The February of Februaries: The We-Wu for February 16-20, 2026

How is it that February has hung on for six weeks and yet simultaneously has only lasted three days?

I’m going to apologize now, because there is no way I’m getting a prayer letter out this month. I did actually create the file for it this week, and I also finally followed through on getting Canva Pro to make it pretty, but unless I have an extra three days and a sudden burst of inspiration next week, I just don’t see it getting done. I only have a vague idea of what I’m going to write about, and we all know that distractions abound (by distractions I mean work), so we’re already working at a deficit.

It is what it is.

This week started with the most Monday of Mondays. I slept through my alarm, and it was only the dulcet chirping of the alert that lets me know it’s 10:02 (pray for more workers!) that awakened me. This did, of course, mean that I missed my first meeting of the morning, but I did make it to my second. Just don’t tell anyone that I can do a quick change because then they start expecting things.

Anyway, Monday was just a slog. I continued working on the lengthy Hausa project and then had another meeting that was regularly interrupted by people who needed me to do some troubleshooting. I think Monday accounted for at least one of those weeks of February.

The penultimate session of the trauma workshop was on Tuesday, and it was fine. That’s it. I did finally finish the Hausa project until I realized I didn’t because I still need a couple of translations. So the files are just waiting until I can fully publish them and then create the volume for Term 1. But, good news, I had yet another Hausa project I could sink my teeth into!

That project continued for the rest of the week. I did get it done today, which is nice because I have a fairly involved project to do in French.

Yes, there was a lot of ja- ja- ja-ing and discussion of baguettes.

I did take some time away from my regular work to do a favor for some friends and edited a lengthy style guide. It was nice to take a slight brain break.

Speaking of brain breaks, we also had a unique event on Thursday - a baptism!

I know what you’re thinking: aren’t you a mission? Shouldn’t baptisms be a regular occurrence? Yes! And they are. Just not here. I’m usually seeing photos of baptisms in other countries, not attending them on campus.

And where would one have a baptism at OMS, you might ask…

If you’re thinking of the two ponds on our property, or the creek to the side, you’d be horribly mistaken. I know it was 70 degrees this week, but the water hasn’t really warmed up yet. Also, it’s super gross. We don’t really recommend people eat the fish that are in it, we regularly find snakes in it, and the boys have fun shooting snapping turtles in the summer.

And the creek is more like a trickle. No immersion possible.

But necessity is the mother of invention.

Yes, that is a kiddie pool in the basement of one of our buildings. (I’m told we had a pump to get rid of the water.)

I think it’s hilarious and awesome. My own baptism was in a seaweed-infested pond, and that was fine, but I think I would have been okay with a kiddie pool in a basement.

Anyway, it’s cold and windy again, so that was fun while it lasted.

I think that covers the week. I’m going to do a mix of big and small things this weekend. There’s a training event for each of the next three weeks, so OMS will be a hive of activity. I’m going to need some recharge time to get through it.

(Was this as ADHD to read as it felt to write?)

Okay, bye!