Checking In...

Hello Friends!

You know, it occured to me the other day, that when I graduated highschool I had difficulty deciding if I should pursue teaching, nursing or social work. Here in Guyana I'm involved in all three and more. God knows my heart! Please read on for some updates on what's going on with us in Parika...

Kids
We received a huge old bread truck from previous missionaries so Winston and Tim filled it with our tools after we all spent hours scrubbing the truck down. This gave us room to use half our tool shed for our literacy club. Some days we have up to 21 kids, which is fabulous and challenging because many of the children need one on one help until they can grasp the letters and sounds. Some 8 year-olds are farther along than some 15 year-olds but everyone is improving. We are enjoying the kids and the creative outlet of making up new lessons and we're hoping for consistent volunteers so the kids can get the one on one they need.

Our neighbour, Sabrian, joins the action.

Kim and Tim get started. We had a water shortage (lack of rainfall) at the time so we had to wash it with trench water, which is basically river overflow mixed with urine and tadpoles. Mental note -"Keep mouth closed when throwing water." It was actually white underneath all the grime!

Construction

We thank God we received a donation that will be enough to complete laying the second floor of our new building! There have been some complications with the transaction so the funds haven't come through just yet, but they will arrive. Sometimes the progress of this building seems mega slow – I just want to get it done! But as we wait and pray and work on the next bit and wait and pray...Psalm 127:1 is becoming more meaningful to me than ever. “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it, labour in vain.”

The necessity and benefits of this soon to be classroom-office-apartments-kitchen-dining area are ever present and I often think, “If only we can finish it, we could do so much more!” But I am grateful for what we have now and I realize that while the building will have benefits and meet needs, we must do well with what has been entrusted to us today.

So, this structure is going up with tons of cement, a few workers, many volunteers, and lots of prayer.

As for baby Joel, with the hole in his heart, someone in the doctor's office misplaced his medical records and Joel was crying to much to get his test done (video of his heart) when he went for his appointment. Thankfully, I had made copies of his med history, which will suffice and after more follow-up with the doctor, his test has been rescheduled. Meanwhile, proving the identity of his parents continues to be an issue, but at least we've made some progress and I am determined to keep trying.

Discipleship Training School
Plans for our upcoming Discipleship Training School (DTS) are going great – except we don't have any official students yet and the school is just over 2 months away! Several people have enquired and taken applications but none have committed – yet. I started getting discouraged about it this week because if we don't have students by December, we'll have to postpone the whole thing. Not that there isn't plenty of other work to do without having a DTS. But why would God have us go through all the prep and planning and not bring students?
I've been swaying back and forth from doubting to repenting for my lack of faith and then I was biking one afternoon when a Sunday school song came to mind, “God told Noah to build an ark, to build an ark...” And I remembered, Noah started building this gigantic boat when there probably wasn't a hint of rain in the sky. And even if it hadn't rained, what mattered was that Noah was faithful. So, I'm going to continue planning and believing and praying. Please pray with me.

Thanks for tuning in. Your support encourages me!

Peace & Joy,
eM