Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord,
I thought today I would provide some information about the students. As westerners we quickly learn our names. Each of knows our first name, our middle name, and our last name (surname). One of the goals of the summer program is to help many of the students learn their names. I know that may sound strange to many of you, but people who live in the community are not always known by their first and last names. For instance, the school cook is known as "um Peter" which is translated "Peter's mom". The guard at the entrance is not known by his name, but by the arabic word for "guard". Many of the students know theirselves as Kevin son of _____ or Maryos son of _____ or Waseem son of _____. They do not know their surname as it is not necessary in the community. Even some of the teachers find the use of their surname odd. So one of the goals of the summer program is to make sure that every person at the school, both student and teacher alike, can say "Here I am" when their first and last name is called.
Also, street names and house numbers is a new concept here. If you ask someone for their address you might get it, you might not. What you will get is perhaps the name of the subdivision where they live or a gas station they live by or a major street that goes by their neighborhood, although some do have what we would call an actual address. The government here is working on this.
Aside from language difference the kids are just like kids anywhere. Most come to school with happy faces. They want to learn. Their parents care deeply about them, so much so that they want the best education for their kid. There is a long waiting list to get into the school because the school offers a quality of education that is different than what is found in other schools.
Since many of you are viewing and studying "In the Dust of the Rabbi" this summer, you will recall from session 2 that Ray gives a teaching of how if you truly want to follow the Rabbi and be His disciple then the Rabbi will prepare you for anything that you might encounter in life. The Rabbi will take you so far away from your comfort zone that you cannot see it anymore. Here in Ankawa it is true that we no longer are able to see our comfort zone, but we also know that the Rabbi is preparing us for unknown adventures in faith that we will encounter on our journey. Kathy and I both agree that we are far from being the disciples that the Lord has called us to be. Being here in Ankawa, and doing the work that we are doing has required us each day to place our trust in the guidance of the Rabbi as we try to follow more closely in His Footsteps. Neither of us believes that we are qualified or competent to do what we are doing, however, both of us recognize that the Rabbi is giving us the strength and the skills and guidance that we need every day. We know that with your continued prayers and the guidance of the Rabbi we will succeed in doing His work here.
Some of you have informed us that you like the pics that we are posting. So here are some pics that we took yesterday, Friday 13th, of a local store at Family Mall called Carrefour. The 1st pic includes an expat from Chicago. Her name is Megan. She will be working at the school full time for the next school year.
We are working on trying to provide an email subscribe button for those of you who want to keep up with all of our postings. Please be patient with us until we get it figured out. And please remember to keep us in your prayers and don't forget to email us with your prayer requests.
Your brother and sister in Christ.
I thought today I would provide some information about the students. As westerners we quickly learn our names. Each of knows our first name, our middle name, and our last name (surname). One of the goals of the summer program is to help many of the students learn their names. I know that may sound strange to many of you, but people who live in the community are not always known by their first and last names. For instance, the school cook is known as "um Peter" which is translated "Peter's mom". The guard at the entrance is not known by his name, but by the arabic word for "guard". Many of the students know theirselves as Kevin son of _____ or Maryos son of _____ or Waseem son of _____. They do not know their surname as it is not necessary in the community. Even some of the teachers find the use of their surname odd. So one of the goals of the summer program is to make sure that every person at the school, both student and teacher alike, can say "Here I am" when their first and last name is called.
Also, street names and house numbers is a new concept here. If you ask someone for their address you might get it, you might not. What you will get is perhaps the name of the subdivision where they live or a gas station they live by or a major street that goes by their neighborhood, although some do have what we would call an actual address. The government here is working on this.
Aside from language difference the kids are just like kids anywhere. Most come to school with happy faces. They want to learn. Their parents care deeply about them, so much so that they want the best education for their kid. There is a long waiting list to get into the school because the school offers a quality of education that is different than what is found in other schools.
Since many of you are viewing and studying "In the Dust of the Rabbi" this summer, you will recall from session 2 that Ray gives a teaching of how if you truly want to follow the Rabbi and be His disciple then the Rabbi will prepare you for anything that you might encounter in life. The Rabbi will take you so far away from your comfort zone that you cannot see it anymore. Here in Ankawa it is true that we no longer are able to see our comfort zone, but we also know that the Rabbi is preparing us for unknown adventures in faith that we will encounter on our journey. Kathy and I both agree that we are far from being the disciples that the Lord has called us to be. Being here in Ankawa, and doing the work that we are doing has required us each day to place our trust in the guidance of the Rabbi as we try to follow more closely in His Footsteps. Neither of us believes that we are qualified or competent to do what we are doing, however, both of us recognize that the Rabbi is giving us the strength and the skills and guidance that we need every day. We know that with your continued prayers and the guidance of the Rabbi we will succeed in doing His work here.
Some of you have informed us that you like the pics that we are posting. So here are some pics that we took yesterday, Friday 13th, of a local store at Family Mall called Carrefour. The 1st pic includes an expat from Chicago. Her name is Megan. She will be working at the school full time for the next school year.
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| Kathy and Megan in front of the assorted nut dept. Kathy was buying bulk almonds. |
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| This is the bulk spice selection on the opposite side of the bulk nut selection. |
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| With the Deli Counter in the lower right, this pic provides a wide shot of the store . |
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| This is a view of the pasty-confectionery section |
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| This is a view of the candy confectionery section |
We are working on trying to provide an email subscribe button for those of you who want to keep up with all of our postings. Please be patient with us until we get it figured out. And please remember to keep us in your prayers and don't forget to email us with your prayer requests.
Your brother and sister in Christ.
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