Hello Prayer Warriors. This is such a beautiful, exciting, crazy time of year isn't it? I know you all pray for us so I wanted to write an honest, from my heart email of specific things we need you to pray about.
1. Our water situation- For weeks we have been having trouble with the water system here. There have been several leaks and they have been difficult to find resulting in us not having enough water. Now we are getting trucks of undrinkable water brought in everyday for showers, dishes, and laundry and then Garth and I take jugs down to MAF base to fill up with drinking water. It is a pain to say the least. Ten of our kids were sick because of our Indonesian helper using the bad water in the ice cube trays. Pray for this problem to get quickly fixed.
2. We are Hostel 2. Hostel 1 will be closing down so the parents can teach at the school. We have a shortage of teachers and they are needed. Some of the kids from there will be coming to live with us and some will move in with people in town. That will be a transition for all of us. Pray for it to go smoothly.
3. This is a big one for me - We need to decide when to come back for furlough. MAF will pay for us to come this summer or next. Emma graduates in May and is planning on doing a gap year at Timber-lee. Wyatt has a possibility of a job this summer in Wisconsin, maybe Emma and Sophie a job at a camp in Wisconsin as well. If we come home this summer it would give the kids a chance to work, gain some money and independence, all of us to see family and friends, etc. That's one option. Or we wait until next summer after Emma finishes her gap year so we can be there to help her settle into college. There are pros and cons to both. Financially, we have no money to pay for anything this summer. Most of our money is going into Wyatt's schooling and his loans. So if we had another year to save, that would be helpful. But, Garth's step Mom is very ill with brain cancer and we want to make the most of any time we can have with her. Please help us by praying for this. We need to make some of these decisions in the next few weeks.
4. Praise-HUGE praise!!! I am so excited I can hardly contain it!!! My parents Bible study and some of our family has paid for Wyatt to fly home for Christmas. My heart has been aching and longing to see my boy. I need to hold him and squeeze him and fill him with food. Please pray for safety. It is such a long trip.
5. Praise- our safety here has been much better. We did have a guy jump the fence and was walking around naked at 9:30 at night several weeks ago but nothing else since then.
This time of year is full of joy as we think of what our Savior did for us. The parents of two of our dorm kids have just translated the Gospel in their village and have been teaching the villagers about Jesus and His great gift. It is so amazing to watch them as they hear for the first time. That is the Good News, the Gospel story. That is why we are doing what we are doing. Christmas for them will be different than any Christmas before as they realize that HE is the reason for this season. He is doing amazing things. Thanks for being a part of that.
Merry Christmas to you all.
Find joy in the little things.
love,
Rachel
