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 :)

Week 14...

Happy New Year to you all! We hope you are enjoying 2013 so far!

A great Christmas was had by all down here, made extra special and festive with my mum’s visit! We made as much traditional Irish food as we could find and enjoyed celebrating with other club friends in the city. It was lovely to wander the city as a tourist with mum and to generally be encouraged by her presence.

Encouragements:
We got warm clothes from Ireland! This week the temperature at night is the same as Ireland’s so we’re a bit chilly as it is also that temperature indoors for us!

School is going well. Noel’s work at the centre is also going well. THANK YOU all for your prayers!

We are visiting a new school in the mountains next week to do crafts with the 45 children who attend. We love getting to bring joy to these kids!

Noel: I’ve managed to blag my way into training at the stadium with the local football team. Its not the Aviva stadium or anything but it is a full size pitch that “ ACTUALLY” has grass. Training with this team allows me meet and mix with a full squad of 28 players plus staff / mentors / supporters etc.

My (Rachel's) “youth group” took me for a tour of the city this week! They’re great girls. Please pray that with the lack of language I will have an opportunity to share the good new with them.

I got a new iPhone. This seems trivial but I have been so lost without it for contacting people at home and for school work. I am so, so delighted and so, so, so grateful for those who gifted me with this huge blessing. You are amazing.

Points for your thought:
I am struggling with the hassle I get in the streets. Please pray that I will not let it get to me and that it will get less and less with time.

Language learning is going so-so at the moment as we get back into it after the Christmas break. Please pray for motivation!

General exasperation! We’ve had several “bad luck” situations with our house, from the water to the boiler to the electricity to the noise pollution. And getting assistance is hard because time and appointments mean very little here. Pray that we won’t let the little things get to us!

No January blues please! With the many frustrations and generally missing all of you, please pray that we won’t get down :)

Noel's b-day picnic @ 7,000 ft

Christmas in our courtyard

My missing limb returned!

       Christmassing in the City!

Adventure Club with Noel!