Changing...

So...Blogger has been really hard to use and work with for a while. Thus the lack of posting. I am now blogging at naomidevault.wordpress.com join me there.

In Training

Have you ever done any kind of training?

I really haven't but I feel as though I am. I have decided to drink at least 6 8oz. glasses of water a day. Oh, thats easy you say. Well, I have been at it for a week and sill cannot get six in. I get to about 5.5 and think, "If I put any more water in me, I think I will float away." I feel as though I am in training for drinking water. I am hoing that by the end of this week I will be able to make it t six glasses at least one day and then more will follow.

So all you out there in training, I (kinda) feel your pain about trying to reach that goal!

Self Portraits

We madeSelf Portraits one day after school, here is how they turned out!

Language

I thought I would share a story with all.

I have been learning Polish Sign Language for about two months now. I love the language and learning more Polish. I have wanted to talk to some deaf for a few days, just to use what I know. Well last night I was on my way to meet with Ula, she teaches me sign language, and I got my chance! I was walking to the bus stop and there were three deaf having a very heated discussion. I thought this is not the time; I don’t want to get in the middle of something. So I continued walking. Then, the two deaf ladies got on the same bus as I did. I worked up the courage and started signing to them. They signed back to me and said that for knowing very little sign I did very well. I did not know everything they were saying, but we still had a very nice ten minute conversation. I was so thrilled and so was Ula when I told her. It was great to be able to use what I have been learning!

Traveling...oh the joys!

This is a story about traveling home from Vacation…This is what I needed a vacation from:

I left my hotel in Paris, France on January 1 at about 615 a.m. I arrive just in time to catch the airport shuttle bus that picks up in downtown Paris (a 20 min trip turned in to 45 because of the New Years). I make it to the airport, to be told I was dropped off in the wrong terminal and would need to walk underground to the correct one. All in all this was easy. At the correct terminal, I found the check in spot and waited in 3 lines finally finding the correct line. Really any would have worked, but because I had pre-checked in, I needed to be in a special line. So I get my bags checked, board the plane, have an exit row to myself, and have a great flight.

We land in Warsaw on time; I find the city bus to the train station where buses going to Olsztyn should be waiting. But wait...where are the buses? They are nowhere to be found due to the holiday. I call a coworker to find out about a train and my minutes on my cell phone run out…she calls back. I get lucky and find the English speaker at the ticket counter, buy a ticket, and head to find food. After and very long lunch in the open mall food court, I head back to the train station where I find the platform for the Olsztyn bound train, and wait. But there are not many people so I ask if this was correct (in Polish), told yes, and then received help from the lady all the way home. Sound great right?

Well the bus is 3 hours, train 4, but mine was 6. We made it one stop (about 10-15 minutes) and then waited. Come to find out the conductor was in no condition to be driving the train, let alone doing anything else. So we were to get a new conductor in about 30 minutes. Then about one hour into our wait (much longer than we thought) we would be changing trains to the next train in about an hour. So we sat for 2 hours waiting to go.

When we finally get moving, we make every other stop with ease and 4 hours later I am home. YEAH! The best thing was I was in a compartment of English speakers who were very interested in who I was, what I did, and how I taught so many grades. I enjoyed the end of the trip even though the beginning was very interesting, to say the least.

Our Year thus far!

What we have learned:

We know how to spell, add, subtract, multiply, divide, check our math problems, (3rd, 4th, 6th grades) Algebra (9th grade) reduce fractions (6th , 9th grades), write a narrative (6th), write correct sentences (3rd, 4th, 6th), tell action verbs from state of being verbs and list them (4th), we have learned story problems (3rd), how to read faster and better (all), how to sound out long words that don’t follow the rules (1st, 3rd), how to pick out fun books to read (1st), all about taking good care of our bodies; both physical and spiritual (3rd, 4th), Hebrews 11:1-22 (23-40 coming soon) (3rd, 4th, 6th), from the beginning of time to old Kingdom Egypt (9th grade), from Christopher Columbus to the war of 1812 (US History) (3rd -4th grades), all about Canada and the Eastern United States (Western Hemisphere History)(6th grade), Insects, plants, trees, invertebrates (3rd, 4th, 6th), capitalization and punctuation rules (3rd), how to write a report (4th), when to use C and K (1st grade) singular vs. plural (3rd), Proofreading marks (4th, 6th, 9th), Biology (9th), Cursive (they have learned to write so nicely) (3rd, 4th, 6th), how to get along (all), how to study (all), how to draw dogs and lizards (3rd, 4th, 6th) that singing and dancing is okay and fun (3rd, 4th), how to play Clue (a favorite) (3rd, 4th, 6th), that by thinking we cannot, means we won’t (all), that it is okay to be wrong and get corrected (all), it may take time to memorize math facts and Bible verses (all), all we can do is our best, and that is not always 100’s (all), God loves us no matter out grades (all), that Miss Naomi needs to know when something is wrong (all), Homework is not all bad (sometime we color) (all), that practice makes perfect so we keep practicing (all, esp. 1st), special sounds in reading (1st), Polish (all), to love school and learning, (all), to take care of each other (all), that we may not always agree, but we always love (all), not to laugh at Miss Naomi’s drawing (all), that the drawings, though funny, help us learn (all), not to laugh at other students (all), not to criticize (all), that Poland does not have bugs to find after a good freeze (3rd, 4th), not everybody likes the same things (all), and above all that learning is FUN (all)!

WOW! We have learned a lot this year. I cannot wait until next semester when we can learn even more. I am so proud of all my students and love seeing them daily!

My week in a "nut shell"

It has been an extremely busy but wonderful week. I began the week with a normal day of school, which we had school all five day along with all the other fun things we did. After school on Monday I went with the roomies to a friend’s house for dinner. We had a blast talking and just spending time together. On Tuesday, we hosted the first Alfa group. The first meeting we were able to sit in on and it was wonderful. There were two young ladies in attendance and they will be back again. We are praying that more will attend and want to know more about the Bible. This is an informational “Bible Study” for non-believers. Their opinions are heard and then discussed along with a 45 minute video about the topic for the evening. On Wednesday we had Team Meeting and it was just a wonderful day in all. (Days like that are wonderful!) On Thursday we had the first International Coffee House which was wonderful. We had a local artist who plays on the street play and he was great. He is going to the University and plays on the street to make a living. He was hilarious and had the audience rolling with laughter. Next week there will be a blind man playing and singing for entertainment. We hope there will be a big crowd for this. We had a wonderful turnout and only hope and pray for those to come back and for more to attend. Then on Friday, last night, I had Polish Sign Language Lessons. This was so much fun. I was able to learn some words in PSL and work on my spoken Polish too. I had a wonderful time getting to know the lady, Ula, and learning a language I love! She was able to learn some ASL from me, but mainly I was doing the learning and her teaching. It was a wonderful week even with all that was going on.

What a month...

Wow what a month it has been. We moved into our new apartment on October 1, 2009. The apartment is wonderful and has plenty of room for all three of us. We have been settling in and learning how each other works and operates. On Tuesday we begin an ALFA group in our apartment. We are just the hosting house and provide light snacks. I am extremely excited about this because in each group new believers are born. ALFA is a Bible Study for non believers. It runs for 11 weeks and will be from 6:00p until they are done. Each week there is a video on the topic of the night and discussion. There is a wide range of topics covered from: Who is Jesus?, Who is the Holy Spirit?, and What is Sin? On Thursday, we are kicking off the New International Coffee House. We were meeting in a coffee shop above a book store, but with the coffee shop closing early and having “entertainment” weekly on Thursday’s it became very hard to hold conversations. For the past month we have been meeting in a different coffee shop which is open later and has no live entertainment. This has been going great and new people have been showing up to talk. We market it as FREE English conversation. We sit for three hours and have English conversation with whoever shows up. Many want to know when they will have to pay and we continue to tell them, never. Beginning this Thursday we are moving yet again. This time we will be meeting in a conference room in a hotel. The room will be set how we want it and then cleaned up for us. This is nice because we are not confined by how the coffee shop has their space set. Also, we are able to bring in our own entertainment. We are getting local artist to come in and play, sing, show there art, etc. and then from their have topics for discussion. We do not want to preach from the microphone or from the table, but our job is to keep the conversation going and draw it to God and who He is. We then are hoping to then have contacts to meet outside of coffee house where we can then have a deeper Spiritual conversation.

Kiddos

Kid’s night was a blast! I had the kiddos over for a Kid’s Night out on Saturday. What a blast we had. The kiddos made their own pizza, had popcorn, and made and ate their own Ice Cream Sunday’s. The Sunday’s were gone very fast and I was told they were wonderful. Most of the kiddos were baffled at why they could not have any more ice cream once they were done. The best part of the evening was the Music Video we made. My new roomie, Ashley, filmed and cut the video while the kiddos were playing, making their food, and watching Charlie Brown. Go to the Northeast Poland link to view the video. Know the kiddos had a blast and we look forward to more videos soon!

Outside of my box...

I took American Sign Language (ASL) in college as a language. I love signing and watching others sign. I have wanted to learn Polish Sign Language (PSL) and then use it to reach the deaf here. I kind of gave up the idea once school started because nothing had happened and I figured I would be too busy to work with them. Well after thinking about it and talking with those here, I thought maybe I should “take a dare on God” and find the lady at church who signs in Polish. I found her this morning! (With a little help :)) Because I speak very little Polish I signed to her. She was very impressed with me and in the fact she understood everything I had said, even though it was in ASL not PSL. It turns out she speaks some English too, and want to learn ASL. We are going to try to meet this next week and begin teaching each other the Sign Language we know. I am very excited, and a little nervous, about where this can and will go. I am hoping to be a light to the deaf here, who are rarely seen but there, and who might have been turned away from the Catholic Church and open to the True God and His love!

Here we go again...YEAH!

IT’S SCHOOL TIME AGAIN!
I began my third week of school today. I currently have two girls in my classroom, both of whom are nine. I teach 3rd and 4th grades and love it. It is always said “you never stop learning” and I have to say it is true. When you teach you learn a lot more then you ever thought you would and I love every minute of learning new things. I don’t think I would be a very successful teacher if I did not love learning. I am looking forward to learning more as the year goes on.
I teach a wide range of subjects which include: Math, Reading, Language, History, Health, and Penmanship. In about 5 weeks we will be done with Health and begin working on Science. I had forgotten how much we learned in the 3rd and 4th grades. It is funny how for granted I take those things I know.
In October I will gain a 6th grader and a 9th grader and then in January my other 4th grader will be back from the States. I am looking forward to having a full class and to my continued learning.

August Newsletter!

GOD SAID, “POLAND, MK’S, AND ME”

Would you love my people group as Jesus loves them?


As the summer comes to the end, my days become more scheduled and fun. School begins on September 1, and we are all excited. I start school with three children and will gain the other three as the year continues. I am looking forward to having a full classroom. I have been diligently working on planning out the lessons and class schedule so the students are able to learn all they need to and in the best possible way. I knew teaching was a year around job, but I now understand why summers are looked forward by teachers. Please continue to pray for me as I continue to plan lessons and then begin the school year.
I had my last language lesson two weeks ago and have mixed feelings about this. Please pray that I will be able to expand my language on my own and be able to communicate with those around me.
I still have not been in contact with any deaf Polish people. I tend to see the deaf when I am riding the bus and cannot get to them. I would enjoy working with them and being a light to them. Please pray that an opportunity would come and I would be able to communicate with the deaf.
Other than lesson planning and language this past month, I had the pleasure of hosting my parents and grandfather in Poland. They came for vacation and we spent a wonderful nine days together. My parents loved seeing where and how I live here in Poland.

Thank you again for your prayers and support,
Naomi DeVault, Olsztyn Poland

Seeing the Family!

I want to start by saying I don’t spend all my free time traveling around. I did, though, just get back from vacation with my parents and grandfather. On August 1, they spent 15 hours in a plane/airport to see me. We met in Budapest, Hungry, where we took a seven day river cruise up the Danube River. It was wonderful and relaxing. I loved seeing m parents and being able to see my grandfather. He is 87 years old and full of stories, I love it! We saw several cities and way too many Cathedrals, but it was worth it. The best part of the cruise was cruising during the day and being able to sit and see the country side. When the cruise was done we all came back to Poland, where my family got to see where I live and work. The four of us stayed in my little apartment and had a wonderful time with the “closeness”. They are somewhere over the Atlantic ocean now about half way through their 16 hour flight home, what troopers they are! I did not take a lot of pictures because my camera eats the batteries, so once I have gone through the 750 my dad took and left me I will put some up.
Other than that my summer has been good. I have spent most of my time, unless I am traveling, working on lesson plans. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and the tunnel should end in the next day or two. YEAH! School starts on September 1st and that is coming up very soon. I and very excited about the start of school and the fun we will have.
Other than that, not much is going on. We are still looking for a new and bigger place for us to live, still in town just in another part, so all the JM can live together (3 girls). And I am just waiting on school to start. Thanks for everything!

Welcome to Vacation!

Sorry it has been so long, but there has been so much to do these past few weeks. I had a wonderful time on my vacation in June. I was able to take a four day cruise with my roommate. We cruised around the Greek Isles. We stopped at four islands and even had a stop in Turkey. My favorite island was Mykonos and Santorini. I really just liked being able to HIKE up to the summit of the active Volcano that makes up the islands of Santorini. Mykonos was the picturesque spot for Greece. They had the white washed walls and blue roof and shutters. It was beautiful. The other islands had this too but they were nothing like Mykonos. My other favorite spot was Turkey. My roommate and I decided to do the tour of Ephesus while we were there. We went on a three hour tour of the ancient city and loved every minute. I loved how they were able to uncover so much and do their best to reconstruct a lot of the old city. Once the tour was done our guide took us to a Turkish Rug shop where we were shown how the rugs are handmade from the silk worms all the way to the finished product. We were given the chance to buy, which I declined due to the price. They were absolutely gorgeous though. The next week we hung around Greece and meet up with several friends. It was a blast. In Athens we were able to see all the sights and take loads of pictures. I love looking at the old ruins and learning as much about the history as I can. On our way home we had a nine (I know) hour layover in Zurich, Switzerland. Here we decided to go see the waterfall instead of hanging around the airport all day. The waterfall was cool to see but definitely not worth all the money. We had a wonderful trip seeing different places.

So that took up most of June, and now we have entered into July. I have started taking Polish Language lessons full time. My teacher says I am doing wonderful but there are times I feel as though I know nothing at all. I am slow when it comes to learning a language so I just keep with it. I did get the chance to “talk” with a Polish Deaf person the other day. I “spoke” in American Sign Language (ASL) and her in Polish Sign Language (PSL), but we were understood. She had gotten soaked by a car splashing water from a rain puddle and was wondering if a certain bus had come yet. I was able to tell her the bus had not come and that I was sorry. She continued to “speak” and I just stood in amazement at her. I love signing and really want to continue to learn how. Other than language I have been busy getting ready for the upcoming school year. I will have fewer students to begin with and then add as the year goes on. I start with a 3rd and 4th full time and a 1st part time (he’s in public school too). I then gain a 6th grader in October and my second 4th grader comes back in January. It has been a lot of fun looking through and preparing their lessons that I am ready to start.
Anyways, check out the photos below of my vacation in June…I recommend everyone go it was a blast! (I don’t like uploading photo so they are in no particular order without any captions; just enjoy the views, and sorry but they are from the end of the trip to the beginning.)

Photos of Vacation...

Check it out...

I just uploaded a ton of pictures on the TNEP blog, go check them out...(link on the left hand side of the page.)

May's monthly update...

GOD SAID, “POLAND, MK’S, AND ME”

Would you love my people group as Jesus loves them?

Welcome Summer, well for school at least. I finished school last Friday and the girls and I are ready for the break. The weather, though, wants us to think we are in the middle of spring with the late afternoon cold rain. Other than that the weather here is very nice. Now that school is done I hope to have some more time working with the team in the city telling others about Christ.
Language is still an on going process. I start going two times this week and then starting in July I will begin going to language three times a week. My teacher teaches at one of the “Middle” school’s here in Olsztyn, and their semester is not over until the end of June. Work in the villages is going great. The kids really enjoy having us out there. The past few weeks we have been focusing on reviewing the language they have learned. They enjoy the games and activities we come prepared to do. Next week will be our last week for the summer, and we will be having American week via the Volunteer team. The coffee shop is winding down for the summer, The beginning of the month we had one person attending and as it has gotten closer to her finals she has stopped coming. I am not sure if we are going to continue to have coffee shop through the summer, but we will if there is interest. We have started a new coffee shop on Monday afternoons out at the university campus. Hopefully more college students will be able to attend the one on campus.
Please be in prayer for the team as we begin our summer. Summers can be a time of little to do or more to do than we can ever get to. We have a Volunteer Team coming next week, who are coming to do village work. Please pray for their travels and for a safe and fun trip while here. The following week my roommate and I are on vacation in the Mediterranean Sea, then we head to Greece for our annual Business Meeting. Once that is done, I will be returning to Olsztyn for the majority of the summer. Please continue to pray for the lost we meet with, that their hearts and minds would be open to hearing what we have to say about Christ. The biggest barrier we have is tradition of the Polish people. Most Poles only do certain things due to tradition and for no other reason. Because of this it is very hard to ‘break’ that and help them to see who Christ truly is. I thank you for you continued prayers and I am truly indebted to you support.

Thank you again for your prayers and support,
Naomi DeVault, Olsztyn Poland

4000 Disrobe!

My mother sent this to me and I thought I woudl share it with you all...:)


4000 Monks Disrobe!
Wait! It is NOT what you think!!

I heard an incredible story this morning from colleagues in a country that are among the peoples in the South East Asia Affinity Group. It seems that over the past several years that the Gospel message has been finding root among Buddhist monks in a country rife with poverty and political oppression. It is a dark place spiritually and even the “spiritual leaders” have discovered the hopelessness of the Buddha!

Because of outreach and a strategy that employs scripture storying a significant number of these monks have “disrobed” (cast away their robes, walked away from the priesthood, and left Buddhism altogether) and committed their lives to the One who can bring them hope and meaning in such dire circumstances. The total number of monks who have left Buddhism is 4,000. You read it correctly—four thousand!! It has become such a problem in one area that a monastery that served a larger number of monks has closed completely—because there is no one left there who follows Buddha!

Meet the new additions...

Meet Thing 1 and Thing 2! The baby birds have hatched. The hatched about five days ago and the birds are very ugly. I know pidgins are ugly birds but I never thought the baby birds would be as ugly as they are. They are little and yellow. It took about a day for me to actually get a picture of the birds and by then they were both hatched so I got a picture of both. The pictures I have are from yesterday. The funny thing is about the time I took the first picture the mother bird came back and was mad. The only sad part of the baby birds is through the night one did not make it. It made me sad when I looked at them this morning and say that only one lived. The mother has been gone a lot today and I think she was only able to truly take care of one bird. The bird that has been sitting on the nest and is taking care of the bird is not the bird that laid the eggs. We think this bird decided to be even lazier than Bonnie and took Bonnie’s eggs and then “threw” her out of the nest. Anyway the bird that is taking care of the nest is even uglier than Bonnie and the babies are uglier still. Thing 1 is beginning to make some noise and move around, he opened his eyes today. Now we are just hoping by the time we get back from vacation the baby will be out of the nest and we can try to save the raspberry bush the nest is in. Here are the few pictures I took, I hope you enjoy them!

Here they are close up (they have huge eyes and beaks and are curled up together)

Here they are from a distance (you can really see how small they are)

Mad "momma" coming to see what is going on

Food for thought...

This was given to me and I thought I would share with all...

GOD LOVES YOU UNCONDITIONALLY
A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?" Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this."
He proceeded to crumple the dollar bill up. He then asked, "Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air.
"Well," he replied, "What if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now all crumpled and dirty. "Now who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air.
"My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20.
Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless.