Week 8 With Some Highlights of the Last Few Weeks

Life has been rather busy here at the little school in the bush. I picked up a class for a staff member who went on furlough, preparations are starting for the end of term program, and the never ending mountains of marking. A grade 1 broke her arm playing on the see-saw (the second broken arm and third arm injury in less than a year), and the fire break around the school was burned. We had our first half-term; here are a few pictures from that.

One of the half-term mornings was crazy hair day; the junior boys had a lot of fun with this!

We’ve had several former students from Australia visiting this weekend; it’s been fun to visit with them, hear stories of the good ol’ days, and get to see them enjoying this as a positive experience. We also have some visitors from the UK who have been helping out in many different areas.

Please keep praying that the Lord will provide staff for next year. We are loosing a core teacher, and so far there doesn’t seem to be anyone interested. Whether His answer is more grace, or another person, we want to rest fully in Him. After all, this is His school, not ours!

Parting shot: Sunrise in the bush

Short Update, Week 4

* There was a birthday; my chillin's were very nice to me and presented me with sweet cards and notes. In the evening the ladies of the station gathered for an evening of relaxing while enjoying the movie To Kill a Mockingbird.

* Dry season is here; warm socks are a must on the cold cement floors, and I am very thankful for my new comforter.

* While we are short staffed this term, the Lord is supplying grace and strength. I suppose one of these days I'll stop being so surprised at what I can do in His strength...

* My right knee has started to act up; going downhill quickly causes sharp pain, and during the course of my day my knee often feels stiff and tight. I'm praying that it will be sorted out quickly, as there is rather a lot of downhill in my life...

* The first half-term starts this Friday, so this week is all about finishing off so we can enjoy a few days off! I just hope my students take my encouragement to heart...

* Preparing the grade 9 students for their music exam is becoming quite a 'thing.' Prayers for wisdom in dealing with the local music teacher, the students, and how to best go about this would be much appreciated.

First Week

I always forget how tired the first week of school makes me--even though it's only three and a half school days. I always forget how hard it is to get up in time to prepare for breakfast at 7 and class at 8, I always forget how loud the dining hall is, and I always forget that THIS term was going to be the one when I didn't put those little jobs off till the day school started.

I also always forget how lovely it is to have a student come up to you and give you a big hug because they are actually glad to see you again. I forget how great it is to say something sort of funny and have most of your class laugh indulgently with you. I forget the excitement of a great class period where everyone is on the ball and focused, and the joy of marking homework that shows genuine understanding. So, term starting is both "the best of times, and the worst of times."

We had one of our senior boys move on to another school at the end of last term, and two other students rather suddenly pull out right at the beginning of term. My Hungarian student is here just for the first third of the term, and I have another kid going on furlough with her family about two thirds of the way through the term. We have Margie back with us as the 2nd and 3rd grade teacher, but no short termers so things are a little tight around here schedule-wise. I imagine that the Lord will have much to teach us all about patience and grace; I know that I need to take mine to another level! I have been challenged recently by reading a biography of Amy Carmichael, A Chance to Die. I have so far to go on my journey towards holiness--praise the Lord that He can use such imperfect vessels for His glory! I fear I get in the way all too often.

Lina Versus the Ants

Sorry for the silence; I’ve been recovering from the term, getting caught up on sleep, and trying to wade through some of the tasks that I’ve put off till now. Things like cleaning my house, mending and altering cloths, finishing up my giveaway boxes, and reading for next term. I do a lot of researching for the upcoming history topic as well as reading through the literature books I plan to do. So, I’ve been lazily busy!

On Monday of this week we had a really big storm with lots of rain, and that set off a rather unfortunate chain of events. Because of the rain, the flying termites started to swarm all over my porch and front door.

My poor old house couldn’t withstand the onslaught, and several tuswa (the local word) made it into the house. Beth and I battled the annoying things as they crashed around the lights, into us, and generally made a nuisance of themselves. Mercifully their wings fall off pretty soon, and we were able to enjoy our evening in relative peace. Then phase two began. I looked down and realized that all those dead and dying tuswa were attracting the army ant who were apparently in the area because of all the rain. So Beth and I began to repel the ant invasion. There was much Doom (like Raid), Piff-Paff (the best insect powder ever), and cornmeal (to keep them from crossing into the house) deployed, and eventually I felt like I could safely go to bed.

The next morning I worked on cleaning up the ant aftermath, and then went into my room where I found that my cat had knocked over an expensive glass jar of body cream. As I cleaned that up, I realized that white ants (termites) had come up in my bedroom and destroyed a book. So I cleaned that up and nuked the little hole that seemed to be their entry point. Termite dirt has a very distinctive, musty sort of smell to it. Fabreeze may have been used in the restoration effort. Since then I’ve kept a weather eye out for unacceptable ant activity, but so far things seem under control...in the house. I spent about an hour today repelling another ant invasion with the help of the watchman and some fire. Hopefully they are now on their way AWAY from my house!

On Tuesday Beth and I are heading down for a quick shopping/get off station/visit some friends trip to Kitwe; prayers for safety on the road and in town would be appreciated. I’ll have to do all the driving as I’m the licensed driver, and with all the rain we’ve been having this week the road out to the pavement can’t be that good.

I wish all of you a happy Easter, and that we might all rejoice in the fullness of those simple words, He Lives!

Last lap...

Not much to report; this is our last full week of school which means that I'm going to be over my eyeballs in marking, putting together exams, and writing report cards. Prayers for strength, health, and wisdom would be appreciated! This term is our shortest, but boy is it intense.

Jill's parent's arrived safely last week; they are already being put to good use in taking care of the odd jobs that we can't get to! It's nice to get to meet them finally; as always, having that extra context on a person is quite interesting!

I'm pretty much back to health now and hoping that I can stay that way. God is good!

For Mother

Since e-mail doesn't seem to be working...

Sick Week

Week 7 of term 1 was rather quiet; the biggest thing for me was that I picked up a nasty cold from the students and survived on Dayquill, zinc, and snatching a few minutes of rest when and where I could. I'm doing much better now--things are just draining, but I can breath out of my nose again and make it through a day of teaching without drugs. Hopefully I'll finish kicking this soon so I'll be in top fighting form for the end of term!

The big news in our area this week was the earthquake in Congo which gave us a good aftershock at about 1:30am on February 24th. I was out--Nyquill is a great thing!--but several of the kids and other staff felt it, and apparently the watchman was pretty freaked out. I sort of wish I hadn't missed it, but I needed the sleep. One of the girls told me that she thought the Lord had come back!

Last week one of our new students, a second grader from Angola, was very suddenly pulled out of school so he could go with his mother who works in a government office and was suddenly transfered. The gospel message was quite new to this little boy; we pray that what he heard in his almost two months here will go with him and turn his heart towards the things of the Lord. Sudden transfers like that are all too common in this country; another reminder that we never know how much time we'll have with the kids God has entrusted to us.

Please pray for us as we work on wrapping up this school term, and as we try to plan for the next few terms. There seems to be no short termers interested in Sakeji at the moment, and things are already pretty tight. We know the Lord has as plan for us, and pray that we will continue to trust in Him for either more staff or more strength and grace. This school has been around for 90 years and the Lord has never failed it yet.