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.)