Choate Update

Dear Family and Friends of the Choates,

 

Email contact has been very spotty with the village teams this month.  We are trying to find answers, but as of yet a good solution has evaded us. 

 

Joanna asked me to post the following comments…

They have arrived safe and sound in the village.  Aaron is currently helping with a literacy workshop on a different island.  He was supposed to be out of contact for a week, but happily Joanna received a handwritten letter from him today.  Joanna and the kids are all doing well and are carrying on with their normal schedules.  They are all looking forward to Aaron’s return on Friday. 

 

Hopefully the radio email system can be figured out and the Choates will be able to contact you directly very soon.  In the meantime, if you have any messages that you’d like for me to pass along to them via the radio, please feel free to write to: deputy.solomon.islands@sil.org.  

Sincerely,

Andy Pierce

 

rain and Bibles

Sunday, November 7
It rained last night! We got a huge thunderstorm, which is quite unusual for the Solomon Islands - thank you, Lord! It's nice to have the front tanks running fast again instead of drip, drip, dripping. Our big tank is about 3/4 full again. Please keep praying for rain. Everybody's crops are stunted and water is still a huge need for all of the small islands around the Russells.

This morning after church, the head catechist gave a big lecture on how important it was to purchase a Pijin Bible (dedicated in 2008) instead of trying to use an English one. He talked about how much easier to understand the Pijin Bible is. We always bring Pijin Bibles back from Honiara and make them available for purchase. Then we take the money and put it back toward the Lavukaleve Translation Project. Unfortunately, the Pijin Bible are too expensive for most families. One Bible is equivalent to sixteen heaps of cassava, eighty coconuts, or twenty parcels of green beans. That's a lot of work!

My heart aches to be able to quickly get them a Bible in Lavukaleve, but I'm excited to see the little baby steps (like Aaron's upcoming translation principles workshop) and the excitement that is beginning to build among our neighbors.

still need rain

Thursday, November 4
This morning, a requiem mass was held for a man who died last Thursday. Aaron had only been home from the service a few minutes when Ezekiel showed up. He knew the mass was this morning and timed his arrival to coincide with the end of the service. He and Aaron sat under the house for about four hours visiting and hammering out more plans for the coming months. Ezekiel brought a huge papaya, too!

We enjoyed a rain shower this morning during school. It didn't last very long, maybe 30 minutes, but it was enough to give a few families several pots of water from our tanks. Please keep praying for rain.

market

Wednesday, November 3
Market this morning was great! I found donuts, papaya, green beans, bell pepper, eggplant, green coconuts, mangoes, and the biggest treat of all -- watermelons! What a blessing to have so many options of fresh fruits and veggies to nourish our bodies.

Yesterday, several of the neighbor kids were standing by our big rain tank blowing on leaves. They sounded like a bunch of chickens!

Stoplight Cookies

Last week, Sarah and Katherine made stoplight cookies. We'll be learning about safety with Katherine when we get back to school in Marulaon (and since we've been to Brisbane, now she knows what a stoplight looks like!).

Loadin' Up

This afternoon, we loaded up the SITAG truck once again and drove down to the wharf for the fastest "load the Bikoi" session ever! God has really provided for our weary bodies and minds by giving us generous friends to provide lots of meals and to help us clean today. What a gift!

We'll leave for the Russell Islands about 4 p.m. CST Saturday afternoon (8 a.m. Sunday morning our time), and we would appreciate your prayers for safe travel and calm seas.

Celebrating letter C

Gotta have carrot cake with cream cheese icing, especially when Sarah makes it!

Covering a cardstock "C" with cotton balls just after they raced the cotton balls down the hall by blowing on them


a letter-sorting activity, Sarah and Olivia helped make the "clothes"

and Benjamin helped paint with cars, followed by a car wash, of course!

Honiara Woman's Daybook

For today...Sunday, October 24 (finished Wednesday, October 27)

Outside my window...the morning sun is catching the spider webs strung across the tree outside my bedroom window. The big red ants are lighting up like jewels as they crawl across the tree branches - God's creation never fails to amaze me!

I am thinking...about all of the packing we have to do and feeling like I want to crawl in a hole. Honest, all-about-me feelings, I know.

I am thankful for...my best friend, lover, provider, box packer, and shoulder to cry on. Aaron continues to be a rock for me and the kids during this season of great transition. He is a great physical representation of our Heavenly Father.

I am praying for...lots of people coming and going from Honiara this week

I am wearing...denim skirt, blue denim/sequin flip-flops I bought at a second hand store in Brisbane, and a black t-shirt that says, "How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice, & perform with the ENMU Choir" from some dear college friends.

I am creating...lots of "to-do" lists, jars of food, and an "open-me-first" box for Marulaon

I am going...to miss keeping in touch with all of our family and friends. We don't anticipate having e-mail this trip out to Marulaon.

I am hoping...and praying for calm seas on Sunday. We're out of Bonine!

I am hearing...the album "Until the Whole World Hears" by Casting Crowns, this music is like cold water sent from a distant land to our weary souls (Proverbs 25:25). Thanks, Ann.

I am remembering...to give thanks in all circumstances. It wouldn't hurt to remind me. Frequently.

From the learning rooms... no school this week. Usually, I just give the kids Thursday and Friday off, but we are feeling rather swamped this time with only three weeks to switch from Brisbane to Marulaon.

From the kitchen...food from the freezer! So glad we had a cooking bonanza last weekend. Just before we leave, our thoughtful SITAG friends will host us and provide physical and emotional refreshment.

Around the house...chaos

On my mind...shepherding my precious children.

Noticing that...I've worn a blister on the base of my right index finger from cutting so much pumpkin to can.

Pondering these words..."...be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father. Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ." (Eph. 5:18-21)

So, being fill with the Spirit results in 1) musical joy, 2) universal gratitude, 3) loving submission to each other's needs (From John Piper's "Taste and See")

One of my favorite things...Katherine's sweet exclamations. This morning, when we added a little cream to her coffee, she said "That's amazing!" Her words are finally becoming clear and easy to understand...in all of the three languages that she speaks.

A few plans for the rest of the week...canning the apples Aaron brought home yesterday, finishing up school plans for Marulaon, mailing the last of the Christmas packages, digging through my in-box, packing and cleaning, getting on the Bikoi Sunday morning - it's resumed its former schedule!

Here is a picture I am sharing...

Benjamin really needed a haircut, and he wanted a mohawk for just a few minutes. Isn't he handsome?!?

Celebrating Autumn

We're trying to pretend that the leaves are changing colors and that the temperatures are dropping, when in reality, we're headed into summer and the hottest part of the year.

Celebrating autumn has been short and sweet - a few books, a few crafts, but lots of fun! I can't wait to introduce my kids to a "real" autumn in a couple of years, but right now, we're so thankful for our tropical paradise with its incredible flora and fauna.

With a little help from Sarah, Katherine created a hilarious story about her oak leaf creature, "Pink". He even traveled to Singapore and to Arkansas!

And the winner is...

Adam and Ruth! (Better late than never) Lisa, we'll send you a mug, too, as the runner-up. And the rest of you? Well, you never know what might show up from the Solomon Islands in your mailbox. Thanks to all of you who cover us in prayer and continue to remind us of your love with e-mail and snail mail - we couldn't be here without you!

Giveaway

Just a small giveaway this time, and it's a little corny, I know. If you would like to be the first of your friends to own an "I love Solomon Islands" mug, then leave a comment by midnight CST, Friday, October 22.

Around the house

Aaron did a hunk of the village shopping today. Forty 500 gram bags of sugar...

...forty kilos of rice...

...forty-four kilos of flour, including the two hard to find RAT PROOF buckets!

Honiara Woman's Daybook

Thanks to Peggy for encouraging us to slow down record our lives each week.

For today...Monday, October 18

Outside my window...blue skies, kids running around on the basketball court to get the wiggles out, a "foster dog" on the porch

I am thinking...about both of grandfathers' birthdays this week. One of them will be eighty and the other will get fresh flowers on his grave.

I am thankful for...my amazing family that continues to pull together as a team to make this life we live a treat

I am wearing...a deep red A-line skirt, white t-shirt, gold filigree ball earrings that Aaron's mother gave me for Easter when I was in college

In the learning room...reading a biography of Gandhi as we continue studying India, celebrating fall with some leaf activities, Benjamin about to finish up his math book

I am remembering...to ask for God to turn my heart toward His statutes and not toward selfish gain and to turn my eyes away from worthless things. (Ps. 119:36-37)

I am going...on a date with my husband for lunch today (thanks to some gracious WAs)

I am currently reading..."Taste and See" by John Piper

I am hoping...that a new shipment of carrots and apples comes in this week, it's time to can!

On my mind...the obvious, getting ready to go back to Marulaon

Noticing that...the sun comes up much earlier now, just a little after five it's getting light, I guess even eight degrees south of the equator spring means more light

Pondering these words..."He makes the light yoke of Christ still lighter, not by lessening duty, but by increasing its ease through familiarity." --Hannah More

From the kitchen...oatmeal for breakfast, tuna salad for lunch, quiche for supper and s'mores for desert (thanks, Julie)

Around the house...new screens going in (so long, mosquitos!)

One of my favorite things...vintage chintz snack sets

From my camera...

this is what happens to Ranch seasoning packets in the Solomon Islands when we don't use them fast enough...they become a solid brick!