Bugs!

I thought you might like to see Seth’s latest “pet.”  This bug is enormous!

I didn’t mind the crickets in his room, but once he got this one, the whole lot of them had to move to the veranda permanently!  I shudder to think of that one crawling into bed with me.  You would hear my scream all the way from Africa!!!  You would think I would be used to bugs having grown up in Papua New Guinea, but to this day, I am still not bug friendly.  Last night, I pulled my mop out from beside the refrigerator, and then felt what seemed like hundreds of bugs crawling up my hand and arm.  I screeched, dropped the mop, and shook my arm.  Spiders went all over the floor of my kitchen!  I guess a big mama spider had had babies in my mop, and when I pulled it out, they all crawled onto my hand!  I usually mop 4-5 times a week here, so they hadn’t been in there very long for sure!

An Answer to My Prayer

The Lord has answered a prayer of mine.  Even before we arrived in Kenya, I had been praying that God would give us a lady to watch Seth while we take language classes.  We didn’t have anyone for the first several weeks, and it was not easy trying to be mommy and student at the same time.  But the Lord has now provided Seth with a “teacher”.  Her name is Winnie, and she is a God-send!

She takes Seth outside, and they play together.  I asked her to speak Swahili with Seth a lot, so that he might also learn the language.  She is taking that part of her job very seriously!  Seth is picking it up fast.  Makes me jealous!  Every day, he asks if Miss Winnie is coming.  He loves their times together.  Their “classroom” is normally under the big avocado tree in the garden.  And now my mind is free to concentrate during the lessons each day—a major blessing.  "Thank You, Lord!"

Yesterday, they had “class” in his bedroom because it was too wet and muddy to go outside.  They arranged all of his stuffed animals as if they were sitting in class, and the animals were the students.  Seth was the teacher’s helper, of course, and he had to say the Swahili words so that his animals could learn them!  Quite creative of Winnie, I thought.  Basically, her job is simply to keep Seth entertained for three hours, so that we can concentrate on noun classes, object infixes, verbs that all look and sound very similar because they all start with “ku-“, and the conjugations and agreements of all of that!!!  Needless to say, it comes much slower for BJ and I than it does for Seth!  Seth is so devoted to his teacher that each time that I give him a snack or even a meal, he always wants to save part of it to give to his teacher when she comes.  Well, chips are okay to do that with, but a half-eaten piece of toast?  I had to say “No” to that one!

Teaching at the Deaf School

BJ went to teach at the Olkeri Deaf School this past Tuesday and Thursday.  It went well, and both he and the students enjoyed it very much.

He taught the older kids on Tuesday.  In actuality, many of them are not really kids.  Some of the high-school students are 21, 22, 23 years of age!  This is because they did not have the opportunity to start school as early as other kids do.  In the younger class, there is a 15-year-old who just started school, so he is in 1^st grade.  These Deaf are blessed though, because many Deaf in Kenya do not get to go to school at all.  BJ is really enjoying teaching them.  I think it is what he lives for each week!  It is his dream of 5 years coming true!  He is starting out teaching them about the Bible, how we got It, that God wrote It, It is perfect, etc.  In the process, questions about the difference between God and Allah are coming up.  There are about nine Muslim students at the school.  Being deaf, I don’t know how much of the Muslim religion they know or understand, but they are very open to learning what BJ is teaching.  Please pray that God will open the eyes of their understanding that they will see the Truth and be saved as well as the other nominal Christian students.  They say they are “Christian” because they are not Muslim.  They probably do not understand the Way of salvation and the true meaning of the word "Christian.

Starting Preschool With Seth

The weeks are flying by, and we are staying busy.  In a way, I am busier than I was in America on deputation, but at the same time, I am not near as tired all the time.  Something about constant traveling can really wear you out.  The everyday routine is such a blessing.  I am even able to do some preschool with Seth in the mornings, teaching him the basics like numbers and shapes and, of course, Bible verses.

I want to get him prepared for kindergarten next year.  We are both enjoying our school work times together each morning.  Right now, his greatest enjoyment is trying to write his letters.