Seth and Rochelle Callahan

We’s Done Learned Us Some Grammar!

Posted by seth_callahan in Uncategorized on Jan 31st, 2012 | Discuss This Post

“THEY WHO HAD NO NEWS OF HIM SHALL SEE, AND THEY WHO HAVE NOT HEARD SHALL UNDERSTAND.” Rom. 15:21

Grammar Class

If you thought English grammar was difficult in high school, then……well, then you’re thinking along the same lines as Seth. If you thought it was interesting, and possibly even fun, then you’re probably a nerd like Rochelle. Our Grammar course here at the Missionary Training Center wasn’t geared as much toward English grammar though. Instead, we spent 4 weeks studying the underlying principles that all languages around the world use to communicate. We were daily amazed (and sometimes frustrated) at the incredible variety of ways that exist to communicate a simple concept, such as: “The big man slipped on a banana peel the other day.” It’s no wonder to us now why it takes kids so long to learn how to talk!

A Break From Training

We were in New York and New Hampshire over Christmas Break. What a joy to be back with family and friends! Manny got to meet his great-grandparents and much of his extended family for the first time. Apparently, we’re raising a little ham, because he sure loved all the attention!

One of our highlights was getting to do a little hunting together, which we haven’t gotten to do since coming into the training. What a fun date!

It was such a good time reconnecting with everyone back home. What an encouragement it is to have such a supportive and loving body of believers to go home to.

The Kiddo

Manny is 4 ½ months old now. It’s amazing how fast he’s learning and growing! He tried some pureed avocado last week (He doesn’t seem to be a huge fan.) and we’re going to let him have a go at some baby cereal soon. It’s currently unconfirmed, but we’re thinking that he may be working on his first tooth! One of his favorite toys right now is a jumper seat that hangs in the doorway. He just loves standing up and jumping like a big boy! He’s ticklish now, too, and loves to laugh at his Mommy and Daddy. He’s been such a fun addition to our little family!

Future Plans

It’s hard to believe that this is our last semester training with New Tribes Mission. We’ve made lots of good friends and have been taught so much; it’s hard to think about leaving. But at the same time, we’re more motivated than ever by the knowledge that there are thousands of languages without the Gospel, waiting for someone to share the Good News with them! What a privilege it is that we can be a part of God’s program of reconciling the world to Himself!

We have a lot of prayer and decision-making ahead of us, but we’re confident that the Lord will lead. We’re currently in dialog with the NTM leadership in Papua New Guinea, getting the ball rolling with the application process there. After talking about being missionaries for years; it’s so exciting to think that we’re almost ready to move overseas!

Tags: New Tribes Mission, NTM

Emmanuel Jesse Callahan

Posted by seth_callahan in Uncategorized on Sep 19th, 2011 | Discuss This Post

Emmanuel Jesse Callahan

September 14, 2011
6 lbs. 4.5 oz.
21 in. long

Rochelle and Manny (As he has been affectionately nick-named) are both doing extremely well. They’re fairly tired-out still, and one of them is pretty sore, but other than that they’re both in outstanding health.

Both sets of Grandparents will be traveling up to spend time with the kiddo in the next few weeks. We’re really looking forward to having them here to share in our joy! Please be praying for safe travels for them.

After 38 weeks of anticipation, Emmanuel Jesse Callahan has finally arrived! Labor pains started a little after noon on the 13^th, we made our way to the hospital around 1:00 AM on the 14^th, and we had our little baby boy in our arms at 3:40 AM of the same day. (Rochelle says that there was a bit more to it than THAT, but I think it’s a fair enough summary.)

“Daddy” has successfully changed over a dozen diapers thus far, and has proven to be quite adept at swaddling (It’s really no different than wrapping up a big burrito!).

It’s looking like our daily routines are probably going to get “adjusted” with the needs of this little addition. If you could please keep our little family in your prayers throughout the next few weeks, that would be great.

While we’ve been in the hospital we’ve missed several days of classes (We’re now in our second year of training at New Tribes Mission of Canada’s training center), and will probably miss a few more this next week. The training staff has been very accommodating towards our circumstances, and we aren’t feeling any pressure from them, but we still really want to make the most of this training opportunity.

There are thousands of people groups that don’t have the Good News of Christ available to them in their language. They need people who are well-trained in culture and language learning to take that message to them! Right now we are in the middle of our Phonetics module, and we are about to start up Grammar. Please pray that we would be able to catch up on the classes and concepts that we have missed.

This is one of our favorite NTM videos. Check it out if you can spare 3 1/2 minutes!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=R6AEObN7Cew

Tags: New Tribes Mission, NTM

Jungle Camp

Posted by seth_callahan in Uncategorized on Jul 23rd, 2011 | Discuss This Post

We came, we saw, we………..chopped wood.

Well, that’s not ALL we did in Jungle Camp, but it was a significant part! Jungle Camp is a six week, interactive module that is part of our training with New Tribes Mission. It’s a simulation of some of the life challenges that may come with living overseas in a remote tribal village.

We spent 10 days constructing a house using rough building materials (such as cedar poles, greenhouse plastic, duct tape, and bailing twine.) without any nails, screws, or power tools. This helped us learn how to think outside the box as we worked to build a sturdy home. We also gained experience with running basic plumbing and wiring up a house with a 12 volt DC electric system (as is used with solar panel systems on the field). Lots of fun, and lots of hard work!

At the end of our two building weeks, we hauled all of our supplies up by hand and settled in for a month of isolated, rustic living. Our classmates and two staff couples were the only people we interracted with the whole time. It was such a great opportunity to see the strengths and weaknesses of our different families, and see how we could each be an encouragement to one another!

Our daily cooking, and the many cold nights, made gathering firewood a continual chore. The blade on Seth’s bow saw was pretty worn down by the end of the four weeks!

With one modified, rusty metal barrel, a few cedar poles, plenty of dirt and clay, and an enormous amount of patience, Rochelle built this beautiful wood stove for us to cook on, complete with an oven and hot water heater!

Rochelle perfected the art of baking with erratic, fluctuating oven temperatures in Jungle Camp and made fresh bread and rolls every week. (Speaking of “buns in the oven”, Rochelle is at 6 months now and we’ve found out it’s a boy!)

Our house wasn’t “up to code”, but it did hold together pretty well. It was interesting to build with such unorthodox carpentry tools. Who knew that a hatchet and a chisel would prove to be so useful?

Rochelle worked hard to make our house a home, and boy, did her efforts pay off! We even had wall to wall carpet! (It’s good to have connections.)

It may look like a big trash bag in the woods to you, but it was home to us! The clear plastic roof was pretty sweet. On sunny days our whole ceiling was a skylight, and when it was raining we could watch the raindrops splashing above us!

This was the full population of our Jungle Camp “village”. It’s amazing how well you get to know people when no one’s house is soundproof!

Tags: New Tribes Mission, NTM

Spring Break 2011

Posted by seth_callahan in Uncategorized on Mar 27th, 2011 | Discuss This Post

R & R (and ice)

We don’t normally associate “Spring” with “ice fishing”, but that’s what we found ourselves doing for one of the days we were home over break. Rochelle caught over a dozen perch, one of which is the new Callahan Family record holder! Seth had a slightly different experience, and maintains that “fishing is more about the experience than the size or number of fish that are caught.”

Training

Though the above gibberish may appear as though it is merely incoherent psychobabble, it is actually a sentence written using the International Phonetic Alphabet. We have spent the last several weeks of classes learning the finer points of “manners of articulation”, “points of articulation”, and “repeating sounds together like a bunch of babies”.

Teacher: “Seth, can you give me a voiceless alveopalatal fricative between two script ‘a’s?”
Seth: “………um………..ahzah.”
Teacher: “Good try, but that was an alveolar fricative, not alveopalatal, and it was voiced. Try again.”

Every sound has its own symbol, every symbol has its own sound, and basically everything you thought you knew about spelling is no longer valid. The class has been amazing, and we have really come to appreciate the complex nature of audible communication!

This training will really be helpful when we are someday trying to learn an unwritten language out in the jungle!

Rochelle is now at 14 weeks in her pregnancy and both Mother and Baby are in good health. It was such a joy to see our little baby’s heartbeat during the ultra-sound! We hope to learn the gender in a month or so. The little munchkin is 3 inches already!
(*Sigh*)……..They grow up so fast………

Rochelle celebrated her 23rd birthday while we were home, and was spoiled beyond belief. Lots of presents, an apple pie, and a bear meat lasagna……… Yeah, it’s weird, but it’s what she asked for. And the Callahan family rule IS that the birthday girl gets to pick the birthday meal!

Because we were in Africa over Christmas Break visiting Rochelle’s folks, we really enjoyed the opportunity we had to spend time with our family and friends in NY while we were home. It was such a blessing being surrounded by so many people who we love and miss while we’re away at the Missionary Training Center. They even love us so much back there that we were even given a police escort as we left town! (Unofficially, and by Seth’s Dad, that is.)

P.S. The phonetic sentence above is translated as “this is how you write phonetically”.

Tags: New Tribes Mission, NTM

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