So much to be thankful for!

This past weekend three of our students slept over at our house. It was a lot of fun. We introduced them to UNO, they picked it up really quickly and they loved to play! They were quite intrigued by David’s new old school lawn mower, (you know one of those push mowers with the blades) and they took turns using it. It was funny, and we got some of our weeds cut down 🙂

We enjoyed dinner around the table, like a family. It was nice to sit and hear about them each personally. It is so easy to get caught up with 108 kids at school and miss out on each kid’s individual story. One of the girls that came is quiet at school, she takes a really long time to warm up to anyone. We think this weekend was a great step for her, and we had the opportunity to build her trust in us.
We watched The Princess and the Frog, and then it was time to go to sleep. It was fun to lay in bed and listen to them giggle and whisper. I remember those days!

On Sunday we all went off to church. The sermon was fantastic. It was about what is means to be the church. It was so uplifting and challenging at the same time. The preacher challenged us to “first seek the Kingdom of God.” I think we easily let other things get in the way, I think I really needed to hear it! They also baptized two people, it always makes me cry when I witness someone becoming a Christian, it is such a celebration! After church we had a discussion with the girls about the difference between confirmation and baptism. They had some great questions and listened eagerly!

After that we were off to the park to play soccer and frisbee, these kids can run! As I have mentioned before I have been working out each day, so I was able to keep up with them, but we were exhausted when the day was over!

# 36 I am thankful for the overwhelming response to my last post on here. I was comforted by the comments and kind words, the emails and the verses given to me. This week I learned that somehow we are never alone. I have felt so much love this past week, I wish I could give you all a bug hug, and I am not a hugger!
A friend responded with a verse:
“I would have lost heart,unless I had believed.That I would see the goodness in the Lord, in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord;be of good courage;and He will strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord.” Psalm 27:13-14
I feel like a cloud has been lifted and I have had a smile on my face all weekend. Thank you all!

#37 We have a visitor from the US coming in a few weeks. Mark is the leader of our mission team back in Colorado, and he is a missionary himself. He is coming out just to check up on us, and to evaluate how our year has been. And, he has graciously said we can use his second piece of luggage, so we have been buying things on-line to ship to David’s parent’s house we also gave them a ridiculous shopping list. So in a few weeks we will have fudge-rounds, oatmeal cream pies, board games, and even bigger smiles on our faces. So I am thankful for all this fun stuff, but mostly for someone who cares so much about us, and about what we are doing here that he is flying out to check up on us. Let me tell you people, the journey is not am easy one! Thanks Mark!

#38 I also was to specially thank David’s parents for doing all that shopping, and for packing and repacking to make sure that everything fits. It really will be like Christmas morning!

#39 My mom is making a great recovery. Thanks to all who sent messages, and who prayed and who asked about her. You warmed my heart.

#40 Our health. We have had a rough couple of weeks. David is still getting over whooping cough. But, we live in a place that has some of the highest infection rates for HIV and TB. We are blessed to be healthy enough to do what we are doing, and to not fear that our lives will be prematurely ended by diseases. So today, I am thankful for our health.

#41 Three special little girls that brought light into our weekend. I loved having the kids around. When we got up on Sunday morning to three kids in our home, it just felt right. I think we may be having more sleepovers in the future 🙂

#42 Sugar-free Ice cream.

#43 All Nations Church. On Sunday as we were leaving, one of the leaders asked David to be part of a team of guys who will be designing and building a 25ft climbing wall for their youth ministry. This is right up David’s alley. Also they sang a song about joy coming in the morning. It was a good day.

#44 The cello player in church. Our church has a cello in the band. It is so beautiful.

#45 Composition class. So as most of you know, our grade five teacher had to leave the country. He is now in South Africa awaiting word on his visa. In the meantime I am taking over teaching the grade five composition class. Can I just say I loved creative writing when I was in school. I feel like I am about to burst with ideas. Please pray that the kids will catch some of this excitement!

MARCH 23!

How did this happen?? It is the 23rd day of March. Do you know what that means? It means that it is exactly one whole year since we boarded a plane in Denver Colorado and bid farewell to America.

WE HAVE BEEN HERE FOR A WHOLE YEAR  NOW!

Wow!

They year has flown by. Just this morning we were discussing the fact that Namibia really feels like home to us. We never really went through any culture shock. It feels like this has been our home for a longer time than just one year. We do of course miss our family and friends dearly, but I think we are exactly where we are supposed to be.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

What we prayed for.

Tuesdays nights are set aside for a staff prayer meeting. We meet together and then spend some time praying for the school, for individual students, and for other things that we fell may need prayer. The prayer meeting is an important part of what we are doing here. It gives a places for teachers to talk about the difficulties they are facing, and it is an opportunity to share what God is doing in each of our lives.
I would like to share the prayer requests with you, so that you may know specific things to pray for.

First we prayed for Japan, specifically for the church to rise up and show the people of Japan that Christians are generous and compassionate people. We prayed for warmer weather, as so many people are stuck without heat and water in really cold temperatures.

Second we prayed for Selma’s daughter. Selma is a lady who lives in the church building that the school is run out of. Her 15 year old daughter and the daughter’s friend were abducted two weeks ago. The friend was found in a trash can, raped, naked, unconscious, and with a massive head injury. She is in the hospital now, but can not remember anything and is therefore unable to help with the whereabouts of Selma’s daughter.
***I was just told that her daughter was found and it at home safe! I may pass on more details if we hear anything else.

Third we prayed for Mr. Gumbo’s work visa. His current visa expires on Saturday and we have yet to hear from the Ministry of Home Affairs about the renewal application. It would be a very difficult situation if he had to leave.

Fourth we prayed for the land that the school is trying to purchase. The school has been given the funds to build a new building, but is still in need of a piece of property.

Fifth we prayed for the Miller family, they are long time supporters of the school and they sponsor two of the kids in our school. The Millers are a hard-working and friendly family. Yesterday Mrs. Miller helped out in my second grade Art class, and Mr. Miller helped out in David’s discipleship class. We prayed for their safety as they will be traveling to the Northern part of Namibia this week.

Lastly we prayed for a boy who lives in Wisconsin. His name is Joshua, he is a young boy who has no immune system. His birthday is today and he asked that instead of gifts people donate money towards a child at Community Hope School. Pray for his healing!

A year ago today…

…we were in Colorado Springs being commissioned for the work here in Namibia. I did a post of it back then you can see it here.
It has been a year, a whole year!! So much has happened in the last year. David did a great little e-magazine to outline what we did, he even made a time line. Check that out HERE.

Looking back on that night, with a year passed now, I am even more overwhelmed by the love and support that we have received in the last year. Piked Peak Christian Church has been a pillar for us. In just a few weeks the leader of our missions team will come out to check up on us, the church handles our finances, and just today we received an encouraging email from there.

I guess what I am trying to say is thank you to all the people who are making it possible for us to be here, thank you to all the people who pray for us everyday, thank you to all of you that care so much about us. We could not be here doing any of this without the support system that we have.

Thank you.

An early Valnetine’s gift.

Ponchos.

Ricardo is a smart boy, he is so curios about everything around him. He is constantly touching things and always asking questions. He is also very clever when it comes to fixing things. Lat year my shoe broke and he fixed it for me with a stapler! At the end of last year his shoe had a really big hole in it, and he cut a piece of cardboard to fit in the hole perfectly. Ricardo has no parents, he lives with his aunt and her family. I think over the years he has learned to depend on himself only, and to look after himself. Ricardo has some kind of eye disease, he is slowly losing sight in his left eye, it is so bad that he will be undergoing a cornea transplant later this year. Anyways I tell you all of this to show you his poncho. It has been raining here for about 5 weeks now, and needless to say things are getting wet!

Mawwiage.

We spent Saturday at the YWAM base celebrating Jodie and Patrick’s wedding. They were married in the Congo last December, so this was just a small reception for those of us who did not make it to the DRC. On the way to the base I was surprised to see how green it has become around Windhoek. We happened to get to the base at the exact right time, as the wedding party was stuck in the mud!

When we finally got to the base, there was cake, dancing and prayers for the newly weds.

 

Rotten teeth and cornea transplants.

There are certain things that come with working at a school. We have to hand out detention slips, we have “parent” teacher conferences. We teach kids to read. We teach kids to wash their hands. We hold kids when they cry, and we laugh with them when they act silly. There are other things though a school would not normally take care of. Community Hope School is more than a school, it is a ministry. We have children that come to school with severe issues. Kids that need more love and attention than one could imagine. Kids that are abused, neglected and seemingly unable to listen to or respond to authority. We struggle daily with kids that want to see how far they can push.
Then there are the medical issues. Our kids come to school hungry, we have a new student this year who is so skinny it looks painful. Yesterday one of the boys came to school complaining of tooth ache, when I looked in his mouth I saw a black crumbled hole where his tooth used to be. Today we are taking him to the dentist. There is a boy who is slowly losing his eyesight. He needs a cornea transplant if there is any hope of him retaining any of his eyesight. As I type this David is on his way to the Ophthalmologist with Ricardo. Hopefully he will get his new eye soon!

Having to do all these things is teaching me the heart that God has for us. We like children come to Him broken, hungry, and ready to test the limits. Yet He loves us, and has given His all to see us saved. To give us a hope. The sermon in church last Sunday had three points. God loves you. God is with you. God will never leave you. Remember that this morning. God lives you, is with you and will never leave you!

The kids.

Adam and I have been working with the grade 2 class. He is the homeroom teacher, and I teach 4 of the subject in there. There have been some challenges (already!), but over all it has been a great two weeks.
The kids seem to be bored with geography, intrigued by science, and they absolutely LOVE grammar. We have Jessica in class this year too. It has been about 5 weeks since her mom died, she has shed some tears in class, but she is a great student who loves to learn. Her aunt said they had to take away all pictures of her mom from her, as she was unable to concentrate on anything, and was too depressed. It is a harsh place out here, death is such a part of life that one is expected to  move on without much grief. Please keep her in your prayers.
There are also some challenging kids, some that are here to test the boundaries. I think I may be learning as much as they are 🙂

Meeting a hero.

Andimba Herman Toivo ya Toivo visited our school today! His name is a mouthful, in fact his name is like the toy boat toy boat tongue twister, but when Namibians hear his name they cheer, gasp, and some ever dance! We were familiar with the name as there is a Andimba Herman Toivo ya Toivo street near our house. Mr. Toivo ya Toivo is a hero. He is one of the freedom fighters. One of those legendary men who stood up to racist regimes, for the basic rights of his own people. Mr. Toivo ya Toivo spent 16 years in jail, some of it on Robben Island with Mr. Nelson Mandela.
Read a short biography on his life here.

It was an honor to meet him. He is a humble, witty and funny man! When he heard I was from South Africa he demanded a labola from David. He said he did not want money or cattle, but giraffes, lions, elephants and other wild animals. The second grade class made cards for him he teased them as he accepted them. He also encouraged all the kids to stick to their studies, to work hard at school and to reach for their dreams.

It was such a great day.
Take time today to pray for the government of Namibia.