November is Almost Here

Well it has been another 2 months almost 3 since I put an update on the blog.  I hope this one finds you all well.  Part of the reason I think I put off posting here is that I feel like to post I need to include pictures.  Trying to take pictures here is a challenge in and of itself!  However, I have some new pictures to share with you, so I thought I would go ahead and post again.  Also I apologize to those that didn't receive my letter 2 months ago.  I couldn't get my internet connection to cooperate in order to send a big group e-mail, so some got the letter and some didn't.  I will try again this month.

Since the last post the biggest change that has occured is that I did not go on the language immersion trip.  The plans and the timing for the trip changed several times and then fell through completely.  So now it looks like I will be going on that trip, or something similar in January.  For the time being I have still been working on language.  My language schedule has changed somewhat in that I am now meeting only 3 days a week with a tutor for 2 hours each time.  It was time for this change, but I must confess I am so burned out on language.  Please be asking that I would soon be able to stop intentionally studying language like this, and that a role would be found for me to fill other than language student.

Although not doing this immersion trip did change plans a little bit, it was definitely in His plan because just a few weeks ago one of my guards had his father pass away.  Both of my guards are O (the are members of the predominant ch here); therefore, the reality of them not being true Believers is very prevelent.  With an O funeral, especially if it is taking place in the countryside, the funeral itself and the activites that go along with it take 14 days or longer.  Currently my guard, his wife, and his brother are all in the countryside participating in the funeral for his father.  This guard also has four little children; however, here it is not uncommon for parents to leave their children in the care of their neighbours for long periods of time.  Please pr for my guard, his wife, and brother as they participate in the funeral, visiting with family, and especially as they travel back to AA at the end of the 14 days.  Also lift up their kids, typically children left in the care of the neighbours do fine; however, sometimes things can happen.  Please pr for the safety of these children, that they would be attending school as they are supposed to, and that they would have enough to eat while mom and dad are gone.  Pr especially that my guard, his wife, and brother would be wise and discerning and have enough money to pay for the transport to get back to AA. 

In the culture here money is seen as something you have from day to day.  For example if I were to get paid today (even though that would be my whole salary for the month), I would think, "I have money!  How can I spend it all today?"  Yes, this is kind of a foolish thought, however, this is the thought process here.  This kind of thinking has also caused some problems in the past months for the family that I do Story time with each week or every other week.  The mother of this family has a job; however, minimum wage is not such a thing here (at least not the way we think of it).  However, instead of saving part of her meager salary over the past several months, the mother of this family got to the point where it was time to pay dues for her daughter's school and she had nothing.  I put off trying to help this family monetarily as long as I could and continued to pr that He would provide for them.  Finally it got to the point where I gave them some money for the school fees.  I explained that this money was not from me but a gift from the Father and was only to be used for school fees.  My pr for this family is not that I would keep helping them like this, but that they would learn to depend upon Him for their needs and not the foreign face.  Please pr like that for this family and for this entire country in that vein.

Rainy season has stopped, and we are now several weeks into dry season.  This means that sunshine is 24/7, and the weather is warmer.  However, AA's elevation is so high the temeprature is never unbearable.  Although when rainy season stops everyone tends to have water problems.  Pr that we would have enough water from day to day.  Praise Him for the great rainy season this year, and ask that the people would be wise in the bounty of the harvest.  I have also started running again.  This doesn't mean I'm running outside that just isn't an option for me here although I dearly don't like that.  However, I have started back to running on the treadmill again at the gym.  Pr that I can keep it up, so I'll be road ready in December when I visit the States for vacation.

December is getting closer!  Pr that it will come quickly, and that the weeks and days would be full until then.  I am excited about getting to come home after a year and a half.  Pr that this trip would go smoothly, and that He would give me clarity on things.  I will have access to a car while I am in the US thanks for lifting that up!  If you would like to contact me while I'm in the US you can e-mail me, I don't have a phone number there yet, or you can send a note to 5304 Glenn Cove Bryant, AR 72022.  My e-mail is racfarmer@mailboxwiz.com

Thank you to those of you that have sent packages in the past few months.  For whatever reason I have not received any packages in the past 2 months, and I know that some of you have sent some.  I apologize for this.  Hopefully the packages will be returned to you if they never reach me.  Thank you for thinking of me.  If you would like to encourage me in this way or help me in this way, I encourage you to send a small package/envelope to 5304 Glenn Cove Bryant, AR 72022.  While I am in the US I will be restocking on supplies, so any help you could give would be appreciated.
Enjoy the pictures.
Serving Him with You wherever I am,
Rachel

Pictures:  1. This is in the house of the family I do Story time with.  The little girl at the fire/stove is the daughter of the woman in the house, and the little girl with her back to us is the next door neighbour.
2.  This little baby boy is the cousin of the little girl at the fire.  He's about 2 or 3 months here.
3. Me and the little next door neighbour
4. This is the little next door neighbour, her mom, and her little brother (he is about 5 months).
5. Last picture is me in my house, at the end of rainy season.

13 Months

I know it has been at least 2 or months since I have posted here.  I apologize for that.  The past couple of months have been interesting and difficult.  However, it is a wonderful thing to know that I am down one year!  Thank you for pr me through! 

Since my last post I have been to Kenya and come back on organ less ......  I went to Kenya looking for answers to my dizziness and fainting.  I came back without any real answers to that, but we did find out why I was having stabbing stomach pains, I had 2 marble size, calcititis gall stones (fun! fun!).  The Father knew what He was doing in getting me to Nairobi for what I thought would originally be 2 weeks, and He sent me at a time that at first I thought was "bad" timing.  Not so, not so.  By the end of the first week the doctor had requested so much blood to be drawn for tests I wondered if I still had any left :), and on Friday of that week he suggested we also go ahead and do an ultrasound of my gall bladder and liver.  However, by Thursday I had another lovely attack of stabbing pain, which kept me up all night.  I had another appointment with the doctor on Monday, so that morning when he read the ultrasound he announced the presence of the stones.  I told him of my cramps and pain, and he said I needed to go to the gastrinologist.  The rest went very quickly.  By the second Friday I was checking in for surgery at the hospital at 3:30pm that afternoon.  Once the doctor got in he discovered that my gallbladder problem was acute and basically non-functioning, so it was NO coincidence that I was there when I was! 

I remained another week in Nairobi, bringing my stay to 3 weeks, for recovery; then I returned to Camel Land on July 17.  Today marks me being back for one month, and I guess it's the one month marker for surgery.  I am now basically healed up and feeling better where the gall bladder is concerned!  Thank you for pr-ing even though you may not have known what you were pr-ing for at the time, the Father always knows!

I have now finished phase 3 of language and will actively begin phase 4 mixed a little with phase 5 next week.  This phase involves a lot of things that are uncomfortable and hard.  I have to interview people, do a language immersion (which most likely means living with a national family for at least 3 days), having my first language evaluation (on Tuesday, August 21 at 8:00am), and having to learn how to break apart the pieces of this very difficult language.  Please be lifting me up in this.  It's not only that this phase is difficult and uncomfortable, but I have been learning language for 13 months now, and I am tired, sick and dry of learning language.  Pr that I will press on in these next 3 to 4 months.

A huge praise and treat is coming up in December!  I am going HOME!  I will be taking some vacation in December and coming back to the US :).  I will be arriving in the US on December 13 and staying until January 7.  My parents are on STAS, so I will be with them, Lydia and her family, along with Julia and hers.  My friends down in Fort Worth, I don't think I'll have car access, and since my time is so limited I will want to be with my family pretty much the whole time.  However, if it is possible I would love to see you.  I'll be in Texarkana for a big part of the time, which is not far from Fort Worth.  If anyone would like to loan me a car or let me borrow one while I'm in the US for these 3 1/2 weeks that would be a great treat.  Please write me at racfarmer@mailboxwiz.com if you are interested in that request.

Some of you will notice that Hannah's name isn't mentioned in the family I'll be with in December.  This is because Hannah and her husband, Adam, will be coming to the States for some time at the end of August.  We are sad they can't also be there in December.  Continue to lift up Hannah and Adam, and please ask that their time in the US be good and refreshing.

Also if anyone is interested, one thing that would be a great gift whether you send it to me while I"m in the US in December, or while I'm here, are Beth Moore studies with the voice recordings of the weekly sessions.  I am just now finishing the Esther study, so any other study is fair game!  I know that most of you will just suggest I download, go to itunes etc etc.  I do use that option here some, but with our internet set up downloading one thing that is about an hour long can take up to 3 days!  I am not kidding!  Also it is very expensive to try and use my internet to download things.  This is why I am suggesting for the recordings of the weekly sessions they be put on CDs or on a thumb/flash drive. 

Please continue to pr and lift up.  Thank you for all of your pr.

Serving Him with You,
Rachel

Pictures:
1. The first picture is taken in my neighbourhood.  If you turn right off the picture and go down another dirt road you would find my house.  Of course right now it isn't dry and dusty like that right now it's wet, muddy, and green where grass is.

2. Me ( I think this was actually back in April)

3. This the front of one of the Othx ch in the city (it's actually the biggest one)

4. This is another view of the same O ch.

5. Me and one of my language teachers after we finished touring this huge ch.  She doesn't normally cover her head only around the ch. (this was also back in April I think)

11 Months and Counting

It has now been 11 months since I came to Camel Land.  To be completely honest it feels like at least 2 years since I came and not just a little less than a year!  This past month has been full of learning language, other cultural experiences, learning how to lead a Story Time with two families, leading a Word study with a group of tck girls, and trying not to be sick. 

Seems like these last two months I keep getting hit with unexplained and unpleasant physical ailments.  A month ago I spent one night and two days throwing up and laying in bed, however, nothing was diagnosed as being an ameoba or anything else.  A couple weeks later I had another fainting episode when I was out with my language teacher; however, I realized what was going on this time, and I was able to catch myself before I fully fainted away.  I was able to grab her and drop to the floor in a sitting position and tell her to get me water before I completely blacked out.  This required me to go to the doctor the next day, however, the check-up revealed nothing.  And just the past two days I have been plauged with severe stomach cramps where I am forced to lay in bed until they subside.  Please pr for me.  None of this is meant to make you worry, I mean we get sick in the States too.  Please pr that we can find out what is making me feel unwell, and that I wouldn't have anymore sickness like this.

This past month has also been a joy for my family as we welcome our newest family member, Bethany Gale Armstrong, my second niece and my sister Julia & brother-in-law Ben's second child.  Please be in pr for their family as they adjust to being 4 instead of 3.  Pr for Ben's health and Julia's continued recovery from the birth.  Pr also for Bethany that she will gain weight, and meet all of her growth markers on time and in good fashion.  Pr also for Elijah he is not quite sure what to make of this newest little person in his life.  Pr that he will learn to love her unconditionally and cherish her compaionship. 

This past month my greatest joy has been on Tuesday nights.  I have been meeting with a group of four tck teenage girls for a Word study for the past 3 weeks.  Doing this I am able to act on the gifts He has given me, and I am able to work with the PG that I know He wants me working with.  Pr that this study would continue, and the girls would continue to grow and mature in Him.

In a few weeks I will be going for a 2 and 1/2 week trip to some other parts of Camel Land as an extension of language study.  To be honest I am not looking forward to all of this travel in a car.  Here when traveling in cars I often get sick and feel horrible for days after we reach our destination.  Pr that I would not get sick and that this journey would be enjoyable. 

Hope that you are all looking forward to this weekend as you prepare to celebrate and honour your fathers. 

Serving Him with You where ever I am,
Rachel

Ps. I will post more pictures later.  The two pictures posted I am sure you can guess who they are of....Bethany Gale (on the left 3 hours old here) and Elijah, my dad, and Bethany Gale (on the right).

Opportunities to be Salt and Light

si

Since I have finished the second phase of language I now have opportunities to be active trying to use my language.  One of the opportunities I had last month was to go to the clinic here that another team puts together every Saturday morning.  For the most part this team works with another people group, who does not speak the national language because they are here as refugees.  However, there are some people who come to this clinic that speak the national language.  For the most part the team focusing on this minority people group have a hard time communicating with the national speakers because they don't speak the language.  So I went one Saturday to try and help with language.  One of the ladies I got to talk to had two children who were sick.  One just had a cold, and the other one (asleep on her back the whole time) was suffering from a bad ear infection.  At the end I took their picture and helped them get their meds at the pharmacy.

I also got to help with a couple other patients this was one of the little girls waiting in line at the pharmacy (in blue above).  However, she didn't speak the national language, which is probably why she looks a little scared here.

The other opportunity I have had in the past couple of months to be Salt and Light is with a small family in a neighbourhood close to mine, yet worlds apart.  This opportunity is on going.  I went with another lady here partnering with us because she started this Storying Time with this family several months back.  This group is made up of a family of women (two widows), one of the widows daughters, another neighbourhood family (a husband, their 4 year old daughter, & the very pregnant wife).  This group is all in the national language, which is really stretching me!  We sit and listen to a story, drink coffee, eat popcorn, and then talk a little bit.  I have a national brother helping me with this.  I was supposed to meet with them by myself for the first time this past Sunday, but I was sick.  Please pr for them this next Sunday as we meet.  Pr that I would have enough language and the right words and questions for this family.  The picture above is of the two little girls who are a part of this story time.  The little girl to the right belongs to the family in this community that helps us so much with these Story Groups.  The parents and grandparents are all your Brothers and Sisters and they are a very strong family.  Pr for them, and for their perserverence.

The final picture to this series of posts is of me in the head covering that the Othr ladies where here when they go to ch.  This one was made by the mother of the national family that is helping me with the Story Time.  This is pretty much how they wear it; however, if someone has died and they are at the funereal the colour on the bottom of the shawl/scarf goes around the face.  These are often commonly used to keep warm during rainy season as well.

Serving Him with You (where ever I am),

Rachel

Visiting In Homes

For the past couple of months I have also found myself in many peoples homes.  One of these times I was invited to a baby Christianing celebration.  My language teacher met me at a local taxi stop, and we went the rest of the way together.  We arrived at her friend's house while everyone was still at the ch for the Christening.  We stayed at the house and helped the grandmother and older kids clean the house, wash the coffee beans, set up chairs to sit in, and sprinkle grass on the floor.  Grass is always spread on the floor for celebrations and for coffee ceremonies.

The picture above was taken on this special day from left goes as follows:  me, my language helper, another sweet sister who often helps with language, another Helper with us here, and finally the mom of the baby who was Christened.  This picture was taken at the end of the meal and coffee, which was late in the afternoon and rain clouds were rolling in.

For this time of celebration there is the "primary" crowd of close family friends, who have been specially invited.  We eat together, talk, and drink coffee together.  While we sit there slowly the whole neighbourhood comes in the house, sits and eats, drinks some coffee, blesses the family, and then goes home.  This goes on all day long.  Once school lets out all of the kiddos in the area come into the house and yard too.  The mother of the baby, who was Christened has three other children.  The third child is a 4 year old little girl, who is very much an extrovert.  Because of the special day she didn't go to school (all four year olds here go to four year old KG), and once her friends all got out of school they came to see the "foreigners" and eat some food.  Here are some pictures of the little ones.

The picture in the middle is the little socialite.  She wanted to be in every picture when ever any camera was pulled out that day.

Pr for this family.  The father is an O prst and is giving the rest of the family a difficult time.  Pr that there would be peace in this house, and that the whole household would follow J. 

Serving Him with You (where ever I am),

Rachel

So With Coffee Comes Celebration

Last month was the month of Estr!  Here in Camel Land we celebrated this most important of hly days twice.  Camel Land follows the Eastern calendar, so they celebrate the hly days about two weeks behind us.  However, those of us living here from other areas of the world celebrated together during the Western calendar Estr and then again with our national friends according to the Eastern calendar. 

The hly time begins here with everyone fasting for Lent for a month before hand.  This mostly means that people don't eat meat, milk, eggs, chocolate, chicken, or any other dairy for a month.  Everyone eats vegetables, lentils, and water for a month, so by the time Estr comes everyone is more than ready for meat.  On Palm Sunday everyone goes to ch celebrating by taking palm fronds and branches and decorating the roads, themselves, and their houses in memory of the triumphal entry.  Then on Good Friday you can feel the pallor in the air as everyone remembers this day.  On Good Friday everyone wakes up, eats a special meal made of chick peas, hot pepper powder, onions, tomatoes, oil, and corn.  That is the only food they will eat all day.

This Good Friday I went down to the tea shop I have been frequenting to wait for my language teacher to meet me there.  While I was there I partook of this special meal with everyone there because they were all eating, and when you are eating and you have guests they must be served food  too.  Then later my language teacher/s arrived and we walked over to the orthdx ch in our neighbourhood.  The Orthx people do not go into the building here.  Typically the building is way too small to hold half the crowd, so the first ones to arrive will enter but everyone else is outside surrounding the ch.  However, on Good Friday the people are outside with the prsts on the porch of the ch building.

Everyone in the courtyard is wearing white, and everyone is standing up.  No one is allowed to sit down while the prst speaks, and everyone waits to hear the prst announce the time after he has recounted the Estr story orally.  However, the story is told in a language  no longer spoken, so most people have no idea what they are listening to.  If the older folks get tired they have special canes to lean on to rest their muscles, but sitting down is out of the question.  If you sit or squat you get wacked by the monks and nuns walking around with wooden "hitting" sticks. 

As the time begins to tick down the priest begins to chant/sing and the people begin to pr.  This means they make the sign of the cross and bow repeatedly.  They cross their arms, touch their shoulders, bend at the waist or go all the way down to their knees, then stand back up, and repeat the process all over again.  Once the priest announces the hour as that of J breathing his last, the "pr-ing" stops and everyone becomes still and quiet. 

Once this is over everyone continues to listen to the prst, they go and make pennance for their "sins" during Lent by making the sign of the cross however many times the prst tells them to, and then once the day-long service is over everyone goes home.  On Saturday pretty much everyone stays at home and sleeps, and then on Sunday the celebration begins.  People get up at the crack of dawn go back to ch, and then back home to cook and clean and get ready for the Estr feast.  Chicken, eggs, beef, lamb, goat are all consumed with abandon, and very little if any vegetables are eaten.  After everyone is full to popping the days ends with coffee. 

This meat eating feast continues the whole week from Sunday to Sunday until Maudy Monday when it is said that He ascended back to hvn.  I was able to participate in this "2nd" Estr feast with one of my language teachers and her family.  I ate way too much meat, had to drink 2 Cokes, and then 2 cups of coffee.  I was very full to say the least after that day

The pictures are of Good Friday.  I went with two my language teachers to watch the service on Friday at the Ortho ch in our neighbourhood.

Pr for the O people here to understand that it is important to understand the Word.  Pr that He would begin to break down barriers of fear and suspicion when the G is presented.

Serving Him with You (where ever I am),

Rachel

Some Pictures of the Past Couple of Months

In the past two months I have tried to take more pictures; however, I still feel like I haven't taken as many as I could!  The culture here and the people doesn't lend itself to taking pictures that easily, and often when the camera comes out I'm either mobbed or told to put it away.....oh well, I have tried and I will continue to :).  One of the things I have been doing a lot of in the past couple of months is hanging out at a local tea house .  Here coffee shops are called tea houses even though their main beverage served is coffee not tea.  They call them tea houses because when you call something a coffee shop you are usually talking about a place that is more akin to a brothel or strip club not a Starbucks!  Crazy I know.....you say lets go to the tea house for coffee and to the coffee house for beer.  I do not understand, but sometimes it is just better not to try! 

The reason I've been hanging out in this tea house is for language purposes.  In these tea houses you sit around and talk to the ladies making the coffee, and it is great practice for language and relationship building.  Here the whole process for coffee goes something like this:

1. Buy the coffee while it's still green (yes, before roasting, coffee beans are green)
2. Pick through the beans for rocks, dirt, spoiled beans etc.
3. Wash the beans in water to get other dirt and rocks to cpme off or to come to the surface.
4. Pour the beans in a small metal pan, made especially for coffee roasting, and hold it over the fire, which you prepared and lit before you started cleaning the beans.
5.  Some people use a metal stick to push the beans back and forth as they roast the beans over the fire; others just hold the pan over the fire and shake it occassionally to keep the beans from burning.
6.  Once the beans are nice and dark brown, you pass the pan around to everyone sitting in the tea house and they waft the smell of the roasting beans to their faces and breathe deeply.
7.  Then you pour the beans into what is the equivalent of a mortar.
8. You take a heavy metal stick and began pounding/grinding the beans by hand.
9.  Once you have the achieved consistency of coffee powder......
10 You take the powder and pour it into the traditional coffee pot or jebina, you pour some water in there, and set it on the fire and let it brew.
11.  Then you put two tiny teaspoons full of sugar into macchiato sized cups and pour the coffee into each cup until it's overflowing.
12.  If you are truly national you began slurping while the coffee is burning hot.

Recently I had the opportunity to do this process on my own while my language helper looked on and helped or corrected my mistakes....apparently I am not strong enough to pound the coffee into a fine enough powder!  The next week she took me to a market in her area of the city and she helped me buy a jebina, a pan for roasting, and a metal stick for pushing the beans back and forth while the beans roast.

In between all that you have great chances to talk and practice language.....believe it or not!
Coffee is a big part of life here in the birthplace of the worldwide popular beverage.  Below you will see pictures of the different stages I talk about.  The first three pictures are of the tea house I have been visiting.  The lady pouring is a Sister, and she has a strainer in the cup to catch the larger grounds, but that is not typical....usually your third cup of coffee (because usually you drink 3 with each visit), you "eat" part of it too :).  The second picture is of my language helper on the right and the tea shop owner's sister on the left.  The third picture is me and the tea shop owner after we had a full on coffee ceremony with popcorn to eat, to celebrate me finishing the 2nd phase of language.  The last three pictures are as follows:  1. Grinding coffee.  2. Brewing coffee. 3. And the finished roasted product in the pan before grinding or pounding.

So I guess this post is more about coffee than anything else!  That means you'll get more posts this month! 

Please pr for me as I go and visit this tea shop and meet more people.  Pr also that I will be able to go and visit my neighbour across the street, who has invited me for tea/coffee.  Pr that I would be able to speak and He would give me the right words.


The language helper/teacher you see in this picture is a strong Sister.  Pr for her as she continues to share in many different venues and ways, and pr for our friendship to grow.  She is no longer my teacher as there have been some new people arrive, and she is working with them right now. 

Now I have two new language helpers, and I ask for you to pr for my patience and attitude with them.  Pr especially for one of my teachers who has two sons who are currently suffering from typhoid.



Serving Him with You (where ever I am),

Rachel