tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73648980604625758082011-04-21T21:27:56.020-07:00frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.comBlogger371100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-26130219344579914142009-05-11T08:15:00.000-07:002009-05-11T08:20:59.085-07:00

This summer is coming up on us quickly! That means we are launching our biggest program of the year, CATCH!'s Summer Reading. We will be going into 10 neighborhoods this year. It will make for an excellent and busy summer. We could use your help. CATCH! needs to raise $1000 dollars in the next two weeks to give the program a boost for the summer. The money raised for this event will go to

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-50595477752014614152009-04-26T06:16:00.000-07:002009-04-26T13:23:45.787-07:00

It needs to be known right off of the top that "Yes!" CATCH! is an organization that is run by people that follow Jesus Christ as our savior and Lord, Robert & Debbie Weisel. We are in no way ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We strive to be led on a daily, moment by moment basis by God. We not only believe in Him but we also pray, listen and attempt to follow, however imperfectly. We

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-32445394155877418282009-04-26T06:14:00.001-07:002009-04-26T06:14:10.079-07:00

Would love your help getting the pieces of the carnival together.   If you can help with an item on our list put your name by it and let us know.  Refrigerator boxesWasher and dryer boxes  

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-19435503976349564742008-08-17T11:46:00.000-07:002008-08-17T11:49:01.097-07:00

Robert and I had a lot of fun last week watching the great progress that CATCH! volunteers have made over the summer reading to children and creating relationships with them.Monday night -we went out and watched more kids then even we knew were in the neighborhood gather for games, cupcakes and juice. We played lots of games and had a lot of laughs.Koelsch Elementary gave us books last year. We

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-11571598729249744022008-07-29T08:48:00.000-07:002008-07-29T09:16:55.717-07:00

Talking to people is always interesting, especially in this work. Again a family came to meet us and again the subject of "where is your father" came up. I have learned not to ask this question with any casualty. If the question comes up I do all I can to control the selfish urge to plug my ears and begin humming loudly. But alas the question comes up and I hold tight waiting for the answer.

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-35598607201421329132008-06-20T16:24:00.000-07:002008-12-08T17:52:43.833-08:00

It has been such a long time since I was able to come here and sit down and write a blog. It has been a very busy and fruitful time. I decided to share with you the progress of summer reading thus far.We have five neighborhoods going this summer. We have been blessed with 30 volunteers and a few more waiting in the wings for training times to come up so we can plug them in.Another first we are

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-51778095960084024432008-03-08T07:10:00.000-08:002008-12-08T17:52:43.954-08:00

Thursday was Jay Clark's birthday! Robert called him and invited him to dinner. I had it all planned out. We had chicken in the freezer, potatoes and corn. Joy would bake cake and we were set. I felt so organized and ready to go when I woke up in the morning.Then Rachel called. The girls were staying home from school to pack while she was at work. Would I show them where boxes were? I

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-36007757917645932172008-01-07T20:09:00.000-08:002008-12-08T17:52:44.157-08:00

It is so fun when you get to make contact with a friend that you have not spoken to in a long time and find that they are doing very well and making a significant difference in the lives of people around them. This week I "googled" someone I had been thinking about a lot and found her. Check out this link and see what great things she is doing! http://oregonstate.edu/leadership/president/

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-59317603385658216142007-12-27T04:17:00.000-08:002008-12-08T17:52:44.217-08:00

My first waking thought at 4:59am was of a friend of mine.Two summers ago, I remember sitting in the van with a Russian translator waiting for a Turkish lady to bring her children to us. I saw the door open and out came a beautiful woman wearing a powder blue suit with white piping. Her dark black hair was pulled up neatly in back. She carried a little blue purse that matched her outfit. She

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-70344645560740441792007-11-21T06:19:00.001-08:002008-12-08T17:52:44.224-08:00

I got up early yesterday morning and headed out. Robert was at school and so I needed to do a bus appointment and I needed to get to a school for a registration. I was feeling a bit tense. I was sitting in the car waiting in traffic when I first noticed the rain. It had been raining since I left the house but the rain was changing. A flake of snow had just dropped onto my windshield. Three

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-21017746184318742512007-11-11T04:21:00.000-08:002008-12-08T17:52:44.425-08:00

Hey guys- parts of this blog will be a bit graphic so please be aware as you read it!!Stories help people to become animated, alive and full of different kinds of emotions. Many places in our world are based on oral communication. For years and years every time Robert and I did a registration we asked the family to tell us their story, how they got to America. When we began with the Haitians in

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-74395092627978049702007-11-09T04:00:00.003-08:002008-12-08T17:52:44.569-08:00

So for the past month I have been thinking about the moment in time when I would actually get to sit down at this computer and write to you all again. For the past month the first line that I wrote in my mind was always this one...glub...glub...glub..... aah....!I have gotten to the top of the water line and can breathe again.Oh yes and there is Robert beside me.I haven't seen him in

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-11163352920679492652007-11-09T04:00:00.001-08:002008-12-08T17:52:44.737-08:00

Hello all...The weekend was fun and very busy. On Friday we got to got to the African Children's Choir with a couple of CATCH! volunteers and some Kenyan friends. It was fun to sit with Sally, one of our friends from Kenya and get a play by play on language and information being given to us.On Saturday we went to a Bosnian/American wedding where Robert played the "marryin' man." We enjoyed going

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-56791453380580775892007-11-09T03:57:00.002-08:002007-11-09T04:17:33.212-08:00

So we set out to have a lazy 4th. We had told Jill & Jer our plans and invited them if they wanted. We also knew that my parents would probably join the festivities.When we were visiting one of the neighborhoods, J came up and asked if she and her sisters could come stay with us for a couple of days. We said yes and so yesterday we had three extra little girls.That afternoon we went to the parade

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-9737345483433464682007-11-09T03:57:00.001-08:002007-11-09T04:17:23.131-08:00

So we are eating goulash for lunch. Our lunch time sort of ran into our meeting. As people came we were still eating so we offered them food. So as I sit here writing this we are eating with Jim Wright from TRIO, Boise State, Abubacar, a Somalian man and Sally, a Kenyan woman all of us, sitting around eating goulash and working on getting registered for fall term at Boise State.I could see my

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-81600122007318431112007-11-09T03:56:00.000-08:002008-12-08T17:52:44.753-08:00

I went into one of the neighborhoods to begin a new "Talk Time." My oldest daughter and I got there a bit early. We decided to sit and wait outside until all of the other "native English" speakers arrived. As we sat there one of the summer reading kids walked up and then another and then another. When they came up to me they asked every time when I was going to start reading and why I wasn't

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-10349889762164542462007-11-09T03:55:00.000-08:002007-11-09T04:17:05.418-08:00

So we went into the neighborhoods this evening to join our volunteers. At the first neighborhood, while this was the third week for them and they are old hat by now we just thought we would go in to be a support to them. That neighborhood is the hardest one. The kids run around, they don't sit and they don't understand the importance of reading at all. However tonight I watched when our

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-85059375164225343322007-11-09T03:54:00.003-08:002007-11-09T04:16:56.680-08:00

Fourteen years ago, Robert & I started spending hours upon hours with Haitians, enough time that I learned to speak their language. Robert, being raised by a French mother only had to make some changes to his language to communicate.After two years with Haitians, God moved us into the Bosnian community where we spent the next five or so years. It is important to note that we never left the

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-34390306634160224332007-11-09T03:54:00.001-08:002007-11-09T04:16:40.199-08:00

I remember the days that we could go to WalMart or Winco and grab a couple of things and leave. Then there was Sunday night. A call came in at 9pm. An emergency. The emergency took us to WalMart to see what one of our kids was up to. In we walked, looking for a certain young man..two aisles in Robert called his name down the aisle. A man looked up and said "Robert?" Not the guy we were looking

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-85358863108855229262007-11-09T03:53:00.001-08:002007-11-11T05:50:13.641-08:00

So 12 years ago, August, a family got off of the airplane. They were from Bosnia. The family was made up of father, mother, son and daughter. It was a neat a clean little family by my American standards. They did not smoke. They did not drink. There was one boy and one girl. They were educated and we could talk to them about art, philosophy, politics and world issues. (Or we could have if they

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-5203007341774566762007-11-09T03:52:00.002-08:002007-11-09T04:16:24.798-08:00

Life was fun last night. We had a meeting for our new volunteers about the summer reading program. We talked about the plan and how we were going to do it and then Robert said "Hey! Ya' wanna' go visit the neighborhood and see where you will be working?"We all decided to go and so off we went. When we all got there the neighborhood seemed awfully quiet but as soon as we piled out of our cars kids

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-72489276174599722802007-11-09T03:52:00.001-08:002007-11-09T04:16:17.041-08:00

So this evening, about 10 pm we rolled into one of the neighborhoods. We had spent the evening delivering kids to events, doing paperwork, a visitation and then back to picking up kids. We did all of this while we had a little two year old Liberian girl with us. Her mom was at work and her babysitter was at youth group so we had her with us.Finally at 10pm we had delivered all of the children and

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-79081966006570746992007-11-09T03:51:00.003-08:002007-11-09T04:15:58.292-08:00

We had a good time last night with a group of people working towards certification in ELL (English Language Learner) It was fun to be in a setting with people who are excited and interested in learning about new cultures, the issues that face them in their new society and how we as Americans can help them resettle and be successful, helping them to gain an education in their new homeland. We

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-29096616499264169652007-11-09T03:51:00.001-08:002007-11-09T04:15:46.019-08:00

This summer, hours of idle time drag out in front of kids. When I was a kid I looked forward to this because the worse trouble I could get into was falling asleep on a beach towel and getting too much sun. That is not the case with many of the kids we know. For them the summer will be a time of boredom and trying to find something to do. Last summer that got them into a lot of trouble.So in

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-22008010689976671042007-11-09T03:50:00.001-08:002007-11-09T04:15:33.340-08:00

Monday - was so long ago I don't even remember what we did. I do know that Robert proctored for ISATs but other than that don't know.Tuesday- Robert proctored again and I went to put children on the buses and register them in school. I spent the early afternoon tutoring library skills. We went to some Bosnian friends home of ours for dinner. It was fun. We enjoyed pork chops, chicken and peppers,

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-23068072194484775052007-11-09T03:49:00.001-08:002007-11-09T04:15:20.059-08:00

We have been taking a few days out to attend a prevention conference. One of our donors told us that they thought it would be a good idea. We followed their advice and off we went for three days of a conference and two days of R&R.The first day of the conference was good. We heard from a gentleman named Raleigh Philps about the inner workings of a teen brain. We also heard Arnold Shapiro speak.

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-4706885935018379662007-11-09T03:48:00.002-08:002007-11-09T04:15:06.932-08:00

Yesterday Robert was at one high school in the area all day long working with kids there. When he was getting ready to go there the phone rang and we were called to deal with a situation for another teenager not choosing the best decisions. Even though the kids in the conflict were guys I went. Usually Robert goes but he was out and I was there. The first kids took a couple of hours then as I was

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-90397064495339342752007-11-09T03:48:00.001-08:002007-11-09T04:14:54.273-08:00

We went to do school registrations on Tuesday in the late afternoon. The first home we went to was that of a little person who wants to go to kindergarten next year. We sat with his parents and talked about school, what to expect and filled out all of the paperwork. We enjoyed the family that was made of a mixture of Somalian Bantu and Ethiopian. That was a mixture we had not seen before so it

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-86462719712829677532007-11-09T03:47:00.000-08:002007-11-09T04:14:40.609-08:00

I am wondering when I will stop chuckling...We spent Saturday with six teen age young men. Three of them, although they have had real problems in the past and are still trying to work past them, the problems come much slower then in the past.One of them did not begin as our case and is as far as our interactions to him he seems to be a pretty good guy. The last two, well suffice it to say, we

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-59668739020978964472007-11-09T03:46:00.000-08:002007-11-09T04:14:27.946-08:00

Last week was a pretty normal week. We went to schools, talked to kids, and disciplined some of them for poor behavior. On Thursday night we were putting the finishing touches on a grant when the phone rang at 10:00 pm.It was a Jr. high girl who was concerned because her mother and her high school brother were arguing. The mother got on the phone, yelling, told me that her son didn't listen and

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-69551927964852582392007-11-09T03:45:00.002-08:002007-11-09T04:14:15.711-08:00

Surprisingly it is the middle of February already. The weeks since last I wrote have been much the same. We have done school registrations, dealt with school issues and gone visiting.The other day Robert got stuck in between both of the worlds that we lived in and I thought I would share the experience with you.Robert had for two weeks been working with the Bantu community to organize a meeting

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-33884684464685855342007-11-09T03:45:00.001-08:002007-11-09T04:13:56.753-08:00

As a kid I heard the Garrison Keeler "Prairie Home Companion" reading about walking down a side walk in a neighborhood. He talks about looking at the picture window of homes on the street and wondering what was happening in the home. He then tells quaint little stories about what we believe are typical American scenes. I always loved that story and have romanticized it many times in my mind.

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-82130022276750170062007-11-09T03:44:00.000-08:002007-11-09T04:13:36.204-08:00

Our week began with a meeting at a school. Kids are wearing colors, words or signs that they are not supposed to be wearing. We had a meeting that was supposed to last for an hour that ended up lasting much longer. After that the day rolled into itself. I finally got the bookwork done that I have been focusing on and sent away. This was a huge thing off of my shoulders. Robert spent the day with

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-31811690178468041712007-11-09T03:43:00.002-08:002007-11-09T04:13:21.375-08:00

Friday was a day of answering phone calls, feilding e-mails, doing book work, overseeing Abdi and transporting a family to a drs. appt. That last one sounds simple. The only problem was we had to drive to four different places to get the family all together for the drs appt.Friday evening Robert was called to meet with the Bantu elder council to talk to them about an issue that is on the rise

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-40704960362680215252007-11-09T03:43:00.001-08:002007-11-09T03:43:18.637-08:00

We went to an Uzbek family home this evening. This is a very nice family with three teen age daughters and a young son. When we hit the front door, I reminded my kids to take off their shoes. Our oldest asked me if I didn't think they knew this by now. It was a good question. We then went in and were ushered to the dining table where we all sat together. On the table waiting for us was coke,

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-55301446909397403862007-11-09T03:42:00.001-08:002007-11-09T04:12:59.044-08:00

Well I made up for yesterday, today! But I am glad of it. The kids and I spent the morning working on school stuff. Kham showed up to show me a peice of art work he had been trying to explain last night. He hung out, studied and ate a bit. Robert was gone to doctors appointments for a family this morning. I am happy today! I was finally able to get a young Bantu girl back into school. That makes

frontpagecatchlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12839492802291333156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7364898060462575808.post-71743293096175793862007-11-09T03:32:00.001-08:002007-11-09T03:32:43.071-08:00

January 20, 2007 Yesterday was just another ordinary day in our lives. It was different, however, because we saw it through the eyes of Robert’s sister, Monique. She is down here visiting this week and therefore gives a different perspective to the lives we lead daily. By ten o’clock in the morning there were people crowded around our desks and moving in and out of the kitchen/dining room. Nurali

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