited one missionary family and hopes to visit another one soon.
Pray that the Lord would make their next steps clear, especially regarding their desire to visit the USA.
Thank you for your prayers!