Dear Family and Friends,
I hope this letter finds you well and encouraged in the hope we have in Christ. Thanks for your constant love, prayers and encouragement! I sang this song yesterday: “Lord, now indeed I find, Thy power and Thine alone, can change a lepers spots and melt the heart of stone. JESUS PAID IT ALL, all to Him I owe, sin has left a crimson stain, he washed it white as snow.” This last month has been full of activity. To start, I went BACKPACKING with some of the 9th and 10th grade students as a class project. They had to hike 40 Kilometers (~25 miles) in two days. The maps we had were from the 1970’s thus not very accurate in addition to not really hiking on any trail. So we hiked through dessert sand (hot), dirt roads, local villages, and many herds of cattle to our two lake destinations with our backpacks on. We were quite the sight for the village people. Some KEY WORDS from the trip include: Flamingoes, beautiful lakes, hot springs, sand storm, ostrich, camels, dust tornadoes, and hot filtered sulfur water to drink. The high-schoolers were tough but everybody had blisters and was tired by the end.
I had the sweet chance to SAY GOODBYE to a missionary couple who had been living in LANGANO for the past three years (4 hrs. south of Addis). I got to know them my first summer here in 2009 and it was a joy to spend some time with them here in Addis, say goodbye, and simultaneously see many Habasha (Ethiopian) friends who I was on staff with at the Sports Friends (soccer) camp with before.
We had parent teacher CONFERENCES two weeks ago and I met with over 40 parents to talk about their kids in my PE class. I really enjoyed the opportunity to share about what we have been doing in PE and my approach of making parallels with life: the importance of teamwork, perseverance, hard work and learning to have a good attitude both when you win and loose, because in life sometimes things go the way you like and sometimes they do not. For most of the parents I had good reports about their kids!
For my runner friends, I got to be within an arms length from HAILE GEBRSELASSIE! I ran in the Addis Ababa Women’s 5k and was the first forengie (white person). I had my picture taken with the winner, other runners, and squeezed in a picture with many others and Gebrselassie. I got to start right behind the elite field and there were over 9,000 runners in the race!
We had our first TENNIS match, which was really fun for me, as the coach, to watch my kids finally compete. They have made SO much progress! We took the middle school kids to a day at the pool for memory verse prize day and jumped off a 10-meter platform. I have still been TEACHING ENLGISH and am involved in putting on a HUGE RACE as a fundraiser for the blind kids up north in Mekele (stay tuned for more info). I got to visit two of my student’s (sisters) parents project near Addis in Dukem. He is the head of SOURCE OF LIGHT here in Ethiopia and is almost finished building a school, pastor training center and clinic for the local community. He still needs some more finances and figure out details with land from the government. It is amazing and inspiring to see so many people chasing after the vision God has given. Check out: http://www.sourcelight.org/regions-of-outreach/africa/ethiopia/
Some of you may remember last summer when my parents went to Switzerland to serve missionaries at a conference entitled Breathe. Well, I have been invited to serve on the volunteer staff at this 10-day conference as well. It is designed to give rest and refreshment to cross-cultural workers in difficult places all over the world. This type of support for missionaries and other Christian leaders overseas is often lacking (or non-existent in many regions) and as a result, many face on-going and overwhelming stress, exhaustion, family problems, illness and other forms of crises. I am so excited to be a part of the staff this summer (June 22 to July 2) and will be a MASSAGE THERAPIST. I will be part of a team of pastoral counselors, IT (computer) guys, therapists (my dad last summer), doctors, etc. The conference takes a holistic approach that addresses the physical, emotional, cognitive and spiritual aspects of life. Many cross-cultural workers who are single or work in Muslim cultures do not receive touch. Many live in dangerous cultures (political strife, bombings, threats on their lives) and carry the stress in their bodies. Therefore massage has been a vital part of the therapeutic process. School here at Bingham Academy ends June 17th so the timing is perfect. Breathe is led by Dr. Daniel and Lori Hahn, who serve at Bible Fellowship Church in Ventura, California. You can check out http://breatheconference.org/ for more information. My flight home is basically paid for, so I need to raise $1000 to cover the conference costs. If you would like to also support me in this, checks can be made out to BFC/Catalyst Int’l and sent to Karen Narula c/o BFC/Catalyst Int’l, 6950 Ralston St., Ventura CA 93003 USA. All donations are tax deductible, just don’t put my name on the check. Instead just include on a piece of paper that it is to go to my account. Thank you SO MUCH for considering in supporting me in this as well, and please do not feel obligated!
God has been SO FAITHFUL and my source of JOY. Just yesterday a second grade girl (who is not very good in PE) said she had a secret to tell me. Then whispered in my ear that I am her favorite teacher. I always love to hear from you as well and am thankful for the way God uses body of Christ! May the Lord be your all in all!
Because of Christ,
Rachel
PRAISES AND PRAYER REQUESTS
-God’s protection while camping and daily throughout the city
-The joy my students bring and good parent teacher conferences.
-A couple of weeks ago over 60 churches and a large number of houses were burned down by Muslim extremists in the rural areas outside of JIMMA. 46 of the churches burned down were EKHC (protestant) Churches.
-To finish well and maximize my time as there are 2 months left!
-To trust in God for the future and what job is next when I return to the States!
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