November Update

Dear friends and family,

I bet it’s getting colder and colder at home now.  It’ll be interesting coming home and dropping 30 degrees!  This cold that I have right now could last a little longer with a temperature change.

Everything is going smoothly here at Sakeji.  We are finishing up the term next Wednesday.  The parents are coming starting in the morning.  In the evening the kids will perform their Christmas show for their parents.  It’s all starting to come together.  The kids will have 2 or 3 full rehearsals on Monday and Tuesday. 

Everyone, including myself, is very happy to be done with report cards.  They’re all due by today, so Mr. Ronald can have one  more look over before they are printed and ready for Wednesday.   I only had to write comments for two classes, so my load is considerably less than the other teachers.  I have learned so much from my time here.  I am excited to pursue my education next year.  It’ll be weird going back to school and being a student again.

Right now the kids are going through the Sakeji triathlon.  All of the students and staff have finished the bike part, with a few broken chains, and the last of the students just ran by my house.  Next the team has 50 laps in the pool.  I am very proud of the students and staff members who are going through the race. 

I leave Sakeji on Thursday morning with Jessica Russell.  We’re heading to Lusaka.  Her plane leaves on the 8^th.  Hannah is driving down so she will meet me in Lusaka around the 8^th or 9^th.  This is the best time for Jessica and I to fly because the other kids who are flying home are going on that day.  I’ll miss the kids so much, but I know God has a great plan in mind for me.  “For I know the thoughts that I think towards you saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”  Jeremiah 29:11. It’s so cool that God knows my future.  He’s in charge!

Well, the next time I send an update I’ll either be in Lusaka or home.  God has been so good to me for the past 7 months.  Please continue to pray for the students as they return home.  Pray for the students who are leaving Sakeji for higher grades.  Pray that they will be a testimony and remember what they have learned here.  Also, pray that the students who are going home for the break will be good testimonies for God.  Most of all, pray for their salvation! 

God bless!

Yolanda

The kids make me so happy!!!!

Today, after the kids went down to river, I wrote in the sand, "If you're happy, and you know it, write your name".  i thought it would be cool to see how many people would right there names.  I wasn't really expecting any because I thought they would come from the river and start playing soccer.  After I was done I went home to work on an assignment, and I didn't come back until it was almost time for supper.  When I was walking up to the dining hall, I saw a few kids kneeling down in the sand. I excitedly went over to see if they actually were writing their names.  I was really happy to see that there were many names, plus the kids who were still writing.  It's the little things that make my day! :D I wish I could have gotten a picture of it, but it was too big!  I love my kids here!!!

I am so blessed to be a part of this school for the past 7 months!!!  Please, keep praying for the kids here and their salvation and growth in their relationship with God!

10,000 REASONS

I had been planning a girl’s night with the gr. 7-9 since last Sunday.  I wanted to do the whole shebang: feet soaking and massage, hand massage, face mask, music, etc.  I also wanted to leave the girls with a special message they would remember.  I had a difficult time thinking of what topic I wanted to do.  On Thursday night I finally decided on something, but.... on Friday I received a very special package!!!  In it was the camp video from Girl’s Camp at Joy Bible Camp.  I was very excited to get it.  I watched the video and quickly changed my mind on the topic for that night.  The girls at camp had made a poster titled “10,000 REASONS” and had everybody write a reason to worship and praise God.  I thought this was a great idea so I made up a quick poster.  During the events of the evening the girls went over to the poster and wrote all the reasons they could think of to praise God.  I was very happy to see a full page at the end of the evening.  We had such a great time with the girls, and they all seemed like they really enjoyed themselves.  They were very happy for a “Friday Night” without the boys!  Thanks JBC and Emily for the inspiration!!

Here are a few pictures of the night!

 

 

 

 

Thanks to this great group of ladies.  The night wouldn't have been possible without them!!

 

 

 

October Update

Dear friends and family,

We have had quite a busy month.  Zambia’s Independence Day was October 24^th.  We started with raising the flag and seeing the Zambian anthem.  Well, I listened.  At 9:30 we all went down to the pool for house races!  Jessica and I are a part of Poole so we were in charge of making sure the next competitors were ready.  I nearly lost my voice from cheering so loudly!  I felt like the head cheerleader for Poole, reminding everybody to cheer for our racer.  I had so much fun! 

We split into different teams after lunch for the fun races.  There was Cardiff, Belfast, London, and Edinburgh.  I was the team mistress of Belfast, and Mr. H was the team boss.  All that means is that I got to ride in the tube when the other team members had to push, pull, or drag the tube across the length of the pool.  My tube was not my friend today.  More often than not I fell out of the tube when trying to sit in it.  In one of the races the kids had to pull me with a rope from the shallow end.  (I was at the deep end)Once I FINALLY got in the tube the race started.  When they pulled me to the other side Mr. H tipped me out!!!  I was completely shocked.  I really shouldn’t have been though.  He did it again in the next race!  After that I was ready, and I was determined that I would not be dumped in again!  The kids would try to tip me out, but before they could I would jump out. 

At the end the men and women had jumping competition.  The women had to jump of the 4 different diving boards on to a tube.  The men had to jump/dive/freestyle off the four diving boards.  Pam felt the full impact of the tube from the nine foot.  She was the only one to actually be able to make it fully on the tube from that high up.  Hannah got the tube.  She went right through the whole!!  A couple women backed out by the six foot because they are terrified of heights.  It was all good fun though!  On the guys’ side, the most impressive dives were Mr. O’s flip off the six foot and Mr. T’s back flip off the nine foot!! 

Unbeknownst to me, the 3^rd grade classroom was switched all around.  The 3^rd graders have wanted to change their seats for quite a while.  I walk into the classroom Monday morning about 3 minutes before the kids came down from assembly to quite a surprise. I had just enough time to get used to the change.  The desks are all angled rather than facing the front.  There is also a new whiteboard on the wall.  It was great watching the kids’ reactions as they walked into the classroom.  There was a lot of “Wow!”s and surprised faces with huge eyes.  We only had about 2-3 ft in the front of the class the way it was before.  The way it is now the teacher has a lot more room to walk around.  The 2^nd graders join the classroom for some of the classes, such as Scripture and Science.  Before it felt like you had to either talk to grade 3 or grade 2, not both.  Now it’s possible to face the whole class. 

I am very excited that 2 or 3 kids were saved this month within the last couple weeks!  It’s so amazing to hear of a child giving their life to Jesus!  Please pray for them as they grow in their new relationship with Christ. 

I pray that you are all doing well.  Hallelujah, that we can praise God in the storms as well as the light.

With much love,

Yolanda

Jackels and Chickens and Dams, Oh My!

We have had quite a busy week!! To start with the dam directing the water into the channel for the pool has started to leak. I don't understand all the details, but they are having to fix it this week. This means we have been praying for no rain until they have it fixed. All week long it has either been sunny, clouds threatening, or light and short rains! God is so good! We also have visitors from Scotland this week. One of them happens to be an engineer and is able to help supervise the work on the dam. It's amzing how God provides the right people even before we ask! It rained quite a bit last night, but I haven't heard anything about it wrecking the work they have done so far. I assume no news is good news!

Yesterday, the the seniors and some of the staff went through the process of slaughtering the chickens. I don't know what the number was, but I'm sure we have a full freezer now! Even the girls got into beheading the poor chickens! I have heard that chickens still run around after the head is chopped off, but this was the first time I had seen it! The chickens had to be held still, upside down, until it stopped moving. If they moved around too much we would end up with broken chicken wings. At the end of the term break we had killed another batch, and I helped pluck those ones. Only I forgot my camera then so I don't have any proo so you will just have to take my word for it. This time I didn't dress for the occasion, but I did get pictures. Even though I didn't actually help my dress still smelled like chickens at the end of the day.

They were in the middle of killing the last batch when I jackel came around! Jessica and one of the workers were the only adults there. Jessica is used to seeing foxes in Scotland so she thought nothing of it, but the kids were so scared! The worker quickly ran to a bamboo plant and broke off one of the branches and threw it like a spear in the direction of the jackel. All I saw of it was the kids and Jessica walking back, with no chickens, and Mr. R walking back to the chicken coop with his rifle. I had no idea what was going on. I was trying to firgure out why they would need a rifle for killing chickens. When Jessica was telling me about it later I wished I had been there. It would have been interesting to see it all firsthand!

Last night, after all of that excitement, we had the gr 7-9s at our house for games. We definately do not have enough chairs in our small house for everyone so we had them all bring a chair from the hall. We barely had enough room for the 24 people who came. Four of the visitors from Scotland are teens so they came for the evening as well. We all had a blast!! We played Signs, "Not Me Sir", and Mafia. It was the perfact number for the games to to work. Hannah made cookies, I made popcorn and there was pizza left over from supper. We had just enough food. There was one cookie left over, which is great because I didn't have one earlier. :) It started pouring about 5-10 min before the kids left so they borrowed our umbrellas. Hannah was originally going to walk up to the dorm with the girls so she could bring the umbrellas back, but one of the girls lost her shoe in the muck. They had a flashlight, but I ran out with my flashlight, for extra light, to shoe hunt. We found the shoe and I ended up taking the girls to the dorm and bringing the umbrellas back home (with a couple more lost shoes).

We ended the night with "Annie" in the dark becasue the power had gone out. I had just enough battery on my laptop to finish the movie. I'm ready for my weekend off.! :) Praise the Lord for is goodness, providing, and protection!

Miss Russell's first time plucking chickens! :)

Miss Russell's first time beheading a chicken! :)

Posing with the poor chicken on the way to the chopping block.

 

Have a heart!

Shoes!! We had so much fun with all the kids!!

Food after all the fun!

 

How On Earth Did Women Wear So Many Layers of Petticoats?

04/10/12

(Sorry for the delay!  The internet was out for a week and I have been quite busy lately!)

Last night was Sakeji’s tri-annual birthday party.  This term’s theme was Wonders of the World.  A few people came over from Kalene on Tuesday to decorate cakes.  There was the pyramid, the Eiffel Tower, Stonehenge, and many more.  There were 15 cakes decorated in total! 

We had a day full of regular classes with only half of the usual attention from the kids.  Swimming lesson finished early so the teachers could get their costumes ready.  Supper was at 5:00 instead of 5:30 to give extra time to enjoy the special birthday meal. 

All the teachers looked great dressed up in their various costumes.  I took the suggestion from a friend and dressed as Mount Everest.  In order to add dimension, I wore many layers of skirts under the grey dress I wore for the actual mountain.  This brings me to my title.  How on earth did women wear so many layers of petticoats?! I had five layers of skirts on, and I was roasting all night!  Miss A. made up a new version of the song “I may never march in the infantry”.  She sang “I may never see the wonders of the world” and had all the teachers who dressed up come on stage and yell out their wonder.  The temperature went up a few more degrees when she called us on stage!  Then after the song was done the MCs had a costume contest.  The kids had to hoot, holler, and cheer for their favorite costume.  Mr. and Mrs. T won hands down.  They were dressed as the Tung Su Warriors who guarded the tomb of the first emperor of China.  I was standing at the end next to them so I got quite a loud “hoorah” as well from the overflow of their cheer. 

The kids did very well with their skits and songs.  Usually the seniors’ skits go on and on and the MC has to start clapping to cut them off because they are going on too long.  This time, however they were all short and very funny.  They had me in stitches with every skit!

As promised I have added a picture from the birthday party of my costume!  Thanks Em for the idea!

 

 

September Update

Dear friends and family,

I have been quite busy this term.  I am gaining more responsibility as the term goes on.  I am in a sort of student teacher position.  I am following Mr. R. in all of his classes.  He teaches 2&3, 4&5, and 8&9.  I am now teaching 3 classes with the 3^rd to graders, Spelling, Language, and Science.  I will only be teaching Science for the next two weeks, but the other classes I will have the whole term.  I will also be taking either the grade 3 Math class or the grade 4&5 Scripture class.  I haven’t decided which class I will take, but I am leaning towards Math. 

We have had a very interesting week.  We were told last week that a lion escaped from the Congo!  I sometimes forget that I live in Africa, but that definitely reminded me where I am!  There was a trail of dead cattle and other animals from the Congo coming towards the game park that is near the school.  The kids were quite nervous all week.  The seniors walk to the nearest church once a month.  They went this Sunday and Mr. R. was teasing them about the lion coming out of the bush to get them.  Then they saw the guy who was tracking the lion, and Mr. R said that he was pointing out where the lion was.  It wasn’t actually there but I don’t think the kids appreciated his sense of humour. 

Also, this week we have had an outbreak of chicken pox.  One of the boys came to school with chicken pox, but his spots hadn’t shown yet so it spread to some of the other boys in the dorm.  Now that the first boy is over them 3 more boys have it.  A teacher’s wife has a 7 month old baby, and she is trying to keep him at home so he doesn’t get chicken pox.  Between chicken pox and lions it has been an interesting term so far.

Jessica, one of my roommates, and I take the junior kids for games on Mondays.  It’s a constant battle trying to figure out games to play with 42 kids and have everyone enjoy it and play well together!  So far this term we have done a scavenger hunt and a water fight.  The water fight went really well.  I got totally soaked, but the kids had a blast.  This week Jessica took half of the kids, and I took the other half.  We split it grade 1&3 and 2&4.  We each took one group then switched groups half way through.  It seemed to work a lot better.  I had a lot more control of the kids and I didn’t have to yell quite so loud.  I actually didn’t lose my voice this week!  I think we’ll try it that way again next week. 

Wednesday is the big birthday party.  The theme this term is the Wonder of the World.  All the teachers dress up, and the senior students make up skits and sing songs.  I am going as Mount Everest.  I am wearing 4-5 layers of skirts with a grey dress over top, a grey sweater to make my arms the same color, and a tall pointing cone for the mountain top.  I have a feeling I will be very hot by the end of the day!  I am very excited to see all the other costumes!  The staff members here are very creative when it comes to using the limited resources they have at Sakeji. 

God has really blessed us so far this term.  One of the girls as either committed or recommitted her life to Christ!  We were all very excited to hear that she growing in her faith.  Her parents were very excited when she told them when she went home for the weekend.  The spiritual focus is really strong at the school.  The staff members may not agree on everything, but they agree on the most important point.  They all want the kids to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior.  Since some have already become a Christian, they also have a huge focus on discipleship.  The grades 8s and 9s have a Bible Study on Monday nights with one of the couples.  I am so blessed that God has called me to work at Sakeji for the past few months.  I am really thankful that I still have over two months left.  I will be really sad when I have to leave, but I will enjoy it while I am here. 

God bless you all at home.  I pray that you are all living for God in the moments!  “Step by step He leads me, and I will follow Him all of my days.”

With love from across the ocean,

Yolanda

Our God is an Awesome God

Very weird night!  I finished prepping for class about 11 and was too tired to bring my mesquito net down.  it can be such a hassle if I don't feel like doing it.  I didn't see or hear any bugs any way.  However, I kept dreaming of giant bugs in my room and woke myself up a couple times through the night!  Then about 4:30 this morning we had a HUGE thunderstorm!!  The thunder was so loud and I'm almost certain I saw a shock come through my room! (I could have imagined it though, being half asleep, but I heard a pop with it!)  It scared me so much I couldn't back to sleep so Hannah and I talked for a while.  The storm had woken her up as well.  I finally went back to sleep around six until my alarm went off at 6:30, but I ignored it and dozed for another 15 min! So I am now running on about 5-6 hours of sleep right now!  Boy, that's fun!  I hope I will sleep well tonight!

It's was so amazing to watch the lighting as it was starting last night about 9pm.  It's so awesome to see how powerful God is!!  The fact that it could have gone through the ceiling down to the floor in my room is pretty cool!  I was shaking after the fact, but I know that God is in control and He is protecting me!  He even sends rain right when we need it!  Our power keeps turning off at random parts of the day. Last Tuesday we were told it was because there wasn't enough water to run the power.  We are at the end of dry season so the rivers are very low.  That night we prayed for rain, and the very next night it rained!!  It has also rained twice more since then!!!  How awesome is our God?

Camera Scare!!

      Tonight the staff decided to have a campfire on our last Sunday before the kids come back.  I really enjoyed all the hymns and songs we sang.  I am so blessed that I can praise God with all the wonderful staff at Sakeji.
      I had brought my camera to get a few shots of everyone since I don't have too many of the staff.  Unfortunately, after we had finished singing I left  my camera on the bench to go and talk to everybody.  When I came back Mr. T found my camera on the ground, on the very sandy ground!!  A flash back brought me to when I first got my camera.  The guy said to never bring your camera to the beach or sandy places.  Right from the beginning I knew that I would be, because I love getting outside pictures and just any where.  I knew why he warned me against it, but now I REALLY know why!! 

      Mr. T offered to take it home and try and clean it with a paintbrush.  I brought my paint brushes with me to Zambia so I said I would just take it home and try myself...with little success.  I was just about ready to burst into tears after hearing that terrible grainy sound every time I tried to open my lens.  The sand was in the lens!! As I usually do, I googled. I typed in "I got sand in my camera".  The results were pretty bleak! At that point I decided to take Mr. T up on his offer.  Their house is visible from ours so I made sure the lights were still on then walked down to ask for his help.

      Let me tell you it's very nerve racking watching your camera being cleaned!!  He used compressed air and a brush (which I think was a proper camera brush, not just a paint brush) to try and get the sand out.  It didn't seem to be working very well, so he went a step further and started taking it apart.  I did a LOT of praying all the while!!  I was praying for a miracle for my poor camera.  It's kind of silly, but...  I can now say I have seen the inside of a camera; I just wish it wasn't mine!  Mr. T cleaned it out even more (all the while he didn't have the use of his index finger because he had hurt it earlier).  Eventually I had to distract myself, so I helped Mrs. T with the supper dishes from earlier (our tea as the say in the UK).  So we talked and did dishes while Mr. T put my camera back together.  It's very discouraging hearing the error sound go off over and over again!

      He came into the kitchen to deliver the good news!!  It now works! The flash no longer works, but that's a small price to pay. Especially since I hardly ever use the flash any way.  It still doesn't sound quite right when turning it on, but the lens opens and my camera will work for some time longer.  I don't know how much longer, but at least I will be able to take pictures for the third term!  I thank God that He guided Mr T's hands as he worked on it!!  I am going to be soooo careful now! Lesson learned, "always be very, VERY cautious when bringing your camera near sand!!

      Thank you God for all your wonderful blessings!!

"The Source"

I have been having a great time with Hannah, Joel, and Chris this term break.  We have done quite a few things together.  On Tuesday we went to go see the "great" source of the Zambezi River.  Since it's the dry season there actually was no water to be seen, but we had fun none the less.  I guess it's not so much what you do, but who you do it with. 

Since Hannah and I had both already been there, we could go down with out a tour guide. We were able to take our time and get many silly pictures along the way. I'm including pictures of us all matching faces with the statues. We had tons of fun just being silly.

We were all to tall to walk under the sign.

Shikenu Mwani: Mwani is a greeting and Shikenu means "Welcome"

 

"The Source" of the Zambezi River

 

Swinging in the trees!

...and all kinds of silliness

 

Enjoy!!!

My Girls Camp Experience in Zambia

Hey Everyone!!

Girls's Camp Zambia style was a great success!!  I'm going to try and give you highlights for each day.

Monday

   Arrival day!!  Some of the girls leave from Kalene Monday morning but Carole isn't ready to leave until after lunch.  The campers also come from Ikelenge and two other villages that I can't remember the names of.  Right after Carole and I arrive the girls are organized into their teams.  Most of the girls don't having swim suits so they all choose one out of the swim suits that have been donated and then we are off to bathe.  At Joy Bible Camp the girls are required to have a shower at LEAST 2 times during the week.  Here, they want to do it every day.  It's the same at home in the villages.  Afterwards Carole and I leave for the evening, but the girls go on to have a supper of nshima. After everything is all cleaned up they have their first campfire.

Tuesday

   Every morning the whistle blows at 6 o'clock in the morning.  The girls come out of their chisolus (grass walled shelter) and dance and sing to warm up.  Breakfast is readied and they eat  around 8:00.  At 9:00 is the first message of the day.  This is generally taken by one of the mamas.  Any of the older Zambian ladies are mamas.  Anyone who is not a Zambian is a sister: Sister Alice, Sister Catherine.  Some one correct me if I'm wrong.  After the message we either played sports of did Bible drills.  For today we played netball.  I have never played before so I was a bit confused at first, but I think I got the hang of it.  Quite a few of the girls played like pros.  Thankfully are team leader(team 5) was one of them; we won out game against team 6! :)

Wednesday

   It's raining. It's pouring!! We did our best to stay warm and dry. We played sports when it wasn't raining and then lunch.  Right after it rained again.  Mel F. did her message on purity.  It got many of the girls' attention. This is something many of them struggle with in their culture.  A world wide struggle, I think.  Mel took Kinsie and I back to Kalene after her talk.  We were going to stay the night but then decided to go back to Alice's because it was too wet.

Thursday

   Alice talked about Principles of Christian Conduct: How to make choices.  She gave sixteen questions to ask before making a choice. A couple are: Is there any glory for God in it?  Would Jesus do it?  Which nature does it feed?  Alice asked me to give my testimony.  She wanted the girls to know how I was able to stay pure.  I had to write it out so I could keep my train of thought while it was being translated into Lunda.  Many of the girls gave their tesimonies that night at campfire.

Friday

   We went to the rapids and then to see the hydro with the girls.  I got many pictures, but most of them won't go up until I get back to Canada.  We watched a movie about the life of Jesus at campfire.  The twist was that it was in Lunda.

Saturday

   It was the end of a very long week out in the sun. I wasn't feeling very well so I couldn't do too much in the morning.  I had to lie down until lunch time. As the day went on I felt better.  Campfire started with dancing with the ants. Or rather trying to not step near the ants.  Ant bites are not very pleasant.  I got one bit and it stung for quite a while.   I was able to enjoy a campfire full of great Lunda songs and skits.  Most of the skits were translated for me. 

Sunday

   Alice finished her message from Thursday, and then we handed out prizes to all the girls.  We laid out all the clothes, Bibles, watches, and bags on a tarp and the girls came up one by one to choose their prize.  The truck that was going to come to pick up the girls never came so Alice's van made about 5 trips from the camp site back to Kalene. 

*Prayer requests:

-girls's salvation

-a couple girls were thinking of joining a Satanist group, but both cofessed this to the counsellors.  One has said she has repented and asked Jesus to be her Savior! Praise God!! Pray that God continues to work in these two girls's lives.

-that the girls keep their testimony as they go back to their villages. 

-that God continues to use the camp to have such a positive effect on the girls.

-the women in charge for when they get ready for next year and years to come. 

It rained Wednesday starting in the morning off and on and didn't stop until about 2:30 that afternoon.  We danced around the fire in an effort to keep warm.

It started to rain again as we were finishing lunch.  We all rushed to the tarped chisolu to try and stay dry.  We had to keep tightening the tarp because the rain kept pulling it down.  Eventually someone came with ropes to tie it down.

This is the room I stayed in for most of the week.  Alice T. graciously put me up for the week.  If I had stayed at the camp I would have been sleeping by myself for most of the week.

Kinsie and I stayed for one night in a chisolu.  This was the day after it rained so the ground was still a little wet.  Thankfully we had a tarp to put under our sleeping bags.

Thursday night several of the girls gave their testimonies.  Most were salvation stories, but some were admitting that they were in sin and still hadn't accepted Jesus as their Savior. Please pray for these girls that the will find our prescious Savior.

This is Louie.  She is the sister of one of the grade 4 students at Sakeji.  I got to know her a little bit during the week.  I am happy to say that she knows Jesus as her personal Savior. :)  She gave her testimony on Thursday.

The girls wanted to pose for pictures when we went to see the hydro.

Thank you God that you are always there through the storms even if at times we can't seem to see you.

On Friday night we watched the "Jesus" film at the campfire, but it was in Lunda.  It was very interesting. I was able to follow most of the movie having grown up hearing about Jesus life.

Girl's Camp: Zambia style

Hey!

I had been feeling kind of down near the end of term.  I have gone to camp since I was ten and loved it!! I love the worship and the crazy camp songs.  I love that we are getting God's salvation message out to so many kids.  I love getting to know the girls a little during the week.  I love hanging out with the counsellors until Cinderella hour.  The thought came to me that this is the first year I'm going to miss it.  When kids from Amano Christian School were here we sang some of the worship songs that we sing at JBC, and that helped, but I was still missing it. 

Then I get an email from Mrs. Poidevin saying I was welcome to join the girl's camp here in Zambia!!  There will be approximately 80 high school age girls from the surrounding area.  I was so excited to here this!  The experience will be totally different but I still get to go to camp!

We'll be sleeping under the stars enclosed in grass walls.  I'll have a mesquito net hanging from a branch for protection and an extra big sweater, sleeping bag, and an extra blanket to keep me warm! I also have to bring my own water and toilet paper!! They'll be doing things like sports, swimming and, I believe, devotionals of some kind. 

I'll let you know how it all goes! Please pray that God will bless this week coming up!! Have a great long weekend everybody!!

Yolanda

All's well that ends well

END OF TERM!!!!!

The end of term is finally here.  The parents started arriving around 1pm.  They visited with the kids until 3:30 and then had the PTA meeting.  I was able to lend a hand in several areas today.  I helped in the kitchen getting the snack ready for after the end of term show.  We did many trays of cookies, dates, crackers, fruit, etc.  We then dished out the food for the kids.  The kids ate at 5pm and the adults ate at 5:30.  We then served supper for adults.  I was serving rice and corn.  The rice was very sticking, and it was very difficult to scrape it off the silly scoop. The person next to me ended up serving the corn half the time because I had to use two spoons to get the rice on to their plates.  The food was enjoyed by all, though. 

After supper Grace and I handed out the programs as the parents and other adults came into the hall.  I am so proud of our students! They did a great job with their parts.  They were showing the life of Jesus.  The program started out with a Christmas song and ended with Because He lives.  There were many songs, solos and groups, and memorized parts, verses and poems.  Thanks be to God for our wonderful night!! I pray the kids all have a safe trip home! :)

Omnipresent, Almighty, Awesome!

I'm starting to study Revelations today.  I really enjoyed verse 8 of chapter 1: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."  How awesome is my God! Not only is he Omipresent, he ALMIGHTY!! 

When He rolls up His sleeves
He ain't just putting on the ritz
(Our God is an awesome God)

There's thunder in His footsteps
And lightning in His fists
(Our God is an awesome God)

And the Lord wasn't joking
When He kicked 'em out of Eden
It wasn't for no reason
That He shed His blood
His return is very close
And so you better be believing that
Our God is an awesome God

Our God is an awesome God
He reigns from heaven above
With wisdom, power, and love
Our God is an awesome God

And when the sky was starless
In the void of the night
(Our God is an awesome God)

He spoke into the darkness
And created the light
(Our God is an awesome God)

Judgement and wrath
He poured out on Sodom
Mercy and grace
He gave us at the cross
I hope that we have not
Too quickly forgotten that
Our God is an awesome God

Hey Everyone,

A lot has happened this month starting with July 1^st.  Not only was it Canada Day, it was also my first river duty.  Basically, you go down to the river and make sure they don’t get into any trouble or throw any rocks or sticks.  I get asked questions like, “Can I go in the river?” “Yes, if you take off your shoes and don’t get wet.”  “Can I climb the tree?”  “Yes.”  “Can we go fruit hunting?”  “Let me know when you get back.”  “Can I pick bubble gum from the bubble gum tree?”  “Uh, not today, someone said there are red ants in the tree.”  This Sunday was a little different.  Students from Amano Christian School were visiting so there were more kids, but there were also more adults to supervise.  The chaperones for the visit came down, too, and also, one other Sakeji teacher.  Not everyone stayed dry, but it was a good afternoon.  We then head up to the school to get ready for a supper of pancakes.

On Tuesday, July 3, we had Sport’s Day.  The students are set up in different “houses” and compete against each other in track and field events.  The teams are named after significant staffs that were once at Sakeji.  There is Molyneux, Poole, Fisher, and Hoyte.  I was placed on team Poole.  MaryAnn Hanna is the house mistress for our team.  All the students had a great time, and even the teachers participated in a couple events.  Moluneux got the most points at the end of the day, but they all did great in their events.  There was much practice to build up for the day and all the students were glad to have it behind them.  We ended the day with tug-o-war.  Ol’ Bertha the snake was brought out of the games cupboard to join the fight.  Bertha being the giant rope they bring out every year.  She wasn’t very nice to me and tripped me.  Thankfully only one person was there to see my not so graceful fall.  I got a nice sunburn, but I had fun watching the kids having fun. :)

After Hannah celebrated July 4^th we had cookouts with the kids.  I joined the Mrs Ronald with the junior boys.  There were four groups of boys. Each group built their own fire.  We had hot dogs in a blanket, sweet potatoes, crisps, and pizza.  After supper they got the special treat of oranges.  I saw orange peels along the way back to the school.  We had to cross the river to get to our cookout spot. On the way back, one of the boys was very certain that he saw a crocodile in the river.  Mrs. Ronald joined them to investigate.  They soon found out it was only a log.  I had a good laugh at how scared the boys were. 

Also this month, the gr. 7-9 had their camp outs.  The gr.5-6 had to take over the kitchen duties after supper.  The dishes took a little longer to get done, but they did well.  The best thing that happened was that our bathroom got fixed.  The pipes were clogged with roots from greenery growing in our yard.  The bathtub wouldn’t drain so we had to wash our hair into a bucket and then dump it outside.  Hannah and I were very pleased to say the least when it finally got fixed.  We also have a new housemate.  She is a former student who has come back to help until she goes to university in the fall. 

As the end of term nears we seem to be getting more and more visitors.  We had a few last week, some from the Congo and some from Chitokoloki.  This week we have some from Chingola and the UK.  The visitors this week are staying until the end of term this coming Wednesday.  Wow! It’s so close! The kids and teachers are ready for it.

Thank you all for your prayers. I pray that God is blessing your summer!

Your sister in Christ,

Yolanda

It's a wonderful life here at Sakeji School.  Is it perfect? No. Is it easy? Sometimes, but not always.  I love how Christians from all over the world can get together and worship and work together.  We get to educate kids and teach them how to get to know Christ. Not only as their SAvior, but as their friend that sticks closer than a brother.

I probably won't blog too much.  Hey, I may even forget that I have this! This is so new to me, but I lot of the other teachers blog so I though I would try it.  I'll post more later!

In Christ,

Yolanda