First Day

AHHH! The first day of school is here.  All of the kids were up and ready with time to spare. Yahoo!

The dinner with all the parents last night went well. I am sure it was hard for them to say "Good-bye" to their kids afterwards. I keep asking God to comfort their hearts and I reassure them that we will do our best to take care of their kids while they are apart.

Here are a few pictures of the dinner and the first day of school:

I know many of you have heard about the Trigana flight that lost radio contact and then was found crashed into a mountainside.  Well, one of the helpers that works for Hostel One lost her husband in that flight. Please pray for that family.  Her name is Ibu Ona.  

Thanks, guys.

Love

Rachel

Almost Time

Hello to you all! This summer has been flying by and we have enjoyed every minute of it. Our summer has been full of great, memory making family moments and I am so thankful for that. We started it out with Wyatt's birthday while I was sick with dengue, a soccer group from America came and stayed with us, Sophie's birthday, then Garth and I celebrated our 20th anniversary in Raja Ampat, we had our MAF conference, a weekend campout at the beach and then shopping, (LOTS of shopping) to stock up and get the dorm ready for tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow. The dorm kids will be coming TOMORROW!!!!  It is a crazy thought. 

I have such mixed emotions about that. Our lives change so drastically from when the dorm is open to when it is closed. I love having so much time for my family, and only having to split myself up between four kids and Garth. It gets much more tricky when the dorm is full of 12 kids, plus my four and Garth. But I am excited for this year. This is our ministry, and I love being a part of it. God always does such fantastic things and I am thrilled that He chooses to use me.

This year we only have two kids from America. The rest are from Holland, Korea, Indonesia, West Africa, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines.  We will have 5 new kids ranging in ages from 13-18. Please keep us in your prayers, especially during the first few weeks of transition. Some of the kids have never been away from home. Some have only been homeschooled. It is a hard transition on the kids and the parents.  We will have 30+ people over tomorrow for a Welcome to Hostel 2 dinner.  Pray for Garth and I.  It takes awhile to "read" the kids, to know when they are having a hard time, when they are struggling. We are well aware that we can not do any of this in our own strength. Pray for our own kids as well. They are amazingly good at sharing us with the other kids but I am sure there are days that it is frustrating.

Thanks, you guys. 

Love you

Rachel