As you have noticed, I (Eric) am the primary writer/editor of these blog entries. However, this time my 10-year old son Adam is going to share with you about what it is like being a missionary kid (or “third culture kid,” the more popular term these days) in Africa. We’ve only been here for less that 8 months, so we’re still on the learning curve, but at least this will give you a taste of his life, which is not so different from life in America in many ways, but in other ways is quite different.

ADAM: Being a missionary kid at first was not really what I wanted to do. But as time passed I started to like it more and more. Just getting into HOPAC (ed. comment – kids international school they had been waiting to be admitted into) helped me like things a lot more. I am meeting lots of friends.

The house we are living in right now is one of my favorite houses because of the back yard. We see monkeys, bats, a mongoose, tarantulas, scorpions, and millipedes, which makes it fun to live here.

I love getting up early in the morning and getting dressed for school. We have to wear a school uniform. The car we ride to school in has the best AC ever, so I’m happy for the whole ride, which lasts for 30 minutes. When we get to school, it is not that different than it is in America, but we go to Swahili class, swimming, and lots of other classes. I play on the basketball team after school. On Friday we have our final tournament.

When I get home, I start doing my homework right away, so I can get finished with it and have fun. We play soccer with our night guard and my dad. We have to go to bed early because we have to get up early. We pray together and have devotions sometimes after dinner, and then always pray together before bed. I like this routine.

On weekends, we get to play some video games and have lots of fun because we have no school. Going to church is also fun. We sing a lot of songs. One of the families at our church also goes to HOPAC and are our friends. They have three kids the same ages/grades as my brother, sister and me. They are African but speak English very well.  

For Spring Break we are planning on going on a short boat ride to Zanzibar for a few days. That should be really fun, and we’re going with another missionary family we know. I’m looking forward to going snorkeling with my dad and brother.

Well, I don’t know what else to say. If you have questions, you can always write to me. Thanks, Adam.