A-town update

Hi friends!
I can't believe we'll be home with you all soon! We're praying for all of you, our friends and family. 

LATELY:
We're really loving life in the slow lane over her at the moment, with so much time to study the word and to spend time with amazing people. 

COMING HOME?!
After the surf camps we drove to a northern a town still owned by the Spanish, there we were able to get our visas renewed so that we don't have to leave by August 4th. (We look forward to being home of course but a month in Ireland before we start back to work would be expensive!) The drive was beautiful and we were so blessed to get to see so much of the country. 

We haven't booked flights home because we are looking into flying standby with sunway travel so that we can get direct flights. So we will probably be home Friday August 9th, 16th or 23rd!

RIGHT NOW:
Noel has has a throat infection all week so we've been housebound for the past 5 days. Rachel is fighting it well with just headaches & slight fever. So do pray :)
Also our bank cards were cancelled yesterday (apparently AIB have a new system and we're outdated!) so pray our one remaining credit card keeps
working!

Frisbee-ing at A-town beach. Ramadan creates lots of space on the beaches!

Our favourite 13 year old surf buddy in his rash guard that matches Noel's :)

Noel's colleagues from T came to visit at the weekend and we had ice-cream Tagine!! 12 scoops of deliciousness!

Orphanage surf camp :)

Surf camp

Last week we were blessed with being able to help at a surf camp run for children of an orphanage. It helped us to miss SU's Summer Swell camp less too!

We entertained between 15 and 30 kids each day with surf lessons, sports, games, songs and swimming. We also did a beach cleanup with encouraging results as other kids on the beach pitched in to help!

The children, who were ages 6-18, were incredibly well behaved and really enjoyed themselves. At least 75% of them are also now better surfers than Rachel who is still working on getting to her feet (practice practice!!).

God blessed us with a great house to stay in while we're here as well as great people, perfect weather and unforgettable memories. 

Like on all camps, team friendships were made fast and we loved spending the week living with 4 American guys who are working in various parts of the country. It was so great to get to know many new people and their stories and to share a short part of our journeys with each other. I never thought communal living could be so easy!

One of the most encouraging parts of this trip for us has been getting to know the people like us who are living in this town. We've been encouraged by their hearts and by hearing the incredible things our Father is doing here. 

We have decided to stay on for a few days to help with another surf camp and to spend time with people. We are feeling incredibly blessed by this time of freedom in our lives, full of opportunities and sunshine. 

We miss you all and look forward to getting home too :)

Noel leading morning games!

 

Getting ready for the water!

The Texan contingent... and a random guy with 4 legs

Beach clean-up time!!

4th July!!

The Friday party :)

 

Some of our awesome team

A sea slug!!

Kids on camp no.2

 

View from casa del volunteero's!

Summer update

Hi all

We've been Internet free lately so apologies for the silence. Lots of encouraging things have been happening for us to share with you though!

Firstly "A-town" has been a huge blessing. The C community there has welcomed us with open arms and made us feel part of the family. We've spent lots of time fellowship-ing with people, praying with them and chatting though things. Nollaig (Noel's "Arabic" name!) has taken the boys & men surfing lots and I've enjoyed doing a bible study with some of the ladies. Nollaig has survived driving in the city and we've been loving some added freedom of travel. We've been spending lots of time in prayer & Gods word ourselves too. What a great time!!

Secondly, Josephine came to visit! This was such an encouragement for us and makes it much easier to stay for another few weeks as we're not so homesick now :) We had an incredible week seeing the southern parts of the country's most beautiful spots and enjoying each others company. 

Thirdly we've travelled 6 hours north to help at a surf camp for kids from an orphanage run by some like minded people. It's been an amazing time and we'll fill you in soon!

We miss you all and promise to book flights home soon!

Our inspirational friends

Paradise valley

Birdwatching with our guide at The national park

Handcrafted rugs made my local women from used materials. Amazing. 

Things heating up as we drove north

Some of our surf camp team, more pics to come. 

Xx

Week 1 in A-town!

Hi Friends!
We relocated this week to the big smoke! 

We were sad to wave our Irish friends off but so glad to see their happy faces as they headed home to you all. We had a great last couple of weeks which included a trip to the mountain village, a fancy-dress Avengers party, a visit to the swimming pool and a lot of cake. 

Noel's association threw him a big party (please ask Rachel for the videos of Noel singing in Da*ija, very funny!) and Rachel had a party with her English class (those singing videos cannot be shown for legal reasons)

Now that we are in "A-town" we are ready for new things! We are blessed to be able to rent from friends who are out of the country for the summer. Their apartment is about a 15 minute drive from the beach so we hope to be able to enjoy that as much as possible! We have been here 2 days and have gotten to visit with lots of friends so we are thrilled to be able to be a part of a C community here.
There is definitely a culture shock involved in the move, today at the SUPERMARKET! we saw frozen broccoli and things were sold in packets! Weird! 

We are excited about what the next two months hold as we commit ourselves in prayer to the Father. We are seeking Him in relation to our future and for renewed vision as we head home to to our beloved jobs.

Our immediate plans here involve spending time with the C community we've met. But we are also planning to go up the coast to help with a surf camp run for an orphanage in early July. We are very excited about doing this. And we are excited about what else God will put in our path.

Please do keep us in prayer as we get going in our new location. We are praying for safety as we get used to a new neighbourhood and for driving as the only rule here is "Go!". Please also keep praying for those whom we were able to have good conversations with in T. 

We are thinking of and praying for of you all and we miss you a lot so please do keep in touch!! xx

Much love

Noel and Rachel

Chinese whispers at the BBQ

 Avengers Party!

 Reuben teaching us to surf!

 Pool time!!

 Sad goodbyes

I've lost count of the weeks!

Hello brothers and sisters :)
Our final “visa trip” went really well and no problems getting back in. Thank you all for you prayers. We had an amazing few days in Valencia and felt like God was blessing us left, right and centre!

Before we left we also enjoyed an amazing weekend with Charlene and Trev, they were such a joy to have with us. I’m sure they’re still trying to recover form all the late night chats!

Noel is away at the moment with the centre he works with. They have taken about 10 boys aged 12-18 for an overnight trip. Last night they got lost in a forest but they seem to be having fun and at prayer time he was able to share a little bit about his best friend! 

Becky and I are currently watching a movie and eating popcorn. What else would you be doing on a Sunday morning?! There are only 2 weeks left at school and we have a lot of fun to fit in! Please pray that the packing and leaving won’t be too stressful a time for our friends.

We will then move to the city for our remaining two months.

Please pray for this town and against the darkness.

Thanks :)

Pics to follow!

PS We have also, of course, updated www.threemumblingmicetaketwo.blogspot.com ;)

Week 29

We are delighted to have Trev and Charlene arriving this evening :)

This coming week we also must leave the country to renew our visas so we are off to Spain for a few days. Please do think of us that this trip isn't stressful but restful and that reentry won't be any problem.

Also, here are some pictures!

Noel has been helping me to teach English:

Some school fun:

Our BBQ with our friend MCT:

The P team!! :)

Week 28

Week 28

Wow, time flies when you are having new experiences!
There are only six weeks left of school for Rachel and in a way we feel we are still settling in. Everyday we notice something we’ve never seen before! 

Last week we loved having the p team here with some SBC’ers! It was great to catch up, talk to the Father with them and be encouraged. It was also extremely encouraging to see how our Father touched their lives while they were here!

They were able to see the town and to go up to and experience the mountain village where K&R have done work in previous years. They ran a kids craft and games day with K,R and Noel through a local association.


Also last week, Noel was away with the association/ charity he works with. They took 30 something kids on a trip about seven hours up the coast and showed them a really good time. There was lots of singing and drums and laughter. The children at the association are at risk of poverty and homelessness so this was so great for them. 

Looking forward:
All good things must come to an end and we are beginning to think about and get excited about moving to the big city! With temperatures getting up to 50º not much happens in this town over the summer so we are going to relocate for June and July to the coast, about an hour away. We will be renting friend’s of ours apartment as they return to the States for the summer. We have a few other friends from “club” who live there so we will link in with them and see what we can get involved in. There are a boys and a girls home in the city as well as a women’s shelter and an orphanage. Last weekend we went to the big market there and within ten minutes were having tea in one of the shops with the shop keeper, so it shouldn’t be too hard to meet people!

Rachel is looking forward to being involved in a women’s B study and Noel is looking forward to water sports!

But before then:
Please think of us as we finish up our time in Camelot, that we can finish strong.
Noel wants to be able to leave his job well and handover all of his roles there. 
And we both want to be able to fit as much fun as possible into our remaining time with Rachel's students.

We are really enjoying the time we have to spend in His presence and the fact that we need Him so visibly here. We pray for more of this for us and for you :)
PS- If you feel like a laugh check out our school blog www.threemumblingmicetaketwo.blogspot.com

Week 24

Week 24

Hi to all of our friends and family and thanks to all of you who are following our adventure this way, we hugely appreciate your support and thoughts. We also think of you daily and are encouraged just knowing your there and also by all of the amazing things that we hear are happening at the Riasc Centre.

We just passed Paddy’s day in style, like all true Irish who are much more patriotic when not at home. We had the A family over for a party and enjoyed the wonderful company of Tim and Leah Burns! It was a huge blessing to us all to have them here. They filled us in on all the news of home, “talked with us” and literally talked with us lots, oh the joys of company!

It is eleven weeks today until our partner family return to you for good so we have just under three months of school left. Things are going well and we’re really enjoying doing some fun projects these days. All are in good form and as it gets warmer we’re looking forward to the new season.

Encouragements & Answers
We are feeling really encourage and uplifted (although exhausted!) after Tim and Leah’s visit. The visitors we’ve had and will have are a real gift from God. Through the discouraging times, knowing people are coming often keeps us (well me anyway!) going.

Noel’s work is going well and his routine is feeling more settled and manageable. He has also made, yet again, new local friends and has had some great conversations! Please think of these people and ask the Father that these relationships won’t come to nothing but be fruitful, that people will continue to be interested and open.

Rachel and Becky have been at the orphanage once a week and so joyful to be able to shower the babies with love. Rachel was also able to talk in the local school through connections with local teenagers.

We managed to find our next visa trip flights in May for €106 return for 2!

Points for thought
Though the lower times we have recognised the need for immersing ourselves in the Father and his word. This has been a great encouragement but please do think of us and ask that we will be protected from the enemy’s attacks.

Week 21

In our last post we were preparing for our visa trip. Our passports are now stamped and we had no problems :)
It was a long journey (40+ hours travel) for the 50 hours we spent out of the country. We were looking forward to using the trip as an excuse for a much needed break as we were feeling tired and a little sick and run down. However after two 9 hour train journeys, some boats and some busses we arrived back to work even more exhausted! However we did get to see some Monkeys and eat some bacon so no one's complaining!

Luckily mothers can read minds and mine (Rachel's) sent me a surprise for my birthday! My best friend :) We had two full days together to catch up and chat and wander around Camelot and it has lifted both mine and Noel's spirits immensely. Thank you so much mum and Mindy, we are both so grateful!

Some new staff and volunteers have started at the charity Noel works with. This is positive and Noel is helping to train in the new sports teacher. Please pray for ease of communication language wise and for good relationships.


We have visited 2 more schools recently (one for the second time) and have again enjoyed bringing smiles and fun to the kids day.

Please pray that Rachel will be able to bring Becky to visit the local orphanage again (the papers are currently with the director for signature). Visiting the 15 babies who live there is great for Becky’s morale and it is a great privilege to be able to hug and give love to those babies.

Rachel's birthday!

100th day of school!!

Week 16

Hi everyone. We hope you are well! January has been a great month here and we have even felt some renewed warmth in the air recently, we hope you feel some soon too!

Encouragements

In an answer to prayer I have had no hassle for the last few weeks on the streets. I’ve been taking the bike everywhere and it’s made all the difference :) (Thank you Noel for the bike basket!)

We’ve gotten back into language learning and it’s going shweeya b’shweeya (slowly but surely... ish!)

We are generally feeling encouraged and joyful!

We have been visiting schools in the mountains to do crafts with the children and to try to bring them love from above, as well as to encourage the teachers and to get to know them. This has been a highlight for both us and the kids as we get to bring joy to others and have lots of fun.

We’ve had an eventful 2 weeks with two birthdays in our co-workers household (turning 7 and 9 is a very big deal and lasts at least 5 days)! And we were also able to visit the village that they have worked regularly in over the last four years. It was an amazing experience to drive so far off road and meet the beautiful people there, the kids who followed us about and the women who took us in for tea despite one woman living in one small room without a kitchen or bathroom to use. 

Prayer Points

Noel will email our Newsletter with specifics on our friends so keep an eye out for that but do pray for conversations with everyone we meet.

We are leaving the country this weekend briefly to renew our passport stamps. We will be taking the overnight train to the North of the country and hopping across by ferry to the nearest foreign port so please pray that we will be readmitted on Sunday. And also for ease of travel and safety.

Please continue to pray for encouragement for our little team here, for joy, for peace, for protection and for fun :)

Thank you, we love and miss you all and think of you daily.

Please do keep in touch via email, Facebook, Skype, FaceTime, Whatsapp, iMessage or whatever you favourite form of communication is!

My new favourite market for a sunday morning stroll!

Art class still life

In the mountains

Photo intermission...

In the mountains :)