Goodbye to Rachel

On August 5 our thirteen-year-old Rachel had to leave and go back to Cameroon to be ready for her school to start. So her grandparents (Charles and Yvonne and Walter and I) took her to the airport, since her parents and sisters were in Oklahoma on speaking engagements. Here we are at the counter checking in her bags. Rachel has had a jam-packed summer. Besides spending time with extended family, seeing old friends, visiting churches, enjoying Disneyworld, shopping, and such, Rachel had two unique experiences as well.

One week in June she attended a SIFAT Christian youth camp in Lineville, Alabama. SIFAT (Servants in Faith and Technology) encourages students developing a heart for missions and an awareness of other cultures, and sharing God's love in practical ways. The retreat included an overnight stay in their "Global Village," a developing Third World setting.

While she was here in Plano, Texas, Rachel took the Dart Rail to downtown Dallas every day for three weeks to a Children's School of Musical Theatre at the Majestic Theatre. That involved an intense program of instruction in vocal, dance and acting classes and concluded with a performance. It was a showcase featuring songs, scenes and choreography from the Dallas Summer Musicals 2007 season.

Whew! Rachel is ready to go home and get back to school. She attends Rain Forest International School in Yaounde, founded by the Wycliffe Translators. She will be able to stay at the school for a couple weeks until the rest of the family gets home, as the school is also a boarding school. Chloe and Mallory are home-schooled.