It's March?!?

Seriously, where did the time go? It's not only March but also the 15th of March.... Also Happy Pi Day to all of you math people out there. I got to come into town a day early to get some computer work done and try to get some of the work visa/plane ticket thing sorted. When I come into town I stay with Rachel Johnson, the administrative secretary for CABC. I'm so thankful for her friendship! We went to the gym... yeah, there was a gym... just like any store front gym in the States and spent some time talking to some of the regulars that Rachel's been building relationships with... and we worked out some too ;) Then we grabbed a bite to eat and came home to make some pie for pi day!!

This morning I've been researching plane ticket prices and looking into visa requirements. What I didn't realize is for a tourist visa, you're only allowed to be in country on a tourist visa for 90 days in a year. Meaning once I leave in April, I've used up my tourist days and can only return once the work permit is for sure completed. Maybe this is no surprise to some of you, but I guess I was under the impression that it would be something like you just had to stay out of country for so many days before returning, but that's not the case.

So praying that God would grant the work permit in His timing.

The term is winding down and I'm thankful for the evident progress in many of the students. It's very different teaching a primarily second nature. Assignment grades in the States that I would freak out over and reteach everything, are fairly normal for term 1 of a new school year. It's taken some time to get used to, but it has been so rewarding to see the grades slowly improving as we are spiraling the content we've taught. I'll share one quick story. So some of you may remember my mentioning that one of our students battled cerebral malaria several years back and since then school and remembering has been very difficult where it once came naturally. It's discouraging when you can no longer keep up like you could and even when you try, you still struggle. One blessing of having so many teachers in and out of our classroom (BC, Mr. Kamfua, Pastor Royce, Pastor Edward, myself and Mumba even) is that we are able to pull kids out, almost like a resource teacher does in the public schools. Some of our kids that really struggle we've been able to spend extra time with and experiment with what works for them and how they learn. We've found with Medias that reading is the biggest struggle. So if you can read him the questions on the test, or have him point to all of the continents, seas, oceans, or give an oral quiz he can answer the questions and manage the material. Seeing a 90% at the top of his reading comprehension quiz was a moment of joy! He hasn't seen it yet, but I'm so thankful for the ability to make a difference simply by adding one more person to the staff so that there is more time to individualize instruction for those who need it. Please continue to pray for him!

Thank you again for all of your prayers! God is good and is working!!

I look forward to seeing many of you in April!