Pohnpei Musings

WWU's school newspaper, the Collegian, is running a feature next week on Student Missions.  We asked students to answer some FAQs about being an SM.  This response is from Tracy, who is currently teaching in Pohnpei.  

The Pohnpei missionaries: Tracy is in the purple shirt second from right.

 

1.  What has surprised you most about being a student missionary?
 

What I learn about my own cultured, while learning about theirs.

2. What is challenging about being a student missionary?

Everything! Grading, teaching, living!

3. What has helped you overcome these challenges?

I know we hear it all the time, but praying and reading my bible. But it is also absolutely necessary to talk to people more experienced then you as well!
 

4. Where have you seen God working in your experience there?
 

In my students, island family, the principle's family, the church and the other SMs!
 

5. Why did you want to be a student missionary?
 

Many reasons: mostly because I felt God had lead me to the point I was at, showing me that yes he did want me to go.
 

6. What do you miss the most about home?
 

Food, people and spending those quiet moments with my family.
 

7. What is the purpose of a student missionary, to you?
 

To share your experience of being with God.
 

8. Do you feel you have made a difference in the lives of those around you in your mission post? (For returned 

SMs, where do you see you made the greatest difference?)
 

Yes though some days it is hard to see how. Somehow God uses me though even through my imperfections.
 

9. Does the world still need student missionaries? If so, why?
 

Of Course! It is good to have younger people serving.

Shame On Me

Sarah Wart served as a Student Missionary in Comayagua, Honduras fall of 2011 to summer of 2012.

  

Yes, it is true. I have been very bad about posting these last few weeks. I guess not much has happened that is different from before. I returned back to Honduras after a week home with renewed hope for the second half of my 10 month stay. Honestly, I was glad to be back. I really do like Honduras...it's just teaching that sometimes makes me second guess my choice.

Naomi (my second grader) won first place at the 'festival de cancion"

School started back in full swing three weeks ago and we all plunged right back into the thick of it. The start of school brought with it stress, worry, and frustration, but also something new...confidence and even enjoyment mixed with a little humor. I can already tell that these last 5 months (almost 4 now) are going to go by so fast. We have already had another set of parent teacher meetings and a singing concert for the students.
I'm growing as a teacher. New ideas are always entering my mind. I try to find fun and easy ways in which to teach my students all about gravity, motion, the story of Noah and the Ark, and life skills like sharing, listening, and respecting people. I am starting to feel that these life skills are much more important than the topics at hand. I don't just want to leave my students with a little bit of knowledge to help them with their next year of school. No, I want to leave them with a new character, a better character, one that will improve their lives and, inadvertently, the lives of others.
I am trying to build deeper relationships with my students in 11th and 8th grade, as well as my 2nd graders, before my time here comes to an end. Having relationships with the students here helps me feel like I'm actually a part of something. Some days I lose sight of my purpose and have to really think and pray in order to get back on track. God is amazing though. He always brings little things to my attention that speak to me and remind me that I'm not only here for me; I'm here for them and for God. I hope to keep you better posted as the weeks become fewer in number. Sadly, my camera is acting up so I am relying on others for photos. Blessings.

Reposted from Sarah's blog,   http://wartster-in-honduras.blogspot.com/

It Just Doesn't Feel Right...

 

Tanzi is currently serving as a Student Missionary in Nairobi, Africa.  

It’s Christmas time and it doesn’t feel right. It doesn’t even seem like we should be near December at all. I wear short sleeves and flip flops, my watch tan is increasingly vibrant, and my family isn’t anywhere near. This summer seems to never end (this isn’t really a bad thing) and when I hear Christmas music my heart seems “two sizes too small”; I just can’t seem to muster up the festivity. When I see our homemade snowflakes in the windows they seem like they are leftover decorations from months ago that no one bothered to take down. Even the anticipation for Christmas break feels more like the cravings just before summer break starts.

Some have said that the holidays are one of the hardest times of the year for SMs. My stubborn side of me testifies that this is not true. I have an amazing support system back in the States and everyone here is exceptional. I have everything I really need and my life here is nearly like walking through the “wardrobe in the spar-ooom”. I know I’m not homesick, but I do miss some things. That’s allowed, right? I miss the freezing cold, breath-seeing nights when wearing scarves and gloves are a must, I miss the Christmas lights hung up everywhere and all the holiday decorations, I miss the crisp clean mornings and all the holiday festivities (tree-lightings, cookie bakings, Victorian Christmases, and even the sweaters), but most of all I miss venturing to see my family. Today when I went into town I heard Christmas music for the first time that I hadn’t actually turned on and I realized for a split second that it is actually Christmas time here in Kenya. The feeling was so uncomfortable and I quickly left Nakumatt. It didn’t seem right.

Maybe break will make things more right for me; I’m a little drained, especially since I’ve been teaching for four straight months. However, I love my kids so much and I know that in two days I will miss them dearly, but I’m ready for a break. Along with mentally being able to refresh over the holiday, there is the freedom that will come too. Freedom to make my own food, freedom to just walk into town and get up when I want, freedom to not spend my nights in the computer lab, and freedom to just do “something exciting I guess.” I need this break, but I hope that somehow it will start feeling more like Christmas. I know it won’t be the same by far, but I do have things to look forward to and I’m still having a blast soaking up Kenya.

Post Reprinted from Tanzi's blog,  http://tanzinkenya.tumblr.com/

Daniel

Katie is currently serving as an SM at Maxwell Adventist Academy in Nairobi, Kenya.

Meet Daniel, my second grade African Soul twin.

Alright, so I know we shouldn’t have favorites and I really do love all of my children, but I can’t lie, there is a special place in my heart for this kid.

Daniel is crazy, energetic, unfocused, talkative and a whole lot like what I imagine myself to have been at his age. I remember standing in my parent’s bathroom as a child practicing contorting my faces into all sorts of strange looks, thinking that if I didn’t do this my face would be stuck in one position forever. Not a day goes by where Daniel does not bust out one of his adorably ridiculous faces. Daniel is not in my homeroom, I only teach him Social Studies and math but those eighty minutes of joy a day are some of my favorites.

Last night, at the Christmas concert as the 2^nd-8^th graders got up to perform two songs, I made my way to the front row to take pictures. As I sat down, Daniel gave me a look that signaled a mix of terror and embarrassment as if he was thinking “NO! Put the camera down! Don’t do it!” as his eyes bugged out of his head. I lost it; I started laughing and did not stop until their two songs were over. Every time I looked at him during that performance it started all over again, he was trying so hard to hold it together and doing a much better job at it than me. I found him after the program and told him he did a good job and that he made me laugh and I couldn't stop, “I know” he said “I was afraid to laugh with you.”

This is the child who always somehow gets hit in the head at recess by a passing swing or trampled two seconds into running laps in PE, the one who cheers for pictures of bugs in his book and pretends to be snoring during Social Studies.

About a week ago, Daniel got detention two days in a row (sometimes he has a hard time focusing), for detention in the elementary they have to do all the after school chores, a very effective punishment. Well, on his second day I came in and saw him once again filing everyone’s papers and said “Daniel, why are you always in detention?”

 “I don’t know” he replied.

 “You don’t know? Well, are your parents happy about this?”

“I don’t tell them! They like to be happy.”

One of the classes I teach Daniel is math. When everyone else is busy at work on their homework, Daniel is still only half way through the subtraction problem on number one. I know he knows how to do the work but he is too busy singing and talking to himself that he just can’t get anywhere. Sometimes I have him come up to my desk and make him do a few so I can watch his steps…

“Alright Daniel what is the next step?”
“I add the ones, the 9 and the 7.”

“ok, and what does that equal?”

“6..”

I give him a knowing look and he makes a face.

“teen” he adds a few seconds later, grinning ear to ear knowing for a second I thought he got it wrong.

Anyone who knows Daniel would know that there is just something wonderful about him. His happiness is contagious. There have been days where I just wanted to do anything but explain to the second graders what the constitution is or force our way through another story problem. But then Daniel tells me that Mother Nature is George Washington’s wife, and all is right with the world.

As this year continues I have to remind myself to take a moment to smile, relax and enjoy these children and this job. I want to maintain or find some of Daniels joy and spunk, his uninhibited love for life.

 I always wondered if there would be kids who would just steal my heart, ones that I seriously considered putting in my suitcase to take home with me kinda kids. Turns out his name is Daniel and he has stolen my heart.   

Through Foggy Walls Into Sunshine

by Karalee Rhuman
Costa Rica

Where do I begin?

This week has been phenomenal, and I am SO grateful for such a blessed week.

There was only one time this week, that wasn’t so good, but because of that moment, my day and week was ultimately better. It was Thursday morning, I woke up and walked into our kitchen, hungry and in search of breakfast, but before I reached the door, I saw the evidence of another break in on the ground. Wrappers, banana peels, were in a heap in front of the half cracked open door. I walked inside and found all of our contents once nicely arranged on the small counter, in a disheveled mess on the floor. The lid to the sugar container had been opened, and the remaining contents spilled all over the ground. Our oatmeal, salt, pepper, cocoa, pumpkins, spices, plantains, were all on the floor bitten open and ruined. To say I was furious would be an understatement. Unsure of where to begin, I walked past the pile of food and began doing the dishes in the sink. Immediately after, Rachel showed up, followed by Bianca. The kids that arrive at the school half an hour early everyday decided to join us, in our 4 ft kitchen space. Their loud, annoying voices are not appreciated that early in the morning… especially on top of a morning like THAT. That is one horrible reason for living at the school, you can never just "get away" and have your own space. Kids follow you home.

We went to our teacher meeting at 7:45. Yet again (like every morning), we were interrupted by one of the kids, wanting to ask a not-important-could-definitely-wait- ten-minutes-question. But of course, no one here sees the same way I do, and an interruption routinely everyday in the middle of a conversation is not even given a second thought. I on the other hand, am completely sick of the disrespect shown by the students. It’s not that they’re intentionally trying to be disrespectful, it’s just that they are allowed to do the things they do, and it’s come to be all that they know. They just need a few more rules and boundaries to show the teachers the respect they deserve.

After our meeting, we began Bible. I just can’t do it. I can’t tolerate the wild chaos in the classroom like Rachel and Bianca can. They don’t threaten the kids, they don’t punish them, they just repeatedly ask the kids to get up off the floor, sit correctly in their seat, stop talking, keep their hands to themselves, etc. I can’t do that. That’s how the entire class period goes… everyday! I do not have the patience to tolerate that. I just can’t do it. Thankfully, my kindergarteners know I won’t put up with any of that. I put an end to that on the third day of teaching. My kindergarteners sit quietly in their seats like good children. I guess this observation has made me be thankful for where I got placed at the school. I am so glad I am teaching kindergarten, as much as I never thought I’d say that. The kindergarteners are my favorite. I have trained them to listen; to know that I don’t mess around.

To top off the bad morning, we hadn’t had our laundry done in 3 weeks, and I was wearing the same clothes over and over again. I was frustrated that we had been forgotten.

I let the kids play longer than usual because I just didn’t want to handle anything. Rachel came and knocked on our door and asked if I wanted tea. It was chilly outside, and tea sounded great, so she brought it to me moments later. I guess the warm liquid running down my throat not only warmed by hands and my body, but my spirits too, because shortly after a few sips, life started to look up and the sun outside began to shine.

Our craft for the day required that we go outside and collect branches from off the trees. So we set out to find some good ones. Next we went to the café to pop some popcorn. We played a few games with the popcorn, decorated our tree branches with popcorn, and then watched a movie and ate the remaining leftovers. Just watching the kiddos sit there inside the bottom shelf against the wall, so happy and carefree, melted my heart. I’m really starting to love these kids. I bet it was a sight to see, when their teacher climbed down to sit in the tiny shelf next to them and enjoy a good movie with some popcorn.

After the movie, the kids practiced writing the letter J, and we turned our focus to the word of the day, “jump”. We went outside and I tried to teach the kids jump rope. Nicole picked it up right away but Esteban had a hard time swinging the rope with the correct timing. “Jump, jump, jump…” I would repeat at the correct time. Apparently while we were practicing, my face had made a pretty interesting  look (maybe a face filled with intense concentration, and a little bit of fear from the fact that the rope could get yanked from Esteban’s hand at any minute), and Esteban immediately began giggling away. Pretty soon, Nicole began laughing as well, and before I knew it we were all giggling hysterically--Esteban and Nicole going as far as rolling on the ground, unable to control their laughter. The fact that they could not contain it made my laugh instinctive, and my heart just about tripled with joy and weight loss.

After lunch it was just Nicole and I (Esteban goes home for lunch, and sometimes he doesn’t come back). I like when it’s just us. I feel like its then that I can actually tell that she really likes me. She tries to speak to me about her life and she teaches me so many new words. She’s a good teacher. She’s more patient than the boys, and she’s good at speaking slowly and finding a way to explain. We crawled inside our makeshift fort constructed with a blanket covering the bottom shelf against the wall, and we watched our video. It was like one of those sweet moments, that you hope you never forget. Afterwards we played “Go Fish” and she practiced using her English, “Do you have…” and she’d name all the animals in English. I loved the fact that I’d taught her almost all that she knows. She knows SO much. I quizzed her with flashcards on English words afterwards, and she knew about half the stack! I still can’t even believe it! She’s getting so good. I’m so thankful for all that this opportunity is sharing with me.

Basically, this week is good, SO good. Life is better now than it has been in a REALLY long time. Or maybe I’m just more appreciative now than before.

I’m learning a lot, and one of the things I’ve learned is that everyone is running a race in life. Some people run it to win, some to race to the finish line with a decent time, some on a leisure walk, some so exhausted they can barely take another step in front of them, some completely at a stand still and some walking backwards. No matter where they are in the race, everyone’s bound to hit a wall. Maybe even multiple. I think I’m in a phase, a really long phase of wall hitting. It’s like it’s really just one long foggy wall, but I keep hitting smaller walls as well. I hit multiple walls last year, this summer at camp, trying to get here to Costa Rica, and so many little walls since I’ve been here. Even this week I hit a wall in that early morning on Thursday. Everyone hits walls occasionally. I know it’s not uncommon, although we’d really like to believe that to be a false statement. But more than anything, I hope this experience as a whole pulls me out of the biggest, foggy, wall, so I just have a few here and there. What I REALLY want more than anything, is to learn how to go back to being that carefree, joyful, smiling-without-a-single-reason-why- type of kid, that the kids I see everyday remind me of so much. I hope, more than anything that I can take THAT away from this experience. That at least if I don’t get through this foggy wall in the time that I want, I’ll be able to take away good reminders, and lessons, and habits, that will help me get through them when they hit. I hope I grow to become more and more like these kids… they are teaching me so much, in more ways than one. How will I ever be able to show them what they are beginning to mean to me?

Re-posted from Karalee's blog,  http://karaleeincostarica.blogspot.com/2012/11/through-foggy-walls-into-sunshine.html

Majuro Interview with Cynthia Ochoa

Cynthia and a student

 Cynthia is currently serving as an SM in Majuro, Marshall Islands as an elementary teacher.

      What has surprised you most about being an SM?

 I was pretty surprised to find out how TRUE some warning we were given in training were...and also the amount of workload that is expected from us SMs

What was the first thing that happened to you when you

 arrived?  Did everyone stare at you? What were the first few days like?

When we arrived in Majuro at the airport, there were some locals to receive us, we met everyone, then lined up with all of our bags to take a picture. Well, I was being waited on to get in the picture, and as I hurried over to where everyone was, I tripped over my long dress and knocked over a good amount of luggage… first impression, not good.  The first few days after that were followed by school preparation, shopping for home necessities that we really wouldn’t need, and just trying to figure everything out.

Did you feel lonely/homesick at first?  What has helped you

 overcome negative feelings? 

I was surprised that I didn’t really feel lonely.. the beauty of the people and the island just made me feel at home right away, and though as time passed, I missed my family and friends, I realized this is my home now, and it will be for the next ten months. I was happy knowing that!

Any cool God/miracle experiences?  Where have you seen God

 working in your life while you have been there? 

There has been plenty of little events where you just know it had to be God.  This is a cute one. Everyone wears flip flops here, and with only 2 pairs of sandals, mine were starting to wear off quickly. With the stipend that we get, it is hard to buy anything else that is not food, but I separated some off to buy more flip flops.  We went to the store, and I tried a red pair, which fit fine, put them in my cart and went to check out.  When I got home to try my new flip flops, I discovered they were a size or two too small. They hadn’t been too expensive, but I was frustrated that I had made an useless buy. Besides that, I had no idea how I had grabbed a kid’s size! I was so sure it had been my fit! I threw the sandals under my bed and forgot about it. A few days later, one of the kids in my classroom came in from recess with his sandals in his hand, one of which was ripped and despite my attempts to fix them, nothing worked. I remembered then my pair of useless flip flops, happy that I may had found an use to them. I ran to my apartment and got them for my student, and found out they fit him perfectly. It’s been a month and a half since the incident, and I still see little Johnsay wear those flip flops every single day. It still makes me very glad that for some reason, I got a wrong size J

What is the culture like?  What do the people look like?  What

 language? Any odd customs or traditions that you are trying to get used to?

 The culture is beautiful, in a nutshell. I would have to write an essay trying to describe it, but I am accustomed very well. It was different at first, but I am so glad I am still getting to know this culture J

What do you miss the most about the USA?  Do you wish you

 could come home right now?  Or are you wishing you could spend a lot longer there?

 I think if someone told me it was time to go home right now I would cry and hold on to a pole so they wouldn’t take me. Other than missing family and friends, I love it here and can’t bear to even think of the day I have to leave… I do miss a few stuff from the USA, mostly how cheap food is, and some of the resources for school too.

Any scary experiences yet?  Times when you thought you might

 be in serious trouble/danger?

This one time, we were all walking to the store when a student met me on the street and said hi. I fell a little behind the other SMs, and when I looked up there was a man who walked towards me, and then behind me TOO closely, I panicked, screamed my friend’s name, and the man walked away. I pray that God be with us everywhere we go, I would be so scared if anything happened to anyone, but I know He takes care of us all!

Any people you have grown close to?  What are their names?

Personalities? Yes! I get along with all of the student missionaries, but the girls from my apartment and some of the boys from downstairs have become more than friends, a family to me.  When you spend pretty much all of your day with a certain group of people, eat, cook, clean and work with together, you become very close. It’s funny because we are from all over the place and have VERY different personalities. We are a brady bunch, but a family in Christ indeed J Names: Damaris Gonzales (southern), Talmia Ebenezer (Walla Walla), Natalie Espinoza, (La sierra), Andrew Felix (La Sierra), Leroy Manning (Walla Walla), Kyle Rice (Walla Walla J)

Conditions of the classrooms

What is your day-to-day job?  What are your duties?  Do you like it?

Well, on weekly basis we must be present daily at 7:30 a.m.  for staff worship before school starts. From 8:00 to 3:00 pm, its being on your feet, in front of a class of 24 loving but crazy children, teaching them science, math, reading, writing, bible, and social studies, You are their teacher but also a counselor, many times a nurse, and always their friend.  After school  there is almost always grading, detention, or tutoring, or a consultation with a parent. Then there is some lesson planning on the weekends, and church attendance consists of Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, both in the morning and Adventist Youth (AY). You must always be in check of all the calendars because you don’t know what day you will have to preach, do song service, staff worship, or be in charge of AY or any other church service. Besides teaching all week and participating in church events, I am a Sabbath school primary teacher. It gets pretty heavy, but God makes sure never leaves you alone, and I know every single day, that as hard as it is, it is worth it, so much. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Majuro SDA School

Majuro Beach

Students gathered for Sabbath afternoon

Kyle Rice and Cynthia, both WWU students

)    

How I am a Missionary

by Katie Palumbo

Kenya, Maxwell Adventist Academy

When I started the search for missions call, I had in my head an image of what a student missionary should be. I equated service with suffering. I felt like I had to go into the jungle with no electricity or running water in order to really be a “missionary”. In my mind the people wouldn’t speak English or ever have seen a photo of themselves. I searched and searched but somewhere along the way God informed me that this was not going to be the case. A few emails and a phone call later and I found myself a call at Maxwell Adventist Academy in Kenya.

Katie with a student in Kenya.

Working at Maxwell is completely different from any call I ever thought I would take. Every stereotype that I had of missionary work has been broken. This is not a bush school. I live in a comfortable home with internet and running water. My students aren’t poor, they have good homes and parents who feed them and assist with homework. They don’t necessarily need or desire to hug me every day and they can’t wait to go home at the end of the school day.

I came with the idea that I had to suffer, that I needed to be broken and rebuilt in order to truly serve, but God is slowly erasing my preconceived stereotypes. I’m learning that God’s ability and desire to use you does not depend on your living situation or how poor the locals are, you just need to be willing. He is showing me how to serve in a practical way. The needs on the campus of Maxwell Adventist Academy are different. Students don’t need my money or a bag of rice, but they do need a good example, they need encouragement and unconditional love. I used to believe that the only way to challenge myself was to spend this year completely removed from anything and everything familiar or easy. But I am being challenged in ways I never expected. I’m learning to love and to give with all my heart. I’m learning how to be patient and persistent. I am learning how to be content.

This year is being spent planting seeds, trying to make a small impact on a place and people that in eight months will move on just fine without me. Proverbs 16:19 reminds me that I can make all the plans I want but it’s God who determines my steps. Despite all my protesting and reasons not to go, I am here. God hasn’t called me to the bush or to a hut; He’s called me to Maxwell. I am a missionary.