Peace

Peace.  Some people would describe peace as sitting by a calm streem, or living a worry free life. Websters dictionay says "serenity or quiet".  But this week I've learned that peace can come from many other unexpected places.  In the shouting of kids as they run to their classrooms in the moring, and the sound of their voices singing praises to God.  In the scared moments of teaching for the first time, and when rain is pouring into the classroom from the windows that won't close.  I even found peace as I watched 7 big high school senior guys walk into my classroom Monday morning. This week gave meaning to Philipians 4:7 "And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus".  It was completely crazy.  At times I stood in front of my class wondering how on earth I would learn all their names, or wondering what I should say next because we already finished everything I had planned.  Their were moments I wasn't sure how to respond to questions they asked or things they did.  But God was there.  He was teaching me a new kind of peace.  The kind that comes from the scariest and hardest moments when all you can do is sit back and say "ok God, I trust you to make this work because their is no way I can do it".

Monday morning I got up bright and early at 5:45.  By 7:20 I was leaving my classroom and heading to staff worship.  On my way I discovered I was actually put on supervision duty, I wasn't really sure what that meant, but I went to where the kids were and introduced myself.  The staff on supervision are responsible for keeping check of the kids before school, during lunch, and after shcool.  I met a lot of the kids but none from my homeroom class of seniors.  I didn't know what to expect, would they listen to me? Respect me? Would they realize how young I was and ignore all authority I was supposed to have?  After flag raising Principal Raian introduced us.  The seniors cheered when I was announced as their homeroom teacher and Sabrina heard one of the sophomores whisper "Oh! The really white one!".  Heading to the classroom they all followed me, eager to see the room and wondering who I was.  It took everything within me to hide my fear after seeing 7 big high school guys, and 6 girls, all within a couple years of my own age, file into the room.  All this changed during chapel though.  I told them which side to sit on, and they did it! I told them to stop talking, and they said, "sorry miss" and sat quietly.  It wasn't easy, they tested me continually, trying to see if I would stand firm as the authority or let them walk all over me; something I was determined not to allow.  By the end of the day I was excited for the next!  I felt so much more confident in what I was doing, but the next day was still one giant unknown.
Tuesday we started the class rotation.  I started with a 20 min devotional with my seniors, stayed with them for Precalc, moved to juniors for Geometry, Sophomores for Algebra 2, and Freshmen for Algebra 1.  I spent the day going over all of our class procedures, rules, and goals and getting to know them.  None of my plans lasted the full 50 minutes so I discovered that teaching is like a full day of improv.  I came up with playing "Would You Rather" and several other games to get to know them better.  At the end I gave them a chance to ask me any questions they had.  The first question was, "Miss, how old are you?" I answered 85 :). They are never going to find out my age if I can help it! They wanted to know my favorite color, and where I was from.  One of the boys asked why I came to Yap since lots of the other islands have better housing and more people go to them.  I explained how I felt like God was calling me here and I wanted to go somewhere that really needed it.  He said thank you for coming, and though it's a small thing, it really gave me the encouragement I needed to get through the day. 
Each day had a new challenge.  I gave math evaluation tests, taught Micronesia History with no text book, and I was in charge of PE for my class.  I am not very athletic, at least not with most organized sports.  I still don't know what I'm going to do for an entire year of PE, but I know God has it under control.  Micronesia History was an entirely new adventure.  History is one of my favorite subjects, but I know absolutley nothing about Micronesia! I told them to write half a page on their family history and the history of their island.  Every single student wrote at least a page, they told me about which island they were from and about their culture.  It was so interesting to sit and read all they had to tell me.  I felt like I got to know them so much better.  They don't always get involved in class discussions, but they write.  When I ask them about themselves and things they struggle with they open up on paper.  I am praying we will be able to find a text book for me to look at before Monday, I don't know what else I can do without a textbook!
It's friday now, I survived the week! Looking back, it went better then I ever could have imagined.  It had it's rough patches, but it had a lot of highlights too.  I finally have down the names of all my seniors, I'm still working on some of the other grades.  They are starting to talk to me and interacting more in class.  I love walking into the classroom and hearing "Good morning Miss Rychelle" or "How are you Miss?".  I love spending my time helping kids with math and seeing their faces brighten when it finally makes sense.  I love teaching them new songs in music class and hearing them sing as they clean at the end of the day.  It makes me laugh to see the things they try to get away with; like trying to scrub a classmates head instead of the window during work time on Friday and tyring to convince me it takes two or three of them to go get one broom.  I learned they don't use tissues here when they thought it was hilarious for me to offer one when a student asked to blow his nose. I let one of the boys play my guitar to practice singing as a group for chapel on Monday.  They were excited to get to play my guitar, and I found some of them who were really quiet involving themselves in music.  At the end of the day a group of the boys brought me some flowers they put together as a necklace and spent extra time making sure the classroom was clean.  One of the girls stayed after to make the chalk board look neater and ask me about my weekend plans.  I know a lot of challenges are ahead, and their are a lot of unknowns; but I am so excited to face them.  I want to make a difference to these kids, I want to earn their respect and help them prepare for life after high school.  It seems like such an overwhelming task, but I still have peace.  I know God has it under control. 

A Whole New World

Today we had a day off! It was so nice to finally have a break! Since today is Thursday, town day, we started with our grocery shopping.  The experience was a little different today because their were a lot of outer islanders in town.  The island itself isn't that big, 16 miles long, so it doesn't take much for them to come to town.  The outer islanders are much more.. traditional.  The woman wear wrap around skirts called lava lavas and no shirts.  Yes, you heard me, no shirts! It's a bit of a shock at first but it makes since I guess considering how hot is it.  The men wear loin clothes, I'm not sure what they call them here. It took a couple minutes to get used to the cultural difference.  I'm sure we won't really notice it anymore after a couple months.

This afternoon we went snorkeling! It was so beautiful! The beach we went to was completely empty, just like all the beaches are.  Almost, if not all, the beaches are privately owned so they are almost always empty.  The school has lots of connections, so their are several gorgeous beaches we have access to.  The tide was out so we would walk a lot of the way to the coral.  When we started snorkeling around I saw the most beautiful fish I've ever seen! Bright blue, striped, deep black, orange, yellow, florescent; they swarmed in and out of the coral just inches from us.  Sea fans were connected to the side of some of the coral, huge shells were on the ground with life still in them.  At one point Pamela and I hovered over a huge coral with swarms of florescent blue fish around it.  We were perfectly still, they all swam just inches from us, I could almost touch them.  Everything was so beautiful, and right there in front of me.  I've always been a bit afraid of swimming with other creatures.  I used to avoid lakes and going out far in the ocean.  I was a little nervous to go snorkeling, but I wasn't scared at all! All I could do was stare at them all mesmerized with how amazing it all was.  On top of everything else, the water feels like a hot tub! Back to work tomorrow! School starts in 4 days!

Work, Heat, and New Adventures

It’s everywhere.  It’s in the air, coming from the ground, inside, outside, day, night; there is no way to get away from the heat.  It’s suffocating at times; the air is so humid my skin is still hot to the touch during a cold shower.  The second you step out you are sticky with sweat again.  Bug bites are everywhere, even on the bottom of my feet. Not just mosquito bites, little bugs you don’t even see bite you.  I’ve been sore for the last week from the work we’ve been doing.  When we tell people we are on a tropical Island as missionaries and teachers they seem to act like it’s a joke.  They say something like “I’m sure that will be ‘rough’” sarcastically.  Well, it is; but there is nowhere else in the world I would rather be.  It’s not a free vacation, however, and we don’t spend every day swimming at the beach. We are here to work, to help this school and the people here.  This is what we keep reminding ourselves this past week.  God has placed us her to help, to work.  That’s why we were up at 7:30 am Sunday scrubbing classrooms out until 6 pm.

 It was a busy day! Everyone on campus was cleaning and doing maintenance, we were able to get a lot done!  Even cleaning is a new experience.  We don’t have all the supplies that would be used in the States.  We hauled out all the rusty desks, trash, and broken supplies.  We scrubbed the paint stains off the floor, and the hosed down the entire floor.  Walking around barefoot, we took brooms and swept the water, dirt, and bugs out. We did all this barefoot; they really don’t wear their shoes inside anywhereJ.  I felt bad for the men, they mowed the entire field with week eaters! For lunch there was a big potluck of Filipino food for all the workers! It was delicious, and they gave us all the leftovers.  So we won’t have to cook for a couple days! After our long day of work we walked out to the little deck on campus that looks out over the island.  Andrea started a weekly tradition of meeting every Sunday to talk about our weeks and pray over the new one.  It was a wonderful way to end a long day and begin a busy week. 

I finally found out what classes I will be teaching! I will teach Precalculus, Geometry, Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Micronesia History, 12^th grade PE, World Geography, MusicJ, and Pathfinders on Friday.  I will also be responsible for planning and fundraising graduation.  We are also going to work on a yearbook.  It will be a busy year!  They had a piano keyboard for the campus also; they are letting me put it in our apartment! That made me so happy! I will need to practice because I am supposed to be the pianist at church this Sabbath. 

I wish all my family and friends could be here.  There are so many things I want to describe.  Pictures and words really can’t explain what it’s like though.  I wish I could show my dad how I don’t scream when the lizards run across our wall or I kill a cockroach.  I wish my mom could see all the cooking we do and how I prepared my classroom.  I want to show you all the beauty surrounding me, no picture can fully capture it.  I want you to see the coconuts and drink milk straight from it after they bring them down for us.  I wish you could see all the sweet kids running around calling out “Miss Rychelle” and witness the beauty and simplicity of their church service.  I wish you could feel the warm water from the ocean and see the huge crabs run across the street.  I want you to experience the car rides into town and run out in one of the rain storms that will soak you to the bone in less than 10 seconds.  Maybe someday!  Until then I will keep all of you in my prayers and I hope you will keep me in yours too.  We have a lot to prepare for school next week and we are praying the teachers from the Philippines will be able to get their permits so they can fly in before school begins.  In my devotions with Pamela and Sabrina this morning we were reading out of a book called Crazy Love.  It was talking about worry and stress.  To summarize it said, to worry is to tell God that what is on our mind is bigger than He can handle.  He is in control, so we will keep working and trust that He will carry us throughJ.

The First Week

 What a week!  I’ve always loved Sabbath, but I appreciate it even more this week!  We got up early every day and had group devotions by 7:30. By 8 we started working.  I spent all the mornings working on my classroom and planning lessons.  I discovered I have no solutions manuals or a test booklet, the positive is they will be made specific for my class.  It is finally starting to look better! I cleaned it for 2 days, and then started decorating.  I’ve covered the bulletin boards with fabric, hung posters, and arranged everything.  It still needs some work but it’s starting to actually look like a classroom! In the afternoons Pamela, Sabrina, and I worked together on school projects like cleaning windows.  I’ve never been so hot in my life! I didn’t know it was possible, but I think I actually sweat while taking a cold shower.   I can’t wait to see the school when it’s finally ready, it will be very rewarding.  It looks like they will have to delay the start of school until next Monday, we are still waiting for some teachers to come, and praying for more. 

                Everyone here knows who we are.  It takes a bit to get used to.  People slow down and watch as they drive by the school, each store we go to the cashier asks if we’re the new teachers, and everyone waves as we drive by.  Town trips are fun and very long.  We go every Thursday and buy what we need for the week.  There is one large grocery store and several smaller ones spread out.  The selection is better than I expected, though somewhat unpredictable.  We found plenty of things to cook though!

                On Wednesday evening they told us we were going to prayer meeting at the church.  We loaded into the big white van and headed out, we made a couple stops along the way and by the time we got to the church we had loaded 12 kids bringing our number to 19! They were all so interested to find out about us and watch us.  On the drive back we sang with the kidsJ. Friday night we went to the church again for vespers, even more kids came this time so we had to take two vehicles.  We lead in singing with Andrea playing her ukulele and sang a special music.  Then we introduced ourselves and gave a devotional thought.  We are in charge of putting on vespers each Friday.  It was so nice to meet more of the kids; I even met a couple of my students.  On the drive back crabs were all over the road! They were huge!  They were crawling in swarms to the ocean we could see right off to our left.  They were squished all over the road too, poor things.  This morning we went to church for the first time! When I arrived I was asked to teach the primary/junior Sabbath school.  I went out on the porch and the kids sat all around me.  We sang songs and I read them a story.  They are all so sweet! We played a Bible game too, I’ll need to find some more resources for future lessons, I think I’m the official teacher for the year nowJ. The church service was beautiful. It wasn’t beautiful in the way we would describe at home, it was simple.  They called the men up to lead in hymns, the piano is one of the most out of tune pianos I have ever heard, and some people are singing in different keys; but it’s one of the most wonderful sounds I’ve ever heard! The people are so sincere.  The church was filled! People came from all over, even a lot of the outer islands.  We played with the kids a bit after church; they are so curious and remember our names so quickly! I was told I’m the pianist next week, I will definitely be better at the piano by the time I get home!

                We had our first cockroach sighting in our apartment this week, it was hilarious.  Not at the time… but I’m sure we were entertaining for our neighbors!  It ran across the floor, Sabrina screamed and yelled at me to kill it, I grabbed the Raid and sprayed but missed sadly.  So it ran towards me! Pamela then screamed and ran outside.  Those things run so fast! I screamed, ran backwards, and sprayed it until it finally died under the table.  We must be so entertaining! Those things are huge! I’m fine until it starts flying or running towards me, I’m sure I’ll be used to it soon.  God Bless from Yap!

Ready. Set. Go!

Saturday night in Guam we started to pack our bags one more time.  They took us to the airport to drop off our bags and pick up Pamela and Andrea from the airport so they could have dinner with us.  The people on Guam are so friendly!  One of the ladies took us to her house and ordered pizza for all of us.  It was finally time to go!  We got to our gate at 10 pm and waited anxiously.  We definitely stood out from the crowd of islanders waiting for the plane.  I had the impression that they knew who we were and why we were going to Yap.  I can think of times in my life when I have been scared and anxious; but few of them rival how I felt during that plane ride! I read a million things about Yap, asked past student missionaries, looked up YouTube videos; but no amount of preparation could truly prepare me for it.  It was one giant, scary unknown.  Just before landing Sabrina and I read Philippians chapter 4 and prayed together, which brought complete peace to my pounding heart.  The landing was rough! The plane screeched to a halt on the short runway and we walked onto the tarmac.  The entire airport was outside.  I was so thankful for the breeze! It is extremely hot and humid here.  As we walked out of customs we were greeted by a group of Yapese people who adorned our heads with beautiful leis.  We didn’t get to our apartments until almost 2 am, but I was wide awake now! Because there are only three of us we each get our own room which is really nice.  We have a large kitchen, a couch, dining room table, several shelves, and a large deck that stretches the full length of the apartments.   I was happy to see there is a washer, but no dryer.  We hang our clothes out to dry on the lines strung along the deck. 

                The view that met me in the morning was stunning.  Just off our deck are a whole bunch of coconut trees! If you look between the leaves you can see the gorgeous light blue ocean peaking through.  We don’t have hot water here, so the cold shower woke me right up. We spent the morning unpacking and seeing the campus.  I can’t wait to get into my classroom!  We were then informed that we were going to a birthday celebration for one of the kids.  This meant potluck and swimming at the beach to our pleasant surprise.  We all loaded into the school van, made up of wooden benches we all crowd on along the side, and headed down the dirt, pothole filled road.  We were greeted by several new faces and a bunch of children at our destination.  The scenery was too picturesque, it seemed impossible that I was really there.  Open hut like buildings peaked out over the white sand beach flowing into the crystal blue ocean.  They laid out a mat and we all enjoyed a potluck of some of the best food I’ve ever had.  Pilipino, Indian, and island favorites were spread out across the mat.  Next came snorkeling!  I saw coral and the fish swarming around them!  Back on the beach we played with the kids for a couple hours tossing a beach ball around and swimming.  The principal’s son, a 3^nd grader, grabbed my hand at one point and pulled me out into the water. “Miss, miss come snorkel with me! Will you poke that rock? I want to know if it’s a crab.” 

                This morning, Monday, we went grocery shopping.  The cars here are European so the steering wheel is on the right side of the car.  It’s so strange! Luckily they still drive on the right side of the road.  Sabrina was surprised to be told she was the driver today.  The drive in was quite humorous, I know it will be scary when I have to drive.  The grocery stores are a lot different.  The food is limited, but we managed to find plenty for us to cook.  The three of us pooled our money together and cooked together.  I made some pasta for lunch and we all worked to make some delicious rice for dinner.  It’s common to take off your shoes before entering most buildings, even one of the grocery stores which I found quite peculiar.  Next we had a staff meeting.  School will be starting at 8 and end at 2:15, but we will continue working until 5 and later if we need to.  Every morning we meet at 7:30 am for staff worship.  We will start this schedule tomorrow morning working on lessons and campus cleaning.  I finally got to see my classroom! I will be the 12^th grade homeroom teacher as well as the math teacher for all of high school.  The classroom needs a lot of work.  Tiles were cracked and ants spilled out of them.  A whole section didn’t have any of the flooring left on it.  Trash was thrown about and everything was just dirty.  A giant spider crawled out from the cracks behind the chalkboard!  The ants were crawling all over my feett so the first thing I did was attack the room with RaidJ.  I’ll tackle the cleaning tomorrow.  I also got to see my textbooks.  We had to carry them all across the campus to our room. We were completely drenched in sweat, a cold shower sounded wonderful then.  I’ll be teaching Algebra 1, Algebra2, Geometry, and Precalculus.  I’m excited to really get into my classroom and get everything set up this week. 

The island of Yap and the people here are beautiful.  They are so welcoming.  I keep finding myself surprised every time I look up and see a coconut tree or a gecko runs by.  It feels like I’m watching someone else’s life because this is too crazy to be mine.  So, despite the cold showers, lack of air conditioning, slow internet, rustic surroundings, and isolation from family and friends; I know God has put me here.  This is exactly where He wants me.  He’s blessed me with good people to live with.  Little kids are always running around because they live in the apartment next to us.  They peak in our windows and leave little flowers on our door.  They are all so happy we have come, thankful for our help, and ready to help us with anything.  I appreciate your continued prayer as I adjust to this new environment and I ask for your prayers for the school too.  We still need many more teachers, particularly guys.  We currently have no guy student missionaries, which makes it harder when we wish to leave campus.  We are confident the Lord will provide and make a way for the school to be up and running soon!

If you would like to write or send anything my address here is…

Yap SDA School

             P.O. Box 700
           Colonia, Yap 96943
           FSM

Guam

Driving in Guam was quite the adventure!  They don't have road signs here! People here navigate by landmarks.  Every year they have a typhoon that knocks down all the signs, so they just stopped putting them back up.  When you ask for direction they tell you, "turn right at the big coconut tree, then take a loop around the statue, drive for a while until you come to an old house..".  Needless to say, we got lost several times :).  Sabrina was driving and I was the navigator.  I had a map, but it was missing roads so it was only slightly helpful.  It was lots of fun though!  We went to Asan Beach, a historic park of the Pacific War, it was gorgeous! We also went to Two Lovers Point.  It has a famous story of a forbidden couple who committed suicide there, sort of a Romeo and Juliet.  It was a beautiful viewpoint! I've never seen that much ocean.  When we went swimming it was so warm! The temperature was exactly the same as outside, definitely not something I'm use to in Washington! This morning we went to the local church, they are having PYC (Pacific Island Youth for Christ).  It was really enjoyable and the potluck was amazing!  We leave for Yap tonight, I'm so excited! I had my last hot shower this morning, and now I'm enjoying my last bit of air conditioning and high speed internet.  In a few hours we'll grab some taco bell and head to the airport! 

Almost there!

I'm in Guam! I can't believe I'm almost to Yap! I arrived in Honolulu on Sunday where I met up with all the Island SM's.  We stayed at Hawaiian Mission Academy.  They gave us a lot of helpful information.  In a couple days we learned how to control a classroom, make lesson plans, stay safe, and stay connected to God.  So pretty much they tried to pack a couple years of college education into 2 days :).  We also got to meet and talk with the principal from our school.  Yap SDA School could really use all of your prayers right now.  Their are 4 student missionary teachers counting myself, the principal, the pastor and his wife, and a few administrators and that's it! We are expecting 180 students K-12 so we are praying for more teachers! We would greatly appreciate all your prayers as we prepare for school to start August 15.  I'll be here in Guam until 10 pm Saturday, or 5 am at home in Washington, and then I'll finally be in Yap! Thank you for all your prayers, and now I'm off to explore Guam! :)

Our view from our rooms at the orientation in Hawaii at Hawaii Mission Academy.

Part of the WWII memorial in Hawaii.

 A very windy viewpoint in Honolulu!