Just a few fun pictures....

(first picture) - Here is little Given, our neighbor. He comes to visit with his sister. It is funny because half the time he has on only a t-shirt and some underwear. He doesn't speak a lot English, he speaks Afrikaans, but it is so cute when he comes in the house and says "Hello Auntie Jessica." He loves to sit and look at a truck book we have at the house.

(second picture) - My "boys!" The second one from the left is Isak. He has to have the best smile in the world. Isak and his brother always come buy after church on Sunday. When I say how was church, Isak's brother always tells me the Isak was sleeping. Then I get up and chase after Isak as he goes running into the backyard. It is hilarious! The first boy on the right is Geraldo. He is the brother of one of the youth girls and is really funny. He loves it when I come to visit his house and sit on his bed. He likes to act tough but sometimes he is shy and it is really cute; although he would never want me to call him that!

(third picture) - Nellie, a friend's daughter and one of the kids in the children's ministry, and I are having fun in the GAME store. We saw these hair wig things and had a quick hair fashion show in the store!

(fourth picture) - It occur ed to me that I talk about my housemate Linda quite a bit as we are involved in ministry together but there aren't really any pictures of her. So here she is with favorite accessories, he dog Ellie. She is a huge blessing to me and is definitely the responsible one who keeps the house running. Without her I would forget to get electricity and our poor gardner would probably not get such a great lunch every day! ;-)

Sleepover #2

The holiday (vacation) is here! We are on a break for the next three weeks so we had a sleepover to kick it off. This time we had seven girls over and another late night. Linda is older so she gets to go to bed earlier than me. :-P I was up with the girls until after 3 am! We had a great night of roasting marshmellows, watching movies, chatting and of course dancing! The last picture was the morning after. We had an opportunity to share a bit with the girls about loving one another and loving themselves. It was definately a diving moment. I really feel like the Lord is working in my relationships with these girls.

Ellie's First Bath

Here is Ellie, Linda's dog, and her first bathing experience. She smells much better now!

Cantaloupe!

I haven't had any cantaloupe in four months! I have said several times how nice a good cantaloupe would be. So today I was at the Spar, (the local grocery store) and there was this small cantaloupe in the back of the fruit section. I was so excited I cam home and ate half of it right away! A little Afrikaans lesson - spanspek is the word for cantaloupe in Afrikaans!

Home!

I know these are kind of odd pictures but there is a reason for them. I was cleaning my room and my bathroom the other day and the thought struck me, this is my home. This may sound silly but it was interesting to me to look at my bathroom and room and realize that I am settled and this is where I live. I live in Namibia. I was then struck by how blessed I was to be doing what I have known in my heart the Lord wants me to do. He has brought me here to where my heart has desired for more than four years. So, as odd as these pictures are they represent much more. They are an answer to pray, a content heart and an amazing blessing.

Spontaneous Youth Night!

We started out our afternoon having a few kids over because a lot of kids are heading out on vacation for the three weeks of school break. What it ended up being was a youth night at our house with ten youth and half of the food we have. It took a bag of rice, a cooked chicken, a whole bag of frozen fries, ten shredded carrots, a bag of raisins, a can of pineapple and three pitchers of juice. And of course there were no leftovers! Afterwards we played hide and seek outside and a couple other games. All in all it was a good night.

(first picture) - Sussie, Josh and Peter goofing around in the kitchen.

(second picture) - Brother and sister, Suama and Josh, posing for a pictures. None of these youth are shy in front of the camera!

(third picture) - Halelujah enjoying the dinner while Peter jumps in the picture.

Water Fun!

The girls convinced the gardener to have some fun with them in the backyard. They went swinging on the swing while being sprayed by the hose and in general were thouroughly wet. I had to work in the morning but Linda was home with the girls. When I arrived home I was greeted by a bunch of girls in towels with a "surprise" for me. I was blindfolded and led through the house. By the time I reached the kitchen I realized that this may not be the best idea! I was then dragged outside and sprayed with the hose! The girls were laughing and so was the gardner. It was definately a surprise homecoming!

A couple funny things...

So, it is the beginning of winter here but it is different than in the states. The summer is the rainy season and the winter just gets cold. Now, my idea and a Namibian's idea of cold is very different. This was pointed out at a conversation with a teach at the school the other day. She described winter cold as "cold enough to wear socks!" I thought that was pretty funny!

The second funny thing was today I was riding in the taxi on the way to school. It was me, Linda, the taxi driver (Phillip) and two other school boys. Phillip takes us everywhere and we have gotten to know him. He is really nice and very trustworthy. Anyway, I am not much of a morning person so I was barely with it on the drive and I look up and a giant grasshopper landed on the hood of the car. It was at least five or six inches long. I scream of course because I am scared of bugs and am basically flipping out trying to roll my window up. Everyone in the car is just laughing at me. I am trying to calm down and Phillip flips on the windsheild wipers to get it off but it is just bringing it closer to me which I am not handling well. Finally Phillip pulls the car over, gets out and throws the grasshopper off the car. He gets back in, we drive for a few minutes and he just says, "oh Jessica," and shakes his head! It was quite a way to start the morning for sure! ;)

Tea Time!

Tea time at school with the teachers. These guys are great and a lot of fun! From left to right we have Milka, Elfrieda, Emma, and Lelany. Milka and Lelany are both close to my age but both have children. Milka comes over to hang out and watch movies. She is a kick in the pants. Below is a picture of Emma and me. Emma is so funny. She loves to tell funny stories but she is laughing so hard by the time she is halfway through she is laughing to hard to finish. So we are having tea here, the only problem is that it is in the middle of a class period!

Auntie Again Soon!

Here is my lovely sister-in-law Wakisha getting ready to add to the family with her first child. Looks like I will be having a nephew here in about four more months. I will be an Auntie twice in less than a year! Doesn't she look great!

Can she be any cuter?

Just when I thought my beautiful niece Abigail couldn't be any cuter, I see these pictures and my heart is about ready to burst. Oh, she is just precious! Here are pictures of her and one with her daddy Shawn. My only wish now is that I could hold her...

Festus and Kativa

Two of the sweetest and mischeivous boys in the neighborhood. They love to play in the grass and peek in the windows when they think I am not looking. I love when they come to the door and ask "Auntie Jessica, can we play in your grass?" They are a lot of fun. Below are some pictures of them playing in the grass with the dog, Ellie.

Remedial Math

I have started to teach remedial math to grades 1, 5 and 6. It is such a challenge as so many of these kids are so far behind. My three grade 5 classes worked on counting number transitions like 99, 100, 101. Many of them will write it like this; 99 910 911 and so on. The grade 6 is working on odd numbers and large number adding and subtracting. The oldest student is the boy sitting in the back of the room with the grey shirt and hood. He is 19! Like I said, it is a challenge but they are good kids and hopefully they will improve in the next year and a half.

(first picture) - This is my "classroom." It is actually a storage room acting as a library acting as a classroom. I have around 17 kids in each remedial class and it is tight fit. They are taking their weekly timed addition test. One of my goals is to improve their basic skills so they can do their other work well.

(second picture) - Flash card game. It is a boys against the girls flash card game. They stand in a queue (line) and see which side gets the answer first. Again, the goal is to strengthen their basic skills. Flash cards are not my favorite form of teaching but it is how the kids know how to learn so anything different is not working. I want them to memorize them instead of counting their fingers or drawing lines to add and subtract from.

(third pictures) - This boy is a bit relieved to have finished his two minute addition test!

Egg Game

This week we played a carry the egg game. The kids had to carry an egg around the church on a spoon and then pass it to the next person. They had a lot of fun. The last person had to carry it in your mouth. We had a couple of causalities!

Typical Kitchen Scene!

Below are pictures of the "girls" doing what they do best, eating as much of our food as possible! :-) Here they are making a simple snack of bread, butter and jam into a huge meal. This is often what happens in our kitchen after school. I absolutely adore these girls!

Easter Egg Hunt

The first two pictures are of the Easter Egg Hunt that we held in our backyard. The boys had a great time running all around but it was our youth girls that got into the most I think!

Hair Fun

It took five of us over an hour to take out my braids. It felt good despite the sore neck from bending my head that long. Sippee, the one standing, was the one who braided my hair.

Easter Baskets!

Despite being in Namibia, Linda and I managed to at least have some American style Easter baskets. We gave these out to our youth girls and a couple of local families. They absolutely loved them, most of the youth ate all the candy before they left our house. This was a first for all of the recievers of the baskets.

(first picture) - Here are the baskets!

(second picture) - Gwen and Sussie with there sweets.

(third picture) - Bina and Sippee protecting their baskets from Ellie.

(fourth picture) - Halleluja with her basket.

(fifth picture) - Little Given with his basket. He shared this with his sister Noshka. Precious!