It’s only been two short months, but they have been jam-packed with adventure! Let me fill you in:
School started off with a bang. My students hit the books hard as we focus this year on meeting more advanced Grammar and Writing standards. My workload is a bit lighter this year since I’m only teaching three classes instead of four (AP Psychology is an every-other-year class). It’s been a flexible quarter for my students. I’ve missed three weeks of school, I had a student arrive three weeks late, and we’ve already had to cancel school once due to blockades and protests in the streets. That being said, the kiddos have buckled down and worked really hard to make-up for all the craziness.
Youth Group has gone through some changes as well. Our theme this year is: What are you waiting for? The goal is to encourage and inspire the kiddos to create change in their communities, starting with the school, then the churches, then the city. They have some awesome ideas for outreach activities including: making care packages for people to have in their cars and hand out to people in need, offering tutoring classes to youth in their communities, and doing activities with kids in orphanages or on the street. We are excited to help facilitate their ministry ideas. As we sat around a table drinking hot chocolate at our Youth Group Kick-Off Retreat, hearing them express a desire to reach youth their age and help kids in need was genuinely heartwarming. My youth leader heart was so full. Those conversations helped the kids bond, and the retreat itself was a huge success full of color wars, late-night spooky stories, and lots of coffee, per usual.
(CLICK THROUGH TO SEE YOUTH GROUP PICTURES)
At the end of September (literally the day after Youth Group Retreat), I was in Pennsylvania for a conference on MK Care.
People from different countries, different mission organizations, and different ministries came together to discuss how to best help Missionary Kids and Third Culture Kids. There were breakout sessions on everything from Managing Mobility to Counseling Adult TCKs. The Oaxaca Christian School principal and I were able to divide and conquer, attending just about every applicable breakout. It was so amazing to see how many people are investing their lives into caring for MKs; caring for kids like me. It was inspiring to see how many TCKs had returned to the field and invested in the next generation. It was encouraging to see mission organizations team up to share info on how to best provide that care. We left the conference feeling blessed, overwhelmed by the responsibility of caring for such unique and wonderful kiddos, and motivated to care for them. While in Pennsylvania I also got to touch base with some MKs from my childhood, connect with people who poured into my life when I was a youth, and even get a small taste of fall (something we don’t get at all in Oaxaca). We returned to Oaxaca, excited to put into practice what we learned and pour into the TCKs here with new knowledge and insight.
A week later, I was on another airplane, this time headed to Colombia. My mom, Christa (a Women’s Project teammate and dear friend), and I traveled to Bogota and Medellin to train pastors and church leaders in Trauma Healing. Three years ago I took a course on this subject out of curiosity. Here we are now, training others around us! It was an amazing trip. We worked really hard, even doing 12-hour-days of conferences, but it was so worth it. We met people working with kids in drug addiction, pastors working with Venezuelan refugees, and teachers working with child soldiers and abused children. We were so happy to share helpful tools with them, but equally as importantly, to pray together and listen to their own over-burdened hearts. In Medellin we had the opportunity to meet a woman who has a ministry much like our own Girasol ministry in Oaxaca. She works with women in prostitution, acquiring jobs for them after training them and teaching them in sewing and design. It was so encouraging to hear her story, how God called her to do this thing so out of her comfort zone, and how He guided and provided so that many forgotten women could hear about His love. It is uplifting to know that there are other people in the world doing what we are doing, hurting for those we hurt for, and praying fervently that these women would know God’s love. I feel so blessed to have met so many wonderful people, and my heart belongs a little bit to Colombia now, too.
(CLICK THROUGH TO SEE COLOMBIA PICTURES)
At Girasol this month we had cause for celebration. One of the girls who has been spending a lot of time with us took a big step forward. When we first met her, she said her dream was to sell skincare products. She was saving as much money as she could to make that dream happen. I am happy to announce that Christa and I were her very first customers as she sold us hair and skincare things!
She is still working downtown, but it felt like a big step towards a change in her life. She was so proud of herself, and she glowed as we thumbed through the catalog and smelled samples of creams and such. It was a genuinely wonderful moment. On a sadder note, one of our other dear friends that works downtown lost her mom this month. She has no hope, so she is going through a really difficult time. Keep her in your prayers, please.
I couldn’t have left for so many weeks without knowing that the amazing team-members I have in Oaxaca were going to do an amazing job in my absence. The youth leaders did an outreach at school. The Girasol team continued to visit the women downtown, including a doctor’s visit, manicures, meals, and more. Parents and teachers from OCS were generous enough to cover my classes, even the AP one! My incredible roommate made sure I didn't starve as I tried not to drown in paperwork, she made sure I had time to do laundry between each trip, and she held down the fort with Youth Group and miscellaneous jobs. I’m so grateful for each and every one of them. And now I’m back. After catching up on mountains of papers to grade and schoolwork, and after assuring my students that I’m really back and bribing them with Colombian candy, I’m ready to tackle the next quarter of school, youth group, and activities for Girasol.
Here are some prayer requests:
-Dengue has hit Oaxaca pretty hard this year. There are many cases of Dengue, including people from our school. Pray that these people find healing and care and that those of us that are healthy remain healthy.
-I am in desperate need of a car. There are days when I head downtown for Girasol multiple times in said day, with a trip to school in between. I can spend up to four hours on a bus to make that happen. Please pray that God provides a vehicle. If you would like to donate financially to help, please contact me!
-Pray for endurance, patience, and energy as we hit the halfway point of this semester. The days are getting a bit colder (and our classrooms are getting much colder), so pray for health and warmth. It’s hard to think about Emerson’s essays when we are super cold.
Thank you, dear friends and encouragers.
Till next time,
-Ruth