Join Me...

......in praying for the Lord to guide me to the right short-term mission trip. 

During this season of Thanksgiving, I am reminded of what experience I am most thankful for and hold most dear from the past year: my trip to South Sudan, Africa. I count it a privilege to have observed the Lord's love for the nations and to have served His precious Sudanese people. My hope and prayer is that He will allow me to return to the continent where I left my heart 5 months ago. My dilemma-Back to South Sudan or on to new adventures in Kenya? Either way, I am sure that the Lord will bless my time in Africa because it is always a blessing to serve Him AND how could you go wrong in AFRICA?!?!?!

My application for the South Sudan trip would be due on December 18th and Kenya on December 11th. Please pray that the Father pours His wisdom over me and that it is clear where He desires me to serve this summer. 

Last year I clearly heard God tell me to go to Sudan, but this year I have yet to hear His voice. I know that He will guide me if I am still and listen. 

Thank you, sweet friends!!! :)

Like A Proud Momma

So, in case you haven't noticed, I love my sweet 5th grade kiddos! This job is incredibly difficult and more demanding than I ever thought possible. However, it is also more rewarding than I would have imagined. 

God has graciously given me a heart for the nations. More specifically, third-world nations and the precious children who try to survive in these challenging areas. As you have seen through my blogs about my trip this summer to Africa, my heart has fallen in love with these people who have so little and need so very much. In the midst of experiencing these cultures, God has called me to teach in a very affluent school. After seeing such poverty in Africa, I struggled with the abundance of luxury that exists in America. Thankfully, the Lord used my heart, a group of loving 10-year-olds, a sweet roommate, and thousands of hungry children to show me yet again His sovereign will. Here is the amazingness (yeah, I like to make up words) that has taken place in my classroom over the last few weeks.

My former roommate, Kristy, told me about this great organization that helps feed children in impoverished countries. The group will send you "rice bowls" that you fill with change and then that money goes to feed orphans around the world. She gave me 2 bowls and suggested that I take one to school to see if my students would like to fill it up. To be honest, I didn't think much would come of this. And there I went again, looking to my own strength instead of the Father's infinite power. I explained the concept and told the kids that it was not mandatory to participate but that if the Lord led them to give of their OWN money, then this would be a great opportunity to share our wealth with those who go without. I put the bowl out on Friday and by Tuesday the bowl was overflowing and they were asking for more bowls to fill. I got more rice bowls from Kristy and they continued to fill them. I wish you could have seen the excitement as the children brought in bags of coins each day. We also watched a video from the organization's website that explained where the money goes and highlighted a few children from the different orphanages. As I watched my students intently focused on the videos and chatting to one another about the children, I realized that this is what education is all about. Yes, I have the incredible privilege of teaching in a school that allows me to share the gospel on a daily basis and discuss my faith in Jesus Christ, but we are ALL called to share the joy of giving. We should be educating ourselves and those of the next generation about what is happening in other countries and how to show the world Christ's love and selfless service.  The Lord gave me this verse for my classroom in Africa and I believe that this "Rice Bowl Project" is an outward expression of this biblical truth. 

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourself....." ~Philippians 2:3

So far my class has raised $219.59 and they have each taken home rice bowls to fill with their families.

A little project with a big heart behind it can make a big difference. 

Sugar High

Last week was "Spirit Week" at my school in preparation for Homecoming. This is a tradition practiced throughout the school, preschoolers-12th graders participate in the fun. Each day has a theme and students and staff are encouraged to deck-out in that day's corresponding apparel. Anything and everything goes. Needless to say, my kiddos were CRAZY!!!! Haha! Can I blame them? No. Each day they got a snack that corresponded with the theme. Most of these snacks were sugary, and so my precious 5th graders added "sugar high" to their already excited, energetic countenance. 

Here is a glimpse of our crazy, fun, outrageous, spirited week!

Monday: "Camo Day"

Snack: Trail Mix 

 Tuesday: "Decade Day"

My team and I were the "Pink Ladies" :)

CUTE and TASTY 80's cake pops that the moms got for my sweet kids!

Wednesday: "Clash Day" (My favorite day!!!)

Snack: Tye Dye Fruit Roll-Ups

Thursday: "Class Color Day" 

As you can see, 5th grade was ORANGE

Snack: goldfish and Sunkist

Friday: "Navy/Gray Day" 

Friday was Homecoming so we celebrated by wearing our school colors: navy and gray. Unfortunately, we didn't get a class picture this day. :( But, you can be assured that my kiddos were deck-out in Liberty gear! 

Snack: Football-shaped donuts, chocolate milk, pizza, and cookie cake......what a day to blow a diet!

At Liberty, we love our school and love to show our SPIRIT!!!!

All About Africa: 8

We had an incredibly eye-opening, life-changing week at the orphanage! I wanted to simply share some of the pictures of the people that we ministered to and ultimately, ministered to our team. As you look over these pictures, please pray for these precious people in Lora, Sudan. 

ABC's of Summer 2011

A: AFRICA!!!
B: "Bachelorette Nights" with the Parma girls
C: Craftiness for my classroom
D: Done. Finished. Over. Sadly, there is no more summer for me.
E: Enjoying my fabulous Sudan Team!
F: Fuzzy's Taco- My mom is addicted and has taken me along for the ride. Seriously, she needs help.
G: Grandparents. They kindly let me stay at their place while I was waiting for my apartment to be vacated.
H: Hobby Lobby runs, like 4 a week!
I: Instagram.....my new photo addiction
J: Jet-setting: DFW; Amsterdam, Netherlands; Entebbe, Uganda; Yei, Sudan; Atlanta, Georgia; Lexington, Kentucky......as you can see, I've done my fair share of traveling this summer!
K: Kiddos. Meeting my sweet class was wonderful!
L: Learning how to use the lamination machine and failing quite a few times. I have discovered that this machine is a teacher's best friend!
M: Moving......twice. The entire process included 4 different homes/apartments
N: New. I think this word most accurately describes my summer. New job. New apartment. New travels: Africa!!! New friendships. New responsibilities. New dreams.
O: Organizing
P: Paisleys and poke-a-dots. My classroom has exploded with these two things.
Q: Quickly......this is how my summer went by.
R: Radical. Amazing book by David Platt that I am trudging through.
S: Surviving college. I finally graduated on May 14th!!!!
T: Trainings at school
U: Unbearable Texas heat!!! We tipped the Fahrenheit scales at 108 degrees, I believe.
V: Very hot! I know, this was my "U" but it's been SO that it deserves 2 slots. ;)
W: Weeping. God revealed so many things about His character to me and of course that resulted in my favorite (or really NOT a favorite) past time.
X: X-tra time. This I did not have.
Y: Young lives to pray for. God has given me 20 young lives to pray over and impact. I spent all of July and August praying and preparing for them.
Z: ZZZZ.......I learned to how to truly rest in Him when I was in Africa. Thankfully, He has given me many opportunities to practice this!

All About Africa: 7

We were able to spend 5 wonderful days at the Lora orphanage. Six of us agreed to do the teaching, while the other three worked with the "mothers" and cooks. We taught for four days about God's promises. I taught on the last day about God's promise of provision for His children. Honestly, this is a difficult lesson to teach any child because it can be challenging for children to grasp that God's will and our will do not always align. (Truthfully, isn't this a challenge for adults to accept as well?) Many times, we think we need or want something that ultimately God knows is not best for us. Now, imagine teaching this concept to a group of children who have nothing in comparison with what American children have. Through my preparation for this lesson, the Lord clearly showed me that He is providing for these orphans. It may not be to the extent that I think He should, but who am I to judge His will. Ultimately, the most important things He provides are the provisions of the Spirit. The Father is faithful to give us hope, peace, eternity, love, and grace.

As I'm teaching, I'm thinking about how many things I want for on a daily basis. How many of those things are eternal? Sadly, I realized that more often than not, I want things that are earthly. I looked around the orphanage and noticed that the children are joyful, not because they have the new iPhone, a pair of shoes, or a great outfit. In fact, they don't have any of these things. They are joyful because they have the Lord and the love of His people surrounding them. My realization was that I need to be content and thankful for the provisions of the Spirit that the Lord has graciously given to me because I have done NOTHING to deserve them.

Here are some pictures of my team teaching. We thankfully had an interpreter when we taught!!! At times Jon would translate from English into two other languages...what a talented man of God!

The chickens, roosters, and chicks would come and go in the classroom while we were teaching.

Note to all my fellow teachers: surely, this is the weirdest and most random classroom disruption you have ever seen!?! Haha!

"I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances."   ~Philippians 4:11

All About Africa: 6

More on day 1 at the orphanage......
We were able to do SO much during our visit on Monday. Not only did we play, sing, and talk (as shown in my last post), we learned all about LuLu nuts. Apparently, the LuLu falls from the tree as a fruit. Once the children eat the fruit a pit/nut is left. This most closely resembles a large hazelnut. Unfortunately, the fruit had been consumed prior to our visit, and because of our differing cultural experiences, I am still uncertain as to what this fruit looks like.
Jocelyn (the precious nurse), the mothers, and a few helpful girls were kind enough to introduce to us the inventive ways that they are using this nut. It was explained to us that they make cooking oil, soap, medicine, lotion, and many other things from this nut.

Isn't Jocelyn beautiful?!?!
She has an even more beautiful spirit!

Here is the LuLu nut process........

Step 1: Crush the LuLu. Let me tell you, this is HARD work! I was the first from our group to try this and I was incredibly embarrassed by my lack of strength and rhythm. These sweet children were waaaaay more skilled at this than me!

Step 2: Sift the ground LuLu and re-grind the large pieces. This step I eventually mastered, but not without much help.

 Step 3: Cook the LuLu powder over an open flame. It was quite funny because one of the women asked me if I had ever seen a fire made out of sticks. I assured her that I had experienced them when camping. Of course, she didn't know what camping was because for them, every day is like camping. ;)
Another reminder that we are blessed beyond measure here in the US!!!

 

Step 4: Put the cooked LuLu into bags and place into this interesting contraption.

Step 5: Turn, turn, and turn some more!!! This is an exciting step and everyone gathers 'round as the women and a few men use all of their incredible strength to press out the oil.
Laughter and fellowship are integral parts of this LuLu nut oil-making process. I feel blessed and honored to have participated in every step!
We laughed and told them that in America, people would pay BIG bucks for this all-natural, organic oil. Haha!

Aren't we blessed to simply get in our cars, choose from any of 5 or so different stores, and have an enormous spread of food at our fingertips. All of which takes about 15 minutes. In Sudan, they worked for 4 days to simply produce some oil. Oh what riches we take for granted each day!