MKs and Hyperactive Elementary Kids

It’s been a while since I last updated people about what’s going on. So I wanted to catch you all up on what’s going on in my life. While you’re reading this letter, please pray for the matters in bold throughout the letter.


Missionary Kids (MKs)
Every Monday night we have a youth group for Wycliffe MKs that are in the Dallas area whose parents are involved in Bible translation all over the world. Some of their parents are based here in Dallas and support Bible translation through creating computer programs, or doing linguistic research or other support ministries. Other families are here for a year at a time on furlough. During our youth group meetings we have a time of worship, a message, and then we divide up by age and gender into small groups to discuss things and pray. I’m a small group leader for freshmen, sophomore and junior girls.

We’re planning a retreat on Labor Day weekend for all of the kids. It should be a really great time of getting to know them and an excellent start to the school year. I’m in charge of planning the games for the weekend.

We as a staff are currently working on writing new curriculum which addresses specific MK issues, like identity. I’m really excited about it! I hope it will be a great learning experience for the kids as they talk about all these things.

Coach Staab
This past semester, I subbed in the Dallas suburb of Duncanville. For the last five weeks of the school year, I subbed for a PE coach, thus, for the first time in my life I was called “Coach Staab.” This is a religious area of the country, but my guess is most people are not saved even if they say they are. Praise God that I’ve been able to share the gospel many times to many classes. Probably about 200 kids have heard the gospel in the past few months. Please pray for me as I consider how to lead them to the next step of faith.

This summer I’m working on getting into a program which will allow me to do a teaching internship and then get certified to teach. I’ll hopefully be teaching Special Ed as an intern in the fall at the school where I was formerly known as “Coach Staab.”

I’m subbing and getting a teaching certificate to support myself at this time, but my heart is really in the MK ministry. I wish I had more time to devote to that, but right now I have to work in order to have money to continue serving in this MK ministry. Would you please consider helping me out financially so that I will have more time to devote to the MK ministry? Your support will allow me to serve the MKs and further the work of Bible translation. One-time donations are very much appreciated, and monthly donations even more so. If you are able to donate, please go to this page of my website: www.rachelstaab.com/donate. Because of my volunteer status, these donations will not be tax-deductible.

I really appreciate your praying for me as I serve in this ministry! Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.

Haiku of the Day - Nov 9, 08

If you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask.

Good gift-giving dad
A steamroller of goodness
There’s no stopping him

Haiku of the Day - Oct 27, 08

Hope

i lost my nosering
it could be anywhere but
it’s within my grasp

a glint off a gem
that thing i’ve been longing for
it’s within my reach

Haiku of the Day - Oct. 19, 08

first one in a long time...

Sunday Day of Rest Haiku

rice pudding and tea -
dreams of uninterrupted
nothing is hard work

work at nothing-ing -
let us make every effort
to enter that rest [Heb. 4:11]

rest on this Sunday -
stare out the window and eat
rice pudding and tea

Back in Classes

I joined Wycliffe in May, but then I resigned in June because I’m really not sure what I want to do. What I learned at Training Camp in June is that I really like Wycliffe and everything that they are involved in. I want to be involved in Wycliffe in the future when I have more direction. I will still be able to rejoin Wycliffe and I will not have to go to Training Camp again. They are willing to let me just pick up where I left off. I’m praying for direction either toward a place or a field of work.

Chelsea, the girl who I was thinking of being partners with is now planning on finishing one more semester here (she will be my roommate) and then going to Central Asia where she has already been. I’m really excited for her because she’s going to have a great impact there.

Right now I’m taking a class called Language & Society which is pretty interesting. It is about attitudes that people have toward various languages, about how language use can change, about how language forms a person’s identity and other such topics. In a couple weeks I’ll start another class where I will learn how to learn a language and then I will take a class about analyzing the grammar of that language. After the semester is done in December I have no idea what I will do. Please pray for that with me.

Done with Bimester #1

I am now a Wycliffe member! After a long process of filling out the application, etc. I have been accepted. So now I’m planning on going to Training Camp in Orlando where I will learn about Wycliffe policies, next steps and such.

For my Cultural Anthropology class that I just finished I had to visit a cultural setting six times, so I chose to go to a Korean church called Binnerri Presbyterian Church. I also had to interview someone from that setting. I interviewed my friend’s mom who is a Korean lady who came to the States when she was in her 20’s. She has an amazing testimony. One thing she repeatedly said was that she wished she had known how to read the Bible and grow spiritually. Though she was saved when she was 33, she said she didn’t “find the Bible” until she was 50 years old. Then she started going early to church every week so she could read the pew Bible before church started. Her testimony reminded how important the Bible is for spiritual growth. It’s the main way that people can have a direct relationship with God and grow to know him better on their own. So I’m more excited about being involved in Bible translation.

This summer I will be doing some traveling. I’m going to Wycliffe Training Camp in Orlando from June 14-28. Five of my friends from here are also going. Then the plan right now is to go to Charlotte, NC to see my grandparents, then Knoxville, TN to see my brother and some friends, then Ohio to see my other brother and some other friends, then Indiana, then Des Moines to see my parents and then it’s back to sunny Dallas to work and start classes again on July 23.

Please pray for:
* safety in travel and good times with friends and family
* wisdom re: decisions about a future project location and partner (see last update)

Update After Session 3

I just finished up my third of eight sessions at GIAL in Dallas. I have studied Grammar, Phonetics and Phonology. I’m well on my way to having a basis for understanding the languages of the world! I’m really enjoying my classes a lot. I’m learning a lot of fascinating things about languages like Seri (from Mexico), Korean, Pitjantjatjara (from Australia), Zulu (from southern Africa) and many other languages. No, I’m not actually learning to speak these languages; I’m just learning things about the sounds people make while speaking them or about the structure of them.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from my professors:

“If you still have some areas of confusion, we have done our job well.” - Paul Kroeger, Grammatical Analysis Instructor, on their goal of showing us that we still have much to learn about Grammar.
“The main reason for the existence of Phonology is to provide a means of employment for phonologists.” - Steve Parker, Phonology Instructor, tongue-in-cheek answer to a student’s question about why we are learning such in-depth analysis.

I’m blessed to be living on a campus with many great people. I live in the dorm with a few other students. We have a lot of fun playing games, hanging out, doing homework together, going out for Vietnamese or Moroccan food (see photo), etc.
I’m also working at Walgreens part-time and tutoring some middle schoolers. So I have a very busy schedule right now.
I’m in the process of applying for membership with Wycliffe. I’m looking into doing a storying project (called OneStory) overseas when I’m done with my classes here. It would involve translating Bible stories into a language that is unwritten so that the people can have a snapshot overview of the message of the whole Bible. I will have one partner with me. There’s a girl here studying with me named Chelsea who I may partner up with.
I was able to go to Knoxville for my older brother’s wedding on March 1. Shout out to Dave and Sara! It was great to see friends and family there.

Please pray:

• for time-management (that I would focus on what is important not just what is urgent)
• for wisdom about decisions regarding OneStory
• for wisdom about whether Chelsea and I should be partners
• that I would learn to focus on God’s glory in all situations