Back home again in Indiana!

We had a wonderful week at Oasis, met even more people to add to our summer of friendships, and ended the week with Global Fair.  We have enjoyed this time of fellowship with other missionaries, but we are also happy to be back home in Indiana!

Hannah & Katie with Jen, another new sweet friend

Global Fair is something new for us.  We were so excited to be able to attend this year.  And let me tell you, it was amazing.  There were missionaries from all over the world with booths that had information about the countries they minister in.  Some had food, others had activities for children, there was face painting, a station to make coffee-bean people,  balloons, ice cream, alpacas....what more could the Raber girls ask for?!?

Coming into Global Fair

Danica loved the alpacas!

Katie loved the sticky rice and barbecued chicken.  The sticky rice was in the  bamboo, they cut the top of the bamboo so that you could peel part of the bamboo back and eat it horizontally  (if that makes sense).  There were black beans in the rice, but it still tasted sweet.

There were signs around to let you know where you were :)

Katie is pointing to Peru on the huge globe that was there.

The flag of Peru painted on Katie's cheek.

We had a wonderful time in Pennsylvania!  We left the fair and drove the 12 hours home and arrived

home early Sunday morning.  Of course Katie and Danica were thinking they had already slept enough, so it was a little difficult to get them back to bed, but eventually it happened.

One last thing I just wanted to share.  First, thank you for your prayers for us in this journey, we couldn't do it without your support.  How do I know that you are praying you ask?

Well, let me tell you.  This past week I got a text from my sister Joanna saying that she was over at our house getting some plants and the UPS guy delivered a package that she had to sign for.  It was from the Indiana Health Dept.  Well, I have been working on getting birth certificates that will eventually be getting an Apostille for our student visa paperwork.  We had some difficulty getting the documentation scanned and sent so ordering the birth certificates took about a week.  Anyway, I had upgraded the shipping to UPS and they assured me I would receive an email that would give me a tracking number so that I would know when they would be delivered.  So, when Joanna sent me that text, I sent another back to her saying, "Praise the Lord" and letting her know the above info.  She then texted me back saying that she had an interesting time getting a key to get into my house and then she was only here for about 10 - 15 minutes total and the UPS guy came during that time.  Now some may consider that coincidence, but I consider it ANSWERED prayer! 

W.e M.ade I.t !!!

W.e M.ade I.t !!!  We finished WMI!

We were so blessed to be able to spend 3 1/2, almost 4 amazing weeks with incredible people.  We learned so much about ourselves and about others in the process.  It has been a growing experience for which we are truly thankful for.  We now have friends who are literally going around the world to spread the Good News.  Though we are sad to say goodbye, I prefer to say "See ya later." 

This is the WMI class of 2012



Angel & Katie

My forever friends Taryn & Laura














From WMI we went onto Washington D.C. for some sightseeing.  We spent the afternoon with our friends and walked around and enjoying our time together.

 We enjoyed spending some time with Abe.

 

The girls loved riding the Metro.

We also spent some time at the zoo.

We had a wonderful weekend in DC and then we came back to Pennsylvania for one more week.  We started the week with a commissioning service last night and we will be staying at Black Rock Retreat Center this week.  There is air conditioning AND a pool!
    We miss you all and hope to see you soon. 

Chris' house parents from Louisville, Avonelle & Marv Peachey came to our commissioning service.
It was wonderful to see them and spend time catching up. Oh & the girls all got t-shirt headbands that they LOVE, please excuse the fact that they are not exactly matching their outfits :)

Prayer requests.......

*Still working on the student visa paperwork, so please pray that documentation would come through.

*Please pray for the girls as they have been troupers this summer, but there is more change to come, so please pray that they would adjust well.

*Lastly, please pray for us as we come home next week, that we would be able to keep our focus and do the things we need to in order to be ready to leave when our plane does.

Praises & Prayer Requests

 Well, you may have to excuse the order of these pics because they are not chronological, but I am too tired to do anything else with them, so hopefully you will enjoy them as is!  Above is a pic from breakfast this morning.  We went to church with a couple who were missionaries to Peru a few years back, so it was interesting to hear stories from them and their families experience.

 The girls cheesing on the front steps of the dorm before supper tonight.  They enjoyed the pool today, so they are gonna sleep good tonight!

We went to a local park on the 4th to celebrate and we caught a glimpse of this alpaca.  Hannah is convinced that we are going to get a pet llama when we live in Peru.......

   



   

We have been blessed with some wonderful  friends while here at WMI.  Jamila, on the left, is going to Southeast Asia and Ruth Ellen plans to go to Guinea-Bissau.  They have been wonderful with our girls and Jamila braided Hannah & Katie's hair Friday night in the midst of the heat wave :)

 We have also been blessed with sweet friends for Hannah & Katie to share adventures with here.  This is before their 1st sleepover.  They had another one Thursday night :)

Here is a peek into the girls dorm bathroom.  It has 3 showers and 4 bathroom stalls.  There are also 3 sinks on both sides as you come in.  Let me tell ya, the shower sessions get pretty interesting at times with the Raber girls!

Here is our favorite little guy, Lucas Edmond.  The girls love holding him and he has the sweetest little grin.  His parents are planning to serve in Italy.

Lastly, I wanted to show you our version of air conditioning here in Pennsylvania.  We put fans in the windows :)  Thankfully, the weather has cooled off and is supposed to continue to do so this week.

Another praise I wanted to share.......

Chris & I did our testimony this week and I was really nervous about it.  I wanted to share a song, but didn't have time to get it ready with all the busyness of the week.  So, I just prayed that the song would be sung during our praise and worship time.  I don't know about you, but sometimes I pray without expectation.  Well, the song was "How Great is our God".  And God did show how great He is !  The last song of the praise set was the one I had prayed for.  Of course, I cried as I sang the words to that very sentimental song and I shared my prayer with the group during my testimony time.  So, I want to encourage you, no matter how big or small the prayer request, it IS being heard.  And we don't always get immediate answers, but that doesn't mean He doesn't care!  He is always listening and for that I am so thankful!

And also for the prayer requests....

Please pray for our family, immediate and extended as we continue to prepare to go.

We are still working on paperwork for our provisional student visas.  I thought I had it ready  to go to the Embassy in Washington DC, but I didn't get the Apostille seal on the birth certificates.  So, please pray that all goes smoothly with getting the paperwork in order.

Pray for the girls as they say goodbye to their new friends this week.  It is tough to know they may never see these girls again here on earth.  I am thankful for the time they got to spend together.

I want to end this post with a verse from my friend Adrianne's prayer card...

"For as the waters fill the sea, the earth will be filled with an awareness of the glory of Lord."

Habakkuk 2:14

Learning to lean....life in PA

 Well, we have been in Lancaster, Pennsylvania for 2 weeks now.  The time has flown and we have been blessed with many new friendships.  Both Chris & I, and the girls have bonded with missionaries that are ready to go to Albania, Botswana, Guineau-Bissau, Cambodia, Southeast Asia, Montenegro, Italy, Thailand & Tanzania to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.  We have learned alot about ourselves in this process.  Most importantly, we are learning to lean even more on Jesus.  Monday, we had an  amazing lesson on the Holy Spirit.  We spent the afternoon in prayer for each other and it was such a joy to see how the Holy Spirit was working in each of our lives when we opened up and shared our struggles with each other.  Three hours of prayer went by in a blink!

The typical day at WMI or World Missions Institute is that we eat breakfast @ 7:30am in the school cafeteria.  (We are staying at Lancaster Mennonite School.)  We then meet @ 8:15 for worship and sharing in the word.

 In between breakfast and worship we drop our children off at childcare which is in the classroom beside where we meet.  The older two love it and Danica is warming up to it.  She calls the teenage girls who care for her "sisters".  So, when we see them at lunch she says, "there are my sisters!"

Back to our schedule, we have been studying the book of Acts.  After time discussing the Word, someone either from WMI or a guest speaker shares their testimony and we have a short break around 9:45am.  Class resumes from 10am to noon, from which we break for lunch.  Lunch again is served in the cafeteria and we have a break from noon to 1:30.  The afternoon session goes until 5pm with a mid-afternoon break.  It has been quite a challenge to sit for such a long time.  It is reminding me that I need to get back in the "student mode" before Language School :)  Supper is served at 5pm and most evenings are free time.

 Hannah and Katie made fast friends with Rachel and Angel who are going to be going to Tanzania with their family.  I was so blessed to see how God provided playmates for my girls.  He is so good!

 Above is our dorm room that is not air conditioned,  but does have power, so we are counting our blessings!  Danica is in a room with us and the other two girls are in the next room.

 This is the other side, as you can see Chris is taking a siesta, which is pretty rare.  We have a nice fan and the evenings had been pretty cool up until the past few nights.  There is alot of space for our clothes and there are two closets too when you first come in the room on either side.

We got to spend some time at the pool with some dear friends before our departure.  Hannah & Lindsey also got to spend some quality time at camp this past week.  And Katie and Audrey enjoyed the pool time together before we left as well.

We love you all and miss you!  Please continue to pray for us, we know you are and we appreciate it so very much.  May you remember that what we are doing is nothing extraordinary, we are just trying to walk in obedience to His call on our lives.  Matthew 24:14