September 2, 2010

Greetings Family and Friends, Tenesteling!

I hope this update finds you well. I am so blessed by your prayers and support. I am almost finished with my second week of teaching and already see the Lord at work here at Bingham Academy. It is such a privilege to teach and serve these kids. My very first class was 5^th grade, and there are 12 different nationalities represented from the 23 kids. I love watching the kids arrive at school and saying goodbye as they drive off in their taxi’s. My first day of teaching I was amazed at the skill ability difference between the 5^th and 6^th graders. And I learned quickly after, that there is a big jump between each elementary grade.

My first week here I gained a HUGE appreciation for the many people who have to walk miles to get water. There was only one spicket for filtered drinking water across the campus and the first week (only the first week, thankfully!) we had to retrieve our drinking water in these buckets and carry it back. WATER IS SO HEAVY! Needless to say, all of those ministries and organizations that support making wells, and give people clean water nearby are HUGE!

I am getting used to being called Miss Valliere, and my learning curve for teaching is very steep. A handful of the younger kids know very little, or no English, so that is an extra challenge. It was so neat to talk with and meet some of the parents during back to school night and hear what they are doing here in Addis. The school here is such a blessing to so many families and really enables many to stay on the mission field. (I met a boy today whose dad is from the Netherlands, his mom is from South Africa, he was born in Zimbabwe and now they live here in Ethiopia.)

Ramadan (the main Muslim holiday) is about half way over now. So multiple times everyday we are reminded of our community by the calls to prayer and “chanting/singing” that has become so normal to hear. I now have my Ethiopian driver’s license and have taken on the challenge of looking out for people, sheep and potholes!

Thanks again for your prayers, love and support. It is SO neat to see the body of Christ and how each teacher here represents the prayers and love of so many from their homes, and how literally there are people all over the world invested into how the Lord is working here at Bingham Academy in Addis Ababa. “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service.…” -1 Tim. 1:12. And, let me know if I can be praying for you! I run in circles around the compound here and pray for people on different loops, (because I get quite a lot of attention when I run in the community)! So I’d love to pray for you, if I don’t already!

May the Lord bless you!

Rachel

Prayer Requests:

-That God would reveal Himself to Muslim’s now during Ramadan.

-Discernment of who to invest in both students and staff.

-This week just finished spiritual emphasis week for the high school kids, so pray for the kids to continue to respond to Truth.

-For me, as lately I have been a little homesick.

P.S. Our internet is really bad here, it goes off all the time and is very slow (we didn’t have it last week for almost 6 days in a row). So please don’t be offended if I don’t respond promptly to you and don’t worry about me. I’m in good hands (the hands that hold the world).