a wonderful Christmas!

We had a great opportunity this Christmas to organize and deliver Christmas gifts to all of the kids and teenagers! Stephen and I started considering the idea earlier this fall, and with the help of our church family and donations from friends, we were able to pull it off. To assign, wrap, and tag gifts for 75 kids is quite an undertaking, but we managed to pull it all together the week before Christmas. We drove up to Tennessee late on Christmas day with my brother-in-law and nephew. We also met up with a couple from our church who also came along to help deliver the presents.
We visited houses all day on the 26th and had a bible study time that afternoon, before driving back that evening. It was a whirlwind trip, but a rare privilege. We were able to bring so much joy to so many kids with the help and support of some dear friends. I've included a couple of pictures that try to capture the wonderful day!

Singing songs before bible study that afternoon

a visit.

I was able to go back for a visit this past weekend, and God was so good! It was such a wonderful time. They are having ESL classes every Saturday, so I was able to go back and see everyone there and slip right back into teaching, which was wonderful. Stephen and I then went to visit Victoria, the leader of the Nashville community, to talk with her and begin work on my internship with Partners this fall.
We also had such a wonderful privilege of taking some donated toys to a widow and her three little girls. They had just moved into a new apartment and didn't have any toys, so we brought them a laundry basket full of books and stuffed animals. It was such a blessing to give and was easily the highlight of the day. The girls pulled out each toy with oohs and ahhs, just loving it. Stephen and I just soaked it in.
We then had a game night for the teenagers that went wonderfully! We easily became comfortable again, and being in school all day has improved their English so much, so we had a lot of fun.
It is such a privilege to live close enough to go back for visits! I think of friends who were overseas for the summer and aren't able to keep up those relationships. It has been such a blessing. As I speak, one of the American girls at the apartment complex that I met this summer is on her way to visit me in Arkansas and bring three of the Karen teenagers with her! We've got a week of fun ahead of us...
God has been so good. He not only blessed us in this summer with the Karen, but has enabled us to continue those relationships, with Stephen leading a bible study with them every week and helping out at ESL and my trips back for visits as often as I can. God is so good.

a long time coming.

God is so good.
I really can't start this any other way. Despite the lack of updates, Stephen and I finished out the summer with the Karen and spent as much time with them as possible. It was such a blessing to see how much they had warmed up to us, so that they began to ask for help and in emergencies. Leaving was much harder than I even imagined, but we have the blessing now of living in the same country still, which is rare for summer missions opportunities. We go back to visit once or twice a month to see everyone and keep up with the relationships we've established.
My work with the Karen this summer has also opened up doors for me in school: I am doing an internship with Partners World this fall, a nongovernmental missions organization on the Thai-Burma border. They are wanting to bring their ministry to America, as well, so I am helping organize ministry to the Karen people across America (over 20,000!). I am mapping where they are in America and connecting them to Americans who can help them get settled. Next semester I will also be doing an independent study and final paper on the Karen, including some primary source interviews from the community in Smyrna.
God has been so good, and there is very little else to say. He has blessed us beyond measure.

$20.

I took Maw Taw to the bank yesterday because he needed to cash some checks he received. Shortly after we got back, Maw Taw came and held out a twenty dollar bill to me. I asked what it was for, and Thomas translated that it was for the oil to go to the bank. I then explained that the bank that was a mile away costs less than $1 to drive to, and he really didn't need to pay me. There was more Karen between them, and then Thomas insisted that I must take it, because it is Karen culture. He said, "Sometimes we do not have and we must only say 'ta blut doh ma' (thank you), but if we have we give."
And now I sit with a twenty dollar bill that has given me a personal example of Luke 21:1-4. I am also reminded of 2 Corinthians 8:2, which reminded me of the Karen when I came across it earlier this summer. It reads, "Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity."

thoroughly exhausted.

Rachel finished up her last day with the Karen, and I'm sure I've exhausted her! We started this morning with two hours of teaching English to the little boys, and then spent four hours with teenagers and adults--playing Uno, Memory, and Scrabble to practice English. We then went out to play for a few hours and then took a man to the pharmacy who needed a ride and translator. We made it home late tonight.
Sadly, I don't have pictures from today. It's so hard to steadily take pictures while were busy all day! Even so, I hope Rachel had a great time and thanks for keeping up with her trip!

a long day.

Here's the update on the past couple days, for those of you following Rachel's trip! We played for awhile in the afternoon yesterday, but didn't get very many pictures because we were busy organizing games. We also went swimming with the kids last night and couldn't get many pictures, but they loved it.
Today was very long and busy. We taught English to three little boys this morning for nearly two hours, then taught an adult English class for the following two hours. We then went outside to play for four hours. We painted with the kids, played Go Fish, and then soccer. And after a break for dinner, we went back to learn Karen tonight. Stephen and I had our first lesson tonight with Kaw Hser, and Rachel came along to learn the three Karen alphabets.

This is the one picture from playing games yesterday afternoon.

The craziness of painting today.

Rachel and April

not what we expected...

Today didn't go quite as we had planned, which is a pretty common thing really. We had announced last week that today we would take family pictures outside from 4pm to 7pm...but no one showed up. We played with the kids for awhile before heading home. I then got a call around 7:45 from Thomas, "Kelli, you are supposed to take family picture?" Oh, the miscommunications! We'll have to try again next Sunday. Here are at least some pictures from playing with the kids!

I was working really hard to make her smile.

These next photos with Rachel and I both in them are the kids' attempts to take some pictures...