time is flying...

This has been quite a busy week!

As of 12:00 today, we finished our second week in the school. It has gone well, but has been quite draining. Our schedule of teaching 4 days has worked out great. We have enough energy to get through Thursday but would probably be pretty burnt out if we went back Friday. (However, God has been so faithful in providing REST for the weary!) Each morning (Mon- Thurs), our driver picks us up around 8 and takes us to the school. There are 35-45 children in each classroom. They hardly fit on the benches. The classroom has about 10 benches and tables and a chalkboard. We are so blessed in America! We teach a Bible lesson and some English words from 8:30-10 and then the children have a snack break and recess. Then, at 11, we review the morning's lessons and play some games until 12, when they go home. Working through a translator can be difficult (and very exhausting). The kids are precious. They are so fascinated by us. They want to touch our skin and hair all the time. It is funny how so many things about children are universal.

Tuesday, after school, we visited the Anchor of Hope office. For those of you who do not know, Anchor of Hope is an organization over here that ministers to street children. (Our friend, Sarah, is one of the founders.) On our previous trips, we have met many of the boys that are sponsored by Anchor of Hope. Some of them are part of a program that provides lunch at the Anchor of Hope office. It was so much fun to see these kids again. They've all grown so much! After we had lunch with Sarah and some of the other staff, we got to play with 3 of the younger kids who did not have to go back to school. It was neat to be able to play with just a few kids. (At the school, we don't get to play much because there are SO many of them!) That night, we went with Esron to a home where a small group was being held. There were about 10 adults and some children. They met in a small room and sang hymns and read by candlelight.
They had us give an 'exhortation'. It was a really neat experience to meet with them.

On Wednesday, we taught, and then hung out in an empty classroom from 12-3 until we met with the women's small group. During our break, we ate (they brought us sweet bread, fantas and LOTS of bananas) and prepared our lesson. The group time went really well. We began a study on prayer. The study is good, but the questions that it led to were even better. Pray that our studies will lead to more good questions and God would speak through us to answer them. That night, we went to eat with Sarah and Sylvain, which is always a treat! (We're really starting to miss people who speak our language.)

To answer a question I have received in many emails, the weather over here is perfect! It rained the first few days we got here, but now the dry season has begun. The high is usually around 80 and the low around 60. (One thing I'm not missing is that TX heat!) We sleep with the windows open and wake up to the sunrise and birds. Like I said, perfect! They were supposed to clean our room today!! When you take as few showers as we do, the sheets get dirty pretty fast, so we are really looking forward to that. (By the way, for those of you who have stayed at the Ligue, the showers are just as cold, but there is more water pressure.) After we check our email, we'll go back to the Ligue for a bit and get ready for our study tonight. Pray that all goes well.

I have been really stretched this trip and I'm learning a lot about myself. I've learned a lot about depending on the Lord and also that I really enjoy leading a group. There have been several times that we have been 'put on the spot' or asked to do things with a very short notice (such as our 'exhortation' Tuesday night). I know this was TOTALLY God working through me, but I felt very comfortable and really enjoyed that!

Tomorrow we will be traveling to Kabaya (a village about 30 min away) to see a church and a sewing project there. Pray for safety in our travels and for God to work in our time there!

Continue to pray. God is so good!!