February 4, 2012 thoughts

Feb. 11, 2012

Feb. 4, 2012

Greetings from South Africa,

We have been here for about a week and a half and time has flown by.   We appreciate those of you who have sent emails of encouragement.  We apologize that our responses have been slow but we literally have been working from approximately 6 am to 10 pm at night preparing for the students’ arrival.  They arrived on Wednesday, Feb. 1^st, even though the house is still a work in progress.  The owners were slow in moving their belongings out of the house and we ended up packing their things and placing it all in one room.  There was a lot of cleaning to be done but we had many church members helping each evening after their work day. 

Late Wednesday afternoon we were able to move into our flat.  It is actually much smaller than our cabin last year but we do have a nice bathroom and hot water.  The doors were too small to get our loveseat  or chairs into the area so we will be doing reading and lounging in our free time on the bed.  We have internet going now (sometimes quite slowly) so let us hear from you.  Haven’t tried skyping as yet but Pastor Richard was able to get through to us on our McKinney skype number.   

We have 17 students plus 2 student leaders.  Not all came that were enrolled.  We are spending lots of time getting to know the students.  They have been very willing to help with cleaning and cooking.  They seem to be enjoying the meals that Louise has cooked.  Not a bite is left after each meal so guess that speaks for itself.  Cooking is definitely a challenge and quite time consuming.  This week has been mostly orientation, but classes begin in full on Monday.  Lawrence has been busy creating English literacy and Math skills tests to give in order to determine their level of understanding. 

Praise and Prayer items:

1.       We are thankful for safe arrival and for Pastor Marius Gradwell and his wife Linda who opened up their home with such good hospitality.  We had many good talks late at night and got to know each other well.  Thankful our jet lag seems to be over or maybe exhaustion has hit.

2.       We praise God for the students that He has sent us and the openness they have shown thus far, and a good start despite all the little inconveniences (like flooding from heavy rains on Thursday).

3.       Pray for Leo O’Connor who began radiation and chemotherapy this week.  He is in Durban (about 5 hour drive from East London) where he is undergoing treatments. 

4.       Pray for a suitable used vehicle will be found soon for us to purchase.  At present we are driving Linda’s vehicle but this puts a strain on their family transportation.   

5.       Pray for our students.  Many of them come from an undesirable background but seem to really desire to change which is only possible through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Thanks for your prayers and continued support.

Louise and Lawrence