Last Team on their way - debrief

Well, it's true. The last team (Ethiopia) is now in the air and are due to touchdown at quarter to 7 tonight. It's been a great year, as I'm sure most would attest to. The next step is the Deputation Debriefing retreat, Sept. 6th and 7th in Gig Harbor. If you are a Deputee please RSVP for it to brandonb@upc.org
Here's a picture of Ethiopia just before leaving:

Back Home

We made it home safely yesterday-Poyang in Taiwan, Korina in Spokane, Jen in Oregon, and Holly and I in Seattle! We all miss our surrogate family (Barry and Michelle Marshall and their three kids) dearly, but it does feel good to be out of the humidity and enjoy some of that Seattle sunshine. Our trip exceeded any expectations and we have felt the Lord's love transform us over the last two months. Thank you again to everyone who has been praying for us; we can cerrtainly attest to the power of prayer with how blessed we were on our trip. And thank you to my teammates, I miss you guys something fierce, and cherish the permanent bond between us.

I pray that the other deputation teams return safely and enjoy their remaining time. I can't wait to trade stories at our Debrief in September!

In Him,

Paul

algeop@gmail.com

Ballyholme Camp!!!

Prayer Time before the Camp actually started

Camille is great with her group of kids

Reenacting David and Goliath for the guys

The boys!!

Claire taking a moment to help show off a kid's breast plate of Righteousness

Paulie and Calvin at the beach next to the church

Happy 20th Birthday like!! Trevor!!!

Seems that all the gurls like to play derty!!

Kelly playing, "What's on your Face?)


Hope this finds you all well. Brandon will be posting the actual update later all. Thanks

No More Work

Showing the locals how to dig those foundations at Agape : )

(Our team talking with Mrs. Negroponte)

Just three days ago was our very last day drilling, painting, or digging for Habitat for Humanity. Our time here has gone quickly, but we have much to show for it. We have worked at three different sites in Manila, the most recent site being "SNKI/Agape" in Novaliches, and have gotten our hands dirty tackling the huge homeless problem over here. We have also developed many genuine relationships at the jobsites and outside of work.

The Habitat people reserved the Agape site for last because it was going to be truly manual labor. And it was! Digging through the dirt was tough, but when you had to cut through the roots in the ground, that took a little extra resolve. And even after only three days of work at Agape, the locals and homepartners threw us a little party on our last day. Their deep generosity and selflessness is definitely a lesson that has left an impression on all of us.

The day before our last day of work, we had the privilege of meeting Diana Negroponte, wife of the US Deputy Secretary of State and former ambassador to the Philippines! She was visitinig the Taguig site to learn more about what Habitat is doing there and to see their progress. When she saw our team, she was very elated to see Americans travel so far to help Habitat for such a long time. Talking with her, you could tell that she genuinely cares about the poor in Manila and is passionate about Habitat. A news agency came to the worksite to interview her, and they even interviewed myself, which was somewhat nerve-racking : )

With only 10 days left, we will do a family homestay for one night in a Habitat home, visit the Asian Theological Society, have dinner with the Mayor of Taguig, visit Tagaytay and Batangas for our rest, have our farewell presentation/party at UCM, and then hop on that plane and get back to Seattle on August 15th around luch time. Although we all are so very excited to see our friends and family again, we all have a hole in our heart for the Philippines and have announced that we will all return at some time to this wonderful place with wonderful people. Keep us in your prayers so that we can squeeze as much as we can out of these last 10 days, that we can continue to develop new relationships and deepen the ones we already have, and that we continue to grow in Christ and to show the love that He first showed to us.

In Him,

Paul, Poyang, Jen, Holly & Korina

Finally some internet!!!

Looking at where we will be abseiling (repelling)

One of the gals and I

Calvin just got buried into a sand sculpture by Kelly's group (team China lol)
Supposed to be a Chinese Emperor surrounded by the Great Wall

Team Ireland preparing to take the gals out for some banana boating.

All the gals and then "The American's" as well

Yeah I know Ireland hasn't posted in quite a while, but we have been at back to back camps and not really had access to the internet. This last week we were working up in Castlerock, holding the Guysmere Girls Camp. It was amazing fun and great Craic and Banter (Irish terms that I would need to explain later) Even though Trevor and I were a bit nervous about the whole thing, it really turned out to be quite and amazing time and, though we are zonked, the girls were awesome. Kelly and Camille, did amazing jobs leading teams of girls, while Trevor and I did alot of background and security work. The two weeks before that we were in Lucan working with Lucan Summerfest. We have been told that it was probably the largest team we would be on. (Only about 20 altogether) Everything is done in such smaller numbers here. But the crazy thing is that they actually have better transportation systems here. The trains, and busses reach far out and even make it out to towns that the US would force a person to drive to. Anyways at Lucan the camp was split into two different sections. The morning were the younger ones and the afternoons were with the teeney boppers. It was tiring, but felt really rewarding to be serving the Lord in this way. We are now just starting to take a bit of a break before plunging into the next set of camps. As for prayers, I would ask that we would be able to restore our energy and that you would be praying for the people here in Ireland. At both of the last two camps we have been at, there have been tears as we left. I didn't think that we would have such an impact on these leaders and children that they would cry as we left. It kinda breaks the heart, but I can see that God really is using us in the lives of those around us here. More will come, but that's all for now!!

-Calvin

Last Day In Taguig

Today was our last day working in Taguig, our second Habitat site. We have been working at this site for two weeks now and it was hard to leave because we bonded with the workers so much. Most of them are right around are age and are always down to joke around or teach us some tagalog (or admire the only 3 females on site, i.e. Jenn, Holly, and Korina : ) This site was different from our last because we were making concrete interlocking blocks (CIB..see pics from the previous post) that fit together like Legos to make three story townhouses. The work was definitely harder than our first site, but the friendships we developed easily off-set soar muscles in the morning. Since today was our last day, we threw a little party for the workers and even did a skit for them: we sang "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" in tagalog, then acted out a Filipino joke, and ended the show with a little dance. It was fun for them to witness our obvious lack of talent : ) And then we played volleyball with them, Filipinos vs. Americanos. We are all going to miss those guys dearly.

Oh, the team finally ate BALUT (the 17-day old aborted duck embryo featured on Fear Factor)!! This is how it happened: last Friday we went to visited the Mayor of Taguig, a stand up guy, and it came up in conversation that we wanted to try Balut before we leave the Philippines. He raised his eyebrow and ten minutes later an aid brought a bowl of eggs to the table. We cringed as a group. Korina was first to go and gagged, then Poyang and Holly who took it down like champs, then myself gagging almost the whole time, and finally Jenn, who liked it! If you can get over the whole eating an aborted duck embryo with potentially a beak and feathers, it really does just taste like egg : )

We have one last site to work at as our trip is coming to end all too soon. We appreciate all of your prayers and can see their effects everyday. Our hearts and prayers go out to the DR team, we think of you often.

God Bless,

Paul , Poyang, Jenn, Korina, & Holly

(the picture is of Korina eating the Balut!)

Turkey Update

Our trip to Cappadocia the weekend before last was AMAZING despite my
Freudian slip foreshadowing possible "Crapadocia". The 9-hour
overnight bus ride was indeed brutal and to the delight of my
teammates I had a beautiful wipe-out while attempting to disembark
from the bus at a rest stop around 3am. The only word that escaped my
lips was a high-pitched "OY!" and it has become the butt of many
jokes. But it certainly was not as bad as leaving a fellow teammate
behind… we won't name names. (IRELAND)

In Cappadocia we shared a tour van with a few others, including four
young Turks and a hung-over Brazilian woman. We also met a wonderful
couple in their 70's named Lee and Marlene. They were the most joyful
people, totally in love, and never hesitant to lay a nice wet kiss on
your forehead. We had the best time with them exploring the "ancient"
Christian caves, getting pictures of the amazing rock formations, and
visiting a ceramics business. The next day we got a tour guide all to
ourselves and he took us on a fantastic hike through Red Valley where
there are old Christian chapels carved into the stone and caves that
are now pigeon houses. There were also families who still live in the
caves there and have cultivated beautiful orchards amidst all of the
rocks and historical sites. As we walked along the guide would pluck
fruit from the surrounding trees and we would munch on perfectly ripe
plums and apricots. We couldn't stop thinking this must have been
what Eden was like. Perfect temperature, perfect atmosphere and yummy
FOOD.

The underground cities were our last stop. These were chiseled out
over the course of hundreds of years in response to Arab and Muslim
attacks and some Christian communities would hide in them and not come
out for up to four years! Imagine never seeing the light of day for
that long. I'd be pretty white. We had to hunch our shoulders and
practically crawl through some of the passageways. Besides feeling a
wee bit claustrophobic we all enjoyed it a lot, particularly the
living quarters and kitchen. One of the coolest things were the doors
so I included a picture of us lifting one. They are enormous round
stones with a hole in them for poking your lance through and stabbing
your enemies on the other side! That was their only line of defense
so if that didn't work they had to book it to the next underground
city through their 9-kilometer escape tunnel!

Our return home was not so happy. We learned that Isun, one of the
teachers at Kids Klub (who is only 21), wasn't at work because her
father had died in a horrible construction accident over the weekend.
Rebekka too learned that a family friend had passed away. Then she
woke up Tuesday feeling horribly ill with a fever. On Wednesday
morning I got sick with the same thing plus vomiting. Things have
calmed down and we've all regained our health but for a while it was
like a permanent case of the Monday's.

Now for a typical day at the Kid's Klub! We usually take a dolmish
(small dingey bus) around 9:30 and arrive around 9:45 to the smiling
faces of our students and usually desperate screams from the nurseries
upstairs (don't worry, it is really a nice place!). They all greet us
with hugs and the double kiss thing then we buckle down for a long
morning of craft rotations. We've made tissue butterflies, bead
lizards, collage candle holders, painted pots with flower seeds in
them, and a huge tree on the wall with glittery leaves and English
words written on it. All the kids in the school will come in at
different times to do the craft so it's really busy and stressful, but
fun! Then we'll have lunch upstairs at the kiddy tables with TINY
chairs that make us all feel enormous. Typical meal is rice and green
beans with slices of French bread.

We have two translators (besides the 14-year olds) who are helping us.
Ozi and Eileen. Ozi is at the Görem Center and has informed us that
all the people here really like us (we spend a lot of time in the
lobby where people gawk at us and talk amongst themselves but at least
now we know they are saying good things!). Ozi came with us and
Shafak to a concert last Friday and it was really fun even though we
were only there half an hour! Turkish music is crazy and has the
mystical power of making everyone wiggle their hips to the music.
That along with night swimming made for a fun night especially when we
were in the back of Shafak's truck and caught a man in the car behind
us picking his nose! Or when Shafak turned around and said that VZ's
arm "looks like a leg". Good memories, indeed.

God has continued to bless us in so many ways and we are all growing
in Him every day. We all report feeling more at peace than ever and
hope to bring that back with us to Seattle. We are still praying for
all the dep teams, particularly Katie in the DR and the Ethiopia team.
More than anything we pray that everyone will get back to Seattle in
the perfect state of mind to embrace their lives back home and use the
deputation experience to grow even more after their return.

Speaking of God… and things he created… VZ, Dayna, and I were
swimming in the cove when a German man standing on a rock yelled
something to me and stretched out his arms. I didn't know what he was
saying so he just yelled, "Big fish!" and disappeared. Moments later
there is no one in the water and the everyone at the beach club is
crowded at the top of the stairs to the water, pointing and taking
pictures of something between us and them.

We started to freak out because we thought it was a shark. We
screamed at Doj, "ARE WE OK?!!??! DOJ WHAT IS IN THE WATER?" but no
one would answer us. Finally a huge brown head emerged from the water
and we realized it was a gigantic seal. It swam within feet of the
shore then went on its way. It a gift from God to see such a
magnificent animal we were quite gleeful when we found out that it
wasn't a shark.

Our prayer requests continue to be for team unity but ESPECIALLY for
limitless energy and ideas to keep these small humans entertained. We
also would like prayer to be a good influence on our translators and
help them in any way that we can. Sorry this was so long!

TEAM TURKEY

P.S. The Ak Party dominated the election last night with 49% of the
vote. Although it is strongly Islamic Tanshule seems to think that
the next five years might be the last before Turkey is ready for
democracy. We shall see.

Ethiopia Update

Team Ethiopia Update
Week 4

Hello!

Well, it’s a good feeling to say this but I think I can speak for our whole team in saying that Ethiopia has finally begun to feel like home. Except for a few things, we have become familiar with the environment and the culture here. Health has not been completely up to par, but so far the death count is at zero and the sickest any of us has gotten has been the common cold. Amazing for being in a place that is so bacteria ridden.
Right now we are waiting on the arrival of six new interns who will be staying with us in Mekelle for 10 days. At the same time, there are three wonderful Canadian team members who we have been working with at the youth center ever since we got here, and two of them leave at the end of this week. People are coming and going so it will be exciting seeing some new faces and gaining new friendships with staff members. So far the people that we have been working with have been awesome, and are a huge help in our ability to get in tune with how everything works over here.
While we have been at the youth center, our daily routine has typically consisted of doing outdoor games/relay races with the younger kids as well as younger kid English classes in the morning, followed by a two hour lunch break, then either song time or health and fitness, followed by outdoor games with the older boys and arts/crafts with the girls until the day ends. Days have been starting at the youth center at about 8 or 830 in the morning and ending at around 6 at night. I would say we are doing well at getting good rests every night and being able to put as much energy as possible for the eight or so hours we are at the youth center.
Unfortunately, life in this culture has been much harder for the girls than for the guys. The man is very dominant in this culture, meaning that there is a lack of respect for girls here. We have been holding a discussion group once a week, and during our last session the girls’ comments received no feedback from any of the guys, and no Ethiopian girls were even there. It is also really hard just being an American in this culture. Everywhere we walk we will be getting remarks from people yelling “Forengi! Forengi! (foreigner)” and recently we have noticed taxi drivers and merchants selling us cheap things at much higher prices, just because they know we are American and they have the perception that we are all filthy rich. As Karla mentioned, “it is really exhausting.” Even so, it has been getting easier than it used to be and we are finally being able to laugh at most of the things that frustrated us before.
Apart from feeling so singled out in this culture, we have been given opportunities to blend in well. Just a few nights ago Daniel and I were given the chance to have four Ethiopians over for dinner, and the next night were able to learn from one of the teenagers from the youth center how to make Shiro, a popular Ethiopian dish. Violet and Karla had a slumber party on the same night with several Ethiopian girls from the youth center. There are so many fascinating things about the Ethiopian culture, such as there being a traditional ceremony whenever you have people over to drink coffee. We’re all coffee lovers so I think that works out pretty well. Alongside of getting more in depth with the culture here, all of us have started to grow deep relationships with multiple teenagers at the youth center.
Last week it was one of the Canadian team member’s birthdays, so we all went to one of the missionary’s house for an American food barbeque. It had been at least two or three weeks since I had seen a hamburger, so it was refreshing to eat one again, even though the food here is amazing.
Oh, and praise Jesus, but our bags finally made it! Thank you for all of your prayers for that, and I am really happy to let you guys know that they are here and they are safe. Keep, however, praying for Karla’s craft bag, for it still has yet to arrive. WE WANT THOSE CRAFTS!
Violet and Karla have been in charge of a girls bible study that is going really well. All of the girls have been asking a lot of good, deep questions, and the two of them are feeling like God’s work is in use.
Even outside of the bible study we have all been seeing God’s work in these children. A valuable lesson we learned is that giving our all at the youth center cannot be measured, and even through just seeing a kid learn how to behave correctly in English class is showing that God is at work here. On top of that it is very, very rare to see a kid without a smile when they are around us. Just holding a child’s hand seems to make their day, and it seems that they will do anything just to get some kind of contact with us. As far as a direct example of this goes, there is a young cross-eyed girl who at any moment when she sees you will open her arms with the biggest smile and run at you expecting to give you the biggest hug ever. I don’t know if I have ever seen a child smile so big, and it happens when she just sees you. No lie, there is a lot of love here at the youth center.
Be praying for perseverance. We came across a verse in 1 Corinthians (15:58) that says “Therefore, my brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Put all of your focus into doing the Lord’s work, for you can then be sure he working in you.” There are many things that have pushed us, and now coming into our last four weeks at the youth center, our main concern is that we keep pushing as hard as we have been.

Love,
Team Ethiopia

India Update

SO...yet another great week! school is going going going and although i cannot speak fully for the team...i feel like school days just fly by and FOR SURELY just feel like i want more time with the children! OH, they are just so great, well most of them...of course you have your little troublemakers here and there:).

So this week we went to Puna to visit the mukti mission. this is the coolest place really....in as few words as possible this wonderful woman started this orphanage for women on top of being a christian and translating the bible (while standing for reasons of respect) into something like, well i don't remember how many to be totally honest but like A TOTAL WOW AMOUNT of different languages. she was truly amazing. she has since passed but the mukti mission has flourished and includes now day care centers, medical care, an old age home, a special needs school, care for the visually handicapped, education for primary, secondary and vocational training, computer training, nursery and adoption. it is a HUGE places and the schools include some students from mukti and some who live in the surrounding villages. it was truely a treat to go and visit these women and children and see how talented they are. We were able to visit all of the classrooms which showered us with cards and flowers and even chat a little with some of the older residents. it was wonderful!

that is just so brief....i do apologize. yesterday was zoo day. now i'm not much of a fan for zoos but we went on a safari and got to see bears and lions and tigers and ride an elephant and i will admit it was preeeeetttttyyyy cool. the children from the hostel (those who live on campus at the school) came as well. these are some of my favorite times becuse you can really bond with the kids. when you're in class you can only do so much and connect so much...there are of course things to be done. speaking of school natalie is still doing work for rita...little to dos here and there which rita QUITE OBVIOUSLY appreciates. jason is a walking talking camera taking pictures for the school's new brochure, power point presentation and other various needs, and carl has officially been named the "if anyone needs help man" which i fully appreciate in the art room because honestly having class after class is just not a job built for one...really. it is so nice to have an extra set of hands.

Prem and Rita are doing well as are our new teammates. They (dean the 30 year old irish man and sylva the 45+ german woman) are planning on going on most of the rest of our trips with us and although they most of the time do their own thing, are interesting to have around...quite a new dynamic:] we leave on friday for goa...which is going to be such a treat. we're praying for hot hot hot weather so we can hit the beach! hooray! other than that life is good and the days are just going. i'm pretty sure we all feel truly blessed to be doing what we do here in india.

Malawi Update

Hello again!

Team Malawi is alive and well! We are back from a week at Chiwengo Village where we worked with the other interns doing chores and helping the aunties. Our separate village ministries are going well, we can see God working in each area! Jen’s classes are going well, and many students are preparing for their exams. The widows ministry that Chenee is working with just opened up their store where they are selling the products they hand make. Myself and Caitlin are continuing to teach 1st and 2nd grade in the Mgoyi (sp?) village. COTN attempted to show the Jesus video but it did not work, we were all upset about that. In a couple minutes we are off to our mid-summer retreat, so I may have a longer update in a few days..

Team Malawi is asking for prayer as we travel to our time at Lake Malawi. We also ask for prayer as we seek God’s guidance through administrative details/issues that have occurred. We are all healthy FINALLY so thank you for prayers for that. Lastly, prayers that we will see God in our ministries, our relationships, and even in the midst of the basic daily life.

Sorry its so short..time to get BACK on the coaster!!!

Making Sand Castles

Jen and Korina talking to some of the workers at lunch time. They are so eager to teach us Tagalog and we love learning it!













Us girls showing off our new hard hats.



Jen making CIBs (concrete interlocking blocks).
The local workers can make more than twice as many blocks as we can in the same time!











Korina and Po-Po making the half blocks...not an easy task!





Paul helping Holly with the CIB machine.






Holly and Jen caring the blocks out in the HOT sun to bake.











All in a days work.

DR Update

7/17/07

This is just a quick update on the last week or so:

I doubt that this is a first in World Dep’s long history, but I’m officially the last deputee in the DR. Anna left on Tuesday and Amy left this last Saturday. Steph and Amy J. are still here, recovering, and taking special precautions against more mosquito bites. I’ve used the two bottles of repellent I brought-we’re hopefully getting more this week so we can coat ourselves morning, afternoon, and night. Please continue to pray for our health- Jeff gets his test results back this afternoon and very likely has Dengue as well. Another handful of us have “gripe,” a cold and fever combo. I’ve had a fever on and off for the last week and feel okay, just drained. I’m confused by the sickness here, but we continue to rely on something greater than ourselves, lifting one another up in prayer, and pushing through.

We went to a beautiful river Friday afternoon. We went on a river hike up some waterfalls and swung from some vines. It was really great and one last surprise before Amy left. Saturday a group of us went to PlayaAzul for lunch and a beach day. I played in some tide pools and saw snails, fish, an eel, and urchins. It was a good restful and adventurous weekend amidst the craziness of this last week. I also had good times with my host family. I’m getting more of a hang of it and adjusting more each day to the funny quirks and challenges of my home. I’m playing a lot of chess, checkers, and teaching all my uncles and aunts English on Mondays and Fridays. They are very patient with me and I’m constantly amazed at how they always offer me the best and want me to be at home.

This week was our fist classes in the bateys. I’m teaching in Los Robles with Lisa, David, and Steph. Our first day we were supposed to have about 20 students that needed special help in reading, writing, and math. When we got there, we waited while the pastor rounded up about 50 kids. It was a disaster. I tried to administer an evaluation to see where they needed the most help, but didn’t have another forms and kids actually sitting in desks…and of course they would cheat on a basic eval! In the other room, the kids found scissors and started shredding books. All of us were bewildered and without a plan. We eventually kicked all the kids out of both classrooms and tried to regroup. We spent the rest of the afternoon planning lessons, devotionals, and setting up what Lisa called our “10-pronged plan” to teaching this kids. Pray that we do not get caught up in the details of the lessons and will love them well- whether they are brandishing scissors or not. We had our first English class today and it went well. We had Wanchi, our translator, with us and he helped keep the kids in line and teach. Next time, I’m going to pull out some of the older kids that have had some prior courses and teach a conversational group. It should be great.

We have one more day of classes tomorrow in Los Robles, my English class at the vocational school in the afternoon, and then we are heading for an undisclosed hotel for our midsummer retreat through Saturday. It should be a good time for us to recoup and spend some quality time together. It’s my birthday on Sunday, and although I’m excited to spend it with my new family and friends, I’m getting a more and more homesick. I’m fighting hard my tendency to have my thoughts and heart distracted by my life in Washington and trying to keep centered and focused here.

Okay, I’m off to work on curriculum for this week’s courses and wrap up some sponsorship forms. You are all in my thoughts and prayers.

Under the Mercy,

Katie

Bangalore Update

here is a quick update...it's late-ish and the internet cafe will close soon:]

SO! we just got back from hyderabad. we left on tue and returned on saturday. TWO long twelve hour train rides...it was fun, but strange. we were in the "sleeper-class" meaning we had little drop down bed to sleep on...well "sleep on" :] anywho, hyderabad was great, it was a bit newer than bangalore, and thus a tad cleaner. we went to three different ministries with prem which included BMI which was a center run for muslim women. it is very dangerous in this certain area in hyderabad to run a christian organization because muslims, well they don't quite agree with being christian. this married couple had to keep fairly hush hush but ran this awesome center which taught muslim women various different sorts of trade. they were learning everything from henna work (called mehndi here), stitching and computer work, to cloth paining and bead work. they were so happy to share their work with us and it was just such an awesome experience. they even offered to give natalie and i mehndi! which we gladly accepted:] also we went to IMA which is an organization that works with missions ALL over india, it's pretty awesome. and then a smaller organization called TENT. they had various different programs that included training various leaders in the thousands of different people groups in the word to spread the word to all of these numerous people groups that make up india (i hope that made sense:]). being a christian in india is not an easy life. many of these organizations keep sort of under wraps and somewhat quiet about what work they do in order to protect themselves as well as their work. i will admit it is so difficult for me personally to see the lord in india. BUT THEN when i do find Him, He's just so powerful. Christians in india are so devoted and so loving, it is refreshing and such a wonderful example. anyway, we came home, after a long train ride happy to be "home" which is what we've started calling prem and rita's.
SO we have new members to our team! sort of. a lovely German woman came to the house yesterday and today a nice man from northern Ireland. he's about 30 and she's about 50. they seem to be rather nice people...although we've only been around them for a few days, we're doing most of what is left of our traveling with them which should prove to be interesting/exciting. so i'm keeping this short b/c i've had such a busy week w/ traveling and then right back into school, which by the way is going so well! Although we do wish we had more time there i think. we all are enjoying our trips so much but we keep having half weeks (if even that) and it's hard to keep things going relationship and lesson wise with the kids when we're only at school a few days a week! craziness! anywho, we leave for pune on thur. we're going to visit the mukti mission with rita and we're all very excited about it. until we return, love from india!

Ethiopia Update

Hey there,

This is the beginning of our third week now in Ethiopia. Just as we thought time was going by really slowly here, we are already a quarter of the way done with our trip! Overall things are still going pretty smoothly- we are pretty healthy, enjoying living on our own, and are absolutely loving this country- for the most part. Except for the dysfunctional airport system, Ethiopia is the place to be.
We can safely say that we are finally getting used to things down here at the youth center. It has been a great experience getting to know the older kids (as well as the younger kids), and we feel as though we finally have a foundation to work off of for the rest of the summer. There has been a mixed feel as to how successful things are going so far, mainly because it is hard to form space between the younger and older kids at the center. The problem is that even though there are SO many younger kids, and all of them are aching for so much attention, we have to focus a lot of our energy on the others, because one of our goals here is to instill a sense of good leadership in the older kids to take over when all of us are gone. We have tried so many times to separate the times between the two groups by having kid time in the morning and teenager time for the rest of the day, but whenever we try to play a game with the older kids the younger ones come out as Daniel mentioned, “like a swarm of bees.” This is no exaggeration, because it really looked like a nest had been destroyed the other day when we saw the kids burst out of the youth center doors to join an older kids Frisbee game outside. Of course, the result of this is that we get blunt with the younger ones and make them sit on the side, which is not a fun thing to have to do. We may be in good health, but we are without a doubt physically and mentally exhausted.
So far the only games we can play are ultimate Frisbee and handball.There is construction taking place on the basketball court, and until that is finished those are the only two games we were told were legitamite- even soccer is being outlawed until the construction is over. That is another challenge we have had to face, but we hope to be up and running by next week. Still, everything here is so unpredictable so we really have to just give everything to the Lord. Frisbee, in the meantime, is extremely chaotic to play with the little kids. None of us can be everywhere at once, which makes playing with the kids “fairly” an impossible thing to do. When one of us gets the Frisbee, about ten or so little ones will come up screaming for it, and when you pass it to one of them the other nine will come up and say “Jiff, give me… No Jiff, give me.” All we can do then is just smile and say OK!
Oh yeah, that’s another thing- the names. Apparently Jeff does not fly here so they say Jiff. Daniel told me I have become a peanut butter brand. Karla’s knife business is gaining in popularity and “Karra,” or in review from last weeks update “knife” is becoming the most popular name usage among the kids. Violet is now “Lilly” and Daniel “Donny.” Daniel noticed that during English class the kids could not pronounce the “a” in valley and instead kept saying “Volley.” OK NOW THE COMPUTER IS FLIPPING OUT ON ME SO EVERYTHING IS IN CAPS LOCK. DON’T THINK THAT I AM REALLY TRYING TO EMPHASIZE THE REST OF THIS UPDATE. ANYWAY….

KARLA SEEMS TO BE THE SEXUAL ATTRACTION OF THE GROUP AROUND THE YOUTH CENTER, BUT DON’T WORRY GREG, WE ARE KEEPING HER SAFE FROM THE PREDATORS. THE OTHER DAY SOME BOYS ASKED HER TO LIFT UP WHEN SHE WAS TALKING TO THEM IN THE WEIGHT ROOM.. AND THEY WEREN’T REFERING TO THE WEIGHTS. I BELIEVE THEIR EXACT WORDS WERE “SATISFY US!” POOR KARLA….

KARLA AND VIOLET HAVE ALSO BEEN GETTING THEIR SHARE OF ADVENTURE IN MEKELE. THE OTHER DAY THEY WERE INVITED TO A GIRLS HOUSE TO EAT LUNCH, BUT WERE LED INTO A BARBER SHOP AND FORCED TO GET THEIR HAIR DONE FOR 30 BIRR. I MIGHT JUST WANT TO ADD THAT THEY LOOKED ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS WHEN THEY CAME BACK TO THE YOUTH CENTER. APPARENTLY THE WHOLE TEAM HAS BEEN INVITED TO THE SAME HOUSE FOR LUNCH ON SATURDAY, SO ME AND DANIEL WILL KNOW THAT WHEN THE SCISSORS COME OUT, WE RUN.

ASIDE FROM THE YOUTH CENTER, WE ARE REALLY SATISFIED AT HOW MUCH TIME WE HAVE SPENT TOGETHER AS A WHOLE TEAM, CONSIDERING THAT WE LIVE A GOOD HALF AN HOUR AWAY FROM EACH OTHER. EATING OUT AT RESTAURANTS IS A GREAT EXPERIENCE, BUT HAS ITS ODDSIDES TO IT. FIRST OF ALL, WE HAVE TO PRAY LIKE WE ARE HAVING A CONVERSATION, SO IT WAS WEIRD THE OTHER NIGHT LOOKING INTO KARLA’S EYES AS SHE WAS BLESSING THE MEAL. IT FEELS AS IF YOU ARE PRAYING TO EACH OTHER. ALSO, IT IS CULTURALLY WRONG TO EAT USING YOUR LEFT HAND. THE RIGHT HAND IS FOR EATING, WHERE THE LEFT HAND IS FOR…. WELL, IF YOU ARE EATING FOOD AS YOU READ THIS UPDATE I’LL JUST SPARE YOU OF WHAT THE LEFT HAND IS FOR.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

- BAGGAGE
- SENSE OF ACCOMPLISHMENT WITH SATISFYING BOTH LITTLE AND OLDER KIDS
- HEALTH
- ABILITY TO CONTINUE GETTING CLOSE WITH THE OLDER KIDS

WE ARE THINKING ABOUT YOU ALL AND ARE KEEPING YOU ALL IN OUR PRAYERS. WE WILL CONTINUE WITH OUR WEEKLY UPDATES NEXTG SUNDAY.

PEACE,
TEAM ETHIOPIA

Visiting Different Ministries

Contrary to popular belief, we have been working this week, just not building houses : ) This last week Habitat gave control of us over to Union Church of Manila and we have had the opportunity to visit different ministries that they financially support.

On Monday, we traveled to Cabuyao and spent the day at a ministry called the Institute for Foundational Learning (IFL). This ministry is truly amazing because they educate and house over a hundred local children from preschool through high school! In addition, they are almost completely self-sustaining: they grow their own rice and vegetables and raise their own pigs, chickens, ducks, and fish…quite impressive, especially from an ecological perspective. On Tuesday, we learned all about the history of the Philippines by visiting the Ayala Museum and taking a tour of Intramuros (the old walled city) with a hilarious tour guide named Carlos Celdran. Then on Wednesday we went to Tagaytay to stay over night at a ministry called Action International. This ministry also educates and houses Filipino children and teenagers, but focuses also on teaching trade skills such as auto mechanics, wood working, and sewing so their students can get jobs soon after they graduate. We visited the next ministry, Sumulong Baptist Church Feeding Program, on Friday in Antipolo. They feed 25 local children lunch and dinner four days a week. The parents of these children typically earn about 40 pesos a week (about one US dollar)! It has been such a treat to witness the different ministries that UCM sponsors in so many geographical areas and see how they are literally transforming the lives of so many children.

This week has been a nice change of pace, but we are excited to get back to work (building) next week in Taguig. We wish that you pray for the different ministries we visited this week so that they can continue to find the resources they need to continue spreading the love of Jesus Christ to the local children and also to pray for our team as it has been almost one month since we left and we are all starting to miss our friends and family.

God Bless,

Paul, Poyang, Jenn, Korina, and Holly

(the picture is of Holly helping some 3-4 year olds at the IFL)

Turkey Update

Team Turkey is staying healthy and safe in Antalya, eagerly anticipating the national elections coming
up on July 22nd. Red, yellow, blue and white flags flood the streets and every few minutes a van with
huge speakers will drive by blasting music or the voice of their chosen candidate. We are continuing to
refrain from using the words ÒmissionaryÓ, ÒevangelistÓ, ÒsickÓ, etc, although today I (Sara) managed to
call one of my students an illegitimate child while trying to identify a bead as ÒpeachÓ. IÕm not alone;
yesterday Dayna called an entire marketplace full of people ÒpeachesÓ and was shushed by some men
nearby.

WeÕve decided to step up our level of crafts from Òage appropriateÓ to Òshock and aweÓ and are now
switching from things like watercolor family portraits to things such as bead lizards, rainbow balloon
arches, masks out of cast gauze, and paper mache. The kids are loving it and as we tried to leave Kids
Klub today they actually bombarded the door and wouldnÕt let us pass. And since it is illegal to even
TALK about religion to a Turk under the age of 18 we find ourselves entirely reliant on our actions to
speak for us. THUS, weÕve focused a lot on cultivating Òfruits of the SpiritÓ in ourselves here (love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control). The one we have
struggled with most here is self-control since we have pocket-money and easy access to a candy
WONDERLAND just next door (Hi, Dana!). As I am writing this Dayna and Veez are out loading up on
chocolate and gummy goodies to satisfy our high candy needs.

This weekend we will be visiting Cappadocia in central Turkey with our new comrade Rebekka, from
Holland. She is the 21-year old cousin of Lydia, the woman we were previously going to be working
with this summer in Denizli, along with her husband Bill and family. We are very excited to see the
naturally-occurring fairy chimneys, underground cities and the caves where Christians lived for
hundreds of years.

After reading the latest updates from the other teams it seems we arenÕt suffering nearly enough to
earn the title of Hardcore Deputees. Despite this, we would like to thank everyone for their prayers for
safety and for God to work in each one of us. Your prayers have allowed our relationships with each
other and the Turkish people to flourish. We have been blessed with AMAZING leadership and wisdom
in the Kings and Karn Choi and are reminded everyday how God placed us all here for a distinct reason.

-Sara, for Team Turkey

And when we're not building houses...

Let's just say movies are cheep here. We went and saw Transformers. It's pretty much amazing.


mmm. coconut.

It gets hot here in the Philippines. It's nice to have a fan.

The pineapple here is amazing!!!















We went to meet the major. This is us in
front of the band that played just for us.
We didn't break it to them that we're white, not famous.






No comment












This is theater seating at an art school.









And there we are...Seattle's best.










In the Philippines everything happens in the Mall.
Including Safaris.








It's harder to take pictures underwater than you might think.

Ireland Update

Hey Everyone!
So here is Team Ireland 's two week update. We were going to hold off since we have actually only completed one kid's club, but in response to team Turkey 's overly confident 'I think we have the best country ever statement,' we thought it was it was time to let everyone know what's going on over in Ireland .

So we have all managed to stay in the country without being deported, as we were all held up in immigration at UK airports. We spent our first four days living in student dorms near the largest university in Belfast and had a few drop in meetings with leaders whose camps we would be working in throughout the summer. So the rest of the time we spent touring the city, shopping, hanging out in the dorms with some fun Irish and Scottish people, and taking full advantage of the free internet!

Belfast was very interesting and for those of you that don't remember our highly intellectual presentation on Ireland, we went over the historic division between the Catholic and Protestant communities and the ongoing civil war. Belfast was the city where all the bombings were taking place and only within the past 5 years have things begun to improve. There is literally a wall 85ft high dividing the Protestant neighbourhood from the Catholic neighbourhood. We learned that the civil dispute isn't as much about religion as it is about territory and land. The Republic of Ireland, which is 98% Catholic, would like a united Ireland and Northern Ireland, would be offended if you called any of them Irish, as they are British, and are loyal to the Queen and the UK. It was interesting to learn this and the tensions (although some of them just friendly) are very evident in conversation.

We took a train down to Dublin , after spending 3 nights in Belfast, to meet our first team leader Kevin with Maynooth Community Church, located in Maynooth, a village about 35 mins outside of Dublin. We immediately hit it off with Kevin, who is passionate about theology and apologetics, and Camille has proceeded to ask him about every awkward and controversial biblically related question possible! Kevin liked us so much that he gave us some weekend time to tour Dublin.

Now in the past, team Ireland has been known to have slept in multiple different places but for the past two weeks we have been staying in the home of the pastor of MCC who is on holiday, with the 20 year old intern, Colin, who has become a great friend and honorary member (Team America + 1). Camille and Kelly have been spending the night in one of the most amazingly comfortable beds ever while Calvin and Trevor each have their own rooms, Trevor's being the living room with a great piano. We even have a black lab mutt named Molly! We have been cooking team dinners every night and have had a few occasional nights out to Dublin, once to meet past depute Tyler for dinner, and the other to celebrate the 4th of July. We went to the local country club where Colin works, all dressed up, to take some posh pictures, like we were important! Ha!

We feel that so far we have been pretty spoiled and definitely very blessed by the Lord. I think we were all a little nervous about how things were going to be and so far we have been fully taken care of!

So work…Last week Mon, Tues, and Wed we ran a Bible Club in three different local towns. This was led by some members of MCC. We went into the neighbourhoods (some in not so nice areas) knocked on doors and asked if any kids would be interested in hanging out with us for an hour to sing some songs, play some games, and listen to a Bible story. It was a lot of fun, and we did this for an hour in each estate. Sadly, Ireland is a country of much rain, very similar to Seattle, and we had some issues since these clubs were just outside in a field. The weather has been the biggest discouragement in our ministry here thus far and has actually made us have to cancel a lot of things. We have been praying a lot about this situation and would love your guys' prayers as well! The kids were great though and were just really excited that people were actually taking the time to pay some attention to them and hang out. We got to help out both Sundays we have been here at MCC which was also fun. It is a new church that has been recently planted (50-70 people).

Now we get to the funny story…

We were given this last weekend off and we decided to take a road trip up to the North Coast. Now we have all been a little freaked out about the whole driving on the opposite side of the road deal with steering wheel and all on the opposite side so Colin said he would be happy to accompany us and drive! We were leaving at about 9:30pm on Thursday night after Colin got off work and expecting to arrive at his parent's house around midnight, unfortunately we all got a little too excited and Colin accidentally filled his car up with diesel fuel! The wind was quickly taken out of our sails as we had to be picked up and driven back home.

We decided to take a bus over to the west coast, city of Galway, in the morning instead of going north since the travel distance is shorter (suppose to be 31/2 hours). The bus ride was great until we got stuck in terrible traffic!! About half way through the journey which ended up taking 6 hours, we stopped at a transfer station for a ten minute break. The guys got off the bus to buy some snacks. Camille and I were just sitting there waiting. Camille decided that she had to go to the bathroom so she asked me if I thought it would cost her money to use the one in the station, I said yes (it usually costs about 20-50 cents to use public restrooms in Europe). So she was like, 'okay I will just use the bathroom on the bus' (these are big charter buses). So I proceeded to put my ipod in and close my eyes. The guys get back on the bus about a minute later, and ask me where Camille is. I casually say that she is in the bathroom right here on the bus. We take off and about ten minutes later, Camille still hasn't come out of the bathroom. The guys are like 'Kelly, you should really go check on her, are you sure she is in there?' I say, 'Of course she is, you guys, I don't want to embarrass her let's give her a few more minutes.' Finally, it has gotten to the point that we were starting to freak out so I go down to check on her, I open the bathroom door and Camille is not there!!! I come back up and the guys said that my face was priceless! We all start bust out laughing because we left Camille at the transfer station. She has nothing- no money, not jacket, everything she had was on the bus with us! We were given a team cell phone so we ended up calling Colin who called the station and got Camille on another bus that was about 15 mins behind us. So everything worked out but Camille had to ride for about 2 hours by herself! She still loves us though!

So we spent that night in Galway , Colin drove over and met us in the morning and we drove down to see the Cliffs of Moher (if you are reading this pause and google that now)! Our lives are now complete! We have all agreed that we can't understand how some people do not believe in God when there are places that exist that are as beautiful and amazing as this! These cliffs are 700ft tall and stretch for 5 miles! We spent a good two hours there, left to eat dinner, then came back and watched the sunset! AMAZING!! We were the only people there and it was so serene, one of the coolest experiences ever!

So now we are starting a new week which we will be spending preparing for Summerfest with is hosted by MCC's mother church about 15 mins away in the village called Lucan. Somehow we managed to get out of doing too much work these past two days and scored taking a trip to the zoo with the Irish YMCA helping out watching the kids!

Anyways this camp starts on Saturday and we are praying for good weather and endurance because this will probably be pretty intense! We are looking forward to the challenge!! So I hope that if you hung in there long enough to read our update you see that the Lord is beginning to use us here in Ireland and has really blessed our team!

Kelly, Camille, Calvin, and Trevor

Finally our two week update!!!

ETHIOPIA UPDATE

Friends and Family,

Tomorrow marks the first day of our second week here in Ethiopia. We just want to start off by assuring everybody that we have yet to get sick, and are in very good health. God is definitely keeping us safe.
Unfortunately, we are still waiting on the negligent British Airways to send our bags down here. Somehow they miraculously managed to fail in getting our baggage on one of the several weekly BA flights, so Jeff is still running around in flip flops! His feet are in a very bad mood, and request lots of prayer.
Jeff and Daniel seem to be attracting all kinds of wildlife to their home. On their first night here, they tore apart the majority of their house to catch and kill a rat that had been living in their kitchen. In failing to do so, the exhausted boys gave up their search and concluded by giving it a few names: 1) Houdini, for its magical and disappearing ways 2) Splinter, from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and 3) Ratattoui, the famous rat chef. They have exclaimed that once he runs into rat poison, Ratattoui will cook French delicacies no longer. Violet and Karla are enjoying a very luxurious home, which is all but a forty minute walk from the youth center. They also have pigeons on their roof, and as Karla mentioned, “it sounds like they are playing soccer up there or something when we are trying to sleep.”
So far, working at the Youth Center has been a blast. We spent the first few days solidifying a schedule to which we will use, including teaching leadership as well as English classes, health and fitness, and of course playing sports with the kids. We came up with a list of new games to teach them, such as Dodgeball. The boys said that it was tough teaching the little kids how to play the game, because they did not understand that once you are hit with the ball you are “out,” neither did they understand the concept of the “middle line.” As a result, they just kept throwing balls at each other and screaming joyfully, which brought great laugher to Jeff and Daniel. Some of the other games that we plan on teaching them include Bump, Fire in the Forest, Badmitton, Volleyball, Football, and Baseball.
Ping Pong is HUGE at the youth center. We thought we had some ping pong skills before we played against these kids, honestly. It’s a pretty humbling experience, but we are hoping to get a lot better by the end of the summer.
Our names are another area of excitement. Daniel is the only one the kids have really caught on to, because it supposedly is a very common Ethiopian name. Karla, on the other hand, has been substituted by the kids to Karra, which in Tigrinia means “knife.” With this bit of inspiration, Karla has planned to join the Ethiopian knife club and become their leader. We are kidding, of course.
Last night we had the privilege of watching some of the older kids from the youth center perform a dramatic murder mystery. It was very compelling, and was filled with great acting, we only wish we could actually understand their language so we really knew what was going on. There was a huge thunder and lighting storm going on outside, which really added to the suspense of the keyboard sound effects they were using. Karla mentioned the play reminded her of a Spanish soap operah.
We could go on for hours talking about how our week has been, but its probably best that we head out. Continue to pray for us, Jeff’s beaten up feet, Karla’s reputation as a sharp object, and baggage. We will update you again next week, and we hope that all of you are doing well.

Love,

Jeff, Violet, Karla and Daniel.

India Update from Kirsten:

ok, so officially i feel like day by day...is just FLYING we only have 6ish weeks left!?!?! no way! ok so we went to this great camp with 15 of the students from Asha Kiran, two Aunties (what the children call their elders, authority figures, teachers...and even us, except of course Carl, and Jason are Uncle...:]) and the four of us. It was about a 3hour bus ride outside of Bangalore...which was wild in our little school bus. there were for surely times i was SURE we were going to tip... BUT we made it, and it was, at least for me, the best two days of our trip thus far. This camp is great and works on leadership, team building, personal and group skills, self esteem boosting, and well anything else positive you could imagine. most of the tasks were physical which was difficult for some of the children but it was great to see them work together, and even use us! Yes, i am still sore today! It was really so much fun for us all, but quite a lot of work! we were all glad to be "home":] our fourth of july was spent at camp, so our celebrations were mostly while cleaning up after camp, and taking naps...and by celebrations i mean wishing we could have hot dogs:] good ole' india style 4th:] the following day we for surely went out and had cheeseburgers and fries...we were happy to say the least!

we've been trucking along at school and doing well. natalie is still working on entering information on the students into her comp program. supadra is now back from her honeymoon, natalie has yet to be given another job...we're waiting. same goes for carl, the math teacher returned and he is now the odd ball man. the boys are bonding well with many of the children...the younger boys especially! they crowd around them in the dining hall all at one table, bringing too many chairs to fit. because i've been playing the art teacher roll i'm more of the disciplinary:] it's actually fun b/c then, on tue and thur when we have our PT days (play time days) i get to get crazy with the kids and we all have a lot of fun....i stop being Kirsten Aunty in the art room and get to tumble around and play. i think PT days are our favorite days of the week school wise:] This tue we head off to hyderbad. we're going to three different ministries that prem works with (sort of like take your kids to work day!!!) and also to a gypsy wedding! which has been reported to us to be too much fun for us to comprehend:] we're all overly excited.
our "preaching" for india for chirst missions has actually been moved to NEXT sunday. jason is doing the preaching, natalie and carl using their musical ability to lead worship, and i'm sharing my story and a little about my relationship with the lord. it's wonderful and interesting to be challenged as a christian in a mainly hindu culture. we're learning a ton about india, and the kids are not only learning from us...they're teaching also. it's such a blessing to have access to such bright and excited beings:]
Prem and Rita are doing so well. they are such busy busy people, i'm surprised they even have this time every year to have a world dep group. they always make sure we have everything we need...we feel we're totally being served, something we didn't expect. our work, although tyring, has proved to be fun and exciting. i think one of our group worries was getting REALLY drained being around young children all the time, but we've been blessed and feel like we're here and being served more so than anything. it's such a blessing.
natalie found out she is having a neice. her sister just found out the gender of her baby earlier this week and the whole fam is ecstatic. my mama, who in the beginning wanted to come visit me while i was away, settled on sending me a care package which i am eagerly awaiting! Carl and Jason write their family...but don't really have any exciting news from home:]. plus carls fam was out of town for a while. so all is well here in india. much love from bangalore!

DR UPDATE

Team DR had quite the change of pace coming into week two, beginning with moving
into the homes of our host families. Good things are happening in all of our
families, who have been very welcoming and helpful, especially with the language
barrier. Amy and another American Intern who speaks Spanish live with a family.
Katie is never lonely in her family because there is always an assortment of
animal pets to keep her company.

Okay, do you know those cards with the pictures of kids that come out near
Christmastime that invite you to sponsor a child for their basic needs like food
and water, school, and clothing? Well, for the past week we have been going to
the villages and taking pictures of the kids to update their sponsorship
program. We learned a ton about what it takes to organize hundreds of kids to
make pamphlets for them. The funny thing is that we really didn't know what we
were doing, but in the end, things just fell into place with much cooperation
from the kids and help from the staff. The whole process gave us a whole new
insight and appreciation for the real kids and their real lives behind their
names and their pictures.

There is a little tiny peek at what the DR team has been up to.

From: Amy, Katie, Anna

Croatia Update

So… a lot has happened since EDS (Economic Diplomacy Seminar) has begun. Participants for the seminar are from all over the Balkan region and come from various religious backgrounds. Countries represented include Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, Bulgaria,Ukraine, and Romania. There are also leaders and participants from Sweden, UK, and Washington D.C. It has been an amazing experience to meet and become friends with people from all over the world.
We played a lot of games and mixers to get to know each other; as well as performed a few skits where Karuna and I most definitely made fools of ourselves! (but we had so much fun!) The first half of the seminar is over and I feel that much has been accomplished. Topics discussed in the seminar so far have been transformational business, Jesus as a servant leader, corruption (specifically human trafficking) and a program called the Trinity Forum which examined philosophical and practical aspects of the history and development of business practices and ethics. We have also seen the movie Blood Diamond and a documentary called The Corporation which examines harsh global realities. Another part of the seminar that was really great was when leaders gave shared their testimonies of God’s work in their lives and careers. Leaders gave demonstrations of economic diplomacy in practice which was very inspiring. Many of the participants were moved by the stories, and it was amazing to see God’s spirit at work.
All participants (including Karuna and I) are members of a small group which consists of about 5-7 people. These groups have been a great experience where participants have been able to open up about their lives and more deeply discuss the topics presented in the seminar. I have already made lasting friendships in my small group, and it has only been a week!
We finally got to leave Fuzine this week! Karuna and I were very excited to experience another part of Croatia. We went to the coastal city of Riejka for a day of shopping, walking around and seeing the sights. When we got back we shared the art of American S’more making to the participants and had a fun night of charades (they call it pantomime here) and singing. The coast here is beautiful and we actually get to go to Crk Venecia tomorrow to spend some much needed time relaxing on the beach!
Today, the mayor of Fuzine came to speak to our group and we did some community service consisting of weeding and overall beautification of a new tennis court here in town. Sadly, neither Karuna nor I were able to participate. I have been sick with a fever and a headache for the past 2 days and Karuna hasn’t been feeling well either (issues with the food…) I went to the doctor today to get some antibiotics, and hopefully I will be feeling better soon. Karuna is feeling better and hopefully will get used to the food!
We are looking forward to another week of EDS and our main prayer request is for good health!

-Whitney

ZABOO - Malawi Update

ZABOO!!

Team Malawi is alive and somewhat well. Our travels took a little bit longer
than we had hoped. After living on a plane and in airports for 2 days, our
flight from London to Johannesberg was delayed. This then left us in Jo-berg
for a night because we missed the ONLY flight to Malawi. Imagine this; 4
girls each with an oversized suitcase and a box running from the airport to
the shuttle down a sidewalk that was a little under American standards…great
first experience in Africa let me tell you!!

Once we arrived here in Liliongwe we were greeted by the Mtsilza Village
kids. They came to the Njewa Mission center where we are staying and
performed songs, sweet Malawi dances, recited bible verses and welcomed us
with a “Shapo” (thumbs up)!

Our days vary, but are starting to become more scheduled (on Malawi time
that runs at least ½ late to everything :). Jen is working in the Mtsilza
Village teaching Freshman English. Chenee is in the same village doing the
widows ministry where women come to knit and sew bags, scarves, tablecloths
etc. to sell to support themselves. Caitlin and I are working with a village
that is no more than 200 yards away. These have been the first DAYS that
COTN has been in the village and there is so much potential for what God can
and will do. As of right now, after talking over the needs of the village
with the village women, we are going to start tutoring 1st and 2nd graders.
The school these kids attend is too far for them to walk to so they stay
home. We also play to work with the women of the village teaching them basic
care such as food preparation and hygiene care.

Malawi in general is incredible and more than we could imagine. The kids
cling to us and run to us wherever we go. “Azungu, Azungu” (white person)
they scream with their high squeaky voices as they run towards us. Working
with the Malawian interns as help and translators has helped us share the
incredible news of God. They may have snot running down their noses, dirty
hands, and cavity filled teeth, but the love and happiness they show is
nothing that we have seen before!

As I said in the introduction to this, we are alive and SOMEWHAT well. Jen
and Caitlin were the first of the 20 some interns that got sick. Symptoms
include nausea, terrible stomach aches and something us interns like to call
the big “hoosker doosker” (we have to have a little fun with it). Jen has
since been better, and Caitlin is on the uphill. Chenee’s health has been
wavering and as of today she is generally well with a very tight back. I on
the other hand got well after my first bout of illness somewhere in the air
between London and Johannesberg but am now starting the cycle everyone else
has gone through..

Team Malawi asks for prayer for of course recovery from illness, patience in
waiting and plans that take more time than expected to follow through, and
that God will continue to use us!

Internet is limited here, (that’s an understatement), so we will update you
all as soon as we can!

Team Turkey Strikes back!

Sorry fellow deputees, but I think we got the best country. Not only
is this place on the Mediterranean, full of helpful, friendly people,
and extremely historical, but they also have crazy-good food including
the BEST PUDDING EVER!!! We are all doing just swell, especially
since the heat has gone down from 130F (I kid you not!) to around 100.

On Sunday we had an amazing experience going to an international
church in the Old City, where there were Christians from Poland,
Germany, Singapore, Michigan, Norway, and lots of other places.
Despite coming from such totally different backgrounds we all sang
together and worshiped the same God. It was very peaceful and
encouraging, plus we got to eat lunch with Welsh missionaries
afterwards!

Our first full week of Kids Klub has gone swimmingly even though we
were abandoned by almost ALL our English-speaking friends here (Ben,
Verna, Tansule, and Shafak) while they went to a week-long education
conference in Bodrum. We started on Monday with 6 students for the
strictly English Kids Kamp, but on both Wednesday and Friday we only
had three! Their names are Ilayda (9), Zeynep (13) and Orcun (7?) and
they are wonderful and have lots of personality. We've also started to
make friends with the women who work there even though the language
barrier stands strong, as always.

The Gorem Center is somewhat different in that we only spend about
four hours there each day with a long lunch break in the middle of the
day when we either watch kids swim or teach our "translators" (Cemal
and Ahmet) important slang like, "Sup" and "I have to pee."

Speaking of the Gorem Center, funny story. In a nutshell, we had the
most naïve blunder this last Thursday. We were teaching our classes
when the owner came in and said we needed to "go to the government"
with him and give him some information about our "educations".
Assuming this was some sort of thing we HAD to do, we went with him to
meet a man we learned was the superintendent of private schools in all
of Antalya… and we had to bring A GIFT. The owner of the Gorem center
wanted some sort of UW merchandise, but all we had was a t-shirt
(designed by Jeff Spohn!) from my Spring Break trip to go see The
Price is Right at NBC studios. It had a huge print of Bob Barker's
face and the words "UW LOVES BOB" on it. We went with the intention
of telling him that Bob Barker is beloved American icon and that UW
realllllly admires him but it wasn't even necessary. The man loved
it. And it was dirty too!

Anyway, apparently we're NEVER supposed to go to any government
buildings alone because of several possible (and unpleasant) scenarios
like getting your face in the newspaper and this IS a Muslim country
so you can never be too careful. We didn't realize this until later
but luckily all we did was have tea with the guy before we were
rescued by a phone call from Verna. Hopefully the "government" enjoys
it's UW LOVES BOB" t-shirt! It's 100 % authentic US textile.

For the 4th of July we went to a party at Karn's and met some
Intervarsity students from Arizona, two Albanian women, and Karn's
best friend, Theresa. We had a GREAT time and got to run around with
roman candles in the parking lot because fireworks are always legal
here! (YESsss). We also got to eat a NORMAL meal, which was
fantastic because we learned that none of the girls on Team Turkey can
really cook. I can do scrambled eggs, VZ's got the oatmeal, and Dayna
SAYS she can cook Mexican food but… who knows. Lindsay makes an
AMAZING glass of water. Please pray that we will learn this skill
quickly, because we failed miserably at making beans and rice the
other night (sounds easy, right? WRONG.) The beans came out
extremely chewy and gross-tasting despite an abundance of salt, and
the rice was like school food that you get shoveled onto your plate
with an ice cream scooper. We all think that part of the deputation
screening process should involve cooking skills, because we have been
eating lots of sliced apples and PB&J here!

We all LOVE Antalya and hope all the other teams love their countries
as much as we do! Enjoy the pictures of our dinner with Marco, VZ and
our translators, and some of the kids at the Kids Klub!

-Sara, from TEAM TURKEY