Monday, March 31, 2008
Korean School Camp
On Friday and Saturday, Lauren and Brenna went to Korean School Camp at church. As you can tell from the pictures, the girls had a wonderful time. They are learning to speak and read Korean, and at camp they enjoyed singing, playing games, eating, reading, writing, praying, and speaking - all in Korean!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Special Birthday for Mommy
Today I woke up to breakfast in bed, prepared by my husband and three girls. Lauren and Brenna had both made cards, and they were really sweet!
Thursday, March 20, 2008
More Pics of Hebron
This is a picture of Lushington Hall on the campus of Hebron School. It was a British bungalow in the 1800's, and now it houses administration offices.This second picture is of some of the school groun
ds. Isn't it beautiful?!
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Well Loved Shoes
Pediped is our favorite maker of baby shoes. We fell in love with these little pink and brown ones last fall, and since then Addie has worn the life out of them! She has worn holes in the soles, and they are now to the point where we can't tell if they barely still fit or if they are too small. So, this week we purchased a new pair, and we are so excited that she will be able to wear them for a few more months! They are soft-soled and leather, and we have found that they eliminate toddler foot odor (who thought little feet could be so stinky!). Check out the Pediped website for more adorable styles, and don't get scared by the prices. They do cost more than a pair you would buy at Target, but when one pair keeps you from picking up other shoes throughout the season it is definitely worth it!
Sunday, March 9, 2008
This made me laugh!
On the Hebron website they post highlights of the previous weeks' events and activities. One thing that caught my eye was this... "outdoor activities for the weekend have been cancelled due to an elephant and tiger census taking place." What in the world?!? This is going to be an adventure!
Ooty
Ooty (short for Ootacamund) is the town we are moving to in July. It is known as "the Queen of the Hill Stations". After the British rule, it was renamed Udhagamandalam. Unfortunately, we have no idea how to pronounce this name, so we will continue to call it 'Ooty' until we can ask on of our Tamil friends how to say it. The elevation of Ooty is 7,440 ft - similar to that of Estes Park, CO. The climate, however, is very temperate. In the summer, the average high temperature is 78 degrees. In the winter, it can get down to freezing during the night. The population of Ooty is around 90,000.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
We heard about Hebron from a friend...
I think the best way to tackle all of the topics surrounding our new adventure in India is to write short blogs about each one. Since many of you have asked how we first found out about Hebron, I'll start by telling the story.
As you may already know, Ryan's dad was the Field Strategy Coordinator with the Church of the Nazarene in South Asia from 2004-2007. During that time, they met a young women named Stuti. She was the daughter of the district superintendent in Mumbai, and she was one of the first women in India to be ordained with the Church of the Nazarene. Stuti was working in Mumbai with International Justice Mission - rescuing young girls out of prostitution. In order to continue her work with the girls, the Indian government mandated that she be licensed as a social worker. She had done her undergraduate studies in religion, but she really needed to get her master's in social work. Ryan's parents encouraged her to attend Northwest Nazarene University here in Nampa. We met Stuti in January 2007, just after she moved to campus.
One night in early February, Stuti and I (Angie) began talking about India and the work that Stuti had done with IJM. She told me about her former director and his wife, Greg and Mala Malstead, who were currently living in a beautiful town called Ooty. They had started their own organization, Freedom Firm, and were continuing to rescue and rehabilitate girls who had been involved in prostitution.
When I searched the internet to find more information about the work of Freedom Firm, I came across a blog of a family that had recently moved to Ooty to join FF with the Malsteads. Their names were the Parks, and they had just moved with their four children from Nebraska. In that blog was a link to Hebron School, the school in Ooty that both the Malstead and Parks children were attending.
On the Hebron website was a listing of the staff openings for the 2007-08 school year. One of the postings was for a resident expatriate nurse. After looking up what 'expatriate' meant, I figured out that they were looking for a nurse from a western country to come and live on the school campus. As it turns out, Hebron employs three staff nurses - one western and two Indian, to care for their very diverse community of staff and students.
At that time, I knew that we were not ready to leave Nampa. We were still very deep in debt, and we didn't feel released (at all) from our ministries at our church, schools, or NNU. So, Hebron was put on the back burner, but God really began to work in us. We felt deeply called to get our lives (finances included) in order so that if God called us to minister overseas we would be ready.
As you may already know, Ryan's dad was the Field Strategy Coordinator with the Church of the Nazarene in South Asia from 2004-2007. During that time, they met a young women named Stuti. She was the daughter of the district superintendent in Mumbai, and she was one of the first women in India to be ordained with the Church of the Nazarene. Stuti was working in Mumbai with International Justice Mission - rescuing young girls out of prostitution. In order to continue her work with the girls, the Indian government mandated that she be licensed as a social worker. She had done her undergraduate studies in religion, but she really needed to get her master's in social work. Ryan's parents encouraged her to attend Northwest Nazarene University here in Nampa. We met Stuti in January 2007, just after she moved to campus.
One night in early February, Stuti and I (Angie) began talking about India and the work that Stuti had done with IJM. She told me about her former director and his wife, Greg and Mala Malstead, who were currently living in a beautiful town called Ooty. They had started their own organization, Freedom Firm, and were continuing to rescue and rehabilitate girls who had been involved in prostitution.
When I searched the internet to find more information about the work of Freedom Firm, I came across a blog of a family that had recently moved to Ooty to join FF with the Malsteads. Their names were the Parks, and they had just moved with their four children from Nebraska. In that blog was a link to Hebron School, the school in Ooty that both the Malstead and Parks children were attending.
On the Hebron website was a listing of the staff openings for the 2007-08 school year. One of the postings was for a resident expatriate nurse. After looking up what 'expatriate' meant, I figured out that they were looking for a nurse from a western country to come and live on the school campus. As it turns out, Hebron employs three staff nurses - one western and two Indian, to care for their very diverse community of staff and students.
At that time, I knew that we were not ready to leave Nampa. We were still very deep in debt, and we didn't feel released (at all) from our ministries at our church, schools, or NNU. So, Hebron was put on the back burner, but God really began to work in us. We felt deeply called to get our lives (finances included) in order so that if God called us to minister overseas we would be ready.