Jingle bells Jingle bells!!

Hello!
It is Thursday night here. It is stiflingly hot, and I feel like listening to Christmas music. It is true that I am one of those people. You know, those people who can listen to, and enjoy, Christmas music any time of the year. Today we were discussing how different Christmas would be this year. I think we will still get a nylon (is that what a fake tree is made of?) Christmas tree, and maybe even hang some socks on the wall. This year we will probably eat watermelon, and go to the public pool. This Christmas mood has been brought on by the Christmas play that we are rehearsing for. It really has been a huge blessing and so much fun. I used to lead some dance groups when I was in high school, I always thought it would be part of my future. But then I moved to America, and ya’ll just don’t dance much. I remember the exact day when I finally said “Ok, God, I am not sure why you gave me this desire to dance, I guess that was just a passing thing.” I was pretty sad. Now I am here dancing with our kids, and let me tell you these children take to dancing like fish to water. It has been amazing to see some of the attitude changes in the kids who I am dancing with. God knew all along! 
Now I would like to take this opportunity to officially invite all of you to attend our Christmas extravaganza! There will be hear melting singing, foot stomping dancing, and Hollywood level acting!
Thanks for the prayers! God in moving in Namibia!

Here is a small taste of what we will be doing. I am teaching dances to three groups, this song is for the fourth grade class. They will be playing the super cool wise men. (When Don Stoll was here he helped to pick this song! ) 

What spring looks like in Namibia…

The day that was today!

This morning just after 1am, after 5 months of no rain, the clouds finally burst! The house we are living in has a tin roof, so I just lay there and listened to the rain pounding the roof. It is one of the best sounds I have ever heard. After it rained for a few moments the rain subsided and the thunder and lightning took over. It was a good morning!
At five thirty we got up and prepared for the day with the smell of rain on the air. By 6:45 we were at school praying for the day. (every morning the staff at the school gets together and prays for the day).  We prayed for Emmy, one of our 4th graders who is currently in the hospital sick with a mystery illness, and for John, the school’s founder who is travelling to the USA today.
Throughout the rest of the morning David and I worked on some of the new admin duties that we will be taking over. I worked on preparing visa applications for the new staff members, and David finished up the minutes from the last few meetings. At eight David taught the 3rd grade P.E class, and at noon I taught the 5th and 6th grade health class. The lesson today was on alcohol and the dangers thereof. The listened with close attention as many of them (if not all) come from homes broken by alcohol addiction. The theme for this term’s health syllabus comes from Luke and Corinthians, we are looking at how Jesus grew up, and how to keep our bodies as acceptable temples of the Holy Spirit, it has been a good term.
At 12:30 David taught the 4th grade P.E class, he is busy with soccer drills as we hope to start a soccer program next year.
At one pm we all have lunch with the students, yesterday we figured that CHS serves about 40 000 meals a year. We serve the kids breakfast, a snack, and a full lunch every day. After lunch I taught a dance class to the third grade class. It was amazing to be dancing again. I used to be part of several dance groups when I was a teenager. My legs burned as the kids and I came up with the dance moves, it felt great! That class lasted until 2:30, then the next dance class begun. From 2:30-3:30, I have six 5th and 6th graders who will be dancing shepherds in the play. The hour I spent with them was fantastic, these kids are so eager to dance and have fun. It seems that David and I are growing closer with the kids each day as they let us more and more into their lives. Please continue to pray for them!
After that we left to take one of the kids to the dentist. When we got to the office my legs felt like jello from the dance class, but when Jerry saw the elevator (elevators are called lifts here, and the lift company here is called “schindler’s lift”) he refused to ride in it. He said that elevators makes his skin crawl. So up the four flights of stairs we went! When we got close to the top we read that the only access to the fourth floor is by the elevator, so we had to take Schindler’s lift anyway. He hated it but did ok. At the dentist he was told they would have to pull the tooth out, Jerry seemed brave and just agreed to it. Then the shots to numb his mouth came, he was very brave. When the dentist left the room, I could see tears running down Jerry’s face. This broke my heart. Jerry is 15, and lives with his older sister. He used to live with his dad who runs a shebeen (ghetto bar) and a brothel. When he cries at home no one comforts him, there is no mother to make sure he is ok.  In that moment I could see how utterly alone he must feel at times. I rubbed his back and tried to comfort him, he seemed so stiff and unsure of himself. When the dr. came back in he pulled the tooth out with no problem, Jerry moaned a little bit. When he stood up to walk out of the office his face was wet with tears, and he seemed dazed. The tooth was rotten though, so at least now it is out. We drove him home, he sat in silence. When we got to his home he made us stop at the top of the street, I guess people make fun of him sometimes. I keep thinking he is going to be all alone tonight in their cold, wet shack, crying because of the pain in his mouth. Sometimes the task here seems unsurmountable.
As we drove home we heard tires squeal, and when we looked back we saw a taxi hit a toddler in the street. She was lying on the sidewalk crying and the whole neighborhood was around her within seconds. We saw the mother scoop her up, and the taxi drive jump out. As we watched they loaded her in the back of the taxi and the driver drove off to the hospital. She did not seem badly injured from where we were. The grandmother was furious though, yelling and motioning with her hands. Pray for her tonight!
The rest of the way home big drops started falling from the sky, and the clouds opened again. This time it rained for about an hour. It rained hard. We praise God for this rain!
Tonight we are watching a movie, and hopefully listening to some more rain falling.
Keep us and all the students and staff at CHS in your prayers!

something hilarious…

So the toilet, bathtub, and sink in our house are pretty ridiculous. As you can see from this picture:

  

HA! The set is new! Someone RECENTLY designed this porcelain throne (and matching basin). Our landlord went out to the store, and after looking at all the options they had she picked this set on purpose. We laughed for a long time over this amazing find. Just finding this set at the show was enough for us to declare “the show this year was a success!!!”

History.

Tonight at the half night of prayer meeting we spent a long time talking about, and thinking about what God had done to bring us to this point. It was a great exercise to sit and realize all the things, big and small, that God had done in my life. My life up to now has been a great adventure, a journey far beyond what I had planned for my life. As far as I can see back in my life I can see God catching me every time I have stepped out in faith (like that iconic scene in Indiana Jones). So I encourage you to look back on  your life and see the hand of God in it.
It was pretty amazing to hear how God has prepared the school, and brought staff members from all over the world to help at CHS.

Half night of prayer…

On Saturday night we will be having a half night of prayer along with all the other staff at CHS. This is a normal thing that John and Suzanne try to do once every few months. We have attended one before, it was a refreshing night, with worship, praying, devotions, and giving God time to work in the group. We spent the night praying for the kids by name, and for the property that CHS is trying to buy. This Saturday we will be having another half night of prayer. We will begin at 6pm which I think is around 11am MO time, and 10am CO time  (it will go for about 4-5 hours). So I was thinking that it would be really great if some of you would pray with us at that same time. If you are interested in praying with us leave a comment on which hour you would like to pray, I will try to update throughout the prayer night to let you know what to pray for. God is great and He has a plan for Namibia!

Missions and Meningitis…

Be in prayer this week for the health of the students, staff, and the rest of the community in Katutura. There is a Meningitis outbreak here right now, tomorrow there will be a vaccination at school for all the students and staff. I will not be getting vaccinated, but David will be. Please pray for our safety and health!
Much love!

“In His name the nations will hope”

Thanks for praying for the kids at CHS! The fifth and sixth grade class (the class is combined) has had a rough few weeks. Some of our kids have terrible home lives, and sometimes they bring their frustrations to school. However, in the last week they really pulled together and their behavior has been great, so as a treat we took them to the pool. It was a fun day! It seems as though the boys especially enjoyed getting to hang out with David, especially when they were wrestling, and he was teaching them so swim. Please keep praying for our children, pray for their broken homes, and broken lives. Pray for the ones that go home to no love and no care. The name of the school is Community Hope, we believe that through loving the kids, and introducing them to Christ, they can bring hope to the whole community. Pray for that!

…and a picture from Etosha.

Quick update…

The weeks have rolled into months, we have been here for over four months already! We are two weeks into the last school term of the year, and boy, has it been a busy two weeks. We have been teaching, attending a class, planning new classes, doing some home visits, and preparing for the Christmas program. The weather has been warming up and we will be having a sweltering African Christmas in no time! I (Sandy) will be teaching the kids some dances for the Christmas play, so right now I am looking for the perfect songs for the program. David will be filming the play, and the Wrights are working with the choir. We have heard that the Christmas play is one of the biggest events of the year, it is an opportunity to reach out to the whole community!
We also have been teaching some extra classes as the 5th and 6th grade teacher has been stuck in Zimbabwe waiting for all his papers. David has been teaching Bible to the fourth grade class, and I have been teaching Bible to the fifth and sixth grade class.
Not a very exciting update I fear, but please keep us in your prayers! Also specifically pray for the other teachers ans staff at CHS as the year draws to a close!