Welcome to Inside Reach
All six teams have made it safely to their outreach
locations. The following excerpts
are from emails we have received from the teams.
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Thailand Team
Bekah (TL), Bethany, Kimberly, Janessa, Charity,
and Naomi
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The Thailand team is focusing on language study, building
strategic relationships, and is beginning to teach English in a Buddhist
school. They are also becoming involved with several local min-stries.
Bekah writes…
“On Friday it was sports day at the school where we are teaching
English. Naomi and I went over to see what was going on. We got to have a
delicious curry lunch with the teachers and talk about Thailand and the
United States. Then we went out to the school yard and watched the students
play net ball. There were drums going and cheerleaders dancing and an
announcer announcing the progress of the game. The students were divided
under five different colored tents. (In Thailand there is a color for each
day of the week.) After the students finished playing we found out that the
teachers were playing next. Being new teachers at the school they asked us
to play. Naomi had flip flops on and was offered a pair of shoes from one
of the students. She put them on and we were ready to go out to
the court. It was fun to run around and pass the ball with the teachers. I
felt like it was, in a way, our introduction to the school community. When
the game was over we were awarded chocolate medals with our team and
given high-calcium milk as a prize. There were lots of smiles and bowing. As
the Thais say it was sanuk (fun)! I'm
excited about being a part of the school community over the next number of
months!”
Pr-yer requests for the Thailand
team:
·
Pr-y for favor in language
study.
·
Pr-y for us as we teach
English that we will have what it takes and that this will be an open door
to build relationships with students and teachers.
·
Pr-y that each team member
will be able to have a daily time meeting with the Father.
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South Africa Team
Jonathan, Andrew (TL),Kalen, Karen, Meredith, and
Joseph
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The South Africa team is volunteering with a nongovernment
organization as teachers, laborers, children’s aid workers, and office
personnel. They are continuing ministry that began with the last REACH
team. Joseph shares…
“We have been just hanging out a lot lately because of the
holidays but it is good to just relax and enjoy the people we are going to
work with soon. We've been having meals with a number of people here quite
often, so it has been a good way to connect with the locals. We butchered a
pig from the organization on Tuesday and barbecued it on Wednesday night
for a New Years Eve party.
I have done a lot
of work lately in the shop that is run here for just fixing things and
welding and the like. It has been great to get to know Gift, the guy who
sort of runs the shop, and James, the guy in charge of maintenance. He is
really political so we get along great. Also he is a no-nonsense kind of
guy when it comes to work but is a lot of fun to hang out with and play
pool and things when he is not motivated to get
something done.”
Pr-yer Requests for the South
Africa Team:
- Pr-y for us as we adjust to the work areas we will be
in for the remainder of our time here.
- Pr-y that we could be ourselves and get to know people as
we build relationships with them.
- Pr-y that we would find favor with the managers we are
working with and that G-d would bless the work of our hands.
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Kenya Team
Sara, Jeremy, Amanda, Zach & Allyah (TL), and Brittany
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The Kenya team is working in the desert assisting a local ch-rch planter. They are also being a light in the
nearby refugee camp. Zach writes…
“Things here in Lodwar continue to
be very HOT but lots of good things have been happening! Our schedule of min-stry
is starting to come into order a little better so we as a whole are feeling
a lot better about that part of life. This last weekend we got the chance on
Saturday and Sunday to work with a medical clinic that came from the United
States! We went to different villages and displacement camps and helped to
organize all of the people that the doctors were going to try to see. Needless
to say, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing the majority of the time
considering the fact that I don’t know the first thing about medical stuff.
J Even though the days were tiring, it was a very rewarding
experience and we are thankful to G-d for the opportunity.
Last night we had
some excitement back at our house (aka the straw hut) when we found 2 huge
scorpions in Allyah and my hut! I proceeded to
kill the one and helped Benson kill the other. Before you start giving me
too much credit, you should have seen a tape of the entire event, after
which you would realize that I was screaming like a scared little schoolgirl
the majority of the time.J Allyah actually did about as much
as I did, but I was just taking some of the credit.J”
Pr-yer Requests for the Kenya
Team:
- Pr-y for our protection from scorpions and other odd
creatures here.
- Pr-y for our communication with our coordinator.
- Pr-y for our team as we work and interact with the
people here.
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Israel Team
Carla, Derek (TL), Nick, Matt,
Creigh, and Laura
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The Israel team is
spending time building intentional relationships with the many travelers
seeking truth as they tour the holy land. They are also teaching
conversational English. Nick writes…
“Our team has fallen into a very easy rotation and the
schedule is very easy to follow. This week Derek and I were on the trail. Moaz got 10000 fliers printed out for the trail. So we
went to Haifa Tuesday with two of our friends, who I will talk about later,
to distribute fliers in various businesses. We also took four people on the
trail yesterday. I stayed up pretty late New Years eve and then got up
early and walked 12 miles, so today I slept a lot!!! Tomorrow I believe we
will be going to Tiberius to distribute more fliers. Matt and Laura are at
the Fauzi this week and Carla and Creigh are at
Al Mutran.
We have met so
many people while being here. We got to become friends with a guy named
Philip while we stayed at the Fauzi. He had been
volunteering in Ethiopia and we met up with him in Jerusalem and hung out
with him the whole time. While we were in Bethlehem, we met two girls named
Jessy and Melissa and talked with them for a
while, and they ended up coming this week and staying with us for three
days and we got to hang out with them quite a bit. They are volunteering in
Cairo. So we have been able to connect with a lot of people that we can
encourage in only four weeks!! I am very excited to be able to meet so many
more people that we can connect with and have a lot of fun with. We were
able to talk to Dad about Jessy and Melissa and He
did amazing things during through that time.”
Pr-yer Requests for the Israel
Team:
- Pr-y for the violence in and near Gaza.
- Pr-y for the people affected by the violence.
- Pr-y that people would be put in our path that we can
encourage and befriend.
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Madagascar Team
Keith, Matt, Courtney, Erin (TL),
Stacey, and Ryan
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The Madagascar team is partnering with MAF (Mission Aviation
Fellowship). They have spent time building airstrips in the bush, teaching
conversational English, painting, and helping at an orphanage. Courtney
shares…
“Yesterday, there was nothing on our schedule, so we decided
to take the day to go into town and visit the souvenir market, and the
cookie shop. It was going to just be a nice little outing, but it ended up
being quite a mission. First of all, anytime we decide to go into town, it
takes awhile to get there because we have to take the taxi bus. But we're
getting used to squishing in those anyway, so that wasn't that big of a
deal. We get to the souvenir market just fine. It was very cool actually. There
was tons of stuff there of about anything you could imagine for really,
really cheap. We discovered that the trick to getting the price you want
when bargaining is just walk away. When you do that, they usually give in
and lower the price to what you wanted. Very helpful to know actually. Anyway,
after the souvenir market we decided to go to the Cookie Shop which is just
like a little cafe type thing. However, we didn't actually know how to get
there, but Colin (another volunteer from MAF who is our neighbor) thought
he could figure it out. No problem right? Wrong. We walked around
aimlessly for probably an hour in the heat, not having any idea which
direction to go or how to get there. We asked a lady for directions who at
first seemed to know where to go, but she was really no help at all and
maybe made us get more lost actually. However, we
did finally make it, and the place was definitely worth the walk it took to
get there. After that we browsed through the Chinese market but none of us
really had any money left so we didn't spend a lot of time there. So we
decide to go home, but our next problem is trying to find the bus stop that
will take us home. Needless to say, after another 20 minutes of walking
around looking lost, we eventually got on a bus a got home. All in all, it
was a long day, but definitely a good experience.”
Pr-yer Requests for the Madagascar
Team:
- Pr-y for good time management.
- Pr-y for improved communication within the team and
with people we are trying to reach.
- Pr-y for the ability to pick up more the language.
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Southeast Asia Team
Andrea (TL), Justin, Josh, and Alicia
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The Southeast Asia team is learning the language and
partnering with an organization to teach English, do library work, and
build relationships with young adults. Josh writes…
“Yesterday we went to a garden with an English class and all
of us were split up into four groups. We were told that we would have 15,
but I counted and had 25 kids. Not kids, but college students our age 18
and 19. Most of them knew very little English.
We talk to daddy
about some new friends to hang out with. That week Andrea found someone,
then on Friday, we had English club here at the organization, and we talked
about what we liked. I said basketball. Then this other guy said
basketball. So after the whole thing was over, we got each other’s phone
numbers and now we are playing basketball in the morning (Monday at 7 am). Daddy
really does answer us.”
Pr-yer Requests for the Southeast
Asia Team:
- Pr-y for the team as they make more friends.
- Pr-y for a safe trip to Singapore for the team as they
renew visas this week.
- Pr-y for good team bonding and relationships.
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