Bienvenue a Neuchatel!

A view from our apartment in Neuchatel

 We made it to Switzerland (with all 4 children and 15 checked bags)! We flew from Boston on January 1st and are very thankful to be here. Our travels went smoothly and we have felt incredibly welcome here in Neuchatel. We want to acknowledge and thank the local church here and the director of the language school (Inlingua). They have done an incredible amount of hard work behind the scenes in order to make this happen for not only our family, but at least 2 other families needing to learn French. Logistics such as childcare, school for Noa and housing have been arranged by Inlingua and the church. In addition, members of the church have been grocery shopping for us while we have been in quarantine. What we thought was going to be a difficult transition has actually been quite smooth. 

So far we have survived 8 days of quarantine (and none of our neighbors seem to be moving out of the building yet). The kids are excited to get out and explore, but have overall been doing quite well with reading, school work, legos, some movies and quarantine workouts - they all find it quite amusing when Mom and Dad are doing burpees.

We start language school on Monday, January 11th and Josie and I are both looking forward to it. Josie will be going to school in the morning and taking Maria, Micah and Anica with her so they can go to childcare next to the school. David will take Noa to her school in the morning (2 minute walk from our apartment) and then go to language school in the afternoon. 

Thank you for all of your prayer and support. We feel very grateful to be here and have the opportunity to start learning French in midst of a global pandemic. God has certainly opened doors for us and is continually re-assuring us of His Providence over our lives and the deep grace He extends to us all. 

Some things you can be praising/praying for:

• Praise for smooth travels and our children's flexibility with the move
• Praise for peace during quarantine (perhaps pray for our neighbors who have to hear us)
• Praise for our local church and the Inlingua school director who have been very supportive
• Pray for Noa as she transitions into a fully French speaking public school
• Pray for wisdom and knowledge as we start learning French - especially the ability to manage time outside of school so we can study and master the language in the next 8 months
• Pray for opportunities to share and live the gospel in Neuchatel

with sincere gratitude ,

David (& Josie) Skavdahl

Unicorn ring toss was a big quarantine hit!