"To: Dan.... Love, Rachel"

Background: My brother, Dan, just moved out of the house and into his own a few weeks ago. His new room just happens to be a very brilliant and altogether wretched shade of PINK. hehehehe So being the very sensitive and loving sister I am *ehem* I wrapped his Christmas present in pink tissue paper with a pink bow...

"To: Dan
Love, Rachel
grins I thought the PINK would compliment your room."



Sisters have to find SOME way of lovingly dishing back the jokes our brothers have so lovingly dished us. hehehe

Merry Christmas!! (literally!) ;-)

Worn Soles

Today (Saturday) I sat under a tarp, brown from dirt and use, with what seemed like millions of holes in it, some big, some small. And light shone through the holes. Light and blue sky. And it struck me that those holes seemed like millions of twinkling stars, and the background of the tarp the deep night sky. Under this sky of tarp and holes I sat behind an old man with splashes of white intertwined throughout the frizzy black strands. The collar of his suitcoat was frayed and threadbare at the neckline, a walking stick held loosely in his stiff crumpled strong black hand, the skin on his feet dry and cracked with age and caked with the dust of paths tread. On those feet were falling-apart sandals made of discarded tire fragments. And as he crossed his ankles underneath his white plastic armchair, I saw that the heels of his soles were worn on the outside edges... Just like mine.

Humility "Part 2"

There is great humility to be learned in being a "foreigner". To be a foreigner is to be dependent. You are dependent upon those around you to open their lives and hearts to you, to welcome you into their midst, into their communities, into their circles of friends, into their families. You depend on these people to be bridges of understanding to their culture and traditions. You are dependent upon their willingness to be teachers of their languages and patient as you stumble about in your journey of learning. You depend on them for a great many things like these, and then, as you have started on that path to becoming one with them (I stress WITH them and not one of them. To be one OF them simply isn't possible. Nor should you seek it, as that would mean losing those things that make you who you are, largely coming from culture, from how you were raised, the education you received, etc. God has made you who you are for a reason and a purpose, and it is not for us to divorce from ourselves that which God has molded and shaped us into being as a result of our own unique backgrounds. However, it is so sooo important to engage in being ONE WITH THEM. This is being their sister, being their brother, walking in their shoes, eating their food, speaking their language...), you begin to depend on them for other things... Things like love and acceptance... like the extended family that the body of Christ is able to offer, because when it really comes down to it, we're all foreigners. You depend on these people who you are building relationships with, friendships with, to be your mother to comfort you when you're sick (because your own mom isn't there to make you chicken soup or ginger tea). :) You depend on them to encourage you when you're having a rough day, laugh with you as your joy shared is doubled, and cry with you to bear some of the burden of whatever pain you are going through. To be dependent is to know humility - a humility that is sweet to taste, full of love, and abounding in grace.

a mix of pictures (and more to come) :)

Preaching on the "maui" (stone) in "Kenya 2" (the people here are very hostile, and almost all are engaged in brewing illegal alcohol). My third weekend in Kipkaren, the students and staff at the training center went from house to house in our surrounding community to invite the to "the rock" for an afternoon of preaching and music. A lot of people are found deeply imbedded in poverty (not only economically), and have no church to turn to or to have turn to them. So out we went. It's the intention of the spiritual leaders at the training center to make these meetings a weekly happening, as people are responding to the Word and to the love being shown them. We've only just begun though, and there is still a tremendous amount of work to be done.

Listening.

Eating sugarcane (my first time) with Rashid and Henri (2 public health interns). The dairy unit is behind us.

Up before 5am to milk the cows. grins (they have 2 cows: Istoria and Nenile)

HIV/Aids Testing

Yesterday (Monday), I went with the public health workers and interns to an area called Osorongai (near Kipkaren) to test people for HIV/Aids. Betty (the worker), Rashid and Henri (interns), Miishak (driver) and I piled into the landrover/ambulance with our supplies and kits and headed out over the bumpy roads to Osorongai. The back of the "ambulance" acted as a sort of office/area of privacy, as those who were willing climbed in and out to get their fingers pricked, blood tested, results read, and personal information written for records. Of the 44 people we tested, most of whom were youth, all 44 were negative (yay!). And one of the opportunities of catching, testing, and educating people when they are young is that you can teach them how to protect themselves from getting HIV, as well as help erase some of the stigma surrounding the virus. And for some comic relief, we ended the day with loading the back of the truck with a couple bundles of squawking smelly chickens to bring home with us for supper for some visitors at the training center. grins Never a dull moment. ;)

Humility "Part 1"

The other day I was asked the question: "What is God teaching you here?"

Perhaps I might have responded "What isn't God teaching me here?" grins But I didn't. ;) Because he IS teaching me some specific things, one being humility (I'll share more of the others later), which is also completely inexhaustable as far as coming to know it. It's a lifelong learning. So anyway, to the details.

Humility...

The first part of humility I'm learning I expressed to a friend through email, so I'm going to include some of it here, and hopefully clarify it a bit better. (The second part of humility will come the next time I blog.) :)

Perhaps as it goes in many or most traditional cultures (including our own not so long ago), women lack voice. And I'm not talking about the kind of voice that stands up at a podium to demand rights. I'm talking more of being shut out or shut down from sharing thoughts, ideas, emotions, feelings, wisdom, using the gifts and creativity and intelligence God has blessed them with. With women to women there is freedom. But women and men sharing together on equal footing has yet to come to full life, and most especially (and sadly) in marriage. Within marriage, in a quiet but firm way, they are oppressed and treated injustly. Someone told me that once a woman enters into marriage she begins to self-destruct. She loses her voice, her ability to make decisions, her freedom to express thoughts and feelings... In traditional Nandi (the local tribe here) marriages, the men are trained beforehand - a kind of marriage counseling ceremony of sorts for men - and one of the things that they are told is that their wife is their "closest enemy", so build a wall against her and don't be vulnerable or share anything on your heart with her because she may turn against you. How horrible is that! So instead of marriage bringing a man and woman even closer together, it separates them. (Not exactly the picture of marriage we read of between Christ and the Church.) Where the man will perhaps share all on his heart to his girlfriend or fiance before they're married, afterwards he stops sharing with her and she is not allowed to share her thoughts and feelings and desires with him. She becomes simply an object of pleasure and a bearer of his children. With intimacy in marriages, women can never approach men or express their love or feelings of attraction to their husband. It's only when their husbands have the desire to be with them. And even if they theoretically can approach their husbands, they don't for fear of being beaten (regardless of whether or not their husband actually would). I'm not saying that that happens in ALL marriages (there might be the exception here or there), but it's definitely in the greater majority. Women are blocked out physically and emotionally and intellectually. So now you can perhaps see why it was said that they self-destruct. Even before marriage, women aren't given equal footing with men (intellectually, in leadership, etc). I maybe happen to be an exception here, simply because I'm a mzungu (white person), so I can access conversations that African women can't or are less likely to.
And it is in this sense of gender oppression and injustice that I've been learning a lot about humility. And I was thinking... that even though humility is always a good thing... the source of that humility, or what causes the humbling experience can be a pretty aweful thing. I guess that's not a new concept... arrogance is bad and so the humbling is good (put simply), but before now I'd never thought of humility and the cause of it as being systematic. The "system" is culture. The culture says that "the way it has always been is the way it should always be". And so you find a culture of injustice and oppression against women (and again, especially in marriage). But it is this system, this culture, that is causing humility in me, because I've taken equality for granted from growing up in it. My hearts rebels against being put in a box with no voice... when I know that a man, ANY man, looks at me and sees first that I'm a woman and so I'm on less footing from the beginning. Before we've even begun we're on unequal ground. And then, because I have white skin, I land just ahead of my black sisters because they have black skin. I'm somehow special because of a DNA code, a difference in pigment. And so I hurt twice - in hurting for being a woman, and hurting for the injustice against black women because even though I've started off on uneven ground, my ground is higher than theirs. And if you try and share these things with the majority of men of this culture, they don't see the pain that women experience because they are the ones that are benefiting from the system. How brave are the people that work for change even if it means losing some of the status and benefits (even though injustly gained) they possess! But even if you look at the so-called "benefits" and "status" and such, men have NO idea what they are missing in isolating women and their wives from themselves, chaining them to tradition because "things are the way they've always been". Where would ALL of us be if that was how we lived?? So, as I wrote my friend: "A burdenshared is a burden halved... A joy shared is a joy doubled..." (something like that). grins So, I'm learning humility - how to be humble - in this culture, while at the same time in my own small ways humbly challenging the powers that be. The humility I'm learning isn't from the source of pride, and it isn't a humbling who's source is something ill inside of me. The source is bigger than me, bigger than women, bigger than men, and really, bigger than culture. Who is the corruptor of all that God made good? Satan and his "principalities and powers". These are what we are ultimately fighting. And who is the only one that can fight Satan but Jesus Christ. Yet we have been given His power through the shedding of his blood. We have been given his name. And we have been given his Word and the Holy Spirit who gives us his words to speak.

Before I end I want to assert that Nandi (and Kenyan) men aren't evil. (You may laugh, but I'm serious.) I have met so many wonderful christian men here who sincerely love the Lord and desire to do his will, and I'm friends with ALL of the students, and we all hang out together and joke and laugh and talk together and there's not so much the sense of "you can't participate because you're a woman". I do want to share these things with you, however, SO THAT YOU CAN PRAY. Not only the women need prayer as they deal with their experiences of oppression, but the Nandi (and Kenyan) men need prayer as well - that our Mighty loving God would soften their hardened hearts... that the power of the hand of Jesus Christ would touch their eyes so that they can really see the intense pain and chasms of separation that their cultural norms are placing between them and their women and their wives... that the Holy Spirit would whisper in their ears, giving christian men a voice to speak out against their culture of injustice against women and instead uplift them before God, before their families, and before their communities. Christian men NEED to be different from what their world tells them is "right to do". Christ came to make disciples of both men AND women, and both were found at his feet. He fulfills those attributes in cultures that are godly, and he turns the tables on those that are not. Pray that men will be Christ in their culture. Pray that the Holy Spirit would give them the vision, the insight, and the courage to break cultural norms and defend the oppressed. Pray that they would see the value of their women, that they would see them as indeed being made - male and female - in the image of GOD. Cast out what ill feelings you may have against them and PRAY for them because they are being greatly deceived by the Deceiver. And pray that the Lord might even send men - foreigners or other Kenyans - who can teach them what they do not know, and that they would have ears to hear and hearts that receive.

Siki berurin mising' ! (Kinandi: Be blessed so much!)

A bit of life at Kipkaren

FULL is a great way to describe life here.

What am I doing and learning...?

I'll start with the people. I am #35 of the students here, and one of the olderst as well (most are between the ages of 20 - 22/23, a couple are mid-20s, and fewer still around 29-30). I spend most of my time with the students and teachers (who have also welcomed me as one of them) doing morning chores (2x a week I get up before 5am to help milk the 2 cows and learn more about sustainable dairy farming in Kenya), I water my popo mti - Kiswahili for papaya tree - that I planted last week, and I often help some of the students water and weed their gardens. Our daily breakfast of chair and bread and butter sandwiches is at 7am, and then we have our morning meeting/chapel time which we start off by singing a few songs in Kiswahili acapella (one of my favorites times of day), and then one of the students reads a few verses or a passage of scripture and talks a little about it. Following our morning meeting we usually have a morning practical - a different one every day. Some of what we've done in the past 2 weeks is shelling, drying, and bagging maize (to be ground into coarse flour for ugali), building a chicken coup, digging a ditch for water pipes (to supply ready available water to the kitchen and garden - especially the garden, as students spend A LOT of time hauling water in buckets and water cans from the river up to their plots), moving young trees to a nursery bed to be transplanted, planting our popo trees, etc. After our morning practical we wash up and head to class - the first one starting at 10am, and then 2 more following that, each an hour long. At 1pm we all have lunch together, followed by 2 classes after lunch. When classes finish we have our late afternoon practical which can include continuing the work that we weren't able to finish in the morning, harvesting our produce and preparing it for supper, planting or transplanting crops, building compost piles (3x3x3 meters), learning how to make organic fertilizers, etc. When we're finished with whatever we're doing, we hang out and talk and joke and maybe chew on sugar cane :) , or wander around, water the gardens, study, or do whatever else needs to get done. The bells for supper calls us around 7pm, and the dining hall is filled with people talking and laughing and smells of ugali and whatever vegetables/legumes have been cooked for the evening meal. We finish the day with evening meeting/chapel, and then either watch an educational movie (like organic farming techniques in Kenya or bee-keeping, historical documentary or one with some kind of spiritual lesson) or study or go to bed. I have learned SO MUCH in the classes and practicals we've had. I'm filling my notebooks and am looking forward to reading through them and studying them when I return home, and then in the future being able to put into practice the knowledge I've gained here.

What have I learned about Kenyan culture...?

You greet people with a FIRM handshake (and I mean FIRM) whenever you meet them. If you are close friends, especially with women, you touch cheeks on the right side of your friends' face and then the left. You might greet them in Kiswahili with HABARI (literally "news" but kind of translates to how are you) or HABARI YAKO ("your news") or HABARI ZENU (how are you all). Or in Kalenjin (the mother language of most of the people here and the surrounding people of this area) you might say CHAM'GE or YAMOYE (equivalent to the Kiswahili).

Most people are pretty soft spoken. Everyone loves to sing, and we almost always sing acapella (which I LOVE) with all sorts of beautiful harmonies. Everyone is pretty relaxed, taking their time, however in class the WALIMU (teachers) are teachign the students about good time management and the importance and benefits of diligent and perseverant work.

It's culturally appropriate for women to wear skirts below the knees, although that's very slowly beginning to change as women gain more equality of opportunities (you CAN wear pants or long shorts - below the knees - if you're playing sports and the like).

If you see 2 women or 2 men holding hands it means that they are good friends or like sisters or brothers - this is culturally appropriate. However, you'll never see a man and a woman holding hands.

Chai is essential for life, and especially for beginning your day. grins (Seriously. Some people won't go to work if they don't have chai.)

One of the neatest cultural experiences I've taken part in here is the HARAMBE. A harambe is when people come together and team-up to contribute financially for the need of a member of their community or church. The harambe is held for this person. It's community oriented, and often also acts as an accountability check for that person. For example, if your community or church hold a harambe for you to help raise money so that you can go to college or further your education, you're expected to come back and bless you community with what you've learned. You give back to the community in other ways what you were given. So our class did exactly that for our friend Temayo, who wants to continue on with her education after she finishes this program.

There are lots of other observations I've made, and some I'm forgetting, but at least I've given you a taste of what I've been experiencing. :)

What has the Lord been teaching me during my time here so far...?
Many things. :)
One which stands out the most is God's great faithfulness. It's been a period of about 2 years (while I was teaching in Japan) from when I first decided that international sustainable agricultural was the direction that the Lord was calling me into - and the calling not a quiet one, but more like he was shouting it at the top of his lungs in my heart. grins So between then and now I've been learning about WAITING. What is active waiting and what is passive waiting? How could I be active in my waiting and WHY should I be? One morning in Japan, while I was reading my Bible and journaling and praying and contemplating these questions, the Spirit posed me and said, 'Rachel. THE WAITING is just as important as THE ARRIVAL of that which you're waiting for. Don't waste a moment, because you will need all the experiences and the things that you are learning during the waiting for that time when you arrive at what you're waiting for. If you're passive in your waiting (and for each person that waiting looks different) you won't be prepared for when you arrive, and you may not arrive at all.' And so, after 2 yrs of actively waiting, I have begun my arrival. :) Here in Kipkaren I have found what my heart has so passionately been seeking, and it's more than I could have ever asked for or imagined. Day by day my joy is being made complete. grins

With love...

(Next post I'll put up pictures so you can see some of the friends I'm making and a bit of what we're doing!)

Sustainable Agriculture at the ELI training center in Kipkaren

As I wrote to Noel not too long ago, in the past few days I've learned more about sustainable agriculture here than I have in the past few years. Finally, after waiting and preparing and researching and pursuing and backtracking and persevering for almost 2 years, I'm learning the details of sustainable agriculture. And not just learning, but learning and practicing, applying classroom notes and lessons to the shamba (garden) and the fishpond and the livestock, etc. And tomorrow morning (incidentally also my 25th birthday. grins), I'm getting up before 5am to help Dickson, one of the teachers here, milk the 2 dairy cows on site. Yes, by hand. :) And yes, I know how to milk cows, but have never actually milked one completely, so it really will be a new experience. Some of the classes I'm taking or will soon be taking include (but I know I'll forget a few): soil science, crop science, bio-intensive agriculture, livestock (cows, goats, sheep, poultry, rabbits), economics and management, bee-keeping, small-pond fish raising, agricultural extension, home economics (which includes nutrition and how to cook what you're growing so that you can get the maximum benefits and nutrients from the plants), agro-forestry, horticulture, disease and pest control and management (pathology), and here is where my memory fails me. But as you can see, my plate is very full, and I'm loving absolutely ever second of it. The teachers here are arranging a schedule for me so that we can fit 6 months of material into 6 weeks. Intense, but there is so much to learn and I don't want to miss anything.
Aside from classes and application, I'm making friends. Lots and lots of friends. And all Kenyans. They are wonderful, and I already love them. We are learning together, teaching each other, and learning a lot about one another (they all speak English very well, which makes learning Kiswahili a bit more challenging, but they're teaching me that as well). We are already a great encouragement to one another as we not only learn about sustainable agriculture together, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ together. At some point, I'll be sharing some experiences in my own journey of faith. Pray that it touches the hearts of those that God has prepared to receive such messages. And BWANA ASIFIWE! Praise God because even after only 3 1/2 days, he has already done wonders. And soon soon, pictures will be coming, and then you can meet some of my friends and teachers, see where I'm working and learning and what I'm doing, and see some of where I'm living (it's beautiful by the way). :)

With love...

From London to Tanzania

For those of you keeping up on my blog, or the recent happenings of my life, or even just randomly checking, here you’ll find a brief recounting (to try and retell my experiences in full would probably take a book!) of the past week and ½ (almost 2) since I left Toronto for England, and then Tanzania (in 2 days I’ll be making my way north, by bus, to Kenya, where I’ll be doing my 7-week internship in sustainable agriculture). I arrived in London Thursday morning (10/11), made my way to the Highbury Centre (a Christian guesthouse in London where Houghton students are staying for the semester), and spent the rest of the day walking around Kensington Park, down Portabello Road (anyone ever watched the movie “Bedknobs & Broomsticks” as a child??), and taking in a bit of the sights of Notting Hill (yes, the same Notting Hill the movie is named after). The following day (Friday), I met up with my British friend, Luke, and we walked all over the place for a good 4+ hours! This would be where the picture of me standing by Parliament would come in. ☺

Besides Parliament and Big Ben, we saw Buckingham Palace, the backside of Westminster Abbey, a bit of the changing of the Horse Guard (Luke saw a great deal more than I, as there was quite a crowd of people and he stood a head taller than almost everyone. grins), Trafalgar Square, St. Paul’s Cathedral, the Tower of London, and Tower Bridge from a distance – to name but a few of the sights! We had a lovely time walking around together (infinitely better than going around alone!), till eventually we caught the tube (British equivalent of the American subway) outside of London to meet Charlotte, Luke’s sister (also a good friend). Charlotte drove us back to their parents house, where I stayed for the weekend. I LOVE their parents! Wonderful wonderful people, and I felt so blessed to be able to get to know them in even just the short amount of time that we had together. It’s such a blessing and encouragement to find family in Christ no matter where you are in the world. So Saturday all of us but their mom went to visit Cambridge, where Mr. Windus went to college, first stopping in a very quaint, traditional village called Thaxted (where the windmill photo comes in – a picture of Charlotte, Luke and I).

When we arrived at Cambridge, Mr. Windus first showed us around Emmanuel College (not sure if that’s Emmanuel spelled with an ‘E’ or an ‘I’…), the college he graduated from, which was quite stunning. I never knew college building and grounds could be so beautiful. Mr. Windus took great pride in showing us around, and we very much enjoyed it. We then toured King’s College which, because it was sponsored by the king (Henry VII, I think??), was exquisite. The college “chapel” was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. After eating lunch, we complete our day at Cambridge with “punting” (insert punting photo here ☺ ).

One person punts while the others enjoy the view. Grins Mr. Windus took us for a tour down the “Backs” of the Cam River, where we were able to see the backsides of the colleges bordering the river – quite the experience! And on the way back, I even got to try my hand at punting! (NOT as easy as it looks!) That evening, Charlotte and Luke took me out to Southend (pronounced ‘Souffend’ by the locals ☺ ) for a walk along the sea (English Channel) and some of the best fish ‘n’ chips I’ve ever had. Sunday, they took me to meet their Nan (grandma) and brother and sister-in-law, Charlotte and I parted ways with Luke on the tube heading back into London (so sad!), and then the 2 of us went to an evening church service at Holy Trinity Brompton (look at my previous post). After another sad goodbye with Charlotte, I made my way back to the Highbury Centre. I have to say though that spending the weekend with the 2 of them and their family was the highlight of my time in England. One that you come away from full of joy, anticipating the next time you can spend time together (and trying to figure out when that might be!), and thanking God for such a rich blessing. So, Monday I found myself wandering the streets of London alone again ☺ , visiting inside Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s (the top from which this picture was taken),

and Tower Bridge. A full, exhausting, and exciting day, and then Tuesday I was off to an overnight layover in Kenya.

I’m convinced that college friends’ parents are one of God’s great blessings. grins Because Tegan’s parents were definitely that for me, as I spent the night with them in Nairobi before heading out the next morning (my dad’s birthday!!!) on my hour flight to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where I was met by Kat, Paul, and Paul C (for those of you who don’t know, Kat is one of my college roommates, and really more family than friend, Paul is her husband and like a brother, and Paul C is another friend from Houghton). My first day in TZ we all spent on an island off the coast, resting from travel, catching up, swimming the Indian Ocean, and enjoying one another’s company. AND eating really amazing fresh seafood, including these crabs! (Are you drooling yet?? hehe)




And all for less than $20! Crazy, eh?! After spending the night in another Christian guesthouse in Dar, we left the next day (10/18) for a 5 hr drive to Mikumi National Park (a wildlife game reserve). The first afternoon/evening of our 24 hrs in the park we saw elephants, zebras, giraffes, cape buffalo, mpalas and bush bucks (2 varieties of deer), hippos, crocodiles, wildebeest, quite a few beautiful birds, and probably more that I’m not remembering. Plus we got to witness an absolutely stunning sunset (check the following pictures).


The next morning we woke up early to start again, and while we saw a great deal more of everything (including a bull elephant up close),

the real treat of the day were the lions!! First we saw a lioness (who actually roared for us, calling for another lion), then the full grown male who was answering her call, actually came while we were there!

And all of this before breakfast! Then again, late morning/early afternoon, we were pointed in the direction of a pride of lions (by others who had spotted them), to find about 12 or so congregated around a recent cape buffalo kill (probably from that night or early morning). INCREDIBLE!



This last picture is of Kat and I early that same morning, riding on top of their (she and Paul’s) land rover – a great way to spot all the animals and just take in the views all around us.



Now I’m at Masumbo with Kat and Paul, experiencing a tiny part of their life here, meeting their friends, cooking and eating together, sharing stories and life and time. Such an incredible blessing to be here with people I love so much. Tomorrow we’ll all take an 8 hr bus ride to Dar and Thursday take a 12+ hr bus ride to Nairobi (thankfully Kat and Paul have some business to do up in Kenya, so we’ll all be able to travel together!).

Please pray for our safe travel on these days, as bus rides coupled with crazy traffic can be a bit of a risky venture. Praise God that I have friends to travel with though, as I wasn’t looking forward to making the trip alone! Praise God for good health thus far, and pray also for continued good health. Praise and thank God for the joy and blessing of reconnecting with old friends, strengthening ties with new friends, and meeting those who are or will become friends. God certainly has a way of blessing us through relationships! Pray also as I continue to prepare my heart for my coming internship in Kenya, as well as speedy language acquisition. I’m so very excited!

Church at HTB (Holy Trinity Brompton) in London with Charlotte

(message by Ken Coster)

John's Gospel... The choice of how to live your life...

"I came that you might have life in all its fullness."

"You can either live flourishing in God's favor, or floundering in the world... "The Spirit gives life!" (KC)

"Fear is a habit." ~ Burmese Opposition Leader
And fear is a habit that is paralyzing and destroying our lives. We need to break the habit of fear and build habits that will give life.

Read John 14:15-21

Fear is the great disenabler of God's will and plan and purpose. We often look forward with great apprehension and fear, but then looking back we are show God's amazing faithfulness in accomplishing his pupose. FEAR says that 'your God is too small and weak to get you through this obstacle.' But which is the driver in your life? Fear or God, who has shown his favor and given his blessing to you? RISE to the challenge! Fear drives the need for security that the step you're taking is insured and guaranteed. But we are called to live by faith. These times of uncertainty are often times when we experience the most growth in our faith.

The disciples set off in their boat without Jesus... without Jesus. But he met them. He met them in the middle of their storm with the words "I AM." And only after he uttered these words did they take him into their boat... 'and IMMEDIATELY they reached their destination'... "The journey is shortest when Jesus is closest. The journey is longest when Jesus is farthest." (KC) God's favor trumps fear every single time. And faith is built up every time God shows his favor. John 14:1 (read).

We are called to action in faith, remembering that God has promised us life in all its fullness.

This time, a week from right now, I will be on my flight headed towards London...

eeeee! hehehe

Grape Festival Art

My mom's cousins, Pam and Ruth, displayed their quilting at the Grape Festival in Naples this weekend. I've never seen quilting quite like theirs before. Anything like theirs! And here are a few pictures to give you a taste of what they do...

This piece is about 3 ft long. Nearly life size! Pam did this of her daughter, Morgan, and Morgan's cat. Ruth had taken a picture of Morgan upside down with her cat on her. Each color you see is a different piece of fabric. Amazing, eh?! And absolutely gorgeous!

A close-up of Morgan's face.

A close-up of the cat.


Laura (my sister) and I are brainstorming to see what we could have her do for us... grins

Ever wondered how to NOT CRY WHEN CHOPPING ONIONS???

Goggles, my friend. Goggles.

Overnight in Buffalo

So, for today, tonight, and tomorrow I find myself back in Buffalo. I'm on Jessica McDonnell's laptop (she and I, along with 2 other girls, lived and worked with each other this summer), listening to bluegrass, waiting for cookies to get out of the oven, and anticipating a good game of 2 of Rummikub with good friends. Tomorrow Jess and I will help move all of our student's artwork from this summer to the children's section of Buffalo's Albright & Knox Museum. They'll be displaying it, along with telling the stories of the refugee children and their families, until mid-October (come and see!!!). On Sept. 21st from 5-7pm, they're even holding a reception, welcoming the public. The media will be there, and it will be a quite an event. I'm excited for the public in general, and especially Buffalo, to learn more about the newcomers living in their (our) midst and the richness of their lives.

Update: pictures of our art exhibit coming together.



As you can see, there's more to the exhibit than just these murals, but these are the focus of every thing else. The theme of our afternoon program, Arts Bridging Cultures, was centered around unity and diversity and the areas of the world all of our children (both from the School 3 and Our Lady of Loretto programs) came from. What we came up with was a collaged map of the world (each age group taking part in its assembly), and a collaged map of each of the countries represented during our summer English program. It's so amazing to finally see them up and displayed - something we had been working for since the very beginning of the program (getting permission from Albright & Knox to display our artwork so that we could better communicate our activities and goals with the larger public).

It's Finished!!

My Peace Corps application and health form, etc. is finally finished!! WOOHOO!

Cheers! ;)


(Just kidding. I actually took this picture when my mom and I took my Japanese friend out for lunch before riding on the Canandaigua Lady - the steamboat that used to run products up and down Canandaigua Lake. My mom's in the background.)

In other news...
*My cat is back after a week-long hiatus... boycotting my sister's dogs.
*On the note of my sister's dogs... Laura is living at home until the beginning of October while Phil finishes his training (on a sub) in Connecticut. She brought her 2 dogs and 1 very large cat, and as a result, our 3 house cats have gone into hiding. Tiki doesn't leave my parent's bedroom, Veev is either in my room or outside, and Moofer stays outside most of the time and only approaches the indoors at night when the doggies have gone to sleep upstairs with my sister. All rather comical. :)
*I'm leaving for Kenya in a little over a month. My arms are reminding me of that fact, as Monday night I attended "Passport Health" at Canandaigua hospital and had 4 vaccinations. Yellow Fever and Typhoid in my left arm and Meningitis and Polio in my right arm. My arms now feel as if someone whacked them with a blunt object. And today I get to have one more! ;P Tetanus. yay.
*I've discovered the wonderous fun of nail polish! Although not on my fingernails.

(My cat, Veev.)

So if you've been trying to figure out a way of getting rid of old nail polish and don't have any little sisters or cousins to give it to... There you go! ;) (**well-ventilated work area HIGHLY recommended... unless you plan on getting high -- not recommended. grins)

I'm almost finished with my Peace Corps application... which means I'm also almost finished with my grad to school application to U of Wyoming...

=-O


grins

Ever transitioning...

A week ago today our AmeriCorps group finished our summer program with Journey's End. It was an incredibly full and challenging and exhausting and rewarding summer. I'll post more pictures of my kids. I love all 11 of them, and I'm going to miss them more than I can say. However, it's also nice to be home. My cat is on my bed vying for the attention of my hands as I'm typing this blog. :) This past week was a crazy one as well. Due to "complications" with the Thundersquirrel, I wasn't able to come home from Buffalo until Monday evening - the same night I was supposed to be picking up my Japanese friend who was coming to visit. I got as far as Dansville, where my mom picked me up to drive to Rochester, and I left my car at TOPS. Juri stayed with my family Monday night to EARLY Friday morning, and we had a full week. We were able to show him a bit of the inner-workings of our dairy farm, a bit of life around Naples and Canandaigua - complete with grape pie - and a morning and afternoon spent at Niagara Falls. We all had a great time, and it was a wonderful opportunity to share with him a little bit of the love Christ abundantly lavishes on us. Now... Now I'm cleaning my room. :) No, now my sister is moving back in for 6 weeks while her husband Phil goes out on a sub for training (he's in the Navy). Now I'm finishing my joint MA degree-peace corps application. And now I'm trying to wrap my head around all of the preparations I need to make as October 10 approaches (faster than I think it will - or maybe just as fast as I know it will). So, if you think of it, pray for me as I juggle all of these things (of course, by the grace of God. I'm so glad I'm not left to juggle them alone.)
And NOW, I'll end with some more pictures from this summer.

Our AmeriCorps group, plus mentors (high school refugee students, helping us in the classroom and the newcomers adjust).


Tresar (Burmese Karen) and Divine (Burundi), rocking away on the horse at the playground.


Khadija, one of our mentors (from Kenya), Liz Garogano, Matt Tice, and me at Matt's sister's wedding. The Tice's are an amazing family. Bob (the dad) is the pastor of River Rock, the church I started attending this summer. I've never felt more a part of the family of Christ as I have in that church, and it's an international church as well (with refugee families from over 12 countries!). Polly (the mom) helped Rachel M. and I a lot with ideas and supplies for our elementary classes (she just finished teaching Kindergarten for a time). Matt has become a good friend, and Jessie helped rescue the Thundersquirrel with her AAA card late one Wednesday night, a few days before she got married. Truly an amazing family.


Petting a newborn calf at Jenna's Grandparent's farm.


Rachel Martinke and I singing the "Hello, What's Your Name?" song during our morning meeting time. Rachel M. had 12 4-5 yr olds and I had 9 6-8 yr olds (and 2 of the 5 yr olds). After our morning meeting our groups would split, and I would take mine to our room across the hall.


AND I got to meet Kat, Paul, and Becca on a few occasions throughout the summer - Amy's wedding, twice in Buffalo (one of those times being a NICKELCREEK CONCERT!!! --finally!), and once in PA at the Shaffner's (where this picture was taken). :)


Juri going for a ride on the haybine (cutting hay) with my dad.


Hug of death (me and Dan) after Dan gave Juri and I a ride on the silage dump truck. It's a very big truck. :)


Me, Laura, and mom. Gifts from Juri from Japan. Jimbe (the shirt and shorts) and Sensu (the fans).


Mom, Juri, and I on the lookout in front of Niagara Falls before heading down to get on the Maid of the Mist. The wind nearly knocked us over.


Mom and I in our bright blue ponchos on the Maid of the Mist in front of the American Falls BEFORE we got drenched by the Canadian Falls. grins

Oh! And guess what! From January to July '08, I'm going to be working with AmeriCorps again on the West Side in Buffalo. I'll be doing lots of stuff with community development (more details later), and I am... more than excited! grins

wow. It's been a month and 2 days since I last blogged.

Ba

Tresar

Divine

Elnu

Erick with Ali and Elnu in the background.

This summer, in a few short words, has been both incredibly rewarding and incredibly exhausting. Due to the "exhausting" part, my blog has been quite neglected, and probably will continue to be so. grins But here are some pictures of "my kids" (11 all together) - the refugee kids I'm teaching English to - and may their pictures grasp at your hearts a little (as they've most definitely entangled themselves around mine). :)

p.s.

Don't use a cable lock for your bike if you have a bike. People can cut through them and take your bike. Which is what happened to mine. And now I have a new new bike. (oi) I hope whoever has my old new bike appreciates it. ;) And word to those who DON'T want people running off with your bike... buy the metal horseshoe-shaped bolt locks that CAN'T be cut through.

Kekkonshiteru! (getting married)

102_7368
Originally uploaded by rs.potterclay.

Amy and Sam are MARRIED!!!!

Love

"Rachel says that love is like a big black piano being pushed off the top of a three-story building and you're waiting on the bottom to catch it. But Lourdes says it's not that way at all. It's like a top, like all the colors in the world are spinning so fast they're not colors anymore and all that's left is a white hum.
There was a man, a crazy who lived upstairs from us when we lived on South Loomis. He couldn't talk, just walked around all day with this harmonica in his mouth. Didn't play it. Just sort of breathed through it, all day long, wheezing, in and out, in and out.
This is how it is with me. Love I mean."

- Sandra Cisneros, Woman Hollering Creek (and other stories)

Le New Bike

So.
I got a new bike - a new SWEET bike - new sweet DISCOUNTED bike - this weekend. :)
I brought it to Buffalo, a nice drunk old man helped me get it out of my car (I didn't have any choice; he wouldn't go away), and my front brakes got messed up in the process.

I set forth to fix them.

Taking apart each area (above the front tire and in the brake lever), I carefully noted where each piece was supposed to go so that I could put it back exactly as I had taken it apart... That worked IN THEORY but sadly, not in practice. grins I'm sure all of you, at some point in your lives, have felt that needling, intertwining feeling of frustration and stubbornness. The more you try to do something (and fail at it) the more determined you become that you will CONQUER EVIL [insert whatever your mutterings and glarings are focused on]. I felt this. A lot. ;@

Finally, I conceded in doing a bit of online research (thank you google) on how to reassemble your front bike brakes, and in the process learned a ton. Like "brake calipers" and "adjusting barrel" and... my memory is failing me. Anyway, I learned how to fix my brakes!! woohoo! And I tested them a BUNCH - riding around - because the left hand side (that goes to the front brakes) turned out to be in a slightly different position than the right hand side (which I didn't touch).

I feel like my bike and I have now had a true bonding experience. ;) Now I need to come up with a name for it...

Any suggestions??? (It's white.) I'll take a picture and add it to the post later.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!

My sister and brother-in-law are celebrating their 2nd anniversary today. :) crazy, eh?!!

I'm up in Buffalo now (just moved in this evening)!!

I'm in a townhouse on Lafayette with 3 other girls (upstairs) and then there are more girls downstairs.

It's so wonderful to be living with girls again (in community - something I've rather missed over the past year and a half).

And of course, I'll keep you posted. ;)
grins

Cassie and Alex

Meet a new addition to my dad's side of the family - my cousin's baby, Cassie. Isn't she cute?! (ALL peacefully sleeping babies are cute! As opposed to the not-so-peacefully, alert, filling the air with demanding wails of hunger or protest or tiredness babies.)
Another cousin, Alex, is on my right (your left). Can you believe that she's only 11?!! She would add, "Going on 12!" grins And I hadn't seen her in 2 years! YAY for family reunions. :)

nightmare

This past weekend I had a nightmare. My brother was giving me a bear hug. Then my brother turned into someone who was hugging me, but too tightly, and he started to squeeze the breath out of me. I opened my mouth to protest, but couldn't close it because he (whoever it was) was squeezing me so hard (think of a cartoon where people turn into odd shapes). Then my mouth opened so wide that my jaw bones started crushing my back molar teeth, and the pieces of my teeth crumbled in my mouth and I had to spit them out so I wouldn't choke on them. Throughout this whole process I was becoming more and more nauseas (who wouldn't if their teeth were getting crushed!) and bawling my eyes out over my teeth (thankfully I - for some odd reason - felt no pain). At that point I either stopped dreaming or woke up. I'm not sure which.

Seriously strange and horrible dream. I don't have nightmares often. Perhaps this is why. oi!

Where I'll be in Oct-Dec...

Find Nairobi, Kenya. Move up and to the left (in the Rift Valley), and zoom in on Eldoret. THEN zoom in even more, moving to the left of Eldoret and find Kipkaren (Kipkarren). I'll be doing my internship in and around Eldoret and Kipkaren. :)

It's really happening! grins

I bought my plane ticket from London to Nairobi this afternoon...



HURRAY!!!

:)

Weekend Adventures with Rhian & Co....

In pictures. :)

So Rhian and I (along with many others scattered over Saturday and Sunday) did a great many random and oh-so-fun things (Paul's pottery sale!, Dutch Blitz with the Pearses late Sat night, flying - trying - kites, walks, to name a few). Only one of which did we take any pictures, so here it is. Traversing Houghton Creek. Twice. :) Complete with only slightly wet feet, encounter (me. rrr!) with giant tarantulous spider, and loads of laughter. And of course, complete with posed creek-crossing pictures. grins