Friday in Malawi

There's a few things I love about Friday (besides the obvious).

1. Chapel. Reception thru 1st grades have chapel together every Friday. One class sings a song, one class recites a memory verse, and one class presents the lesson. Mrs. Mpata leads songs and it is such a priveledge to see the little ones lift their praises to the Lord.

2. Art. My class gets really excited about the art projects that I give them. They do really well when I give them freedom. And not so well when I try to restrict them.

3. Crisis nursery. I go every Friday to hold babies at the nursery. It's something I look forward to all week. I have seen miracles happen there, and it's a blessing to be part of it. My latest love is a little girl named Juliette. Her twin brother's name is Julius. Most of the babies there don't really smile or coo. Juliette does. She tells story after story, and has the most beautiful smile. I'm going in a little while, and I'm going to remember my camera this time.

4. Potluck. Every Friday all the ABC missionaries are invited to potluck. I know that you have an idea of what a potluck is like from all the ones you've been to at your local church. Let me tell you, this is not like that at all. Jack and Nell open their home to us, there is a theme every week (Mexican, soup and salad, KFC, etc.). There can be as many as 70 people on any given Friday (including the kids, who make up about half of that number).

5. Scrapbooking. LeAnne and I have started scrapbooking on Friday's after potluck. I started one of my classroom to show to you all when I get back. It's turning out really cute. Although it is picturless at the moment. It costs about $1.00 to print a picture here. No thanks, I'll wait for 14 cents and Costco this summer.

I really need prayer for the next two weeks- there is so much to do!! Here are some specific things:

• Field Trip- Crocodile farm. Safe travel there and back
• Packing up my classroom, organizing and trying to be ready for next year
• One particular student who is really struggling with math, and one with reading
• Wrapping up my first year in Malawi. It's full of emotions and so am I!
• Safe travel back to the states
• Praise: Selah Grace Leboffe has joined us, and so has Elijah Forrest Goodnight Robbins

Walking on the wild side

For social studies this term we have been studying the continents. It's been a lot of fun to teach, and my kids have enjoyed it as well. Every Tuesday when they come back from PE they pretend that they have gone to the continent we are studying. They tell me all about the animals that they saw, and the places that they went. It's pretty cute. Here are some pictures of the mural that we painted together. They did a really great job!

That's Mr. Guise in the background- he's my assistant. He wanted to wear an apron too.

Putting on the finishing touches. They each got to choose rainforest animals to draw and glue into the rainforest.
The finished product. Sure, bats live in the canopy layer of the rainforest and tocans are as big as trees! Not too bad for 19 first graders though!

Please pray that I can focus on the things I have to do for the rest of the year. I really need to be able to be productive in the time that I devote to working in my classroom. I also have conferneces coming up in a couple of weeks and I'm nervous! Pray also for my students- that they would stay focused and the few who are really struggling would made some significant progress in the next 6 weeks.