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Posted: September 21, 2006, 3:08 pm (Pacific) by Leslie Sheffield

News Article
The Word & Way recently wrote an article about Racheal’s mission trip. The url’s for the Word & Way’s homepage, and the article are below.

Word & Way Homepage: http://www.wordandway.org/http://www.wordandway.org/
Direct Link to Article: http://www.wordandway.org/getevent.php?contentID=780

Leslie

Posted: July 30, 2006, 5:54 pm (Pacific) by Rachel Sheffield

The last two weeks
What on earth can I say about the past two weeks? One thing I know so clearly is that I serve an amazing God who knows me, who knew how my summer would end, who knew how many days I would have in the city to minister, and who knew I was going to get out safely.

Guess what? On the day this began I was in the southern part of Beirut, where most of the bombings have taken place. Oops!!! It was a creative ministry day and the woman’s beach where we were was south of the city. We received a phone call early that day telling us of the kidnapping of the 2 Israeli soldiers and to be careful. By mid afternoon many people had left the beach, this was very strange. It made it very easy to talk with people because we really didn’t have a choice as to whom to talk with. People were saying that all of the highways had been bombed out and Hezbollah (HB) and Israeli’s were all over the city. This was not true at this point. Later that afternoon we headed back to the city. Once back, we were told that this could just blow over or it could become very terrible. There were three groups of about ten people each who were in the city for a week working and they had all decided to exchange their airline tickets and head back to the states as soon as possible. We were told to pack our bags just in case we had to leave quickly. That night we went over to an American friend’s house to watch CNN. While we were there we were told that the decision had been made to send the summer students home (I was part of this team). The next morning they were going to change our tickets. We went back to our apartment to pack our bags, we were going to stay with friends just in case the roads got damaged during the night or the communications lines went down during the night.

The next morning I was awakened at 6:30, by a cell phone call from a friend telling me the airport was being bombed and that we had two people there waiting for their flight to leave. I went out to the balcony and looked to the south and saw white smoke rising and heard bombs going off. (I later found out that the bombs I had heard weren’t that big b/c they got louder.) The airport is the one place I really didn’t want them to hit. They were going to change my plane tickets that day and I was going to leave the next day. Why did the airport have to be the first place they hit? I knew it was going to be very challenging for me to leave. Syria doesn’t like to let Americans in so that meant the most likely way to get out was by a boat ride to Cyprus, (I found out later that day about the blockade in the water so that was out to be out of the question also). This felt like something you see on TV, it’s not something you really experience, and it was very surreal. I lived on the 10th floor of an apartment building and that is about the tallest building around, I looked down at the people and life was going on as normal. The airport was being bombed and it wasn’t fazing them.

Twenty of us gathered that day to be together just in case the roads or communication went down. We had a great time of worship and fellowship with one another. That night we all went to our own homes to sleep. I stayed with another student and a career woman. Before we went to bed we saw quite a few bomb strikes off in the distance. I was sitting on the couch watching CNN (this became my favorite channel very quickly) and I saw a white glow fly across the sky. About 30 seconds later I heard a very faint boom. This happened a few times then I went out to the balcony and realized I was seeing the bombs fly into the airport. This went on for quite a while. About 30 minutes later we noticed that there was an orange glow; we realized it was a fire and found out later that an oil tank had been hit at the airport. It finally calmed down and we went to bed.

At about 3:30 am that next morning I woke up to the call of prayer going off and I also noticed that a few big bombs were going off. I went to the balcony to watch, it was heavy bombing for over 2 hours. We could see some of the bombs coming in and sometimes we could see HB shooting red things up in the air (a funny side note, when I first saw the red things going up in the air I couldn’t figure out how Israel had made it on the ground, I knew they were in the south but not in the city. I later found out it was coming from HB). This ended up being one of the most active nights by far.

Friday
Later on that morning, decisions were made for us all to stay in the same apartment for safety reasons. During the day there were 20 people together and at night 6 of them went to a nearby hotel. Seven of the 20 were under the age of 9, so we had our hands full. We had no clue how long we were going to be living like this so we stocked up on food, water, etc. At any given time the roads, communications line, or electricity could break and we had to be prepared for that. It was a quiet night, we were so happy to get a good nights rest. When I woke up the next morning I was a little concerned b/c I hadn’t been woken up but nothing had happen. We later realized that sunset Friday till sunrise Saturday is the Israeli’s Sabbath.

Saturday
Night time was defiantly the worst time by far. I started trying to go to bed early because I would normally be woken up every few hours, or be woken up for a few hours of intense bombing. God really gave us a good sense of humor through all of this. One night we all had been woken up about 1 am by some really big bombs going off so we all sat on the balcony watching them. Someone went inside and got the popcorn that we had shared the night before during the movie we had watched, and they also grabbed the Reese’s pieces. We acted like we were watching fire works. Another way that God protected us was that the kids never woke up during the night by the noises; they would hear it during the day but never during the night.

Sunday
It was time to give thanks. I was woken up early (9 o’clock) to a meeting with all the adults, we had gotten word that the US was coming to evacuate us. We all got very excited knowing that we would be out in a few days. We re-packed our bags and we were keeping the phone lines clear for the call from the Embassy.

Not only that but we really had thanksgiving. One of the families had a turkey in their refrigerator and they had to clear it out so we had a traditional thanksgiving meal. We had two of our Lebanese friends over for the meal and worship. It was fun seeing them enjoy an American traditional meal while a war was being fought right outside our door. Inside we were having thanksgiving and praising the Lord.


Monday
The days really stared to run together, bombs went off every day and we would always see the smoke rise in the south. It was comforting knowing that they were only hitting the south. The fear in the back of our mind was when are they going to start hitting other parts of the city. We had heard rumors that HB was changing locations in the city and that would mean they were going to start changing where they were bombing. This evening we were singing praise songs, there were several big bombs going off, but we were not shaken by this. I knew that my foundation was strong and would never be shaken. There would have been no humanly possible way for me to make it thru this without the Lord.

Tuesday
More bombs and sleeping.

Wednesday
We finally heard from the Embassy. One of the couples received an e-mail from them. They said that we could evacuate Thursday at either 7, 9 11, 1 or 3. We sent an e-mail back saying we wanted 7. A few hours later they said that 7 was full, how about 11. We replied saying we want to leave as soon as possible, just get us on the list. Later in the day we got another e-mail saying Thursday was full, how about we come on Friday. Talk about some rough news. We were all ready to leave on Thursday, we had finally gotten a word from the Embassy and then they said to wait one more day. We were very disappointed.

Thursday
Two of the people that I was living with had their names on the list to be evacuated today so they left early in the morning to head to the port and wait. By 10 o’clock we had received word that they really were not on the list and that the boat was already full for that day. They went ahead and stayed the whole day because there was a possibility that they could get on a later boat. Since we were going to try and leave the next day two of the guys from my group went down to the port to figure out how things were run for tomorrow since we are going to have 7 kids with us and we didn’t want them to have to wait in the line. They also made a stop by the embassy to try to learn more about what we needed to do to evacuate.

When these two finally got back to the apartment they said it was a mess. People were trying so hard to leave. They didn’t have lines. In Lebanon people push their way to the front of all lines. They said that if we had been their today with the kids it would have been awful. We could only trust God that Friday was to be our day to leave.

Friday
We are ready. I had been waiting to leave since the kidnapping happened nearly a week and a half ago. I was up at 4:30 and we all finally got in the taxi at 5:30. We waited till it was light outside because there seems to be more bombing action when it is dark. We were taken to the bridge and you couldn’t even get off the hwy because it was so backed up. We got out and walked up to the bridge. It was full of people, you couldn’t move at all. We had to get to the other side of the bridge just to get in the first line (there were 6 lines total).

It is a fair statement that the evacuation process was just as traumatizing or more so than being in the war. On the bridge we had to push our way to the front along with everyone else doing the same. Everyone had all of their luggage and there were kids everywhere you looked but everyone was pushing. They were only letting a few hundred people thru every now and then. We stood in this line for 6 hours. We got there at 6 in the morning and I didn’t make it thru the first line till after 12. At one point I had people and things pushing in on me from all sides. I had luggage at my feet so I couldn’t move my legs, I had people touching me and it was very hot. When you are at Six Flags on a really hot day you do not hang on people while you are waiting in line. That is what was happening to me and there was nothing I could do to get out of the situation. Once we made it past this first station things became a lot better. We were divided into two long lines and people didn’t push as much but you still had to watch out. We would put our luggage down on the ground and make a little line so they wouldn’t pass us. Some people would come up right behind you and breathe down your neck. After they would do this for like 20 minutes I would let them pass me, I hated it when they did that.

Finally at 7 that night we were at the last line waiting to be processed to get on the boat. Some of our group had already done this and we found out that everyone else was going to Turkey (yeah, I was in the line to go to Turkey not Cyprus where I had a hotel room and a plane tickets to the states waiting for me). We talked with the Marines and they finally got us in the line to get on the boat to Cyprus. We got on the little boat that got us on the big ship, the USS Nashville. The little boat picked us up at a place where there were a lot of waves and I didn’t think I was going to make it but after taking a lot of medicine I felt much better. When we got on the big ship from the little on, is was so cool. The Marines were taking all of our luggage off the boat and on the other side they were helping us onto the boat. We walked into this very big, open room where they keep some of their little boats. They had their boat mascot here to welcome the kids onto the ship. It is now close to 11 pm and just to remind you my day started at 4:30 that morning and we can still see the city. I have only made it on the boat.

We had to go up several flights of stairs to get to the flight deck where we could sleep. These were the steepest stairs I have even seen. Once on the deck we found out that there were no beds left, we didn’t care. We just wanted a place to lay down. I felt the dirtiest I have ever felt in my life. I was so sweaty, my clothes were sticking to me and my jeans had black dirt all over the legs. We finally found a place at the back of the flight deck to lie down. Soon some Navy men came by with mattresses for us. They apologized for not having blankets for us. We told them that was fine, we were just thankful to have a mattress. At about 2 am we were woken up because it was extremely windy and cold, that’s when our boat finally started moving out. I went into my bag and put on all the dirty clothes I had in there. There was a big tent in the middle of the flight deck and it was so windy, the tent was flying away. Men were trying to hold it down, they eventually had to wake everyone up so they could take it down. I wasn’t under the tent but I was already awake. About 3am I was woken up again and given a sheet to cover up with. I put it over my head to get even warmer. I was woken up about 5 and was given another sheet. This time it was funny b/c I had the sheet over my head and they tapped on my shoulder, I was very gratefully for everything. The service men on the boat could not have been more pleasant and accommodating. They showed extreme kindness to everyone. They mingled among the passengers, making sure all possible needs were being met. I am so thankful for all they did to make us comfortable.

The sun was rising and they have a really bright sun here so it was time to get up. I got about 4 hours of sleep. We were still 6 hours away from our final destination. I played a little with the kids that I was traveling with and went around and toured the boat. I found the gift shop and bought a USS Nashville t-shirt. I sure hope this is going to be the only time I will be on a ship like this. We finally docked about 11 and it was 2:30 by the time I got off the boat. We were not about to wait in line again so we were some of the last people off the boat. It was 3 pm by the time we made it to the hotel.

This is extremely long, I really don’t mind if you skipped thru some of this. This is what happened and I will write more in a few days about my reaction to this and how this has begun to change my life. Thank you all so much for your prayers. I wouldn’t have made it with out them.

Love,
Rachel

Posted: July 25, 2006, 3:59 pm (Pacific) by Aaron Sheffield

Credits (25 July 2006) by Bruce
One last entry, I promise :-)

We would be amiss if we didn't thank our immediate family members for their support during this crisis time for the Sheffield's. Our oldest daughter Rebecca was home during the month of July and was an invaluable source of comfort and support. Our son Aaron, the computer genius, has maintained this web site and Rachel's blog with assistance from his wife Leslie. He also served as a sounding board for his father during the last 13 days just as he has always. Posts just don't appear on a blog, someone has to put them there and that someone has been Aaron. Often within minutes of me emailing the days entry he had it posted and often he edited my posts so that they were understandable and we all appreciated that. One day I just couldn't get the words correct, what I was trying to say just wasn't happening but I sent the post to Aaron anyway and to my amazement when I read the post he had understood what I was trying to say and said it for me. Thank you Aaron.

William Jewell College has been very important to all our children's growth as adults. As part of the Pryor Leadership program at Jewell, Rachel went on an Outward Bound trip, canoeing through the Florida Everglades a couple of winters ago. It was a hard trip, stretching her to her physical limit but teaching her she could endure and succeed. The skills and confidence she built on that adventure as well as teaming skills she learned in the program I'm sure served her well during her crisis in the Middle East. As we wrote the check to pay for that adventure I would have never thought of that as preparing her for this but I'm so glad she had that opportunity to learn and prepare.

Now the unsolicited commercial, William Jewell is a great college and if you have college age children I recommend a campus visit.

Thank you all,
Bruce & Donna Sheffield

bruceATsheffieldfamily.net replace AT with @
donnaATsheffieldfamily.net replace AT with @

Edited: July 25, 2006, 11:32 am (Pacific) by Aaron Sheffield
Posted: July 25, 2006, 11:31 am (Pacific) by Aaron Sheffield

Safely Home - Day 13 (24 July 2006) by Bruce
Rachel's flight arrived in St. Louis at 9 p.m. CDT and by 9:20 she was home. I've never gotten through Lambert airport so quickly. Once again I want to thank everyone who has prayed for Rachel's safe return home and a special thanks to those who shared Rachel's story with others asking for their prayers also. We have gotten emails and cards from people we don't know who heard Rachel's story and have been praying for her. I am certain that on any given day there were thousands of people praying for Rachel by name. The skeptic might say "even those whom no one prayed for got out also" but I will always believe everyone got out because people like you prayed not only for Rachel but for the others who wanted to leave. Rachel is safe at home but there are those that Rachel met this summer whom she shared the gospel with and those who showed hospitality to her that are trapped in a war torn country. I plan on continuing to pray for these people and for peace in the Middle East.

This will be my last blog entry, after all this is Rachel's blog and I've just been updating it while she was busy getting home. She does plan to add some entries in a few days and hopefully share some of her pictures. I will miss our daily daily updates, I've never had so many people read what I have written :-)

In case anyone is wondering I do know the difference between "Cyprus" the island nation in the Mediterranean and "cypress" the tree that grows in wetlands in the south. I just don't always type the correct one.

Once again thank you for your prayers that brought Rachel safely home.

Bruce & Donna Sheffield

Posted: July 23, 2006, 8:35 pm (Pacific) by Aaron Sheffield

Heading Home - Day 12 (23 July 2006) by Bruce
We spoke to Rachel briefly on Saturday and she said things have been hectic in Cyprus and she hadn't had much time to rest. Early Sunday morning we got a message from her and she had a little free time so she was heading to the beach for awhile, it was late afternoon in Cyprus.

Sunday evening Rachel began her trip home. This odyssey will last over 26 hours by the time she arrives home. From Cyprus she flies to Germany, from there to Atlanta and then home. She won't arrive home until late Monday night. She is already exhausted and I'm sure will be more so by the time she arrives home. She will be traveling with some others she evacuated out with until Atlanta where they all go their separate ways.

Please pray for her safety during her travel and that she is able to rest some on the flight.


Please continue to pray for Rachel's safe return home.

Posted: July 22, 2006, 2:19 pm (Pacific) by Aaron Sheffield

Safe in Cyprus - Day 11 (22 July 2006) by Bruce
We are praising God today!!

Rachel was evacuated out on the USS Nashville. We received a call from the mission board at 3 a.m. this morning saying the ship had docked in Cyprus but they did not anticipate any unloading of evacuees for at least 3 to 4 hours. We were hoping for a call from Rachel after she left the ship but we haven't gotten the call. Because of the power outage we spent the night at a friends house and Donna's cell phone is acting up so we may have missed Rachel's call. Hopefully she is now getting some much needed sleep. Her ordeal took over 36 hours by the time she de-boarded the ship. We did receive confirmation from the mission board that she is safe and well in Cyprus.

Our power is back on so we are at home.

Thank you so much for your prayers for Rachel.

Please continue to pray for Rachel's safe return home.

Bruce & Donna Sheffield

Edited: July 25, 2006, 11:31 am (Pacific) by Aaron Sheffield
Posted: July 21, 2006, 3:11 pm (Pacific) by Aaron Sheffield

The Siege - Day 10 Update (21 July 2006) by Bruce
She is OUT

As of 1:15 p.m. CDT Rachel was on a landing craft heading to one of the U.S. navy ships. She will be taken to Cyprus and on Monday she will fly to Germany and from there to Atlanta. She will arrive in Atlanta Monday afternoon. She hopes to be in Cyprus by 10 p.m. CDT tonight which will mean that 24 hours from the time she stepped in line she arrived in Cyprus. There are eleven of the group still together. The family's with children were processed out earlier. She is not home yet but certainly the most dangerous part of the journey is over. Who knows you may catch a glimpse of her on a news clip. She will be the cute one.

Thank you all for your prayers and please continue to pray for Rachel as she continues her travel home and as she begins to process all that has happened in the last 10 days.

Bruce & Donna Sheffield

Please continue to pray for Rachel's safe return home.

Posted: July 21, 2006, 11:40 am (Pacific) by Aaron Sheffield

The Siege - Day 10 (21 July 2006) by Bruce
We were able to speak with Rachel this morning at 8 a.m. CDT. She is in line for evacuation and hopes to be on board a ship by 12 noon. She has been in the process since 10 p.m. CDT on Thursday night. It is hot and her legs ache but she is thankful to be as far along in the process as she is. Their group has gotten separated but Rachel is with 6 others. The families with children were processed first and hopefully they are either on a boat on in a place where they can sit down and have access to facilities.

Thank you so much for your prayers for Rachel.

Please continue to pray for Rachel's safe return home.

Posted: July 20, 2006, 3:39 pm (Pacific) by Aaron Sheffield

The Siege - Day 9 Update (20 July 2006) by Bruce
We received an email from Rachel around 9 a.m. this morning and she has not been evacuated out. The embassy contacted them and told them to come on Friday instead.

Rachel's email:
Mom and Dad, we didn't leave, we are going to go there tomorrow and will push our way thru the long lines. Pray that we will. We are leaving here at 5 in the morning. You can give me an early call tonight, not to late b/c of our early morning. Hopefully I will call you from Cyprus tomorrow.
much love, Rachel

Needless to say we are very disappointed.

Please continue to pray for Rachel's safe return home.

Posted: July 20, 2006, 9:24 am (Pacific) by Aaron Sheffield

The Siege - Day 9 (20 July 2006) by Bruce
What I couldn't tell you in the blog yesterday or as Paul Harvey would say "Now, the rest of the story."

By the time you read this Rachel will be on the move processing for her evacuation.

When we spoke with Rachel Wednesday morning they had received their call from the embassy and had been given instructions for reporting. For security reasons the embassy didn't want details spreading around so I decide to wait until she was in the process to update everyone. At 11 p.m. our time, on Wednesday night, 7 a.m her time, Rachel's group was to report and start the process. They have been told to bring enough food and water for 24 hours. Also they have been told to expect to be in lines from 4 to 5 hours before boarding and since they have been assigned to the cruise ship to expect a 4 to 5 hour ride before they get to Cyprus. I saw on CNN Wednesday evening that they will be in long lines at Cyprus also. It will be a very long day and I'm sure stressful and tiring.

Plus there are seven children traveling in the group Rachel is with. With the anticipation of leaving today I doubt that Rachel slept much last-night so she and the others will start the day exhausted and the parents will have a busy day just keeping up with the children.

They have been inside for over a week. Some of the group went to the market for food and water on Wednesday afternoon for the trip and I expect the cookie baking on Wednesday was for their lunches on Thursday. When they leave the apartment it will be the first time Rachel has been out of their building in a week.

We have been told that the mission board will have people with cell phones waiting for them in Cyprus so we expect a call from Rachel later today. I noticed on CNN that the cruise ship that left Wednesday got to Cyprus around 6 p.m. our time but hadn't unloaded the passengers yet. So we are hoping for a phone call from her in the early evening hours. I'll let you know as soon as we hear from her.

Thank you so much for your prayers for Rachel.

Please continue to pray for Rachel's safe return home.

Bruce & Donna Sheffield

Posted: July 19, 2006, 1:58 pm (Pacific) by Aaron Sheffield

The Siege - Day 8 (19 July 2006) by Bruce
We spoke to Rachel early this morning. She is safe but still in the Middle East. Hopefully, soon I'll be able to change the title of the daily blog entries. The U.S. evacuation has started and the group that had come over for a one week trip evacuated out today.

Rachel heard some bombing last night but mostly slept though it. She has become so accustomed to the sound it rarely phases her. The bombings are always in the same area which means the attacks are not spreading to different parts of the city. They have started mostly ordering out for meals. I guess so they are not in the middle of making a meal when the call comes and perhaps they have eaten most of the food in the apartment. They are baking cookies today.

Rachel is very frustrated and angry, it was so obvious in her voice this morning. She is scared. They don't understand why the U.S. has been so slow, some countries have completed their evacuation, the U.S. is the only country charging and other countries have been taking Americans out. If it is true that "it is darkest right before dawn" perhaps it is also true that the hardest time to wait is just before your call. At least they hope they are called soon. With Americans leaving they are all the more anxious for their turn. Rachel told us she really thought she would have been out by now.

They know which hotel they will be staying in at Cyprus and have been spending their time checking it out on the internet. Sounds like a nice place to unwind for a few days. Rachel will catch the first available flight back to the states but doesn't know how long that will take. Cyprus will be a better place for her to wait.

Thank you so much for your prayers for Rachel.

Please continue to pray for Rachel's safe return home.

Posted: July 18, 2006, 1:58 pm (Pacific) by Aaron Sheffield

The Siege - Day 7 (18 July 2006) by Bruce
We spoke to Rachel early this morning. She is safe but still in the Middle East. They are anxiously awaiting the call from the embassy. One of there friends stopped by to check on them and said it looked like a doctors office, everyone sitting around waiting. Rachel repacked her bag and was able to fit a few more items in. She can only bring one small bag not to exceed 30 pounds. She will have to leave her backpack and book bag but they are easily replaced. (We are so blessed in our country.) Her bag only weighs 18 pounds but it is full.

My apologies for those who saw my earlier email stating Rachel would be leaving today. I misunderstood her short message from the night before. She was trying to say evacuations would start on Tuesday and I thought she meant her evacuation. I will try not to yell "wolf" again :-) It is unclear to me if the U.S. evacuation has started in earnest or not, I believe not. There are reports of small numbers of Americans leaving but these seem to be related to health issues or folks just happening to be at the right spot at the right time.

Rachel said they were playing "beauty shop" today. All the girls were getting their hair French braided and their finger nails painted. The girls love looking at Rachel's pictures of her family. They said Rebecca looks like Rachel and Aaron has been nicknamed the "hairy monster." Rachel wore her retainer one night and in the morning the girls saw it and thought it was neat and kept asking her questions about it. She hasn't wore it since even though the girls keep asking her to. We spoke with one of Rachel's little friends today and she said she was taking care of Rachel for us.

They are on regular electricity today and are able to run the air-conditioner. Rachel didn't sleep well last night because of the bombs, it seemed heavier than it had been. From what I've seen on the news today I would expect heavy bombing tonight also. The anticipation of evacuating makes it harder to sleep also. She is very weary and we can hear it in her voice but her spirit is strong. Rachel is more than ready to close this chapter of her life. She is very much looking forward to visiting Cyprus:-) Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever thought I would write that my little girl didn't sleep well because of the sounds of bombs. No email from Rachel today, she said she had trouble signing on.

Thank you so much for your prayers for Rachel.

Please continue to pray for Rachel's safe return home.

Posted: July 17, 2006, 7:38 pm (Pacific) by Aaron Sheffield

The Siege - Day 6 (17 July 2006) by Bruce
We spoke to Rachel early this morning. She is safe but still stuck in the Middle East. It was quite last night or at least she slept through it. One of the children turned 6 and they had a birthday party for her. They had birthday cake and presents. She got a scooter for her birthday. They had a head of broccoli that was going bad so they decorated it and made it into a birthday bouquet. The birthday girl didn't quite know what to do with that. One of the boys has a birthday in October but he got a birthday present today also because when they evacuate, all household items will be left behind including the gifts they just received.

The career workers have started giving items away to help the refugees from the south. Rachel followed suite and has given most of her clothes away. She can't bring them back. The workers are also passing on keys to houses and cars to the locals who are ministering to those who are displaced. Most seem to be going to the mountains for safety and there are very little supplies for them.

Rachel says the air has always been hazy there and the mountains hard to see. Usually she can see the silhouette of the mountains but now because of all the smoke from the bombings she can't see the mountains at all.
The temperature is much hotter today.

Excerpt from Rachel's email:
Last night was very calm. I woke up at 6 a.m. but was able to sleep a few more hours. I have been waiting since Thursday, so I am way ready to get out of here. The streets are almost as busy as a normal Monday morning. We are getting the house ready to leave. I will go thru my things and give them to the locals. Hopefully, soon I will be on the beach in Cyprus.
Much love, rachel

2nd email:
Nothing more has happened today. You guys aren't on MSN so hopefully you are out shopping or something. (shopping for me an ipod?) Hopefully we will go to bed early and get a full nights rest, if it goes like it did today we will. Once again we are ready for the embassy to call but no clue when that will be. I guess God isn't finished teaching us here.

Love you all, Rachel


Please continue to pray for Rachel's safe return home.

Posted: July 16, 2006, 9:58 pm (Pacific) by Aaron Sheffield

The Siege - Day 5 (16 July 2006) by Bruce
Today was a bonus day for the Sheffield's, we were able to speak to Rachel twice. She is safe and feeling well. They are anxiously awaiting word from the embassy about evacuation. They are aware that an evacuation assessment team landed and started the planning.

Rachel was very chipper on the phone today, I think because she feels the evacuation is close. She is anxious to be back home. She agrees with Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz "there's no place like home."

An excerpt from Rachel's email on Sunday, 16 July:
We did have an early morning wake up call, it was about 12:45 a.m. I had been asleep for 2 hours. I got a good picture of us on the balcony, we got the left over popcorn from the night before out and some M&Ms and we were out their watching the 'fire works.' We stayed up about 2 hours then were able to go to bed. The bombs hit a power plant down south, but we still have power.

We are having Thanksgiving today. One of the family's had a turkey so that will be our lunch today. I have been working in the kitchen all morning. Yesterday we had chicken and rice my favorite, and the day before that we had hamburgers. We are eating good.

My bags are packed and we are waiting for the call from the embassy. We are really thinking that is how we will get out and we will go to Cyprus. People from the company are already there and have rooms for us. So we are just waiting for the call. Calling the cell will be best today b/c we will try to keep the other one clear for the embassy call, but if you need to you can call it.

Much love, Rachel

Rachel said their generator went out for about an hour today but was running again when we talked. The generator is for backup when their regular electricity is down. The temperature hasn't been to hot so they make it fine without air-conditioning. There are no annoying insects there so the windows have no screens and are left open.

The hotel rooms Rachel and her team were in are being used by some locals who have been displaced. Their rooms were paid for thru the end of July so it's good someone gets to use them. Residents from the southern suburbs have been filtering into the area where Rachel is and the local believers have been able to minister to them. Some of Rachel's coworkers have given clothes to them. I suspect the clothing Rachel leaves behind will be given to these folks who have lost everything in the bombings.

I have been so focused on Rachel that I haven't thought about the suffering of those in the areas being attacked. Rachel reminded me of them today. We need to pray for them also.

Thank you so much for your prayers and words of encouragement.

Please continue to pray for Rachel's safe return home.

Posted: July 15, 2006, 5:02 pm (Pacific) by Aaron Sheffield

The Siege - Day 4 (15 July 2006) by Bruce
We spoke to Rachel at 1 p.m. our time and she is safe. We had talked to her earlier and things were fine then but when we heard that bombs had fallen in a different part of the city we wanted to hear her voice again. Once again she assured us they were in a safe area. Rachel said they can hear the bombs and see the smoke but it is not close and they have gotten somewhat use to the noise. A bomb hit while we were talking to her this morning and she thought it would have been cool if we could have heard it over the phone. (silly girl)

Rachel said they all had a good nights sleep on Friday. Rachel was very chatty which indicates to us she is feeling better. Her voice was strong and confident sounding.

There is encouraging news from the State Department that they are working on evacuating American citizens.

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/lebanon_update.html

Rachel said they spend their days playing games, in worship and prayer and of course tasks like cooking and cleaning. There is a good size group staying together and there are several young children. They have organized and divide up chores for everyone. As she told us of some of their activities I couldn't help but think of some of the training she had in the Pryor Leadership program at William Jewell and how this has help prepare her for this.

They also spend time training and going over possible scenarios for the evacuation and what to do if they get separated. They are making sure each person has the appropriate contact information so each can act independently if they get separated. Most likely she will not be able to bring her big suitcase when they leave so she has packed her backpack and shoulder bag with her essentials. This means leaving some of her souvenirs and most of her clothes but it would be such a pain trying to carry a large suitcase in crowded conditions.

Rachel told us they had a tea party this morning and her little friend added, "it was just for the girls." The boys did something else. One of the older girls was playing football (soccer), in the apartment and the ball went out the balcony window, they are on the 7th floor. So the dad had to run down stairs and retrieve the ball. Rachel asked Donna for some game ideas she could play with the younger children, sounds like one of Rachel's chores is child care:-). Two of the younger girls are especially attached to Rachel.

This area is prone to power outages so most have generators and Rachel said they are on generator today. So no air-conditioning while on the generator but other appliances are running and she said it hasn't been to hot.

An excerpt from Rachel's email:
We slept great last night, 8 hours straight and everyone slept like that. No action close to us. The news said some hwys and bridges were hit but we didn't hear anything. Last night before the girls went to bed I showed them the picture of our family and had them guess who was who and they said that Aaron was my mom, and then I showed then the one of Rebecca, mom and me and they thought mom was a guy b/c your hair is pulled back. They liked looking at the pictures. The kids are begining to wonder why everyone is staying together. Nothing new to report b/c nothing is happening. I hope you all slept in today and try your best to enjoy your Saturday.

Love, Rachel


Donna and I are feeling better today mostly because of the evacuation plans we have heard about. Rachel still faces a long process and many hours of waiting are still ahead for all of us. Please continue to pray for Rachel's safety and also the others that Rachel will be traveling with.

Thank you so much.

Please continue to pray for Rachel's safe return home.

Edited: July 15, 2006, 5:00 pm (Pacific) by Aaron Sheffield
Posted: July 14, 2006, 3:31 pm (Pacific) by Aaron Sheffield

The Siege - Day 3 (14 July 2006) by Bruce
We spoke to Rachel at 10 a.m. our time. She is still fine and still stuck in the Middle East. Their hopes of leaving on Sunday have been dashed and now they are hoping to get a flight out on Tuesday. This all depends on the airport being open and right now that doesn't look good.

Rachel has moved into the same apartment as several other workers. They want to be together so the are all ready to leave if the opportunity becomes available. They have stocked up on food and feel they have enough for a week. They haven't lost power yet but parts of the city has.


An excerpt from Rachel's email:
"Dad I don't think I am set up for this either. I was awaken this morning at 3:30 a.m. by the call to prayer and a few bombs going off. Apparently I was so nervous last night that my stomach didn't digest my food so while I was listening to the bombs this morning I threw up. People were doing the Islamic prayer while the bombing was happening. We were praying to the true God, we were so comforted by that. I think this is cool, that it was happening between 730-1030 p.m your time and I know a lot of people were praying for us at that time."


Donna and I so appreciate everyone who is praying for Rachel and for those who have expressed their concerns to us though phone calls and messages and email. It has comforted us. Rachel is most certainly feeling our prayers.

Thank you so much.

Please continue to pray for Rachel's safe return home.

Edited: July 13, 2006, 12:38 pm (Pacific) by Aaron Sheffield
Posted: July 13, 2006, 10:15 am (Pacific) by Aaron Sheffield

Time to Leave (by Bruce)
Donna and I spoke with Rachel this morning, 13 July, and she is fine. You may have heard that the international airport has been bombed and it is now closed, also the harbors have been blockaded. So Rachel is stuck there for the present. She does have a flight scheduled for this Sunday morning, she would fly from Jordon to Chicago arriving at 6 p.m. and then a 1 p.m. flight to St. Louis on Monday. But the St. Louis leg of the trip doesn't matter. Donna has a sister in Chicago and we would drive there anyway. But the airport has to be open by Sunday for this to happen. Pray that the air blockade is relaxed. Another option is to take a boat to Cypress but the sea blockade hampers that. It is a small country and it is effectively sealed up right now.

The summer workers have checked out of their hotel and are staying with various career workers in town. Also the workers have been told to pack but no decision made yet on whether they will leave. Reminds me of the exodus from Egypt, packed and ready to go at a moments notice.

Rachel said they could see the smoke from the International Airport this morning after the bombing. Rachel is several miles from the airport.

An update on the 30 Americans that were there for a one week working trip:

• 10 left Wednesday night.
  
• 10 others were at the airport when it was bombed and of course their
  flight was canceled.
  
• The other 10 had tickets for Friday but of course they are stuck now
  also.

Edited: July 7, 2006, 6:03 pm (Pacific) by Aaron Sheffield
Posted: July 7, 2006, 6:03 pm (Pacific) by Aaron Sheffield

The Trip that wasn't Meant to Be
This past Monday we had a little road trip to Damascus planned. We had known that it would be difficult to cross the border but we had some friends cross it after waiting only a few hours. We had high hopes. All 9 of us (career and summer missionaries) loaded into the taxi/van. We were looking forward to walking around in a mosque, shopping, and visiting Straight Street. This city has not had a lot of natural disasters, like earth quakes, so a lot of the older structures are still standing. I had also heard that this is a true middle eastern city. Where I live has a lot of western influence. After waiting 7 hours and bugging the guy who could have given us our stamp that we needed to enter the country, it became obvious that we didn't have time to wait any longer. It was nearly 8 PM. So I went to the Syrian border and waited 7 hours, then turned around and went back home. Luckily, they had a border store that only sold American products so we could shop a little while we waited. Never had I experienced discrimination like this before. Germans, Australians, etc. would enter the country, but Americans have to send a fax to Damascus and then they have to wait to get one back before they let you in. In this culture you must have connections to get any where. It would not have been unlikely for the passport guy never to have sent the fax, or the people in Damascus could have put our paper work to the side and never gotten to it. People here don’t understand waiting their turn. I have to be very careful in a store not to let other people jump right in front of me, I have had people try many times.

We had a gathering at a friends house on the 4th of July. We bbq'd, made home made ice cream, ate American candy, watermelon and played games. We had a contest to see if we could spit a watermelon seed across the road to the building on the other side. We came close a few times. We were on the 11th floor and I think we ended up hitting more of the people walking on the road than anything else. We did have fire works that night because Italy won the football match but I couldn’t see them from my apartment. We heard them. I am sure this Sunday night I will see some after the final world cup match between Italy and France.

We went out working one day this week and I came home with nothing in my bag. I normally take 8 Bibles with me. After that day the Word was in 8 homes that it had not been in before. Another day this week we were in 5 homes and none of them wanted to talk about the gospel. We would bring it up and they would say we don’t talk about that in this house, or that’s a good story, or we worship the same God, we just get there differently. After days like that I want to cry. I am here and eager to talk to these people about the love of God and they don’t want to hear it. I knew this job wasn't going to be easy. It's difficult to keep my spirits up but I know I am planting seeds. I may never see the end result. I have to be faithful and consistent. If I was not being turned down at some house, would I really be doing my job?

Thank you all for your continued prayers. They mean more to me than you can imagine. Please pray for:
-persaverance-we have 3 weeks to go and a lot more homes to reach
-that my friendship with the two girls from here will grow
-that my love for these people will grow even deeper

Love,
Rachel

Edited: June 30, 2006, 10:09 am (Pacific) by Aaron Sheffield
Posted: June 30, 2006, 10:08 am (Pacific) by Aaron Sheffield

Half Way Done
Last weekend I was at a gathering with other Americans who are doing similar work as I am, It was two peoples birthdays so they called the kids around to sing. First they sang it in Arabic, then English, and then French. I have never had that experience before. This past week I had the opportunity to meet again with my friend Dana. Oh my goodness, she is asking some really good questions. We were going to go to the movies one night and we had time to make it but she said how about we just hang out at my house and talk. I was like "YES". I spent about an hours with her that afternoon. We talked about so much of the gospel, I am very excited to meet with her again.

Last Sunday we went to Jeita Grotto. It is a really big cave in the mountains. It was so beautiful. It was very nice to take a morning off to see it. It is getting warmer here everyday. In the shade, most of the time, you are good. Once you get in the sun you are a goner. It is also jelly fish season now. The next time I go to the beach I won't be able to get in the water without worrying about it.

The halfway point of my trip has come and gone, I am surprised that it is almost July. This next month is going to go by really fast. Missing you all lots.

Love,
Rachel

Please pray with us:
-to be focused
-that I will have good follow ups with people

Posted: June 23, 2006, 8:16 pm (Pacific) by Aaron Sheffield

Not All of Us Are Hospitable
We were knocking on doors, trying to find people to meet. We found a women at home and began talking to her and I said “ I have heard that people here are very hospitable and are so kind to visitors.” She replies with my quote of the week: “Yes, but not all of us are hospitable”. That conversation quickly ended and we left. Later I was able to laugh about it but at the time it was very discouraging.

Saturday morning one of my team members woke up sick so we had to change our plans for the day. Katey and I walked around the area where we live and tried to talk to the woman that we saw. We found out that when you are intentionally looking for woman to speak with, it is very challenging to find them. We went into several shops. They have many shops that sell really, really fancy jewelry, purses, shoes, and things for your hair. Women work in many of these shops, so we would go in them and pretend to shop (we didn’t find that hard to do) but when we would try to talk with them many of them didn’t speak English. It is also very customary for people to do things in groups, just like at home. People rarely do things by themselves so that makes it difficult to strike up a conversation.

On Sunday David was still sick so we had our first beach ministry day. In honor of all of the fathers out there I just want to let you know that I was thinking about you as I looked out into the Mediterranean Sea. We went to a woman’s only beach outside the city. Before I came here I thought it sounded really odd to have segregated beaches. But after being here for a few weeks I don’t think I would go to any other kind of beach. It was very crowded. We made two friends and spent the day with them. Not many of the people there spoke much English so that was challenging for us. Kendra was with us and that really helped. When we met our two friends, a lot of the first conversations were in Arabic and it was pretty funny because I could follow the conversation by picking out some of the words that I have learned and by their body language. It was a challenge trying to bring up the gospel when I could barely talk to them about everyday stuff. This beach was so pretty, I loved it. We have 5 more days planned for the beach. Where I live is very close to the water. There is no beach there but it has a boardwalk along the waters edge. I have been getting up early and walking in the mornings on the boardwalk.

Sunday's here are a day of rest. We have our church on Thursday night and Friday is our Sabbath. We are able to meet more people in their homes on Sunday. Sunday night I went down to Solidere (http://www.solidere.com/solidere.html, the downtown district). There is a local who takes his guitar down there, plays praise music and talks to people about the Lord. All the Americans that I have met go down there as well, so I went this week. I met Mia, she is so sweet and right away we became friends. We talked for nearly two hours (I did a lot of listening). Her sister was down there also. They invited us over to their house sometime. We haven’t set a date for that yet but I am sure it will happen. We gave them both a Bible. They don’t have a religion, they used to live in a place where they wore all black from their head to their toes. Now they don’t cover up. People here think that all religions are good and that they all are very similar. There are 18 different religious groups. People here are born with a religion, it is put on their ID card. They have a very skewed idea of religion.

I called one of the friends (Dana) that I have made here and we went to the movies Monday night. Afterwards we went to get ice cream. Katey and I were able to talk to her a lot about Jesus. She is Muslim but doesn't have a strong tie to it. No matter what I say I can never convince someone that Jesus is the way. I have to let God speak through me. Each morning, when I wake up, I pray that God will do miracles here with the people.

Wednesday night we were able to spend time with Dana again. Me and both of my roommates went to her house to pick her up for the movies. Her family was so nice, they loved having Americans in their home. We were running late. Dana's sister was coming with us and she had to eat first before she left. They insisted that we all eat (it was a really good middle eastern dish) and then they had to have us try every dish that they had in the refrigerator. They made us take fruit to eat as we left. This happens a lot here. The way it has worked out so far is the less English they know the more food you get. I have had to drink a lot of soda and I really don’t like soda. I have had tea also which I never drank at home but I have really liked it here. I have not had to try coffee. I've heard that I am really lucky that I haven’t. One time last week I had carrot juice. I heard is was good so I wasn’t that scared to try it, but it was awful. I found out later that carrot/orange juice is the good kind. I learned my lesson on that one.

One of the families we met this week only spoke a few words of English. They spoke Arabic and French, they asked us why we don’t learn one of those languages in America. I told them that I learned Spanish. When we were leaving they were telling us bye in English, Arabic and French. So I told them bye in Spanish.

This Sunday we are taking a tourist trip to Grotto, I am not sure what it is but it is a tourist thing to do, and on Thursday of this coming week we are going to the Cedars, up in the mountains. Thursday night I was walking back to my apartment at about 10:30 (I was with several other people). Everyone lives in apartments here and the stores are on the bottom floor of the buildings. All of a sudden we heard all of this cheering, lights were coming on in the homes and people were coming out on their balconies. Brazil had just scored in the World Cup. About 10 minutes later I was right by my apartment, there is a little grocery store by us and we heard everyone cheering again and two guys run out and jumped up and down while cheering and then ran back inside. Brazil had just taken the lead. They certainly love the World Cup here.

Thank you all for your prayers, thoughts, and notes.

Love,
Rachel

Join me in praying:
-that we keep our energy up
-that my team will continue to bond
-that we will always take everything to God in prayer
-that the relationships that we are building with friends will honor God, and that people will come to know Christ

Edited: June 16, 2006, 6:24 pm (Pacific) by Aaron Sheffield
Posted: June 16, 2006, 11:39 am (Pacific) by Aaron Sheffield

What a Ride!
I've finished my first week of work!!!! The week consisted of working on campus (handing out surveys and then getting into conversation with the students afterwards) and going into the neighborhood knocking on doors, giving the people a gift of the New Testament and trying to get into a spiritual conversation with them.

It has been a roller coaster this week, I am sure a lot of weeks will be like this but this is the first "ride" of the summer. Our first day in the neighborhood this week was very frustrating. We had a lot of doors slammed in our face. The people were not open to what we had to say to them. Then the very next day we were on campus talking with students and things went great. Right away Katey and I were able to get into an hour long conversation with a student. Later on Katey was able to lead this young lady to the Lord :-) Right after this we all went to lunch together and I was able to talk with her some more. I found out that I had talked to one of her good friends earlier this week. Out of all of the people that I have met and talked to on campus, we happen to find two best friends! God's hand was in it. We hope and pray that we will be able to met with these girls again and continue to talk with them. God gave us what we needed, when we needed it. He knew that we could handle a tough day in the neighborhood only to be followed by an amazing day on campus. Because of this tough experience my team has become more focused on prayer. We go out in groups of three and one of us will be the main speaker for the conversation and the others will be in prayer.

The world cup continues. It was disappointing Monday night when the US lost but I was kind of expecting it so it didn't hurt that bad. We watched the game at Chili’s, there was about 20 other Americans there also watching the game. This made me laugh. I had actually already met some of these people just by seeing them around the city. The game was in English which was also exciting and fun to hear.

Thursday night I was at house church and we were on the top floor of this apartment building which was the 11th floor, and the other buildings around us are not that tall. I was sitting with my back to the window and it was getting dark. All of a sudden I heard a loud boom. I jumped really big, having no clue what it was. Everyone else there could see outside the window and had noticed that is was fireworks. They were all laughing at me because I had jumped so big. Once I found out what it was I was able to enjoy watching them. Here I am in a city and people shoot off fireworks but at home, in the suburbs, you can't shoot then off because the houses are to close together. Ironic.

I have adjusted to the weather here. The first week they said it was just abnormally hot for that early in the summer, it hasn't been that warm since. As long as you are in the shade it isn't that bad. If there is a breeze, which we normally don't get, then it is even better. The sky is so blue and the water is so pretty, it is very rare to see clouds around. I miss you all very much.

Thank you for your continued prayer support. Please pray:
-For my team to continue to bond
-That we will have energy to continue knocking on doors
-That we will be given the words to say
-That we will stay focused
-That we will be led to the people that God has be working in their lives and who are open to the word
-That I will make the most of the time that I have here

Love, Rachel

Edited: June 11, 2006, 7:38 pm (Pacific) by Aaron Sheffield
Posted: June 11, 2006, 7:38 pm (Pacific) by Aaron Sheffield

The Ice Cream Man
The main language that is spoken here is Arabic. Most people know some English, so it is not hard getting around or asking for help. I have been taught some Arabic but it is a challenge learning it. On Thursday afternoon my team, David, Katey and myself, went walking in the neighborhood where we will be working. We got lost right away. I found it interesting how our different personalities worked together to find the right place. There was one street where they were doing construction. There were kids playing soccer in the street. My team told me that I should go out there and play with them. (I played soccer in high school.) I didn’t but maybe I will next time.

We were about done with our walk and hadn’t talked to anyone, but then we walked by this ice cream shop and they have really good ice cream here, it is Italian A man working in the shop started talking to us and I didn’t understand him. David started talking to him. He was getting us ice cream and I was understanding him. He wasn’t speaking English and it wasn’t Arabic. He was speaking Spanish. I understand Spanish. So this man gave us some ice cream to share, we sat down and talked to him while we ate it. David majored in Spanish so he was able to talk to him. I could understand him but it was very challenging for me to respond We told the man that we will come back and visit. He said good and then he called us his friends. How cool is this? :-)

The world cup has begun. Most sit down restaurants have a projector with the game on it. I see German and Brazilian flags all the time. These are the two teams most people here are hoping will win. Monday night Katey, David and I are going to Chili’s to watch the US game. We figured we would go to an American restaurant to watch our team play. Friday night I went to the down town area for dinner and in the streets were screens showing the game. The only problem is is that they speak Arabic so we cannot understand the announcer. I really like this area. There are a lot of restaurants and they don’t have bugs here so we eat outside. There are lots of shops in this area also.

Saturday was our first day going door to door. We got invited into two homes and spent about a hour in both of them. They were both very friendly and we plan to go back and visit them another day.

Please join us in praying for the following things:
-boldness
-that my team will learn to work together
-open the hearts of the people
-protect us
-give us energy
-don’t let language keep us from people
-people to be open to us

In Christ,
Rachel

Edited: June 5, 2006, 9:43 pm (Pacific) by Aaron Sheffield
Posted: June 5, 2006, 3:54 pm (Pacific) by Aaron Sheffield

Five Days
I have been here now for nearly five days, and so much has happened in this time. The team which I thought I would be working with has changed a lot. Two of the people whom I thought I would be working with have decided not to come or got here and felt God telling them this is not what He had planned for them and have gone back to the states. There are two other people that will be working with me. The Lebanse people love Americans. There is no way of hiding that we are Americans. My team thinks that I can sometimes pass as a Lebanese but I don’t think so. The guy on my team is 6 ft 9 in and a lot of the stares are for him but others are just because of where we are from.

We live right by a university so there are lots of shops and restaurants by us. Because of that there are also lots of students. Life here starts later in the day than it does back in the states. You do not normally leave the house till 10 and things normally stay open till 8 or 9. This has been very nice.

I didn't realize how humid it would be here. It feels like mid summer already and it is only going to get hotter. My view of the mountains and the sea it not very clear. It is very smoggy and dirty here. The sky is always blue with very few or no clouds. The sea is a 5 minute walk from my place, this makes me very happy. I have yet to see sand but at least I am by water and that will give us a little breeze.

My training has been so good. I have 7 days of training before we will go out into the community. They are working to give us a full armor of what we will need to minister to the people here. It has been truly amazing to see how things have begun to click for us as we learn together.

Communicating with the people has been a challenge. Most people here know English and some know it very well. I have had to be very creative to think of ways to explain things in words that they would understand. It has been challenging at restaurants ordering food, the few times we have done it, when none of us know Arabic. Needless to say I have tasted a lot of different foods because I cannot tell them that I don’t want tomatoes, mayonaise, onions, etc. So far I really like middle eastern food.

Good things are happening here. Please keep me and my team in your thoughts and prayers.


Love,
Rachel

Posted: June 1, 2006, 12:04 pm (Pacific) by Aaron Sheffield

Arrived
I arrived here safely about 3 in the morning, which is a very busy time at the airport. It is very warm and humid here it is like mid July already. The rest of my team is arriving later today. I will write more later.

love
Rachel

Edited: May 31, 2006, 11:31 am (Pacific) by Leslie Sheffield
Posted: May 30, 2006, 4:54 pm (Pacific) by Aaron Sheffield

England
My time in England is almost at an end, I leave in the morning to finish the rest of my travels. It has been a really enjoyable time visiting with friends and seeing the city. Here are some of the high lights of my trip thus far.

Saturday was the first time I've seen London; we went to les mis, then to this really cool ice cream shop that makes your ice cream look like food. We had pizza, they put a lot of strawberries on top. Then we went to the tate modern.

On sunday we went to church and afterwords we went punting. which in my mind it is like the gadala rides in italy. That afternoon the jet lag really got to me so I took a nap which ended up not being a good thing. we also walked around cambridge a lot and saw some of the other colleges here.

Monday was back to London, we started out at covent garden, and then we hopped on a bus tour of the city. I feel like I have been everywere, I was all over the place. I got lots of cool pictures and a little wind burn. We also made a stop, and went to the tower of london to see the crown jewels. That night was the coolest. We went to see a show at the globe theatre. It was so cool, and I also really enjoyed the play.

So tomorrow I am back to the airport for one more day of travel before I get to my location. Here are some things that you can pray for me about

-safey as I travel
-that my group will bond with each other quickly
-that we will not loose our focus during this busy time of travel


much love
Rachel

Posted: May 26, 2006, 5:03 pm (Pacific) by Aaron Sheffield

Safe and Sound
I finally have arrived at my dastinations for now it was about 4:30pm England
time when I made it to Cambrigde. I am very tired but really excited to be
here and visiting with friends. Thank you all for your prayers.

Love
Rachel

Edited: May 25, 2006, 8:56 am (Pacific) by Leslie Sheffield
Posted: May 25, 2006, 7:51 am (Pacific) by Aaron Sheffield

Out the Door
Here is a little information about what I will be doing over seas. I will arrive to the location on June 1st. There will be 4 other American students that I will be working with for the summer, 10 missionaries that live there. The first week I will be in training. And then after that we will break up into teams and do different types of ministry. We will mainly be going door-to-door building relationships with the people. On creative ministry days we will go to a local university, and the beach (ya the beach, I don't know how they can call that work).

They say that the weather is going to be very hot. I am imagining that it is going to be like going to Florida in the hottest part of the summer, very sunny and very warm. On some of the days we will go around the city and see the tourist attractions.

Prayer request:
-Safety as I travel
-Boldness
-that I will 100% surrender the summer to God
-that God will prepare the hearts of the people that we will touch
-that I will be change and that I will grow so much closer to Christ
-for the finances of the trip
-for my parents

I thank you all so much for you prayers thoughts and support. I will be updating again as soon as I can

love
Rachel

Edited: April 29, 2006, 11:33 pm (Pacific) by Rachel Sheffield
Posted: April 29, 2006, 11:33 pm (Pacific) by Rachel Sheffield

Welcome
Hello everyone My borther is the coolest he will be taking care of my blog for me this summer and helping me with it. The semester is almost over with which I am thankful for. I am very excited for this summer I cannot wait for it to began and serve God in a way that I can't even think of. Talk to you all later.

Love
Rachel