First day of school (video)
Hannah and Nathanael just returned from their first day of school. Here’s what they had to say when they walked in the door.
Family
Kids off to college tomorrow!
That’s right, 24 hours more and our kids will be off to college! I know, time flies doesn’t it.
On Monday morning we’ll be taking Hannah and Nathanael to Colegio del Bosque. Ok, it’s not really a college – just a kids’ school – basically for ages 2-15 (the word “colegio” can mean college or school). But whatever it is, they’re pretty excited!
What we’re really thankful for is that we were able to find most of what we needed to buy before school started. Take a look at this:
These are all school supplies. Now, you need to realize three things: (1) These weren’t items we bought on a whim because it was their first day of school. These were all items required by the school! That’s right, we got a list of 60 or so different items to buy! (2) This isn’t even everything – we took this picture Friday, and were still buying things yesterday, and are still short a few things! (3) Not only did we have to buy things, some things needed to be sewed, covered, labelled, etc. A lot of work!
Some of the items we needed to buy included: A triangle (instrument), Kleenex, paints (certain colours, certain brand), an abacus, cinnamon tape, crêpe paper, bouncy ball, work books, text books, a shoe box, uniforms, crayons, wet wipes….
Suffice to say, after trying to understand the list, find the stores, order things, check back, try other stores, sew fold and tape we’re really glad to be (more or less) done!
Hannah and Nathanael will both be going part time, all in Spanish, and they will be continuing their English education at home. We’re getting some books from Canada, thanks to Greyhound and some friends – hopefully we’ll have those soon.
It will be interesting juggling our classes and their classes (which will not always be at the same times as each other, and may change from week to week) and classes at home – but it should be fun too! 😉 And in only ten or twenty years they’ll be all done with school….
Zoofari
We decided we needed to get out of the city yesterday, so we finally took Ma (Shari) to see Zoofari. What follows is a video, mostly from our trip yesterday with a few shots from May (when the kids and I went). I believe there are some shots from the May trip in our photo album – Lord willing I’ll get some pictures from our second visit in there someday.
Gospel, gunshots, tumours, dog bites, and more to ponder and pray about
Here are a few bits of current news. Some of it is too current for the prayer requests page (which I only update once a month roughly), so I’m stopping by to give you a summary:
- Men’s Day – or, part of a day. Today I’ll be heading down the hill a little ways to get together with some of the men from our church. We would appreciate your prayers for the growth of the men in our church (including me, of course!). I’ll be over there around 2pm local time for the afternoon/evening.
- Dog bite – On Thursday (19 Jul) Caleb (14), a part of the Downs family was bitten by a dog. Apparently he was walking by some teenagers that were sitting there with a dog, and the dog just latched onto his arm in a split second. The actual damage wasn’t bad, but it ripped his shirt and did break the skin. He went to the hospital for shots, and now they’re looking for the dog to see if it had its shots. So far, Caleb seems to be fine.
- Reaching children – This week two "summer missionaries", two Mexican teens, will be coming to our church to do a kids’ club. We’re hoping that the momentum will continue to build from last weeks’ club. Between the youth events and children’s events last week, I heard that about 80 people heard the Gospel. Lord willing we’ll be able to help a little this week. Read more about the previous kids’ club at the O’Brien’s site here, or see a quick video of the kids’ club a week ago Wednesday here. Read a brief explanation of the summer missionaries program here.
- Summer interns – Bill and Alyssa, summer interns, left last week after a week of language school. Now Crystal and Sara (did I spell that right?) are here now and for the next two weeks, sharing and learning at the university and beyond.
- Brain tumour – Some of you read our earlier entry (or email update) about Kaitlyn, the little girl who had the primary brain tumour. Kaitlyn is part of a missionary family from the USA. There’s lots of good news there – first, it looks like the tumour was non-cancerous. Second, it looks like they got it all in the surgery. However, she’s really had a struggle with all the surgeries, with the strong medication she’s been on, and all the other factors that go along with being in a strange place and going through a traumatic situation. You can read more on Kaitlyn Contreras’ website. The family could use your prayers more than ever.
- Kenya and Sudan – Shari’s sister Amy is scheduled to arrive in Sudan on Tuesday (24 Jul). She’s still in Nairobi, Kenya. She sent some of her belongings on ahead in a truck. The truck was stopped by bandits, and one of the drivers was shot. As far as they know the items in the truck are still there, but I think the tires were shot out and the truck was impounded. The driver is alive, and improving, but in intensive care. We’d appreciate your prayers for him, and all the complications involved in travelling to Sudan. Amy will be travelling over the next few days. Visit Amy’s website here.
- Preparing for a big change – This week we’ll be focusing on getting the kids ready for school. For example, we need to get uniforms, several books, and roughly 35 other different items (many of them we haven’t even translated yet to know what they are!) (Edit: That’s 35 things for just one kid – and there are different things for each child. Yikes!). We’re also working on arranging book shipments from Canada (mostly) for the English/Canadian portion of the kids’ schooling. This isn’t a small task!
- More praise – By the way, there’s a lot to praise the Lord for too. We’ve had some interesting opportunities to share at school (as have the summer interns). We also have enjoyed some good times with friends from the church, and we look forward to more. That’s how we help each other grow in the Lord! Also, after seeing our pledged support level drop significantly, we got an email from someone who wants to start supporting us financially on a regular basis, so the trend is upward once again (current financial stats here). God is working in the dramatic, and in the mundane. Praise the Lord!
Care packages
I know I’ve been posting a lot lately (you may find that a blessing or a curse!), but there’s something I need to write about. Here’s the deal: Over at Missionary-Blogs.com I challenged bloggers to write about care packages. My idea is to create a page over there with general ideas for people who want to send a care package to a missionary. The deadline for posts is the end of June, so I figured I’d better follow my own instructions.
However, writing general ideas and writing on your own blog are two very different things. I underestimated how hard it is to write about things like this on your own blog. Other missionaries who have already posted have had the same problem.
In the end, I decided to write more generally (with some reference to us). It seems a little silly, because you’ll probably find better ideas once I collect all the thoughts of many missionaries. And like some of those who have already posted, I include a disclaimer. Really, we are encouraged by your calls, emails, and gifts. But also, we are content here – the Lord has blessed us in so many ways.
So in the end let me just give you a few things to think about if you’re sending something to someone living in another country, with reference to our limited experience:
- Shipping: Will the package make it (especially if it’s a long, hot trip)? Sometimes it takes longer than expected for things to arrive. We have had people send packages to our mission office in Dallas, and some things sent in January still haven’t reached us. Success varies when sending things to other countries – at times they may not arrive, or may be very late. But sometimes it’s worth the risk – we’ve gotten letters from Canada to Mexico in a few days.
- Many missionaries now have "Wish lists". We have one for our kids (mostly books for school) and I have one (which includes some things for Shari or all of us). This takes the guesswork out of what to send, and you don’t even have to package it up.
- Think ministry – I know, some people think that a care package should be "just for fun". Well, fun is good too – and that encouragement will help in service too! But maybe a missionary would appreciate something for her/his church, or Bible study materials, or other tools.
- Think of the kids – our kids have gotten balloons and stickers and pictures and puzzles – simple things, but a lot of fun. Find out how old the kids are and what their interests are, or what they’re learning in school.
- Think local – send something local, especially if it’s hard to find in the other country. This might even include something your kids made.
- Think personal – I’m talking about sending part of you in the package. Pictures of you or your family. Prayer requests – that’s one way someone far away can actually be involved in your life! And newsy letters are great. Don’t assume someone else shared the news – they probably didn’t.
- Feel free to ask – surprises are great, but sometimes it’s worth it to call and ask, or call one person to ask what the other would appreciate.
- What’s not available – find out what’s not available (or not at a reasonable price) in the other country. You might be surprised.
- There’s something we and many missionaries wish some of you would send… it would be more valuable than any of the above. This is an item on Jesus’ wish list too. What is it? You! What an encouragement it would be if some of you would come to serve the Lord in Mexico, short term or long term. The harvest is plentiful, but — to paraphrase — we need more people to finish the job! If only we could multiply ourselves … no, 1 of me is enough! We need different people – older people to minister to seniors, young people with energy, people with expertise in their business or trade, people who are just willing to serve. I guess according to Luke 10:2 that would be a care package from God! What could be better?
Shari’s sister heads to Africa
Shari’s sister Amy, author of the blog Under the African Rain, is about to head south.
Right now Amy is in London, England. On the 1st of July she’ll be heading to Nairobi, Kenya, to be involved in some meetings to discuss the beginnings of some new health care work in southern Sudan. Then she’ll be going through some orientation, and she’ll need to buy some more supplies for her hut in Sudan.
We just have to praise the Lord for providing for Amy – for providing for her as she took her training in child nursing, and then providing for her to be able to go to Sudan.
Amy doesn’t know yet when she’ll actually be heading to Sudan, but when she arrives she’ll be working with the Memorial Health Care Center and Training School. You can click the link to learn more, but the hope is to provide health care and train more local people to provide health care. I’m sure Amy would appreciate your prayers as she travels!
Travel with Amy – If you have Google Earth, you can download a file and see Amy’s travels from Canada to England to Kenya to Sudan (not every stop, just the main locations!). Just click on the map below. Once in Google Earth, click on Tools, then Play Tour.
