Prayer Update

It’s been a busy & blessed summer!

Here’s what I’ve been up to.

Dissertation Writing:

I’ve been working diligently on my dissertation “Choctaw Tribal School Instructional Aides’ Perceptions of Preparedness for Implementing Choctaw Language Materials in Elementary Classrooms.” I’m reading books about Native American and Choctaw history, language revitalization, and early childhood language learning pedagogy. In addition, I am analyzing data gathered during trips to Choctaw language classes during the spring semester.

My hope is that my dissertation will provide insight for the Tribal Language Program staff as they continue to write and develop the Choctaw language curriculum and teacher training.

I am continuing my partnership with the Choctaw Tribal Language Program. I’m helping in any way that I can with the planning, implementation, and evaluation of different programs for the Choctaw Language Instructors.

Mission Team Visit:

In July a mission team from Otterbein UB Church in Greencastle, PA visited Choctaw, MS to serve with Corinth Baptist Church in the Tucker Community. Corinth Baptist Church has asked for help preparing the building site for their new church building.

The team, in partnership with Hope Indian Baptist Church hosted a concert called Rockin’ the Rez. Holding a concert has been a dream of Leonard’s for many years. Groups from Pennsylvania and Mississippi performed. Pastor Reinhart from the Mennonite Church shared a short message and Chief Anderson shared an opening prayer.

Upcoming Events:

Fall 2015 semester - I hope to defend my dissertation and graduate from Jackson State University in December 2015. Please pray that God will give me supernatural wisdom and insight as I analyze data. Please pray for my dissertation committee.

I am guiding students in one eight-week online class for JSU – EDCI 220 Teaching and Learning Styles for Young Children

October 2015 – SIL North America’s retreat in Bellingham, Washington.

Would you like to be part of my ministry team?

Please send tax deductible donations to:

Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc.

PO Box 628200 • Orlando, FL 32862

*Enclose a note that says “Gift for the ministry of Abigail Farmer. Account #285943”

Call 1-800-WYCLIFFE

Dissertation Writing, Writing, Writing

Psalm 126:6

Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.

During my last week in Papua New Guinea (2007) I was struggling with a lot of questions. I was dying inside with burnout, I was perpetually sick, and I didn't know what the future held. My friend Laura sat down with me and read Psalm 126 to me and I felt like that Psalm was written just for me.


Carrying seed to sow - There's a lot of planting and harvest imagery in the Bible. Anyone who has planted a tiny garden or a full field understands the concepts involved: preparing the soil, planting seeds, watering, and waiting for God to do the rest. In the ground is where the seeds germinate and eventually break through the soil.Painful times require prayer and persistence. These are times that build our faith as we choose to say, "God, I don't know what's happening, but give me strength to keep moving forward." 

Songs of joy - Harvesting is a time of hard work, but it's also a time of celebration.  Seeing how your work has produced a harvest gives us cause for celebration, praise, and gratitude. 

Dissertation Writing - My specific work right now is reading journal articles, data analysis, and typing page and after page. I send drafts off to be proof-read, I get them back with changes. Meanwhile I am going through a range of emotions from anger and doubt to hope and the joy of discovery.  Deep down there's a humming tenacity that I know God has given me to persist until this is completed. 

I know that God is building my faith right now. I am maturing during the process because I'm learning deeper levels of patience and peace. I know God's using this to help me become more like Him. My dream is to be a college professor and this process is preparing me for assisting future students. 

Prayer of St. Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.

The past two weeks have been rough.  I had a bout with anxiety that kept me from really functioning.  It's happened a few times before - during my last months in Ukarumpa, after my first year of graduate school, and in 2011 when I crash landed in Dallas on medical leave. 

What is it like to have an anxiety attack?  Imagine that you are afraid of something that you cannot see, you can only feel.  Imagine that your world shrinks down to feelings of loneliness and helplessness.    

Then, imagine that you slowly start feeling like yourself again.  

I am grateful for my counselor, Cindy, and my Mom for helping me to work through each day and see things for what they are.

I've been thinking about the Prayer of St. Francis.  
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

An instrument is a tool that is used for a specific purpose.  When we ask God to use us, we must put aside certain comforts and be prepared to make sacrifices.  We have to "get out of His way" and realize that we our His vessel.  

God calls us to love one another.  The command is so simple, but is the hardest thing to do.  Love one another?  Love, when we don't feel like loving?  I'm still wrapping my mind around this.  

How can I be an "instrument of God's peace" today?  I can offer words of encouragement and kindness.  I can offer people the "benefit of the doubt."  I can make the world a kinder place to live. 

Consultant Check

This has been a busy week for the CBTC translators.  A consultant from the American Bible Society, Steve, came to the office for a few days of intense checking!  The translators and board members spent the week painstakingly going through the Gospel of John.  One of the translators read the Choctaw language draft.  Another translator or board member would do a back translation in English.  Then, Steve and our own exegetical consultant, Laura, checked the meaning against the Greek and Hebrew text.

Soon, we'll have the gospel of John ready for publication! This weekend, we're all going to take a much needed break.