Hard Week

This past week was a pretty hard one for the Zambian missionary community. A much respected, veteran missionary went to be with the Lord last Monday, and as two of his daughters are teachers here, we were down two teachers for most the week, and then down half the staff on Saturday while others flew down to Chavuma for the funeral. I was also having a very challenging week personally, so the increased work load made for a rough weekend on, and a lot of prayer to just make it through.

On a funny note, I had a conversation I never thought would come up, about "Now there is a time and a place for arm farts..." following in incident in Sunday school. The things that come out of a teacher's mouth...

The other good thing in the midst of the mess of this past week, was my birthday box finally arrived, just short of a month late. Want to know what a box looks like after surviving the trek to the middle of nowhere where I live? Don't sent me breakables! There was this one terrible incident with barbecue sauce...

Reports and Officially Winter Now

My big project for this week was to get my mid-term reports done. I will be passing them out to my students on Monday; I sure hope some people get a little shock in the right direction! I’ve also been e-mailing these reports to the parents who requested them, and sending e-mails celebrating A’s on recent tests and asking for prayer on recent fails. Never having worked at a ‘normal’ school, I have always been almost totally isolated from my parents except for beginning and end of terms. This year I am utilizing the tool of Class Dojo and more e-mail contact with my parents to try and recruit them to help me reach their children through encouragement, prayer, and admonition. I have received some lovely e-mails from parents, and now that my students know that A’s and F’s will be brought to their parents notice, it gives them an extra level of motivation to do their best. I want to be sure to communicate success as well as concerns, because each of our lives are a mixture of both. While it is a little more ‘administrivia’ for me, the results so far are well worth it. If a few e-mails will serve my students and their parents better, than that is a task I am happy to undertake!

Two of our short-termers flew out this week, and I find myself already missing them. An aspect of missionary life that is very difficult to communicate to people who have not lived it is the constant, emotionally exhausting cycle of hellos and goodbyes. These girls were a part of my life for only six weeks, but in that time they were such a blessing. Not only because they did photocopying and other school tasks for me, but because they spent meaningful time with me. God knew that in the midst of this year I was going to need a gift like these six weeks, and I am so grateful. I wish them all the best as they return to take summer classes and finish up their studies; who knows but that they might become full time missionaries themselves some day?

Today is our winter solstice, and now the short nights are going to start transitioning back to longer, warmer days. I am very grateful for my handknit sock collection just now; with temperatures getting down to 10 and 11°C at night in houses with cement floors, wool is a very welcome treat! The greater burning of Zambia is well under weigh; when I drove into Ikelenge to check the mail I saw much evidence of the smudges of smoke I have been observing on my afternoon walks. When I think how lush and green everything was just two months ago, it amazes me again how much this landscape changes during the year. We will start burning the school firebreak soon; they have already done some slashing in preparation for it. I look forward to the night they burn the side of the airstrip; I love to go up and watch it. When one considers the raw power of a bushfire, the devastation left in its wake, and the new green life that springs up in hope from the ashes, there are some powerful parallels with our own redemption story.

Howlers

So, since this past week was a bit, shall we say 'tough' on the teaching front, here are some of the things that had me laughing. This is real live student work--not for the faint of heart!

“potmantoes” instead of portmanteaus (we were studying "Jabberwocky" in literature)

“waw” instead of wall. Gotta love 'Zamish!'

When labeling the phases of the moon for a worksheet- “fool moon.”

Did you know that the planets have an “epliptical” orbit? That all fractions reduce down to 1, and that 5 is divisible by 2 when convenient?

Also, I about lost it when someone read about bewaring of the “Nicolodians” instead of the Nicolaitans from Revelation 2.

What would life be like without laughter?

Here is another little glimpse into the glamour that is my life--every weekend I wash the microfiber and rags that we use to clean the school buildings. This past weekend I also took the time to wash the pile of handknit socks that had accumulated. These drying racks are one of the best items I have ever purchased; they are in CONSTANT use. To combat the damp laundry of wet season, or to make my microfiber crusades possible, I use these all the time.

It's getting to be that time of year again--the greater burning of Zambia. The school hasn't started working on its firebreak yet, but the fires around us are getting closer. I'm also seeing more ash around--I'll have to start drying more things indoors again...

Parting shot: I pulled out and resighted the telescope scope recently. Here is a picture of the waxing moon.

There was a half-term, lots of marking, and some much needed sleep

In brief, here are a few highlights of the last week.

* Friday and Saturday were half-term, so I did early morning swim (very, VERY cold!), marked a lot, chased some kids for extra math help, and supervised down at the pool.

* Because it was my weekend off, I finally got a good nap on Saturday and Sunday, and I decided that Saturday afternoon and evening were a 'no mark' zone. Best decision I've made in awhile.

* I got the telescope out again and showed some short-termers Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars. Further attempts to photograph them through the telescope will continue.

* One of our staff families is heading out for a furlough that will last till the start of next year on Thursday this week, so they are trying to get everything wrapped up and sorted before they go.

* This week is our 6th week of school, so I will be working on mid-term marks, giving and grading more tests, and communicating with parents about how their kids are doing.

Well, that about sums up what is going on in my life right now. I'm wrapping up astronomy and poetry, and trying to the fractions units in math wrapped up. I'm loving the new screen and projector in my classroom, and I'm trying to save some rose cutting that the gardener flooded. Never a dull moment!

A Baptism

This weekend we had the joy of watching four of our older students follow the Lord in obedience as they were baptized Sunday afternoon. Doug gave a message about baptism before the girls shared their testimonies,

before we headed down to the pool. Here are the girls as we sang, "There is a Redeemer" after they had all been baptized.

God is so good to give us glimpses of the fruit He is growing in our student's lives!

This week will be a bit challenging as the first half-term is on Friday and Saturday, so there is much that needs to be finished and reach a stopping point before then. My students are creating posters to 'sell' the various planets, and we are starting to tackle a research paper on an animal. Never a dull moment in Room 2!

Some pictures of Lower School

Since this past week was pretty much lots of school stuff that would be boring to everybody but me who was frantically wadding through it, here are some pictures of the Lower School project as it stands right now.

And this is a view of the staff lounge that is the temporary grade 1 classroom.

As the weather has become noticeably cooler, my cat gets more and more snuggly...

May 2016 Newsletter

Dear Friends and Family,

Term got off to a good start last week, and we are just about through our first full week of school. All our students and staff members who traveled arrived safely, and the Lord has blessed us with several short termers who will be helping this term. None of them are teachers, but they are pitching in with support roles and helping as they are able with classes. Having someone to organize, copy, and supervise children is a real help.

I’ve been working with a new Zambian employee to train him to clean our school buildings and help him adjust to our schedule. While he is a hard worker and does a good job, being task oriented is not always possible when trying to work around classroom schedules. We did a big deep clean of the Upper School buildings before school started, and I am working on developing routines that will maintain the higher standard. While it is challenging to be the direct supervisor of a new person when I am so tied to my classroom, the Lord is good! I keep reminding myself that like with my students, this will be a learning process for both of us.

The Lower School was emptied at the end of last term, and is now gutted and with sections of the roof removed. The new walls are going up, and the hope is that the project will be finished before the start of third term when the rains start again. However, as we know all too well, the ‘Z factor’ often interferes with the best laid plans. The grade one class is enjoying their temporary quarters in the staff lounge, and the second and third grade classes are using one half of the hall for their classroom. Having to move so much furniture and figure out where to store all the resources was a challenge for the lower school teachers, but they did a great job of adapting to their circumstances.

I had a nice holiday over the month of April. I didn’t go anywhere other than to Ikelenge to check the mail, but it was such a treat to just be quietly at my house working on projects. I did a deep clean of my house as well; washing my inside walls, sorting through the inevitable stacks of ‘teacher mess’ that end up at my house during the course of a term, and listening to a fascinating course on ancient Egypt to prepare for history class this term. As the skies become more consistently clear, I have been enjoying the familiar parade of the winter constellations; Orion, the Southern Cross, Scorpius, and even Ursa Major upside down. We are studying astronomy this term for science, and I hope to be able to take my students out on half-term evenings to look through the telescope again.

Some specific ways to pray for me and for Sakeji Mission School this term include the request for heavenly wisdom and strength for us teachers. We want to model lives that glorify the Lord, and we want our students to come to know and love Him too. Each child has a unique set of challenges and circumstances that we need to work with and through, and without the Lord’s help we are nothing. Another continued prayer point is for future staffing. While we are blessed by several short term helpers over the next few months, we are still in great need of qualified, long term teachers. At bare minimum we urgently need two more teachers, but more could certainly be used! And thirdly, this has been and will continue to be a pretty challenging year for me personally, and while I’m not sure what the Lord is making out of all these circumstances, I want to learn the lessons He is trying to teach me, and rely on His strength. How comforting to know that I don’t have to sort out or fix everything—this is His school!

Thank you for your prayers, e-mails, and gifts over these last few months. Oftentimes during some of my worst days or months I would hear from someone back home, and that encouragement would help carry me through the rest of that day.

May He find us faithful wherever He has called us to be!