Three months

I have now been in Africa for three months. It's hard to believe. It seems like so long ago, yet also just yesterday. I have laughed, cried, danced, fallen to the floor, been sick, been healthy,and so much more. Jesus continues to blow me away every day, though so often I don't listen to His voice. My prayer is that I would open my heart up to Him more and more every day. He blows me away. I love hearing my students talk about Him. I love hearing them tell other students that Jesus is the only way to heaven. I love being able to foster a little baby on the weekends. I love the way he laughs and smiles at me. I love the privilege I have to love on him and all the other babies at the orphanage. I want to love more. I want to have Jesus' love just spilling out of me.

As I posted last time, I was really sick last month. I am feeling much better and thankful for that. I am loving my second graders, at least most days :). They keep me on my toes. The best story this month is that a few of them saw writing on the bathroom walls and decided they wanted to solve mysteries. So one of my boys brought a briefcase to school the next day so he could better solve the mysteries! I love their imagination! Their passion for life convicts me. I love how they believe what Jesus says without thinking twice. Oh may I have a faith like that!

I cannot believe it is almost November! This school year has flown by! I am going home for Christmas, which I was not planning on but I am super excited for the opportunity! It will be so good to see friends and family there. If you live in Dubuque, let me know if you want to get together!

As I mentioned earlier, we get to foster a baby on the weekends. I absolutely love it, and him! The next three pictures are of our cute little dude!

This last one is the baby girl we were supposed to foster. The day we went to get her for the first time, she was sick so we didn't take her. Less than two weeks later she died. It was really hard, but I am happy that she is with Jesus!
I am excited to see what God brings my way in the next few weeks. I will try to keep the blog world posted!

Radiance

I love Psalms 34:4-5: I sought the Lord, and he answered me; He delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.

Those verses blow me away. How often have I not sought the Lord? Instead I have lived in those fears. I was not delivered because I looked everywhere else to meet my needs. And instead of those fears shrinking, they grew. I love that when I seek the Lord, He answers. I love that these two verses go together. When I am delivered from my fears, my face is not covered in shame. Fear varies for each person, but so often it covers us in shame. Maybe it's for something we did, maybe for something we didn't do. We all deal with failure, and I know I fear that failure. But when I seek the Lord, I am delivered from that fear of failure. How often am I not radiant because I have not sought the Lord? Oh Lord, may I seek you above all else!

NOT my goal...

Contrary to popular beliefs, it is NOT my goal to visit the hospital of every country where I live. Yes, I have already managed to wind up in a Kenyan hospital. Yes, I realize I have been in the country 7 weeks. That's a record for me. And this is a record stay for me as well--going on 5 nights. I am hoping hoping hoping to make it home tomorrow. I have been sick almost two weeks, so I am glad they finally figured out that it's an infection. I just got started on the medicine yesterday. I have been here since Thursday night. I am very thankful for all my new friends who have come to visit. I am also grateful for good insurance. Though it has been lonely and tough, my Jesus is bigger and my Jesus is stronger. He will never leave me, and I love that.

Some things that have made me smile while here:

-All the new friends who have come.

-One of my staff kids came with his mom and sister. So fun having a student come to see me!

-I emailed my students' parents yesterday and let them know what was going on. 11 of them have emailed me back to say they are thinking of me and many are praying for me.

-A couple of us have had the FUNNIEST email chain going on today. It has made me crack up more than once. Sitting in the hospital by myself. Haha. Love it! Thanks guys!

-My friend brought me my stuffed Nemo. The first night I had it here the nurse was like "I like your fish." Yes, I am 24 years old and have a stuffed fish with me in the hospital. I am that cool.

-The same friend brought me a TV show I had never heard of on Saturday. I finished it today. Yay for new fun shows!

-I have been able to chat with my friend Amanda in the DR. We had each other cracking up today reminiscing about some FUNNY FUNNY events in the DR. Love her and love that I could chat with her!

-I have my computer and internet now! Yay!

Life is so much better when you count your blessings. Please keep praying that my body heals completely and that I can go home tomorrow. I am more than ready! I miss holding babies. I asked my friend to bring me one today. Haha. That probably would not be the smartest choice, but I would love it. I am so thankful for friends who care!

Held in His arms,

Mindy

Life

Well, I am not really sure what to write, but feel like I should. How do I describe my life even more fully in this little white box? Wow. I guess I can start by saying I am blessed. I get to spend all day with 18 little second graders that sometimes drive me crazy but are such a blessing. This morning I was able to share the gospel with them through the bridge illustration. I will never get tired of being able to tell little kids about Jesus! I love it! And one of my boys blew me away today! We were talking in Social Studies about needs and wants and the difference between those. We had read about them and then I asked what needs were. The kids mentioned the normal (water, air, food) and then one of the boys said, "God." I gave him a huge high five and said "You are totally right. All people need God, but not all, umm... (I was at a loss of words on how to explain this to second graders) and he said "want Him." Wow. He hit it on the spot. I couldn't have said it better. I almost cried. He is so right. We all need Him. Desperately. Yet not all want Him. Is living for Him worth it? Absolutely. Is it easy? No way. But it's amazing. I love the things He does in our lives when we let Him.

I am excited to see what He will do in and through me here. I know the road will be rocky, but I have an excellent guide. I miss my friends and former students in the DR a lot, but I know God has great plans for me here.

And what could be better than spending THREE DAYS IN A ROW with the cutest little African babies in the world? Here are some pictures from Sunday.

Snuggles with a new one. She just chilled in my lap for probably a half hour!

He was the most smiley baby I have ever seen!

My roommate Emily. She comes with me a lot.

Happy.

This little guy has the CUTEST laugh I have ever heard! He was really going at it today. It was hilarious! I can't help but bust out laughing every time he starts laughing.

If you think of it, pray for these babies. Pray that the orphanage would have the funds to finish their new building. Right now the babies are crazy crowded (two to three in a crib) and don't really have a great place to play. Pray for people to adopt them and love them. They are so precious!

Picture Update

Pictures!

A cute baby at The Nest. They were so silly today!

The coolest birthday cake ever! This was for two of my boys' double birthdays.

Happy.

My two roommates on one of their birthdays.

Outside my house, which is also the admin building. Here are some of the flags representing where all our students are from.

Awesome HUGE kitchen.

Living/dining room. Yes, it is round.

This is the painting I received from my school in the DR when I left. It is now hanging in Africa :).

On the volcano with the lady I student taught with three years ago.

Beautiful.

Jambo!

Here is the email I sent out last week. If you are not on my email list, leave me a comment and I will add your. Or email me.

What's going on in my life? I can't believe how much has changed in just four weeks. Four weeks ago today I was sitting in church in Dubuque and being prayed for in front of the congregation. Today I am sitting in my room in Nairobi, after going to church and holding babies at an orphanage nearby. And what about the time in between? Let me just tell you, a lot can happen in four weeks!

Well, for starters I moved to Nairobi, Kenya! That's a pretty big life change! I am living and working at Rosslyn Academy. I live with two awesome female teachers, Emily and Jennifer. We have had a great time getting to know each other and getting used to life here in Kenya. Emily has been here one year so far, and Jennifer is new.

I started my fourth year of teaching! And it is also my first year in second grade. I have 17 great little blessings. 11 of them are boys, so just imagine what second grade at Rosslyn is like! But they truly are great. I love seeing their little personalities come out. It is also neat having so many different cultures in my class. They are from different places and some speak different languages at home. It was neat to look on the map and see how we truly do come from across the globe! We have had 7 days of school so far, plus a Saturday Open House. It has been super busy but also super great! I love working at a school where some kids have never heard the gospel. I have been telling them the story of Moses. They are mad at me for stopping and not telling them more! One little boy who is from a Hindu family said, "PLEASE tell us more! I have never heard about Moses before!" Wow. Please pray for open hearts for him and for the others in my class. I am so thankful for the opportunity I have to share the best news in the world with them!

Moving to a new place means meeting many new people. I am excited about the new friendships I am making, but at the same time missing the friends I no longer see as much. But I know that God has great things in store for me here, and I am excited to see all the different people He brings into my life.

I love the one-in-a-lifetime experiences that God puts in your path. I hope one like this is to be repeated, but it definitely was unexpected and amazing! We as a staff went hiking at a volcano about three and a half hours away. Well, it shouldn't have taken that long, but roads in Africa can be...umm...interesting. Anyways, after hiking, some of us stayed and camped there. When everyone else left, our guide for the hike asked if we wanted to go to a Masai village. This was not a tourist trap or a place where a lot of white people go. There happened to be a ceremony going on that day and the next, so people from a lot of villages were there. It was incredible! We were able to see inside their mud and straw huts. The kids also sang and danced for us. One of the coolest parts was seeing warriors dressed in their traditional clothing, with mud paint on their legs and everything! They chanted and had a jumping contest for us. I have never experienced anything quite like that. The kids were fascinated with my sunglasses and took them off my head to wear them. Then I would take a picture so they could see themselves. Let's just say I have quite a few pictures of village kids with sunglasses! And many times the sunglasses were upside down! Words cannot even express how cool that was. I hope more opportunities come up like that soon!

So the question is, can Mindy go somewhere and NOT find the babies? You probably all know the answer to that question. NO WAY! I have been able to go back to the baby orphanage I visited last time I was in Kenya. Three years ago they had six or seven babies. Now they have over 20! I am still trying to learn their names. It's even harder when they put the boys in pink clothes! There is not enough space for all of them in the building where they are now, so they are in the process of building a new building. Let me know if you would like more information about the orphanage. The smallest baby is almost three months and under 6 pounds! I have really enjoyed being able to hold as many babies as I want as often as I want! I haven't made it over there as much as I would like simply because teaching is taking so much of my time right now. Hopefully soon things will slow down so I can!

I have posted a bunch of pictures on Facebook if you are friends with me there. You can also send me a friend request if you are on Facebook.

Thank you for praying for me! Here are some specific requests:

-Knowing how to best reach my students. I want to meet them where they are, and help them as much as I can. Please pray for wisdom.

-Working with new co-workers and getting used to a new school and new ways of doing things.

-Knowing how to best use my time and energy. I want to help as much as I can both here at Rosslyn and at the orphanage. Please pray that I would know what that looks like.

-Please keep Kenya, especially Northern Kenya, in your prayers. The drought and famine there is really bad. A guy shared at church today about a village he visited where all but 9 of their 200 sheep died out of lack of food or water. Please pray for rain and an end to this famine. Where I am in Southern Kenya things are ok, but keep praying for rain!

I hope to post pictures soon. I wanted to post some from the Masai village, but am going to wait for now. My facebook has a lot though. I took some good ones of the babies today. We had a day off school. You will never guess where I wanted to spend it :). It was great!

The beginnings...

Jambo from Nairobi! I have been here a little over a week already. In some ways I feel like I have been here forever and in other ways I feel like I just arrived. I am excited and overwhelmed, sad and happy, and so much more, all at the same time. School starts a week from today, so it's been crazy trying to get everything ready for that. We started new teacher orientation on Monday. Talk about overload! But the information was all really good, especially the stuff on transition and working with third culture kids. For those of you who don't know, that means kids who have lived a significant amount of their lives in a country that is not their passport country, to put it simply. Most of my kids will be third culture kids. I can't even say half their names! But that will come. Right now I have 17 kids, which is the smallest class I have ever had! I am kinda excited about that. I have been busy trying to get bulletin boards set up, desks arranged, and all that kind of stuff. It's weird to be in a new classroom. I definitely am missing my kids and friends in the DR, but I also am excited to see what God will do in my life here.

Other than school, I was able to go back to the church I went to when I student taught. I loved being back there! I think I will just stay there since I have friends there and know it's a good church, but we will see. Two of the new teachers came with me to church and then after church we walked to the baby orphanage I also used to go to. When I left, they had 6 or 7 babies. Now they have more than 20! It was so great to go love on them for a little bit. I have already gone back two more times--Monday and Wednesday! Can you tell I love that part about being here? :)

Tomorrow we are going to a mountain to go hiking, and some of us are also camping there. I have never gone camping in Africa, so we will see how that goes! We will come back Saturday afternoon, and then it's back to getting ready for school! The new staff went to a tea farm last week, and that was a lot of fun. I am really enjoying getting to know the new staff here. I love hearing everyone's stories and what God is doing in their lives.

I am so glad God has brought me here, even though some days are difficult. I love that He has me in a place where I can spend time with both school aged kids and babies. I know there will be trying times ahead, but God is bigger and stronger and I am so excited to see what He will do in my life!