Random Updates

Here are a few updates from the first week of the 3rd term:

• This week flew by! If things continue in this way, December 7th is going to be here before I know it.
• School has started out great and I love having extra time to spend on teaching now that I'm no longer living in the boarding house. I have all my lesson plans done for the whole term (!) and have been able to stay pretty well on top of my grading. This is a wonderful change from previous school terms.
• It's so much fun having some of my girls from boarding come by to visit me at the house. We've had great chats and girl bonding time. We sit around and chat, catching up on life and sharing memories, or we relax and watch fun girly movies together. Gosh, I'm going to miss these girls!
• Bible study for the boarders kicked off well on Wednesday. I'm excited at the topics we'll be studying about and the guest teachers who will be coming this term. We're starting our series on "Sharing Christ with Others" next week, one they've been anxious to get started on for a while.
• "Fire by Nite" (youth group service) was so great on Friday night! I really look forward to spending this time with the teens, worshiping alongside them and praying with them.
• Kelly, Matt, and I met regularly over the break to pray for the teenagers and to do planning for the 3rd term. One of the things we planned for was a leadership training for a few teenagers we see in the youth group who have exhibited leadership skills and a heart for the Lord. We plan to have a lunch meeting with them twice a month where we pass on leadership skills we've learned and help them to grow stronger in their faith. Our first meeting went really well on Saturday. I can't wait to work with these guys the rest of the term!
• Semakeleng (the deaf young woman I help sign for) has expressed an interest in helping with children's church, so every other week we help out in the preschool class. We were all shocked this morning when 40 preschoolers showed up! There were tons of kids at church this morning, an exciting testimony to how God is working!
• It is really heating up here in Botswana. Summer has just started and our temperatures reached the mid 90's this week. I was quite discouraged when I looked at the weather for this week, which shows triple digit temperatures for most of the week. Oh goodness. How will we make it two more months until the rains start??

That just about wraps up week one. Looking forward to all the many blessings God has in store for this next week!