October 2: The Feast of the Pilgrim (The Way of the Pilgrim)

Today we celebrate at St. Simeon Skete, the Feast Day of the pilgrim 

from the book 

The Way of the Pilgrim - R.M. French translation

This book has become a manual for many that practice the Jesus Prayer.  

Carried in his knapsack with his prayer beads, Seraphim's well-read hardback copy of the book has been leather covered to secure it for longevity.  

Every page is covered in handwritten notes, thoughts and references which highlights the tremendous value in this special book. 

If you haven't read the book, today would be the perfect day to pick up a copy, its also available electronically for your kindle and iPad but nothing beats a handheld copy to carry with you, to make notes and study.  

Collect for the Feast of the Pilgrim.

May we also pray the path we walk and walk the path we pray.

Welcome first day of October!

October is the month of the Holy Rosary.  A very special month in the life of Nazareth House Apostolate.

During the month of October we pray a specific intention for each day, beginning today October 1st.  If you'd like to join us in this prayer here are the intentions for each day of this month:

1. May I be obedient, doing exactly what God says, immediately, with the right heart attitude.  Acts 5:29; Rom. 1:5; Heb. 5:9
2. May I continue to grow through deepening The Prayer. Psalm 42:7; 64:6
3. May I have stability of place and vocation. Ps.16:8; ICor. 7:20
4. May I relinquish doubt and embrace faith. Rom.4:20-25; 14:23.
5. May I relinquish certitude and embrace paradox. Rom.8:28,29.
6. May I relinquish apathy and embrace fidelity.  Jms. 4:17; 2Cor. 5:15
7. May I relinquish power and embrace vulnerability.  Lk 18:9; Prov. 3:5,6. Ps. 78:7
8. May I relinquish prestige and embrace humility. Prov.6:16, 17; Jms 4:6
9. May I relinquish possessions and embrace poverty. Mt.5:3; Lk.1:53
10. May I relinquish the old self and embrace the new self.  Eph. 4:22-24; Col. 3:9-10
11. May I be salt in a savorless world. Mt.5:13
12. May I be light in a darkened world.  Mt. 5:14; Jn 1:5
13. May I be leaven in a flattened world. Mt.13:33
14. May I be branch in a barren world. Jn 15:5
15. May I be pulled from my comfort zones to suffer the world’s sufferings. Col. 1:24; 1Cor12:26;  Heb 11:25; 13:3.
16. May I walk the path I pray and pray the path I walk. Lk. 18:1; 1Tim2:8; Mt.4:19
17. May I become a World Christian by ceasing to be a worldly one. Mk 16:15; Acts1:8; 1Jn 2:15
18. May I bear my cross, realizing it is made up of all the crosses that are refused to be carried, mine and theirs. Mk 10:21
19. May I come to realize and experience that God is perfectly hidden and perfectly revealed in each moment. Mt. 28:10b, 20b.
20. May I be flung out to the furthest places by a centrifugal Love.  Mk 16:15
21. May I be pulled into the center by his centripetal Love. Lk 17:21; Acts 17:28; Mt. 11:28.
22. May Jesus be revealed in and through my life. Mt.5:16.May I seek not so much to be stimulated as to trust the ordinariness of the present moment.  Mt. 6:19-21;   Phil. 3:8.
23. May I seek not so much to be stimulated as to trust the ordinariness of the present moment.  Mt. 6:19-21;   Phil. 3:8
24. May I trust my life, surrendered to Him, to be enough for God to do what He desires.  2Cor. 10:12,13
25. May I embrace that for which there is no substitute.   Lk. 10:38-42; Acts 4:12; Ps. 84:3a
26. May I find that being deprived of prayer is more painful than being deprived of the answer to prayer.  Jer.33:3
27. May I let go, let God and let be. Prov. 3:5,6.
28. May I understand fully the question that makes Jesus the answer.  Phil. 2:5
29. May I be more for Jesus than I am against something. Mt. 6:33
30. May He increase and I decrease. Jn 3:30
31. May I love everybody; love without limits. Jn 13:34,35; Jn 3:16; Mt 5:43-46.

In the news relative to our Mission Outreach in Sierra Leone: 

     James reports they are working hard to maintain and upgrade the school

     We still need 100 more uniforms.  A donation of $25 buys two uniforms.  Our goal is to provide two uniforms for every student so they have a change of clothes within the school week.   Please consider making a donation today.  Thank you.  

see our website

Your Donation Put to ACTION!

We are so proud of our brilliant Nazareth House Apostolate School, Kabala students who topped the National Primary School Exams!  All who took the tests scored very high.   Two of the students scored 100% topping the Kabala Region.  For a new school, this is a fantastic showing.

And here's what your donations for this week are doing.  The $1223 we raised for the desks, chairs and cabinets is put to its designated use.

Everyone pitching in to make this another successful school year for the children and teachers of Nazareth House Apostolate School in Kabala.

While the carpenters are busy making the desks, chairs, etc

producing one finished product

after another

the seamstresses have begun to make uniforms with what little material we have purchased.

We sent $1000 last week and the sewing is in progress - the seamstresses are being paid for their work and the material has been purchased.

However, we have 300 students, that's 600 uniforms needed.  $25 makes two uniforms for a single student.


We need to send $6,500 more to make sure every student has two uniforms to start this year.


In the meantime, while we work fast to spread the word of this need, some students will pass down their outgrown uniforms,


some students are in line for the new uniforms currently being made



and others will have to go without until we get this accomplished.



For those who have asked, .."why 2 uniforms, can't they get along with one?" You need to understand that they must wash their uniforms in streams, beating them on rocks and hanging in the hot African sun on a boulder or on a line to dry.

Two uniforms is not outrageous by any means and is very practical solution for their need for clothing.  The old uniforms from last year are becoming as rags, two uniforms barely get a child through a year of school.  We make do and for now two uniforms per child is enough.



How about a child you may know in the States of Europe?



How many sets of school clothes do they own?  ...and they have washer and dryers to do laundry quickly.   And I bet they even have play clothes as well.

 These kids don't.

Uniforms allow the students to be equal,  so that there is not some with nice clothes, some in rags and some with less.  Everyone is equal.


It looks like from what I received last week, I'll be sending another $1,000 this week for more uniforms.   It would be totally fabulous if I could send the total sum needed which - is $6,500.  But every penny helps.  Every $25 buys two uniforms for a student,  every $100 buys 8 uniforms for four students.  Please do what you can, I know times are tough.  Its really a worthy cause - being a part of educating 300 lives - what an awesome opportunity to give a gift that really really changes a life.

Mail donations to NHA 185 Captains Cove Drive, Taylorsville, KY 40071
or give through Paypal on the Paypal Donation link on our website.

You can look us up on Guidestar (we have earned the Guidestar Seal for Transparency) and make a donation there as well as Causes on Facebook.  However, those two great methods are wonderful but wait a month before sending the money to us and that will delay the uniforms even longer.  Its great to use for regular donations if its a method you like using  (they do charge us fees) but with the clock ticking rapidly on the opening of the school year, we'd appreciate a mailed check or Paypal at this time.  Thank you very much.  God bless you all.

 Thanks to our donors for giving and continuing to give over and above your monthly pledge and thanks to James and Pa Foday for coordinating all of this and making it become a reality!

We can change a life, Make this 2012-2013 School Year the best one yet for the Teachers and Students of NHA School, Kabala.

Kabala is the Place to Be!

James sings this song:

"Kabala is the place to be

Village livin' is the life for me

Land spreadin' out so far and wide

Keep Freetown, just gimme that countryside"

It is interesting to me that at the time Nazareth House Apostolate was moving out of the city of Louisville and into the countryside of Taylorsville, Kentucky;  Nazareth House Apostolate in Sierra Leone was beginning the move out of the hectic city of Freetown and into the peaceful town of Kabala.   Now both of the Nazareth House Headquarters (St. Simeon Skete in the States and The NHA Compound in Sierra Leone) are settled into their new surroundings and loving the beauty and quiet in which they live.

James and his family are flourishing out of the chaos of city life.


Trees line the walk into town for supplies



Everyone knows each other and everyone is there to help each other -



And If you are new to Nazareth House Apostolate you may not have heard about the "Woodchopper" aka Abu.

Here is a youtube video of Abu when James interviewed him many years ago.

From time to time, Abu checks in with us and James tends to any needs he may have.

Click here to see the blog post from the past:
July 2009 James meets up with Abu

Now, just recently Abu makes an appearance again - making his way out of the forests and down the streets of Kabala.



He  has aged a bit, but is still sporting the same clothes, his shoes seem to have been "added" to but he has no worries, his feet are dry.

Once in the city center of Kabala

more and more familiar faces appear...

Someday, I would love to see this Post Office repaired and in operation.  Maybe there is something we can do to help that out.  Who knows? 

Back at the Compound, James and Roo

tend to the newly planted landscaping plants around the NHA Compound.

Roo seems a little sleepy, I think James may be doing more of the pruning than Roo! 

There is no rush to find a store with high priced foods lined up on its shelves,  here the food 

comes to your door 

 

Fresh baked bread daily to your door - oh Amazon, I don't see you doing this one!  ...yet....

Roo prepares to help Kadijah with the laundry by bringing her the buckets of water

Laundry day begins.  

The NHA Students like to hang out at the NHA Compound and Lucy 

has plenty of bracelets to hand out

as the children come around.

After a day of chores and fun times with his friends, Roo is excited to have his favorite meal

Spaghetti!!!!

And what about little Miss Vicki?  Well...

She'd like for us to know that she has a few teeth now...

 and is quite happy to be in Kabala and growing up in the NHA Family.

Thank you all for your support.   

Donations can be made through Paypal Donation link on our website

Click here to go to NHA Website

or mailed to 

Nazareth House Apostolate

185 Captains Cove Drive

Taylorsville, KY 40071

Email from: James Bombolia Mansaray to Vicki A. Hicks
4:22 AM (2 hours ago)

Subject: Important and urgent school needs.

Sorry I am a bit late to send this but I only got this from Pa Foday last night.  The school is in need of more furniture as the sitting accommodation is getting more difficult as we start the new academic year come second week in September.

He has been checking each class with the carpenter and he came up with this for the benches, desk, tables and cupboards to store books etc.

Also the school office need some make up as more and more people especially from the ministry of education kept popping up to see how we are doing. With the kids doing well with their academic work, we expect them to investigate us more critically so we want to fix up well. I guess you understand.

CLASSROOM NEEDS-
1.      173 boards needed for benches and desk.
         Le. 17,000 each equals to Le. 2,941,000
         -Nails, polish etc equals to Le. 200,000
2.      11 boards needed for tables and chairs
         Le. 17,000 each equals to Le. 187,000
         Nails, shine paper, lockers, handles, polish and   

         workmanship equals to Le.990,000

This will bring us to a total of Le. 4, 477,000. To equipped the classrooms for the years to come.

OFFICE NEEDS-

1.      15 Boards needed for chairs, big office desk, 2  

          cupboards at etc.  Le. 17,000 each equals to   

         Le.238,000
-       Lockers, handles, hardboards, sponge, pieces, wood 

        glue, polish, nail, inches etc and workman-ship equals 

        Le. 773,000

A Leone is the currency of Sierra Leone (SLL).  When you add up James figures of this request (Le 4,477,000 for classroom benches, desk, etc  plus Le 238,000- Office chairs, desk & cupboard, and Le 773,000 for lockers,etc.) that he has presented me with on this 2nd week of August  (which we need by the second week of September!) the sum comes to Le 5,273,800.  

Yes, that's Le 5 Million, two hundred seventy three thousand, eight hundred Leones!  Such a large number is very overwhelming.  

But lets break it down in US Dollars ...

though a large amount of money to come up with in one month, it seems a bit more obtainable: 

Le 17,000 equals $3.90.  Therefore each board costs $3.90.   

The total of Le 5,273,800 is for the material: boards, varnish (polish), nails, sandpaper (shine paper), glue, etc and the workmanship (labor). 

We place the need before you.  

Please help NHA raise the $1,223 to make the improvements at the school to accommodate the increased amount of students and satisfy the government regulations. 

We need to act fast to give Pa Foday and the workers time to make the items before school reopens the second week of September.   

Thank you for your prayers, concern and donations. 

Contributions for this project can be sent to:

Nazareth House Apostolate

NHA School Improvements

185 Captains Cove Drive

Taylorsville, KY 40071 

or made through the nazarethhouseap.org website via the Donation button on the right.