One week down, 35 to go!

Saturday, September 01, 2007

One week down, 35 to go!

Hi! Just a note to let you know that I'm back in Malawi and mostly settled in! It was such a joy to see my students again, and I am looking forward to getting to know the new kids better throughout the year. Joining us are Sho from Japan, Geerten who spent the past year in Canada, and Caleb who spent the last year in Missouri.

A silly highlight of these past two weeks has been that when I arrived, I may not have had any furniture, books, or supplies in my classroom, but I sure had coconut trees in there!! A friend of mine painted them in the back of the room, and as you can imagine, that just lights my happy-lamp like none other! There is a whole beach / ocean theme in there which I can't wait for you to see. http://lalalady911.myphotoalbum.com/albums.php I'll be taking more shots as the room gets finished. My bulletin board was just installed the day before yesterday, and I am still waiting for the other white board! Monday is Parent Night so I hope it will look decent by then, but hey, I already knew that living in Malawi teaches you patience…!

On Monday night, one thing I will be sharing with the parents of my students is something I ran across called "31 Biblical Virtues to Pray for Your Kids" I am attaching this prayer guide for you, for suggestions of ways that you can pray for my students as well as kids in your own lives! Secondly, my students and I are memorizing James this year! That translates into memorizing about 4 verses a week, which will be a challenge for all of us, but I am really excited to see how God used these scriptures to grow us. I have invited my student' parents to join us in this quest, and I'd like to extend the same invitation to you. I already know of a few people state-side who are memorizing this book along with us; when my kids found out about that they were really encouraged, and their excitement for this task grew. Let me know if you're up for it, and I'll provide you with info for when we are memorizing which verses. In any case, will you pray that God works in big ways through the book of James in our lives? Thanks!

As for life outside of the classroom, well, I haven't had much of one yet, but I do have good news: I have been pleasantly surprised at how well my new living arrangements have been going so far! Sure, this is probably a honeymoon period of sorts, but nonetheless I am thankful to be living "at the top of the hill" with my new roommate Charisa. There are plenty of new teachers and new families on campus that I am looking forward to getting to know, as well.

As I close, I would just like to thank you for the various roles that each of you play in the fact that I'm able to be teaching here. Your prayers move mountains, and I really appreciate the air-time you give my students and me! Secondly, over the summer, a little over half of the money for my term here came in. Thanks, thanks, thanks! Will you continue to pray that the finances would come in as God would have it? If you haven't been a part of what is going on here at ABCCA, I invite you to ask God if joining in is for you. Irwin McManus has said that "passionate people create the context in which the rest of us live." Thanks for letting me share my passions with you, thanks for helping me create a Godly context for my students to learn in, and thanks especially for sharing your own passions in the contexts that you are creating for others in your communities. The Lord's work is so big and I love that we can all fit into it in one way or another!

Praise Him and missing you but loving Lilongwe,

Lisa

Support checks can be sent to African Bible College, Inc. P.O. Box 103, Clinton, MS 39060, or you can take a Visa or Mastercard to http://www.africanbiblecollege.com/abc_givenow.asp Just make sure that my name is on the check or in the comment box… Zikomo!! And ahh, you already know where to send the prayer requests.