African Queen: 2016

Friday, July 29, 2016

Our Preschool PTF Presentation

Friday, July 8, 2016

Faces

Children,

they drive us crazy,

but they also bring such joy to our lives.

How is that?

How can they be so cute one moment and so terrible the next?

Let me tell you that working in a class of 2-4 year olds everyday,

sometimes makes me feel like I am aging quickly

and like they suck the life right out of me.

Like every mother of toddlers,

I wish I could harness that energy for myself and use it to wear them out.

Our days in preschool are filled with ups and downs.

Even on days when someone is being VERY naughty all day,

another one is terribly sick,

noses are ALL running ALL the time,

someone has an accident,

and it just feels like they are not getting what I am teaching -

- I go home saying that it was a "GOOD" day.

Why???

Because of those sweet little faces.

Those faces are what carry me through on days

when I don't really want to be on my toes and wasting my breath.

The faces are little reminders that behind each face is a soul.

A little soul that I hope will belong to Jesus one day.

A person that we want God to use and bless.

So tomorrow, when I do it all over again -

wiping noses,

repeating the same instructions,

singing the same song for the bazillionth time,

- it will only take one look at those little faces

to be reminded of the precious job God has placed before me.

And again, I sigh in remembrance

and know that the exhaustion I feel most days

is worth it all!!!

{The Bemba woman in the pictures with my class is a faithful lady from our church. She helps me a few days a week. Please pray for her and others who help. Also pray that the Lord would provide more teachers and helpers}

Thursday, June 30, 2016

Many Hands

As our special weeks for Bible Clubs were approaching,

I wanted to do something different to make our classroom feel special

(especially because it is the same room

we always use for our large childrens' classes).

I had grand plans of making all kinds of decorations,

but knew that it would be too time consuming with teaching everyday.

Plus, where would I get all of the supplies to make nice things

and where would I store the stuff after?

I decided to "keep it simple ~~stupid~~".

So, on the way home from school one day I popped into the local thrift shop (which I love to go to,

but because of school I think I only go twice a year.

Which is probably a good thing.)

I found 2 white sheets almost the same size

and almost the same shade of white.

Now, to make what is in my head go onto the sheets.

I cut the one down to the same as the other one.

Then had the idea to paint the scene on,

but because there is no place in Kabwe or anywhere that I know of here in Zambia to get those nice Apple Barrel Acrylic Paints,

I tried using crayons.

They worked great!!!

Probably even better than paints because I already had them at church,

plus we never had to wait for paint to dry.

The work began.

At first I drew out a bit of a sketch

of the little lost and found puzzle I wanted to make.

After I began, another lady from church pitched in to help.

Lady from church made these beautiful houses

Then her daughters (10 and 12 yrs old) came along and did their little parts too.

10 yr old's work

12 yr old's work

After a few hours it was really coming together,

but there were just a few things that still needed to be added.

So, one evening I decided to finish it.

Adding animals and trees.

On my hands and knees in the living room,

I began to color in more trees, houses and animals.

The young lady who is staying with me (Brenda),

came in and asked if she could also help.

Brenda added a few little shops

It was such a blessing to work together to get such a project done.

We are so pleased with the way it turned out. It really made our Bible Clubs special because we used it every week for our theme in the Bible Lessons.