The Little Things

Having been in Africa for 11 days now, I have been apart from the ease of American life enough to begin to appreciate the littlest things and apart from the humid Georgian climate enough to feel covered in a fine layer of dust. Each afternoon, I take a slow walk up the long, sloping hill from my classroom to my house for lunch and a rest before afternoon preparation/planning. I usually eat my lunch outside on the little porch. Each day I am amazed at how much I enjoy watching little birds and butterflies or just staring at the ferns on the left of the house. Maybe that's classroom shock or maybe it's the lack of access to television or to anything fast and technological. And I keep thinking I'm going to start feeling restless and trapped, as if life in the States is outside the window of Africa and I see it, but the door is locked from the outside. Yet, every afternoon the porch holds the same fascination as does the sunset each night and hearing the forlorn sounds of the Muslim call to worship and seeing a people totally foreign to me carry out their daily routines. Even though I sometimes wish I could visit Macon for the weekend, I haven't felt a desperate homesickness. Praise God!

Pray for the school while our headmaster is in the States. We just received news that he would be returning in October, but the woman who fills in for him has a small child. The load of work is heavy on her shoulders. Also, the teachers, including myself, seem to be having frutrations about making sure each student is in his/her proper class. There are usually a couple of students who could handle the workload of the class above them, but are kept back to be with children their age for various reasons. Apparently, this is a problem every teacher that ever existed has had. But we need discretion as to how to challenge these students, keeping them interested, while helping the slower ones along.

We have seen God answer a huge prayer request just recently. Last year, Nate Loeboff, a middle school teacher, contracted Malaria and incurred an enormous medical bill that he and his wife are completely unable to pay despite the hospital forgiving 80% of it. His wife, Jenny, has been praying that God would take care of their debt so they can continue their service here. Yesterday, she received an email from the hospital saying the bill was completely forgiven! They're debt free! I can't imagine what a freedom they must feel. God is working here!