We just got home after spending the day with our refugee family from Iraq. Tim was able to briefly meet them earlier this week, but this was my first time to meet them. We are very blessed to have been assigned to a family that can speak English and are Christian! The wife is only a year older than me, and they have 3 children - 5, 3, and 1. We took them on their first trip to Wal-mart. It is an interesting place to explain and navigate when someone has never been there! It took us quite some time....managing all our kids, answering questions, etc, and then they treated us to a delicious lunch. We couldn't quite figure out what is was, but the main dish was very similar to stuffed green peppers. Over lunch, we talked about politics which made us realize how uninformed we are here. I know our news is very biased, and it was very eye opening to hear some first hand accounts. We have much more to learn!
It has been very frustrating for me to see highly educated refugees having to start all over in our country. I understand the logistics of it, but I can not imagine how humbling it must be for them to be forced to leave their nice home, jobs, and families to start over from the bottom here in the US. For example, the wife (Rasha) of our family was a dentist, and her husband (Kahled) was a mechanical engineer. They shared with us how hard it has been to be in their tiny apartment and feel so dependent on others. I know this is not the case with all refugees, but it has opened my eyes quite a bit.
The past couple of weeks have gone by very fast for us. Tim's family came to visit us last weekend. We celebrated Joel's birthday (again! :)) and visited Ikea. The rest of our week has fallen into routine with school and regular ministries. Tim is spending an afternoon each week with the three Taiwanese students, and they seem to be bonding very well. They even gave him a sweet thank you card this week! We also spent an evening with our neighbors this week. Gladys' (the wife) brother, came over afterwards and practiced speaking with Tim. His name is Jose, and we have been really impressed with his character and desire to spend time with us.
We got a lot of snow yesterday which is very exciting for many of the people here. We took the kids out to play and helped some neighbor boys make a snowman. It has been quickly melting today!
One of the girls in the school offered to watch our boys tonight, so we are going on our first date since we got here! It was last minute so we do not have any plans yet, but time alone is a blessing in itself no matter what we do. :)
Prayer requests:
-I have had struggled with loneliness again this week. Please continue praying that I will lean on Him and meet some more women.
-Tim's mom is having her biopsy this upcoming Thursday. Please continue praying for complete healing.
-Pray that we will have an opportunity to share our faith with Jose and the Taiwanese students.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Growth
As many of you know, Joel has extra sensitivities...water on his face, a hair in his mouth, socks not on right, sticky hands...all of those can send him in a panic. Although he has improved in many areas, it still can be very frustrating for Tim and I as we parent him. This week God has clearly shown me some of the benefits of Joel's sensitivities - I have needed some encouragement and thought I should share in case any of you have children with similar issues.
First, we were out with my parents for dinner on Saturday dinner, and I had ordered the boys milk with their meal. Caleb finished off his milk in no time, but Joel finally said "This tastes yucky!" I thought he was over-reacting until my mom tasted it and realized it was completely spoiled. The boys had drank from the same container...easy-going Caleb never even noticed, but Joel did. Today, I was laying with Joel trying to get him to fall asleep for his nap when he popped up and said, "Momma, do you snell (smell) somethin? I snell fire." Even with my sensitive pregnant nose, I hadn't noticed anything. I popped out of bed and peered out the window. Sure enough, there was a lot of smoke. Thankfully, it ended up being my neighbor starting his grill, but after one of the buildings burned down in our complex our first weekend here, we have been extra cautious whenever we smell smoke. I am reminded that God has made each of us unique, and we can use our gifts as strengths or weaknesses. What I sometimes view as a weakness (or an annoyance) is actually a strength!
So after that learning moment for me, here is a quick summary of last week. Monday was kind of rough. We woke up to find that someone has sawed off the muffler on Tim's car. It was funny (Tim looked so funny driving around in such a loud car!) until we realized how much those things cost. The original muffler was around $800 to replace, so we opted for a generic...still a whopping $200. That afternoon, I had my first dr appointment here in Atlanta. So awesome! I got to see the baby move and suck it's thumb in 3D. On Tuesday, I volunteered at the Cafe and helped two women with their resumes - one from Iraq and one from China. They are so sweet and it is such a joy to help them. That evening, we got a late night call informing us that Tim's brother, Peter, had lost feeling in his foot and it was turning cold and white. He went to the emergency room, and after a few hours, his foot suddenly gained back feeling! The doctors say it was probably caused by his shoes, but we are chalking it up to a miracle. Tim spent the afternoon on Wednesday with some of his new Taiwanese friends at Georgia Tech. Thursday evening we spent with the family upstairs. They are moving to a new building this week :( so we are bummed that they won't be so close. I should mention why they are moving. They had 4 adults and 2 children living in a 2 bedroom apartment. One of the guys moved out, so they said the "don't need all that room" and are moving into a one bedroom. The parents and 2 children all sleep in the same room together. Such a reminder of how spoiled we are! Anyways, my parents flew in on Friday and spoiled us rotten. We celebrated Joel's 3rd birthday and took him to the Aquarium. On Sunday, we visited the same church as last week and my parents took Joel to Chuck E Cheese.
The focus of Tim's classes last week were on prayer. This is something Tim and I have always been weak in, and we have been learning (and seeing) a lot on the power of prayer.
Prayer requests:
-Tim's mom has found a couple of new lumps in the past few weeks. She will need a biopsy in the next couple of weeks. Please be praying for peace and a miracle of complete healing.
- We have finally been assigned a refugee family. They just moved here in January from Iraq and our believers! Please be praying that we will be a light to them and that we will build a strong relationship with them in the few short months that we will be here.
First, we were out with my parents for dinner on Saturday dinner, and I had ordered the boys milk with their meal. Caleb finished off his milk in no time, but Joel finally said "This tastes yucky!" I thought he was over-reacting until my mom tasted it and realized it was completely spoiled. The boys had drank from the same container...easy-going Caleb never even noticed, but Joel did. Today, I was laying with Joel trying to get him to fall asleep for his nap when he popped up and said, "Momma, do you snell (smell) somethin? I snell fire." Even with my sensitive pregnant nose, I hadn't noticed anything. I popped out of bed and peered out the window. Sure enough, there was a lot of smoke. Thankfully, it ended up being my neighbor starting his grill, but after one of the buildings burned down in our complex our first weekend here, we have been extra cautious whenever we smell smoke. I am reminded that God has made each of us unique, and we can use our gifts as strengths or weaknesses. What I sometimes view as a weakness (or an annoyance) is actually a strength!
So after that learning moment for me, here is a quick summary of last week. Monday was kind of rough. We woke up to find that someone has sawed off the muffler on Tim's car. It was funny (Tim looked so funny driving around in such a loud car!) until we realized how much those things cost. The original muffler was around $800 to replace, so we opted for a generic...still a whopping $200. That afternoon, I had my first dr appointment here in Atlanta. So awesome! I got to see the baby move and suck it's thumb in 3D. On Tuesday, I volunteered at the Cafe and helped two women with their resumes - one from Iraq and one from China. They are so sweet and it is such a joy to help them. That evening, we got a late night call informing us that Tim's brother, Peter, had lost feeling in his foot and it was turning cold and white. He went to the emergency room, and after a few hours, his foot suddenly gained back feeling! The doctors say it was probably caused by his shoes, but we are chalking it up to a miracle. Tim spent the afternoon on Wednesday with some of his new Taiwanese friends at Georgia Tech. Thursday evening we spent with the family upstairs. They are moving to a new building this week :( so we are bummed that they won't be so close. I should mention why they are moving. They had 4 adults and 2 children living in a 2 bedroom apartment. One of the guys moved out, so they said the "don't need all that room" and are moving into a one bedroom. The parents and 2 children all sleep in the same room together. Such a reminder of how spoiled we are! Anyways, my parents flew in on Friday and spoiled us rotten. We celebrated Joel's 3rd birthday and took him to the Aquarium. On Sunday, we visited the same church as last week and my parents took Joel to Chuck E Cheese.
The focus of Tim's classes last week were on prayer. This is something Tim and I have always been weak in, and we have been learning (and seeing) a lot on the power of prayer.
Prayer requests:
-Tim's mom has found a couple of new lumps in the past few weeks. She will need a biopsy in the next couple of weeks. Please be praying for peace and a miracle of complete healing.
- We have finally been assigned a refugee family. They just moved here in January from Iraq and our believers! Please be praying that we will be a light to them and that we will build a strong relationship with them in the few short months that we will be here.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
So fickle
It has been a rainy weekend here. Yesterday we had one of those days of "Why are we here again?" We just wanted to go home. We humans are so fickle. We really did have a great week, and then just one slow, dreary weekend can change our whole perspective on things. I am so thankful that God is constant even when our feelings and circumstances are not.
Here is a rundown on our week:
On Monday, Tim spent some time praying and meeting with some refugees in an apartment complex in Clarkston. He drank lots of tea with a couple of families from Nepali and Bhutan, and spent some time with a missionary who is currently living there full-time.
On Tuesday afternoon, I went to the Internet Cafe and worked mostly with a Nepali woman on her resume and computer skills. She had very little English skills but somehow we were able to communicate a little. It really made me think about how much we take our freedom for granted. Her family would rather be here in a country where they have to start completely over learning the language and customs than where they came from. At the same time, they miss their home so much but are not welcome there.
On Wednesday evening, we hung out with our neighbors again. We had just eaten dinner and did a drop by. They had just sat down for dinner, but immediately made us sit down and join them. The food was delicious - shrimp with fresh lime, homemade corn tortillas, frijoles, and a lime/cilantro salsa. In order to not offend, I did eat it all but felt miserable afterwards. Two dinners and a baby in my belly does not feel good! :) We took them one of our boy's "First Words" books and practiced English and Spanish with them. It was a lot of fun.
On Thursday, Tim hung out with some international students at the university. He hung out mostly with 3 Taiwanese guys, and they are already emailing him! .That evening we hung out with one of the other families with GFM. Joel asks to play with their son constantly (Nathan who is 4). They play really well together and we are thankful that he has an older boy to learn from.
Yesterday morning, we visited the Hong Kong Market down the street. They had a lot of interesting things that I didn't dare to buy yet. :) I did get some fresh fruits and veggies, though.
We also tried out a new church this morning. We really enjoyed it even though it is very different from our church at home. I have never been to such an internationally mixed church. It was awesome to see and a great picture of what heaven will be like as we all praise Him together.
Prayer requests:
-That we will find a church to be part of while we are here.
-That we will remain constant in our joy and reminded of why God brought us here.
-That we will start another friendship with one of our neighbors in the complex.
Here is a rundown on our week:
On Monday, Tim spent some time praying and meeting with some refugees in an apartment complex in Clarkston. He drank lots of tea with a couple of families from Nepali and Bhutan, and spent some time with a missionary who is currently living there full-time.
On Tuesday afternoon, I went to the Internet Cafe and worked mostly with a Nepali woman on her resume and computer skills. She had very little English skills but somehow we were able to communicate a little. It really made me think about how much we take our freedom for granted. Her family would rather be here in a country where they have to start completely over learning the language and customs than where they came from. At the same time, they miss their home so much but are not welcome there.
On Wednesday evening, we hung out with our neighbors again. We had just eaten dinner and did a drop by. They had just sat down for dinner, but immediately made us sit down and join them. The food was delicious - shrimp with fresh lime, homemade corn tortillas, frijoles, and a lime/cilantro salsa. In order to not offend, I did eat it all but felt miserable afterwards. Two dinners and a baby in my belly does not feel good! :) We took them one of our boy's "First Words" books and practiced English and Spanish with them. It was a lot of fun.
On Thursday, Tim hung out with some international students at the university. He hung out mostly with 3 Taiwanese guys, and they are already emailing him! .That evening we hung out with one of the other families with GFM. Joel asks to play with their son constantly (Nathan who is 4). They play really well together and we are thankful that he has an older boy to learn from.
Yesterday morning, we visited the Hong Kong Market down the street. They had a lot of interesting things that I didn't dare to buy yet. :) I did get some fresh fruits and veggies, though.
We also tried out a new church this morning. We really enjoyed it even though it is very different from our church at home. I have never been to such an internationally mixed church. It was awesome to see and a great picture of what heaven will be like as we all praise Him together.
Prayer requests:
-That we will find a church to be part of while we are here.
-That we will remain constant in our joy and reminded of why God brought us here.
-That we will start another friendship with one of our neighbors in the complex.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Quick update from Tim, since I let Sarah do too much of the blogging:
The spiritual training has been excellent. I have felt very spiritually challenged the first three weeks, more so then I have in a while. The teaching style is open ended enough not to kill my passion. The leaders do not provide air tight doctrines so much as study the Bible and talk about what it means and then we discuss application. For example, last week we talked about the various doctrines within the church body on who exactly can go to heaven and which ones we may find in the mainstream of Christianity and also which ones seem to have very little scriptural backing.
We have a different theme every week. The first week was the Biblical basis for missions, the second was death to self, and now we are on intercessory prayer. We spend much of the time on the practical, but the philosophy and theory its given its due. I have read a couple great books on hot-climate, cold climate culture differences that are very specific on how not to misunderstand other cultures.
I have had good ministry opportunities with international students, lots of refugees, and Hispanics which are 95% of our apartment complex. There a lot of ministry opportunities in this city because of extremely high refugee populations. Today I spent the afternoon drinking tea with some folks from Myramar and some others from Nepaul.
The spiritual training has been excellent. I have felt very spiritually challenged the first three weeks, more so then I have in a while. The teaching style is open ended enough not to kill my passion. The leaders do not provide air tight doctrines so much as study the Bible and talk about what it means and then we discuss application. For example, last week we talked about the various doctrines within the church body on who exactly can go to heaven and which ones we may find in the mainstream of Christianity and also which ones seem to have very little scriptural backing.
We have a different theme every week. The first week was the Biblical basis for missions, the second was death to self, and now we are on intercessory prayer. We spend much of the time on the practical, but the philosophy and theory its given its due. I have read a couple great books on hot-climate, cold climate culture differences that are very specific on how not to misunderstand other cultures.
I have had good ministry opportunities with international students, lots of refugees, and Hispanics which are 95% of our apartment complex. There a lot of ministry opportunities in this city because of extremely high refugee populations. Today I spent the afternoon drinking tea with some folks from Myramar and some others from Nepaul.
How can we be praying for people you're ministering to or for your specific area of ministry in the :Pray that I can meet up with the two international students from GeorgiaTech this week. Pray that God will keep giving us opportunities here in our apartment complex. Pray that we will find some more ways to do ministry as a family. How can we be praying for you personally this coming week?: If it is possible to pray for another person to die to self, then pray that for me. I feel I try to do way too much under my own power. Pray for me to make wise decisions on ministry. Pray for continued balance of Family, Ministry, Studying, and Work. What praise reports do you have from this past week?: We are back in the 21st Century with Internet! The ministry opportunities that we did get this week were awesome! We are very excited about the family in our apartment building! Sarah found a good pre-school to put the kids into two days a week! We go to spend the weekend with some family in Nashville and saw my brand new niece! Roaches didn't setup a Tower of Mordor in our kitchen while were gone.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Refreshed and Ready
We have now officially begun our 3rd week in Atlanta. Internet is up, and I am feeling much more connected. The beginning of last week was pretty rough. My poor mom was probably ready to fly here and take me back with her. She tends to be the one I run (call) to in tears, and that happened almost daily last week. I know that many of you have been praying for us, and it worked! One evening last week, I finally told Tim how desperate I felt, and we are finally on the same page. I don't know why I waited so long. Pride, I guess. I wanted to be the "strong" wife. I'm not promising that my tears are over, but I am feeling much more at peace.
The boys started preschool last week and loved it! Joel has already tried some new things (ate his first potato ever) and learning how to follow lines. They have weekly chapel time and music time along with other fun activities. Having them in preschool 2 mornings a week allows me to join Tim in him classes. One afternoon a week, I am volunteering at an internet cafe in Clarkston helping refugees create resumes. I am also trying to volunteer one morning a week in an ESL class for refugee mothers and their children.
Tim is planning to work with a couple of international students and volunteer at an after school tutoring program in Clarkston. As a family, we are in the process of trying to adopt a refugee family. Our biggest ministry will probably be close to home, though. We have become friends with a Hispanic family in our building. They keep giving us toys to take home and then we take them back a few days later. I have learned that this is a great way to keep people around that you want to hang out with. :) I'll be trying it out when we get back! The husband speaks some English, but the wife does not speak one word of English so I have yet to actually communicate with her directly.
This past weekend, we went to Nashville to visit Tim's brother, his wife, Tim's sister, her husband, and their new baby. It was so refreshing to spend time with them and hold a sleeping newborn. We are so blessed that all of our immediate family member's share our faith. It makes our time together so special.
Praises:
- Time with family in Nashville!
- Every single one of my prayer requests from last week was answered!
- Boys' preschool is working out so well for both them and us!
- Internet is up!
Prayer Requests:
- Roaches and bugs continue to be a nagging problem. Seems small but it is a constant irritation.
- That we would have joy no matter the situation.
- We continue to build friendships with our neighbors and those in our complex.
- That we will be wise with our finances and live off what have been blessed with.
The boys started preschool last week and loved it! Joel has already tried some new things (ate his first potato ever) and learning how to follow lines. They have weekly chapel time and music time along with other fun activities. Having them in preschool 2 mornings a week allows me to join Tim in him classes. One afternoon a week, I am volunteering at an internet cafe in Clarkston helping refugees create resumes. I am also trying to volunteer one morning a week in an ESL class for refugee mothers and their children.
Tim is planning to work with a couple of international students and volunteer at an after school tutoring program in Clarkston. As a family, we are in the process of trying to adopt a refugee family. Our biggest ministry will probably be close to home, though. We have become friends with a Hispanic family in our building. They keep giving us toys to take home and then we take them back a few days later. I have learned that this is a great way to keep people around that you want to hang out with. :) I'll be trying it out when we get back! The husband speaks some English, but the wife does not speak one word of English so I have yet to actually communicate with her directly.
This past weekend, we went to Nashville to visit Tim's brother, his wife, Tim's sister, her husband, and their new baby. It was so refreshing to spend time with them and hold a sleeping newborn. We are so blessed that all of our immediate family member's share our faith. It makes our time together so special.
Praises:
- Time with family in Nashville!
- Every single one of my prayer requests from last week was answered!
- Boys' preschool is working out so well for both them and us!
- Internet is up!
Prayer Requests:
- Roaches and bugs continue to be a nagging problem. Seems small but it is a constant irritation.
- That we would have joy no matter the situation.
- We continue to build friendships with our neighbors and those in our complex.
- That we will be wise with our finances and live off what have been blessed with.
Friday, January 8, 2010
First Week in Atlanta
I am sitting at a Chick-fil-a taking advantage of their free WiFi and children's play area.... Our drive from Dallas to Atlanta last weekend was pretty uneventful. Weather was nice. We did get a flat tire on the way...normally a pain, but a bigger pain when your car is fully packed and you have to unpack it before reaching your tools. Other than that, kids did great. We arrived at our apartment on Jan 2nd and started getting settled in. It really didn't take long since we have only our clothes, toys, and some miscellaneous things.
Besides roaches, some trash, and other random things that have cropped up, our apartment is very spacious (2 br/2 ba) and we don't feel cramped. It helps that our furnishings are limited. Our complex is probably about 95% Hispanic and many do not speak very good English. Tim can do introductions, and I just started using Rosetta Stone to learn a few key things.
The first morning we were here, one of the buildings in our complex caught on fire. All the gas was turned off for the day and that evening the gas company came by each apartment to restart our furnaces. Several apartments in our group were not safe, and after a lot of prayer part of the group relocated to another complex.
Because of the move, classes did not start until Wednesday morning, but that gave us all some time to hang out, help each other move, and figure out how to get around the area. Atlanta is big!! I have lived in Dallas and Houston, but I feel completely lost in this city. Roads change names constantly, and there is traffic everywhere and all the time...and we are in a suburb!
Here are some things to be praying for:
-My mental health - I have had a hard time adjusting and making friends since I have the kids with me and am not part of the classes.
-We are trying to decide if it is a wise financial decision to put the boys in a mother's day out program at a local church twice a week so that I can join Tim in the classes or volunteer.
-Decisions in where we should invest our time. We visited the refugee "dumping grounds" this week - a city named Clarkston- where we have so many options for our time.
-Opportunities to meet all our neighbors and others we can build relationships with.
Besides roaches, some trash, and other random things that have cropped up, our apartment is very spacious (2 br/2 ba) and we don't feel cramped. It helps that our furnishings are limited. Our complex is probably about 95% Hispanic and many do not speak very good English. Tim can do introductions, and I just started using Rosetta Stone to learn a few key things.
The first morning we were here, one of the buildings in our complex caught on fire. All the gas was turned off for the day and that evening the gas company came by each apartment to restart our furnaces. Several apartments in our group were not safe, and after a lot of prayer part of the group relocated to another complex.
Because of the move, classes did not start until Wednesday morning, but that gave us all some time to hang out, help each other move, and figure out how to get around the area. Atlanta is big!! I have lived in Dallas and Houston, but I feel completely lost in this city. Roads change names constantly, and there is traffic everywhere and all the time...and we are in a suburb!
Here are some things to be praying for:
-My mental health - I have had a hard time adjusting and making friends since I have the kids with me and am not part of the classes.
-We are trying to decide if it is a wise financial decision to put the boys in a mother's day out program at a local church twice a week so that I can join Tim in the classes or volunteer.
-Decisions in where we should invest our time. We visited the refugee "dumping grounds" this week - a city named Clarkston- where we have so many options for our time.
-Opportunities to meet all our neighbors and others we can build relationships with.
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