Rat, B'days and farewells

Greetings to all, it has been a busy time for us as we have been becoming more involved in the schools recently and feel quite tired by the end of the day. Since we last wrote we were plagued by a rat in the house (our first since being here). for those who know Marilyn she doesn't cope well with mice let alone a rat so you can imagine her reaction one evening to wake up with a rat on her bedside table. It escaped. We set some baits which it seemed to enjoy so much that it kept coming back. We bought a trap which it totally ignored but after three nights we heard it in the store and I was able to put my great 'hunter and gatherer skills to the fore and frightened it out whereupon I killed it with the broom. I also killed the broom too as I broke the handle but it was worth it, we are now vermin free, we think!!
Our latest pests are the monkeys who are plentiful at present. The avocado tree outside our bedroom is laden with avocados so we are woken in the morning by the sound of monkeys on our roof and avocados falling on the ground or on the roof. The monkeys are not afraid and they come close to the house, I try to scare them by shouting 'bang' but they just seem to laugh at me and carry on foraging. Mangoes are plentiful too at the moment so we are enjoying those and the watermelon from the farm.
At the Secondary Vocational school the students initiated a fellowship group to meet for prayer one day a week. It has been a real joy to be part of that with over three quarters of the school meeting on a Tuesday for worship and prayer. Pastor John has agreed to come when he can to do some specific teaching so that is a blessing too.
At the Primary school Marilyn is involved again in teaching music to four classes and takes a library session with all classes which keeps her busy. In doing some diagnostic testing, she discovered 18 students from P4 -P7 (11-15 yrs old) who couldn't read so Aunty Inneke, Aunty Reny, and Marilyn have embarked on a programme to teach them using Jolly Phonics. The difference after only two days is remarkable. We have also introduced the concept of tabloid sports to involve all students on a friday afternoon. We talked to the teachers last week and will have our first round this week. So far the response from the teachers has been positive. There have been many teachers away through illness the last few school days, there is a lot of malaria around, please pray for our continued health too.
We recently celebrated Timothy's birthday and the two Rebeccas so we have had a lot of cake and they do enjoy choosing what to have for supper that night (often pancakes).
We decided that it was time for a Muzungu dinner (white missionaries, volunteers and visitors) and used the excuse of farwelling Nathalie who had been here for three months and Corne & Anna-Saar who had been here for eight months. So we cooked a three course dinner (the collective 'we' probably isn't fair, Marilyn cooked....) and had a really good time chatting together. We sometimes can feel somewhat isolated down here so it was good to catch up with the others. Marilyn's cooking is becoming legendary here, as indeed it is in NZ. We enjoyed hosting everyone. Corne and Anna-saar left yesterday and will be missed, we were very grateful that they took the Sunday School for us while we were in NZ. Anna-Saar had taught my Sunday School class the song 'Carry your Candle' which they sang to the church the week before last and we heard it sung all over the compound the whole week, it was quite special.
Piet and Pita return from The Netherlands this week, Saturday we think. It will be nice having them back again hopefully having been able to have some R & R, I know the children are missing them as indeed we are. We pray for safe travels.
Well, that's enough for now except to say something about Rhode (you didn't think you could escape that easily did you?). Rhode continues to be delightful, she is a real parrot and mimics most of what we say. I love it when I say 'I love you' and she says back 'I wuv you'. She is developing into quite a character, so far we haven't had any two year old tantrums, lets hope it lasts. It is always a special time for us when we get her down here, and the boys love it too.
Till next time
God Bless