Panama: Another Adventure!

I have the wonderful privilege of working in the Missions department of a church that values true transformation. In the past almost four years (!) that I have been at Southeast Christian Church, I have grown in my knowledge and understanding of the work that it takes to "pull off" a short-term mission trip, as well as to build healthy relationships with missions partners all over the world. 

Another aspect of my job has been to learn what a healthy, solid missions partner looks like. I have seen how many non-profit organizations there are "out there" and most of them are not solid enough that I would support them financially, nor is their program strong enough that I'd want to send teams to come alongside them to help fulfill their long-term goals. In one word, I've developed more discernment. I have learned that well-meaning and well-intended organizations can often cause more harm than good by creating dependency. And I've learned that truly healthy missions partners work to give the native peoples all the tools they need to succeed, in short, to work the 'foreign missionary' out of a job. With that lens, I have become more critical (in a good way, I think) of potential mission partners, and I've become even more appreciative of those partners that have a healthy program.

One of those missions partners that we do love and fully support at Southeast is David's Well (La Fuente de David), at work in the country of Panama. The past few years I've helped get so many teams ready to head south to help this organization - healthcare teams with doctors, RNs, dentists and non-medical assistants, construction teams full of people who come alongside Panamanian construction workers to assist them in building homes, schools, churches, etc, and even our first youth team last year that was such a smashing success. It's been so good and so rewarding. Of all the missions partners we've had as long as I've been on staff, David's Well has been one of the most stable and consistent in being a good investment - always. They are about the business of equipping, empowering, and releasing the people they are reaching, the Ngöbe Indians, to their full God-given potential. They are unabashed about their ultimate goal: to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Along the way, they provide healthcare, build schools & churches, and ultimately show the people of Panama the love of Jesus in tangible ways.

But now... I get to go! I'm so excited. My boss, Steve, has asked that I go with the healthcare team that will be heading out next month, and I'm truly looking forward to it. I will be a lowly gopher (yay!), helping in the 'pharmacy' as we hand out the medicines that the docs prescribe. I can't wait to be part of this trip. I hear the insects and rodents are huge (lovely.), it's incredibly hot and humid, that it's remarkably similar to the backpacking/camping Jo and I already do, and that it changes you from the inside out. I'm so ready!

The trip is January 17-25, 2013, and I'm just getting ready to go. Please be praying for me, for the team, and for the Ngöbe Indians in Panama whom we are going to serve. Pray for our health, for all the traveling that we will be doing, for God to move mightily in their midst. If you want to help me get a few things I need for the trip, feel free to support me here.

For an overview of the ministry of David's Well, check out this video!

Doggie Training (again)

I cannot believe it, but it has been two and a half years since we bought Eu-mi. She is almost 3 years old (her birthday is December 14th)! When I look back, I can remember her as a tiny 8-week old pup. I can remember waking up two or three times during the night to take her out to potty. I remember boiling water in the middle of the night to put it in a Nalgene bottle and then stuffing that bottle in an unwashed undershirt of mine that would go in her crate with her. Why, you ask? It would calm her down enough to sleep alone, after just being yanked from the comfort and familiarity of her litter. Oh, the things we would do!

The list could go on and on. Teaching her to potty outside. Teaching her to sit and wait until we commanded her that she could eat. Teaching her to lay down. Teaching her not to bark... no matter how much she may want to. Teaching her to be good in the bathtub. And teaching her to get in her crate at night and not whine, moan, yelp even though she may want to get out.

Fat little dog! Eating her nummies!

Her first bath!

Snuggling in her blanket (~ 10 mos. old)

At the park (~10 mos. old)

Fast-forward a few years. Eu-mi has settled down a bit more. She's still rambunctious (don't get me wrong!), but she's not quite as crazy as she used to be. She knows the rules of the home, and - for the most part - she behaves herself. I do believe she's gotten a little lazy....

Well, since we are going to Virginia for two weeks over Christmas and New Years, we decided that it would be cheaper and far less scarring than boarding Eu-mi to bring her along with us on the plane. So we looked on AirTran's website and found out what was allowed. Then we went to the store and bought a pet carrier that is airline-approved.

Now we are using every means we can to help Eu-mi adjust to the traveling carrier, so that she's ready for the challenge in a few months. 

Our goal: for Eu-mi to successfully manage the long flights without  1) hurting herself, 2) having an accident, 3) annoying us, or 4) annoying the other passengers on the flights. 

Our plan of action:  TREATS! We are shamelessly bribing our dog to get in the crate, to be closed inside the crate, to be carried in the crate around the house. The crate is in the living room, and we are going to make it part of Eu-mi's every day experience from now until the day we pack her up. We have also contacted the vet to find out what she recommends for pet travel.

The Ultimate Test: The mall. Or some other such place that will be similar to an airport terminal. 

Please pray for us! And for Eu-mi! As I said earlier, she has gotten a little lazy, so a little training will probably be good for her (and for us). Don't want to get rusty, do we? We'll let you know how it goes...

Prayer Request

On Thanksgiving morning Jody went to play some football with people at our church. I was away in Virginia for a few days, so I encouraged him to hang out with people as much as possible so he didn't feel lonely (at least when he had time to spare from do school assignments). Well, lo and behold, he goes all out, tackles and tries to catch crazy passes.... and somewhere along the line hurt his finger trying to catch a pass from TJ - our pastor and one of Jody's seminary mentors. Of course.

His right ring finger - at the joint closest to the finger nail - was swollen, red, bruised and refused to straighten up. I am so thankful for insurance, but sad we have to use it. He went to the doctor and got some x-rays done. From the top it looks fine. From the side, you can see that a corner edge of bone has chipped off and is floating above the rest of his finger. Today he goes to see an orthopedic. Please pray for God to heal Jody.

But my real prayer request is that God would completely heal Jody all over. In the past year since we have returned to the States, he has hurt his knee twice, his shoulder, and his foot. And now his finger. Since we didn't have insurance, we didn't get any of those injuries prior to this finger checked out, so we don't really know what happened to them. Really, I am just praying that God completely heals him and that these injuries stop!

I am thankful we serve a God who heals. Many claim that the God of the Bible no longer works miracles today, but I love being able to say that I have seen Him work miraculously in my life and in my childhood growing up. I love that His Word says , "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13,8) and that we are called to "Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits- who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's" (Psalm 103, 1-5).

The same unchanging God, who raised Jesus from the dead is more than able to handle our fragile bodies. I am so thankful for that assurance, and my faith remains in the Lord - no matter what happens.

Please join me in praying for God to bring complete healing to Jody's body.

a prayer request

on tuesday i received an email from my mom with the sad news that my grandmother henrietta clementson (more affectionately known as grandma etta) has a 5.5cm mass in the upper right lobe of her lungs. it is spreading and is terminal. the doctors have given her weeks, perhaps months to live. her four children are in agreement (along with grandma etta herself) that there will not be any more invasive surgeries or treatments. she has returned to her home and will receive hospice care.

i have known that in the past 18-20 months grandma etta's health has been deteriorating, but i have been absent for the majority of the time. therefore, this news comes as quite a shock to me, and i am truly grieving the loss that i know is to come all too soon. grandma etta has been a powerful, godly influence on my life, not to mention the lives of hundreds of people - in our family and throughout christian circles in virginia. she has been a spiritual powerhouse of faith and devotion to the Lord since she became a christian about 40 years ago. i cannot imagine what life will be like without her, though i know she is eager and ready to meet her Savior, and has been for some time.

with this news, i am considering making a short trip home. my cousin elizabeth gets married on june 21st, and her wedding would provide the wonderful opportunity to be with my family and to see etta. please pray for me to make the right decision. i am not sure what i should do. what is best for everyone in this situation? will i regret not going home ten years from now? so, i ask for prayers in this difficult time - prayers for my grandmother, prayers for my whole family, prayers for the doctors, and prayers for me.

my brother luke, escorting etta to her seat, at my wedding
isn't she brilliant?

dear friends,

i just wanted to ask for prayer as i try to make plans for germany this christmas, as well as big decisions regarding the Lord's calling in missions.

please pray for clarity, peace, and confirmation. i am fighting for that 'rest' that hebrews 4 talks about, as well as the easy yoke/light burden Jesus promises in matthew 11.

your prayers are coveted. i bless you and thank you for your support.

love,
ruth

....random love....

tomorrow, my children tell me, is "White Day." apparently here in korea, on valentine's day the girls are supposed to give gifts to the boys, and the reverse occurs on white day. if that's true, then tomorrow is really the big day. lol. somehow, a month after valentine's day i am finding this out. now some of my children's journal entries are making more sense! ahaha. the above was a gift from john, whose mom would be crowned PTA mom of the year back in the states. 

if you cannot read the card, it says, "You are my Star. I love you so much. I'll always with you, anytime. you looK sO beauTiful" AHAHA. i love konglish (korean english). on the inside, john writes, "Happy white day! I love teacher. -John-"

and in my step 3 class, jackie (who is always talking about looking and seeing "handsome boy") said she got two pieces of candy from cute boys in her new middle school. i told her i was happy for her. LOOLOLOL. 
 

i only found out last week that john and amy 2 are cousins. i taught amy 2 for a little bit before she moved back to gina's class. she is such a sweetie.

oh.. UPDATE: as i am only teaching one younger kids' class now, i have lost amy 1, danny, and andy from my first class - the extremely intelligent ones. the loss of that class has actually been quite a relief to mrs. kim and myself, and today i was marveling on the fact that i have pretty much retained the 6 children i started out with from the beginning (plus heidi, who radiates the life and love of Jesus even at the age of 7). 

PRAYER REQUESTS for the little ones: caleb has been more defiant and inattentive lately. i don't know why. please pray for him. i fear the pride and arrogance he shows is closing his ears and his heart. he's shutting me out. also, wendy and heidi have joined the 2nd class, and now the whole class is WILD and CRAZY. i haven't figured out what has triggered this, but it has almost become impossible for the class to progress; each student clamors for my undivided attention and i'm barely able to keep them in their seats! ridiculousness!! pray for PEACE and a flow in the class, so i can begin teaching them effectively.
 

last week i received a surprising and amazingly encouraging package from a friend back home. i laughed out loud, marveling at 1) how amazing the friends are God has given me, and 2) how well they know me. trinkschokolade, brezen-sterne (hot chocolate, chocolate-covered spice cakes), mascara, and best of all... a letter and pictures.

and here are my new running shoes. i'm so STOKED about them. thank you, mutti. i am using them a lot. and now i am realizing that as my workout clothes wear out, it is soon time to bite the bullet and invest in some new good workout clothes. i'm steeling myself now to make the purchases that will need to made sooner or later. pray for some good deals!

and this, my friends, is a korean character. i don't know his name or anything about him, but he's a gift from my friend lauren. and my microphone, too. cute little thing, isn't it? and i've decided to bequeath my speakers to esther when i leave, now that she's got her own little apartment. besides, she's the musician, and she helped me buy them in the first place. :)

just last night emily lent me a book The Geography of Thought. it is by Richard Nisbett, an american psychologist, who proposes using research and experimental findings that asians and westerners have fundamentally different thought patterns, and he explains why that is the case. i'm still in chapter 1, so i am curious to learn and possibly test his theories in my classroom. my children may not be korean adults with decisive thought patterns, but they are nonetheless immersed in a homogenously asian culture.

on another note, today was the first day for my intermediate level class. i had 7 students, jason from before and alex from my step 3 class included. they were great. hesitant yet eager, unsure yet desirous to please, shy yet excited. i look forward to developing a class that will bridge the gap between the Oxford Story Readers curriculum taught by korean teachers and the advanced level of the step 3 program, where advanced speaking, reading, and analysis occurs. i need wisdom in developing a whole new curriculum for them, based on the materials available at ERC. largely, the success of the transition from the korean classes to step 3 is dependent on my fleshing out this class' curriculum... SOO.. please pray it is a success; that my students would charge fearlessly ahead.. and that the Lord would anoint my teaching.

"Indeed, you are my light, O LORD, the Lord lightens my darkness. By you I can crush a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. This God - his way is perfect; the promise of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all who take refuge in him." ~ 2 samuel 22, 29-31

Stay in touch, my friends!

p.s. the temperature decided to drop 20 degrees in a few days. this morning it was snowing on my way to the Y.

The Suji YMCA

let me tell you just a little about the YMCA fitness center i go to. after i turn in my card in exchange for an expandable red rubber bracelet with a key on it, i start walking up the stairs. as i do, i start to feel the floor vibrating beneath my feet. the techno music gets louder and louder as i get closer. i put my things in one of the unlocked lockers, since for the life of me i cannot figure out how to use the key they give me to unlock the numbered locker assigned to me. as i walk into the fitness room i am greeted by 1980s-looking posters of the world champion strongest women. now these women are not nicely toned representatives of the gentler sex. on the contrary, these females are jacked. to make it worse, they're only wearing bikinis to accentuate every muscle that exists in their bodies. i've rarely seen anything more hideous in my life. as i get on the bike, i can't believe my ears... i hear "ice ice baby.." and then right afterwards i hear bonnie tyler: "i need a hero / i'm holding out for a hero 'til the end of the night..." apparently the YMCA likes to blare the oddest assortment of techno, korean pop, and american music to "pep" us up while we're sweating up a storm. after biking or running i take some small weights to a nearby room..... ahhhhh. it's quiet. i can stretch and do lunges or whatever in peace. lol. 

1:00pm

so rarely do i have little to say. today is one of those rare days, so i thought i'd better force myself to sit down and write something. there's a lot going on in my head.

kelsie has officially decided to return home to alaska. when i talked to laura last night i found out that she also will be returning home to wisconsin for good. i'm really sad they won't be staying, but i know they both haven't had full assurance that this is where they were supposed to be. i am especially glad for laura's sake that she finally has peace about her decision- she was going back and forth for a couple of weeks. now i feel quite strongly that i need to support them in prayer their last 3 weeks here. their school has not received them or treated them as warmly as mine, so they are in an awkward place until their departure. 

i have had my own small cross the bear - in the form of a 7 year old boy named andy and his mother. andy joined my 1st class two weeks ago, and i confess it has been a true challenge for me to love him. his voice is so shrill that it pains me (and the other kids) to listen to him, he allows nothing to satisfy him, and he is incredibly sensitive. he cries and runs out the door shouting "ama" (mom) at the slightest measure of discomfort. more than anything i feel sorry for him, because he is an only child, and while he is more than qualified academically to be in my class, his emotional instability is that of a child 3 years younger than him. to make it worse, his mom is an incredibly "attentive" mother. she hovers over him with great concern and peers through the window into my class for several minutes while class begins. when he runs to her, he bawls out the situation to her and has her speak to the other children in my class. the way he is constantly asking her to remedy every "injustice" is incredibly embarrassing to me. this situation has touched a nerve in my heart, because i wrestle with parents who allow themselves to be at the mercy of their children's every whim and fancy, rather than disciplining them consistently with a firm but loving hand. the past few days i have begun praying for them, asking the Lord to fill my heart with love and compassion that i might be the hand of Jesus to them.... rather than telling his mom what is in my heart: that she's crippling her son for life and that what he really needs is a darn good spanking. arrrrrgggggghhhh! (Oh Jesus, give me Your eyes to see.)

my roommate lindsey sent me a small package with 2 dvds and 2 books. (thank you lindsey!) the movies are for my kids, the books are for me. :) i read one of the books until 3:45am this morning. what was i thinking?!?! i used to do that when i was a student, and i totally paid for it the next day at school. i guess i have not learned my lesson. :))))

"Mrs. Ruth"

Here I am - as Esther says - looking like a professor. It's actually just the best way I've found to look halfway decent in about 2 seconds. (Pull the damp hair up and stick 10 little clips in it). 

Mrs. Kim bought 10 Berenstein Bear books to help with Amy and Danny in my 1st class, since they are more advanced than the Little Critter books. I'm still having to come up with creative ways to challenge them and help them to improve their English in a way that is not monotonous. Please pray that Jesus guides my every step and helps me to be a great teacher to these precious little ones!

Miss Yun

I am sorry I have not been able to show you a picture of Miss Yun sooner. She is another teacher here at ERC - about 27 years old and one of the skinniest women I have ever met. LOL. Most of her students are the little ones, and from what I understand she has a very effective way of teaching them. The weird thing is she doesn't speak English very well. When I try to talk with her, she clams up. She's SO sweet and kind, but our friendship is slower in developing.... only as she is willing to step out with her English. Still, I really like her and believe that by the end of the year we will be good friends. 

Pray for our friendship, would you?