A great opportunity for Wyatt

Hey you guys. Hope you are doing well. We have jumped right into a new semester and have an almost full dorm- 11 kids (5 girls and 6 boys). A boy and a girl moved out and one girl moved in. Kids came back on Monday and classes started on Tuesday. We have kids involved in basketball practices, a soccer tournament, after school choir and band. We are excited about the growth we will see this semester and all the ways God will bring us together as a "family."

One thing you could pray about is our internet. We haven't had "real" internet in the dorm or at the school for weeks. Thankfully I have 3G on my phone and that is what we have all been using to get online. However, I only have a limited amount of data available every month so once this run out we won't have anything until next month. I feel bad for the kids who are trying to talk to Mom and Dad, and those who need to research something for school. I am not sure why there has been no internet. It is 'being fixed" or so they say. But it is frustrating.

Also we have been having fits with our computer. Garth is very knowledgeable and has been trying to fix it, but I am not sure if it is fixable.

We are also currently having low to no water. Again it is one of those things "being fixed" and we need to just be patient.

On a bright note, we had such a blessed time as a family for the Holidays. I am so thankful for every moment. Continue praying for Wyatt that he will know what God's will is for his future.  One exciting thing coming up that you could also pray for: on the 22nd Wyatt has a chance to try-out for a Junior professional soccer team!!!! This is HUGE! For those of you that don't know, Wyatt is extremely gifted in the art of soccer. He has been praying that God would use this talent for His glory. This might be his chance.

Well, I need to go. I will try to attach some pictures. Hopefully it will work.

Love you all. Happy New Year. Thanks for your prayers and your support.

Love 

Rachel

Tomorrow!

Hey you! Hope your Christmas holiday was jolly and full of special moments. We have been having a blast! Lots of great family time making memories. I love this time of year.

I have lots of pictures I want to show you but I don't have much time. Right now I want to tell you what I am most excited about. Tomorrow morning, early, we will head down to the airport and fly on one of MAF's small planes into a village called Okbab. We will be there for 4 days. I think it will be just us and the villagers. WOW! How many people can do something as awesome as this? I can't wait. Hopefully I packed enough food, and didn't forget anything important. It is in the highlands so the nights should be really cool compared to weather in Sentani.

I will take lots of pictures and tell you all about it when we return. Please pray for safety and good, cherishable moments.

Love

Rachel

Winding Down

Everything is winding down here. I say that with a big sigh of relief. This has been finals week and that always brings about a lot of stress. Today is the last day!!!! Most of our kids will be leaving tomorrow to go home and spend the Holidays with family. The rest of the kids will leave on Friday. Our Holiday break is 24 wonderful days that will be filled with family memories and lots of yumminess. 

I can't wait. I am sooo looking forward to this break and time with just our kiddos. This will be our last Christmas all together like this. Once Wyatt graduates things will change. I am trying not to think too much about that because I get weepy already. We might go into a village for a few days as a family over the break. Not sure yet. It depends on the opportunities for flights.

How is your December going? Busy? I remember how crazy the shopping lines can be. I don't miss that. But I do miss the crisp, cool air. The smell that is in the air this time of year. The togetherness of family and friends. The Christmas music we sing at church. The Holiday smells as you walk in stores. A real tree....

But I love how we can celebrate the true meaning of Christmas anywhere. Even here while we are laying on the warm sand with the sun shining in our face and the crystal blue water sparkling before us... yeah, doesn't that sound nice?  That is where we will be on Monday. Don't worry. We will think of you. Ha ha.

Anyways, please continue to pray for Wyatt, that he will listen to God's voice about his future. He is still undecided about the Marines. He applied to a college in Georgia called Toccoa but hasn't heard back yet. He is also looking into a school here. Pray for me to be clear minded in all I still need to teach him and show him so he is prepared. Also there are some changes that will be taking place in the dorm next semester. I can't go into it now, but I will later. I am not sure how those changes will go over.

Well, hope your Holidays are full of wonderfullness.  When you are stuck in traffic or standing in a never-ending line just think of the profound thought of our precious Father coming down to Earth as a tiny baby to give us life. and Hope for a future. We are so very blessed!

Love you

Rachel

Update

Hey. I wanted to give you an update on how our lives here are going. We have had a bit of rain. Off and on, which is good but what we need are days and days of rain. So keep praying. I feel like the unrest in town has gone down. We have been to the market where the murder took place and all has returned to normal.

There is still quite a level of discouragement among the missionaries serving here. I think this time of year is always hard. Holidays are when families usually come together and it is hard to be so far from those you love. Garth is preaching on Sunday on the topic of discouragement so please pray that God uses him in a mighty way to speak His words.

This time of year is hard for the dorm kids too. Some of them haven't seen Mom or Dad since August 13 when school started. I try hard to make this feel like "home" but nothing can ever replace Mom and Dad. We had a Thanksgiving celebration here last night. That was so much fun. Four of our kids have never done anything like that before, and really enjoyed the new foods.

At least once a semester we do a random media check of the dorm kids ipods, phones, laptops etc. The kids and their parents sign a consent form at the beginning of the year giving us permission to do that. It is one way we can help keep them accountable with the kind of stuff they are watching and looking at. Well, we came across some inappropriate material on one of the girls phones. Garth and I try to use these times as teachable moments. How can we show God's love to her even in this? I don't know if the girl is a Christian or not. She is one of our business kids. So far it has been difficult. She is more upset she got caught and I took her phone, than she is sorry for the videos she had on her phone. I am praying that God uses this to begin working on her heart.

One of our dorm boys Daniel, moved out. His parents said he was ready to be back with them. We don't know all of the details surrounding that, but any time a kid can be with his family it is a good thing.

Keep praying for our family. Keep praying for the dorm. God would love to see us all discouraged and fighting.  Dorm parenting is such a huge responsibility and we really want to do it well. This week we have Arnold's birthday on Friday and Garth's birthday on Sunday, along with a trip to Kali Biru (Blue River) on Saturday. One of our past dorm kids will be staying with us this weekend and Arnold's mom will be visiting from Bali. In all this busyness we want to keep shining His light bright enough for all to see.

Thank you so much for your faithful prayers.

Love
Rachel

Drought

There has been so much going on here lately. I know you haven’t heard from me for a while. Our Internet has been awful. Even now we don’t have any but I thought I would write and hope to send it when I can. The Internet comes and goes. Sometimes Garth gets up very early just to try to send and receive emails or check Facebook.

We are in the midst of a terrible drought. People are saying the last time it was this bad was 1997. Airstrips in some places are being shut down because the air is so hazy and people are getting restless.  We really need rain. There are villages where people are starving because their gardens have all shriveled up. We have water at the dorm and our gardens are still growing. So that is a blessing.

We do need prayer for some unrest going on in town. The other morning there was a murder at our pasar (open air market).  The head of our organization sent us all a text asking us to stay home. Don’t go out. Since then there have been some retaliation killings. That is the way it is done here. There is no good judicial system, so the people take matters into their own hands. Life for life. They consider that fair.

We are in no danger. No one wants to harm us, but please pray for the hearts of these people. It is hard to break through age-old traditions. There is so much freedom and hope in God. I just wish they could see it.

Also pray for the missionary families serving here in Papua. Satan is having fun scattering discouragement, thoughts of failure and frustration, and loneliness around those ministering here. So many of my friends are using all their energy to just try and make it through another day. This is a tough place to live. The heat, the drought, the lack of conveniences, the fact there is never enough money and the frustration that brings, the difficulty of travel, a culture that will always tell you what they think you want to hear but don’t ever mean it, etc. I have friends leaving early, or taking an unplanned furlough, or getting ready to leave for good just because they can’t “do this” anymore. It breaks my heart.

But God knows. He knows their pain and struggles. Garth and I are doing well.  God is faithful to give us what we need each day. Tomorrow we are going out on a date!  WOW! It has been quite awhile since that happened. It will be nice to spend some time just us.

Thank you for faithfully praying for us. We need you.

Rachel

Goodness

So much goodness happening all around us!  God is so amazing. I need to tell you about some of it. Number One big and awesome thing is that WE GOT A VAN!!!!  It is so super terrific! Now we can travel all together as a dorm. Before this we had a van that fit 11. We are 18 when everyone is here, so that was a bit tricky. We also got another motorcycle. This one is smaller and I can drive it. That has been loads of fun!

Emma's finger is healed from the stitches, and she is back to playing volleyball. Sophie's Indonesian soccer team is in a tournament, and doing well.

We had our first dorm outing last weekend and went to the beach. That was a treat.

Also, the kids are settling in and adjusting better. Still a bit of school struggles, and homesickness, but that is to be expected.

Another big praise is my Bible study group. I love all the things God is teaching me through this time and this group of ladies. Last session we read the book UNGLUED. Amazing. The book dealt with how you handle those moments when you feel like losing it. Now we are reading HE RESTORES MY SOUL-A 40 day Journey toward personal renewal. Right now we are talking about brokenness. Brokenness is when I realize there is nothing left to reach for but God. What does it look like when I am totally committed to do everything in His strength?

There is a great picture of this in the book. If you have a glove lying on the table and want it to go pick up a book, it will not be able to do it. It can do nothing on its own. But when you fill the glove with your hand the glove is transformed into the image of your hand. The focus is on the hand doing things not the glove. The glove is only strong when it yields itself to the hand. So we are to be the glove and let God be the hand.

Anyways, these are just a few of the things I have been pondering lately.  It is so exciting to change and grow. I certainly never want to just stay where I am. God has so much more in store for me.

Thanks for your prayers.

Love
Rachel

Beach Trip

I HAD SUCH A FUN WEEKEND. The whole high school (80 people) went camping at the beach for 2 nights and three days (Thursday - Saturday). The Seniors were actually there a day longer because they went out on Wednesday to chop down the forest and clear the beach, dig the bathroom holes, get the kitchen area set up etc. I was able to  go again this year as a chaperone.  What a blast. Gorgeous sunrises and sunsets, bonfires on the beach, guitar playing and singing while our voices drifted over the water, night snorkeling, frisbee, rugby, buckbuck, fishing... doesn't it sound amazing?

Emma ended beach trip by cutting open the pointer finger on her right hand causing her to need 5 stitches.  That was quite painful and we are praying for quick healing without any infection.

Now we are ready to settle down into a routine. For the high schoolers, this will be their first full week of school.  This week will also be the start of the first volleyball games and the Friday night meals.  Hopefully, the homesickness and tears here in the dorm will be less frequent as time goes on.  

Here are a few pictures: