September came and went quickly! I have not had much time to keep up with our blog this month so I just want to highlight how we have spent September ...
Our missions administrator, Gordon, is also very active in the Gideon Ministry. On Tuesday, September 3rd the kids and I, along with Member, were able to join him on a Bible Placement to a few of the schools in some of the surrounding villages. We had a great time.
We
visited four different schools today in villages about 30 minutes from
Polokwane. They hand the Bibles out to the 8th grade students. This was
the first school we stopped at. This class had 55 students in it. (I am sure the classroom was not any bigger than our lounge!)
The
second school had 47 kids in that classroom. We would pass out the
Bibles and Gordon would explain how important the Bible is and
encouraged them to read it. Then we would pray for the class. We only
had five to ten minutes with each class.
This
next school was much smaller and had 8th and 9th grade combined. Gordon asked
if the 9th grade got a Bible last year and they said yes. One boy pulled
his out of his bag to show us.
This
was the last school we went to today. It was one of the larger ones.
There were two 8th grade classes. One had 37 students and the other had
40. What a blessing to be able to go today. Looking forward to another
opportunity to go and help Gordon pass out Bibles. Most importantly I
pray that The Lord would do a mighty work in the lives of these kids. I
pray that He would give those who started to read it today
understanding.
Saturday, September 7th we started our Family Fellowship nights again with our friends, The Isiaho's. It is a great time of fellowship and time in the Word together as families. We continue to work very slowly through The Fundamentals of Faith book.
September 10th brought the first day of school for Luke ... 7th grade. We are still waiting on his curriculum to arrive (long story which we will explain later) and we are thankful the Lord has provided a way to start so we won't be behind.
September was also the month Brit would focus on getting her South African Drivers License. You must be 18 to get your license and since she turned 18 in April she wanted to have a little more time to practice driving and to get comfortable driving around town. Then our outreach season began so that pushed her into September. We were all ready for her get her license. On Monday, September 9th Mark and Brit went to Mokopane (a town about 45 minutes from here) with William and Timothy (who just turned 18) to book for their test. It was a much faster turn around in Mokopane than it was here in Polokwane. It worked out great and they were both scheduled to take their tests on that Friday.
The Vaughan's let Brit use one of their cars to practice and test in. It is much easier to do the test in a small car and our Golf is not in a condition to be used for the test. They both went to driving lessons 3 different times and then would practice on their own as well. We are happy to report that they both passed their test the first time! (Which is not very common to do here!) Here are some pictures for the grandparents ...
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| she had to parallel park from both directions |
In South Africa if you test in an automatic car then you are only licensed for an automatic but if you test in a standard then you can drive both. This hill below is a major problem for most people on the test. You have to stop on the hill and then go when they tell you with out rolling back at all. A small roll backwards is an automatic failure on the test!
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| the hill |
Friday morning, September 13th, Mark and Brit headed to Mokopane. I love that technology allowed Mark to keep me posted while I was at home teaching Luke. I must say I was a nervous wreck waiting to hear how she did with each step.
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| looking a little nervous |
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| there she goes |
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pre-trip inspection (there is a whole list of things she had to do)
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| about to parallel park (she had to do from both directions) |
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| about to Alley Dock (she had to do from both directions) |
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| the hill |
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| she made it out of the yard onto the street test!!!! |
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| that is one happy girl! |
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| her first outing on her own! |
The weekend of September 13th - 15th, we headed to Schoemansdal for the Annual CBC Family Camp. This was our 5th camp to attend since we moved here in 2009. We had a great time of fellowship and time in the Word. The focus for the teaching was from Ephesians 6: 10-20 ... The Armour of God.
These photos of Family Camp weekend were taken by Charles Stander. He is a great photographer.
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| I took this photo of Mark helping Ian get the braai ready |
After Family Camp we were really busy getting ready for Mark and the guys to leave on a 19 day trip to Zimbabwe and Mozambique. They left at 3 am Thursday morning, September 19th. We will update about the trip when they get back in October. The main reason they have to leave so early when heading to Zimbabwe is that the border crossing can take LONG especially if you get there after 8 am. They spent the first week in Zimbabwe and now they are in Mozambique. We are missing Mark but we are thankful we have been able to communicate with him some.
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| last minute packing before bed |
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| making breakfast burritos at 2 am! |
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| and he is off ... |
Each month CBC prays for a different country in the 10/40 window and then the cell groups take turns hosting a meal from that country and highlighting the country through a video. This month Sunday, September 22nd our cell group hosted the dinner and we focused on the country of Armenia. It was a great evening!
Our menu was ...
Scrumptious Armenian Farmer's Casserole with traditional flat bread followed by sugar cookies and coffee
You can pray for Armenia too! Since Armenia is an island of Christianity in a sea of Islam, pray for Armenia to be a light among its Muslim neighbors and to establish relationships of trust and cooperation with them.
More random happenings from September ...
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| the guys helped Sean with his fence project |
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Mark got to unclog our sewage - Again
(happens often when you are the first house next to the man hole) |
Mark and Brit had car trouble with the Golf and William came to help. The water flange broke
(again) and we had to tow it to the farm to fix it.
We drove to the gym one morning and when we came out to leave the bakkie wouldn't start. We waited a few minutes for Sean and Gena (who were also at the gym) to come out. Sean and Mark looked at it and decided we would push it and try to pop the clutch to start the bakkie. It would not work. So they hooked us up so the Land Rover could tow us and Mark tried to pop the clutch again and it finally started. Sean was thinking maybe it was the starter. Later that day, William dropped by and looked at it and agreed that it might be the starter. So Mark made a plan and we took it to the shop. Sure enough it was the starter. We were thankful it happened the week before they went on their Zimbabwe and Mozambique trip!
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| I had to tow it a bit so Mark could pop the clutch to start it. |
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| a day later we had a rebuilt starter and were back on the road! |
Mark left and in one week I had 3 different issues with the Golf! This car is 20 years old and I guess it might be time we need to consider buying something MUCH more reliable for our second vehicle. With Brit now driving and Mark taking the bakkie to Mozambique and Zimbabwe it is important that we have a car we can rely on. Three out of the four days I ran errands I had ISSUES with it. I am thankful that Nathan was available to help since Mark was gone.
The day after Mark left I needed to go to a store. I am driving down the road smelling fuel thinking it is the car in front of me. (So bad that I even felt a little light headed). Well that car turned and the smell didn't improve then all of sudden I lost all power. I managed to change lanes and coast up onto the side of the road. I called Nathan, who was at the church, and he and Brit quickly came to fix the problem.
A few days later I needed to go run errands and the car began to overheat. I was next to a garage and pulled in there. The attendant helped me to cool the car down and fill the water back up again. I managed to get to another shop and noticed the temperature rising again. It was closer for me to stop by the mall then go home so that is where I went. I let the car cool down and then added over 2 liters of water and made it home. Nathan came by that evening and discovered the water flange was cracked (remember at the beginning of the month Mark and William replaced it) So, for the third time since April we put a new water flange one. Thankfully Mark bought a spare earlier in September - guess I need to go replace the spare as this seems to be becoming a common problem.
The next day I needed to finish my errands ... everything was working fine. Then, all of the sudden the temperature gauge rises from normal to well over half in seconds. I manage to get to the garage that was up the street and call Nathan. The water tank was boiling over. We let it cool down and replaced the water. Nathan found a way to bypass something and keep the fan running and he drove it home. He then went to buy a new water bottle as he said this one cracked. So, it has been three days now and all seems fine with the car. For now!
