Boxy Momma

I had such a refreshing weekend!  There was a retreat here in Sentani, put together by a few of the ladies that live here.  There were about 90 women in attendance with some of the ladies flying in from various villages around us.  The theme was "Clothed in Majesty".  What does God want us to put on, and what does He want us to put off.  It was centered around the verses in Colossians 3.  

It was so much fun hanging out with these ladies, singing, playing games, swimming-we even had a fashion show.  I was one of the ladies involved in that.  You were supposed to dress to represent you.  Some of the ladies wore tribal gowns, or specially made wedding garments etc.  Not me...I went as the "Boxy Momma."  Haha.  I am 100% a dorm Mom, and we go through lots of food.  That means we have lots of empty boxes.  Instead of letting the boxes go to waste, I used them to decorate my waist.  I fashioned myself a whole outfit.  It was quite a hoot!

The dorm kids and my kids really missed me.  I came home to Wyatt and Yohan at the door with flowers, signs up around the hostel, the living room picked up and the dishes done.  I guess I need to go away more often.  There is a picture at the end of this email.

Some of you may have seen my post on Facebook a few days ago about the rat we had in our laundry room.  I can handle spiders, and scorpions-I smack them no problem.  But rats I can't stand.  So, I saw one and screamed, (of course), and called the dorm boys to kill it ASAP.  My Facebook status was "One rat + a dorm full of teenage boys=one dead rat, two broken brooms and one happy dorm Mom."  They got it and I was so thankful.  One of the many benefits to living with these jungle boys.  Haha.  

Well, time to get people off to bed.

Love you

Rachel

Tangles

The other day Cale was rollerblading around the Hostel and he rolled over a blue shoelace.  Very quickly the shoelace wrapped itself around the wheels so tightly that he could no longer go.  He came over to me asking me if I would please get the lace out of his wheels.  I tried pulling it but it was too tightly wrapped up around everything.  So I realized that I was going to have to cut it.  I cut a few pieces and removed them.  But it didn't do any good.  I needed to cut it all and pull it all out.

That started me thinking about the verse in Hebrews 12 where it says, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.  And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us..."  It is so easy to get entangled by sin, we skate too close to it and before we know it we are stuck and can't go forward.  Cutting out just a little bit won't do it.  We need to "throw off", get rid off EVERYTHING that hinders and entangles.That is the only way we will be able to do the rest of the verse: "Run with perseverance the race marked out for us."

Boy, you should have seen how fast Cale could skate once I removed that string!  There was nothing to hold him back.  That is how I want to be.

The kids are back!

The kids are back safe and sound from their 2 weeks of Outdoor Education in the village of Soba!!!  Lots of answered prayers there.  It is amazing to hear the stories.  Those kids worked their buns off.  They painted buildings, built some bathrooms, hauled rock, made cement, worked on the hydro, set up kids clubs, helped with medical, worked in the kitchen, spent lots of time playing with the village kids (that was a highlight for Wyatt), and so much more.  Their time was very full but so fulfilling.  Wyatt had so much fun with the kids.  They really latched on to him.  He taught them lots of games, and even let them run around with his Go Pro camera strapped to their head.  One little boy with the camera ran down a long path to the river, found a snake and killed it by throwing rocks at it.  What a treat to hear his little giggles.  It was so hard for Wyatt to leave them. I think he would adopt them all if he could.

The last few days have been spent listening to stories, filling up hungry bellies, and cleaning out tropical ulcers, cuts and sores.  I have heard nothing but positive memories from this experience.  

They had a lot of thought provoking devo times where they pondered questions like, "Where does my joy come from?"  and "Am I promoting Unity with those around me?"  "Do I really listen to the Spirit?", and "Am I using the gifts and talents that God gave me?"  This was such a time of growth for everyone.  I am like a proud Momma watching them all, and seeing them grow up before my eyes.  I am so blessed to be here where I am doing what I am doing.  God is so good!

Thank you so much for all of your prayers.  

Love Rachel

O.E.

Well, you would have heard from me sooner but it took three days of trying to get my last email out.  Haha.  We just have to keep hitting send until there is enough bandwidth to send it out.

Anyways. I wanted you to know that the high schoolers all left on Monday, 7 of our dorm kids,  57 in all with adult sponsors.  Garth took them to the airport at 5:45 or so.  They have to be weighed and all their stuff weighed and they flew together to the village of Wamena and then they went in shifts in smaller MAF planes into Soba.  They will be serving there until March 6th when they fly back into Wamena to do an AIDS/HIV presentation for the Youth there and then on the 7th of March they fly home.

Can you imagine organizing the food for that group?  There is no refrigeration, so they will be eating a lot of rice.  There is one building for the girls to sleep in and one for the boys.  They sleep on the floor under their mosquito nets.  They dig two holes in the ground for a bathroom, bathe in the river, wash their clothes in the river...

I think it sounds totally cool.  I want to volunteer to go next year as one of the sponsors or to help with the food.  

I have an idea-if any of you are so inclined, please pray for these kids.  And if you want to take it a step further, fast a meal and pray for them during that time.  They need good weather, good health, enough food, safety while working, effectiveness with the villagers and the kids, wisdom in how they help in the medical clinic they will set up...We want their hearts to be open to God's voice.  We want them to serve with love from a willing heart.  We want God to use them completely.

Yesterday Garth challenged the 10 of us that are still here to use these two weeks to really listen to God's voice.  How does God want us to change?  When those high schoolers come back they should see a change in us as well.

One of the adults usually sends out an update every few days to let us know how the kids are doing.  We haven't heard anything yet, but I will keep you up to date as I do.

Love,

Rachel