September Newsletter

Even though we are just four weeks into it, this school term has been very challenging and is stretching me in many different ways. Two of our permanent staff members are away on furlough right now, which means that there are lots of extra jobs to pick up and responsibilities to take on. It’s always amazing to me to find out how many little acts of service other people quietly do—you only notice when they aren’t being done any more! Praise the Lord though, He sent us two short termers who are being a huge help and blessing to us. Then, right as school started, we received word that one of our second grade students had been ill over the holiday, but would hopefully be joining us before the end of the week. A few days later we received the shocking news that he had just been killed in a car accident. While there haven’t been mass outpourings of grief from the students, there have been many little signs that the news impacted them deeply and that they are still thinking about it. How we pray that this tragedy will result in more intentional lives from our student who are already saved, and conviction in the lives of those who are not. How often we forget that our days are not ours to number, and that any day could be our last opportunity to serve the Lord and impact one of these precious lives. Third term is always busy, and this year is no exception! The students had fun preparing for the Dr. Seuss themed birthday party and now the next big event is half-term and the Copper Belt Sports Tour at the beginning of October. Our grade 7-9 students will travel down to compete against Amano Christian School and at least two other private schools in netball and soccer. It’s so good for our kids to have the chance to measure themselves against other athletes and practice their sportsmanship skills. Now that birthday party preparations are over, work on the end of term show will being. This year our theme is Christmas around the world. Later in the term my grade 7 students will be writing their national exams, so we are covering some specifically Zambian topics in class and starting to work through old exams in preparation. I have no worries about my students being able to come through with flying colors, but there is a lot of pressure put on them by their parents to do well. The main sitting room renovation project is drawing to a close; the door and windows were finally installed last week, most of the wiring is done, and the finishing touches such as painting and tiling are well underway. It will be such a blessing to have that space back; it’s one of the main hubs of school life. The kids gather there for video and music nights, we use it for staff meetings, evening fellowships, and other special events, and especially as the rains start up again it’s nice to have a place that is big enough to do things with large groups of kids. It’s been a long process, but we hope to get things finished off this term. Even though things have been more challenging than usual this term, it’s been really neat to see God working in and through us. We are always praying for either more staff to help us serve, or for extra grace, patience, and strength. I’ve been so amazed at how God has answered that prayer over the last few weeks. It would be so easy to become stressed and irritable with each other because of all the extra ‘stuff’ in our lives right now, but God is helping each of us to have an extra measure of gracious patience and love. While no one enjoys going through a stretching experience, I’m learning all over again that when the Lord calls you to do something hard He does not leave you without the resources to accomplish it. Praise Him for His faithfulness and goodness to His servants! Thanks again for all the support and prayers you send my way. I so appreciate knowing that people are thinking of me and Sakeji, and hearing from you about what God is doing in your lives. I couldn’t serve as effectively without you. May He find us faithful wherever He has called us to be!

Sakeji Convalescent School

Well, it's been another interesting week here at the school! Wouldn't want to get bored or something... One of my sixth grade students sprained her ankle pretty good early in the week, and has been clicking about on crutches ever since.

Then, on Wednesday this little guy took a tumble off the teeter-totter down at the river and broke his arm. Rough stuff when you're in grade one and it's your right arm!

For some good news, the main sitting room is getting ever closer to completion! Today was a rather stressful day on the site; they installed the bit window up top, and had a bit of a crisis with the door being to tall for the doorway. Not sure what they did about the door, but as you can see it now fits and is installed. I've never seen a door that opens like that before; I'll post another picture of it in action and up close.

The other big news around here is that yesterday, September 18th, was our first real rain of the season. It rained pretty hard for over an hour, and once it stopped all the frogs living in the ditch beside my house broke forth in songs of joy. I was pretty excited myself--the land is so dry right now, and the smell of the first rains in Africa will probably be worked into a corner of heaven somewhere. Hopefully we have another good rainy season! This also means that the months of fanatically unplugging everything of value to you have begun... Oh well, I'm still excited about the rain!

Settling in and a field trip

Whew—I had all these grand plans for how I was going to get caught up on everything over the weekend, and I ended up taking some very needed naps and getting sort of caught up on some things. Once again my days are all too short, and I find myself trying to juggle having a semblance of a ‘life’ outside of school things and getting enough sleep. It was a good week though—God continues to give me extra grace and patience, and thankfully my students are still somewhat the whole school thing!

One thing that was I working on just before school started, was making some curtains for the new boys dorm at the orphanage down the road. I was finishing the brown curtains for the boys room,

and these pink and chetengi curtains for the dorm mom’s room.

I don’t have the time during the term to go help out at the orphanage, but I really felt the Lord calling me to do this project for them, and it ended up being a real blessing to me in more ways than one. For one thing, it was a great way to enjoy listening to some great podcasts and get spiritually refreshed for the term!

Last week there was a rare opportunity to take my students of a field trip! Some people from the Zambian arts council were in the area teaching the local craftsmen how to improve and market their goods, so we took the grade 1-3 and 6-9 students out to have a look. It was so neat to see people actually making these things, and to see the new splashes of color the arts people were encouraging the craftsmen to use. Who knew that the black they get for the chairs comes from mud!

We are all finding the rhythm of school again, and the kids seem to be settling in well. While there are still some effects of the loss of our grade 2 student, the kids seem to be handling things pretty well. Perhaps this tragedy will help turn some hearts towards the Lord.

Parting shot: Hazel is enjoying all the leaf piles that were left for her to snuggle up in!

A hard week

Wednesday was our first day of school, and all this week has been full of tweaking things, finding out things that our two staff members who are away used to do because they aren't being done, and getting the kids and ourselves settled back into the school routine. I feel like I've been running around putting out fires all week, but hopefully once we've gone through a full week of classes things will be less wild. Third term is especially challenging since there is no rolling things over to the next term--IT MUST BE FINISHED. God has been very good though, and He has given strength, grace, and a joy in serving that has made these days easier.

On top of the regular beginning of term challenges, we have suffered two losses to our student body this week. Two of our students didn't make it up at the beginning of term; one of our second grade boys was sick, and a fifth grade boy just didn't show up. Further communications with the fifth graders family confirmed that he will now be attending a different school. It's hard to not have had a chance to say goodbye--for us and him I'm sure, but we pray for God's workings in that young life.

On Friday we got the news that our second grade boy was supposed to be traveling up to the school soon, but had been in a car accident and killed. This student had only been here two terms, but his loss has shaken students and staff alike. It hit me how much we take it for granted that all our our students will return to us whole and well; who would ever have guessed that we would never see this child again? How we staff members pray that this will shake up our students and turn their thoughts to spiritual things. How we pray that the Lord will bring good out of this tragedy into the lives of that family. And how we pray that we might not miss any opportunities to make an impact on these young lives. As far as I know that student had not made a profession for Christ, but only the Lord knows the heart. Perhaps he had heard and believed at some point this year; I sure hope so.

Despite that rather sobering note to the week, the rest of our students seem to be settling in well. We had our first Latin lesson of the term, and I started our first literature book, The Hobbit. Not only is this a favorite story of mine, but I think it's so critical to teach these middle school students who to distinguish good fiction from bad. I've been really encouraged by a few discussions I've had with students this week over various things--God is so good to give us little glimpses of the fruit He's bringing about in their lives! I pray that I will have the wisdom to listen and counsel these young people and help them to develop not just their faith, but also their minds for the glory of Christ. May we not grow weary of doing good!

Playing catch up...

I meant to write a blog entry at the end of last week, but I got side-tracked and went away for the weekend, so what with one thing and another I get to cover two weeks news at once!

Last week one of my big projects was to host a ladies tea with Jill for a local bible study. We had a lot of fun setting up a nice table, making some goodies, and then serving these sweet ladies.

In all there were thirteen ladies and a baby who came; notice how packed the Patrol was!

I was so tickled to hear them singing away at the top of their voices as they arrived at the school and went back to their village. What a privilege to share an afternoon with God’s people!

Last weekend I was able to get off station for a little while by going to the next mission station over and be spoiled by the lovely Marilyn. I got to enjoy sitting on their lovely porch and enjoy the view of the hill. Sadly, the weekend was over all too soon and it was bumpity bump back to Sakeji with three barrels of av gas in the back of the truck!

This week I’ve been trying to get as many of my projects off my list as possible, start the ‘hard core’ prep for the term, and getting to know/cooking for the two new short termers who arrived early this week.

A major project that I have been tackling is tracking down all the music for the end of term show—easier said than done when you have to rely on digital downloads only! I think I’ve pretty much got things sorted, and since one of the things Jill and I did last weekend was finalize the program, we’re actually in really good shape.

Another major project that I’ve been working on is getting my handwork supplies organized. My girls are going to be making the ornaments that will adorn our school Christmas tree, so I’ve been doing a lot of plastic canvass cutting!

I’m also working on refining the stocking requirement to make this as easy of a process as possible. I continually learn as I teach these 3rd and 4th grade girls…

Parting Shot: I’m working on my redneck porch decorating scheme…

This week of holiday

* Hazel, my dog, hurt her back foot, so she has been doing a three-legged hop around the station. This setback does not in any way deter her from her sworn duty to chase lizards, bark a lot at the grass on the other side of the playing field, and play with the visiting kids. Thankfully she’s mostly healed now, so I expect to see her back to her usual speedy self.

* I made breadsticks and English muffins for the first time this week. They both turned out well, and it was good to get to know my new oven a little better.

* I went on a ‘shopping’ trip with Jill into Ikelenge to buy some flour and margarine. I also, much to my surprise, found a lady selling some microfiber cloths in one of the little stalls, so I’m trying those out in my house to see how they do.

* We had a big bonfire last night to get ride of some old books and papers from the music shelf. Jill and I have been tripping over those boxes of trash for months now, and it was so nice to just be outside by the fire, watching the kids roast marshmallows (an interesting revelation of character!), and then talking with Jill.

I’ve had a request for some more pictures of the remodeled sitting room, so here they are. It’s starting to take shape, but there is still a lot of finishing work to do.

Parting shot: My dog ended up with a southern lady eyebrow somehow...

New Stove!

Well, on Saturday Tanis arrived at Sakeji safely, and on Sunday afternoon my new stove was unpacked and hooked up!

I made bread today as well as enjoying my first hot lunch in several days, and it worked beautifully! Praise the Lord for His goodness and provision!

Parting Shot: The eastern sky the last few nights as they burned off a big section of the bush.