Jessica's May Update

Note: This is the letter that is sent by email so some of you may have already read this. Feel free to read it again and leave a comment or send an email! : - )

Greetings from Namibia! Here is my May Update. Warning - It is a long email! ;-)

"This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another." 1 John 3:11

"Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and with truth." 1 John 3:18

We have all heard that love is a verb. I also have heard this many times and thought that is was a great way to live. The people in my life back in the states are easy to love mostly because I have chosen them to be part of my life. Living here in Namibia, with a ministry that I stepped into, is a whole different experience in loving people. For example, loving teenagers takes a concious choice! :-) Loving the kids that jump the fence in my backyard while I am not home is a concious choice! Loving my students at school who never listen and like to pull my hair is a concious choice! Loving the Afrikaaners who don't really accept me is a concious choice. Now don't get me wrong, I love all these people with my whole heart but I am learning that it is my love for the Lord that allows me to love these people. For many of these people, particularly the youth and children, I get the warm fuzzy feeling when they are being cute and sweet or when we are goofing around and having a good time but their are times when they are all unlovely and difficult to love. So how can I love them when the teens are complaining about something or the students are naughty or I get excluded from activities? I have been reflecting often that this must be how the Lord feels about me when I am being unlovely. When I read my bible, spend time with him, share Him with others and worship him, I am sure Christ is getting warm fuzzy feelings for me but what about the times I am complaining, when I am being naughty or when I don't invite him to the party? Christ loves me despite my unlovely behavior even though it needs to change. He admonishes me, guides me and gives me the support to make better decisions because He loves me. He has given me the opportunitiy to do this with the people of Namibia.

With that said, I would love to tell you about the last few weeks.

The school holiday started four weeks ago and in my town, Grootfontien, it seems like the world stops. School is out, youth group stops, children's church stops, church goes to one service or no service at all and nearly everyone heads out of town. I was worried that I would be super bored during the time but just because the country is on holiday doesn't mean our house ministry was. Out of the four weeks of holiday I was out of town for two and in town for two. During the two weeks I was at home we had three girls sleepovers, seven or eight youth dinner nights and ten to twelve movie times. We built a new sandbox in the backyard and had a stream of kids in and out to play, read books, play UNO and beg for bread! What a blessing from the Lord that I wasn't bored.

One of the weeks I spent in Windhoek with my housemate Linda. We spent an afternoon in a meeting of teaching AIDS education. We recieved some great material and I am super excited to start it with the youth group this term. We also met with some Namibian teachers to discuss the teaching and education in Namibia and some of the specific problems that we are dealing with in Grootfontein. Again, I left with some good advice and tools to bring back for this term. And of course I went to the coffee shop for my Starbucks like drink! I was also able to do some shopping. I was needing some new clothes as many of mine are not fitting as well anymore! Oh yea, Spiderman 3 was playing in the theater so we found a few minutes to pop in and watch that.

I also spent one week in the town of Rundu which is up in the north on the border of Angola. It was a really refreshing time with five girls from North America who are my age. It was a blessing to be able to relax a bit with the girls and just be a normal girl for a few days. We watched movies, talked about boys, goofed around and laughed a lot. While I was there I was able to visit the state hospital which was quite shocking and I was very humbled by the task that the missionary nurses have before them. I also had the opportunity to participate in the Orphan and Vulnerable Children Project. I love playing with the children and this was one of the highlights of the trip. There was a training for Sunday School Teachers for two of the churches and I participated in that also which was a blast! My favorite part of the trip was the four hour church service on Sunday. The singing, the building, the translating and jus t the whole atmosphere was what I had remembered from my previous trips and I loved it! My time in Rundu was great and I was so blessed by the other missionaries who really where generous with their time and the homes!

So, what's next...

I head back to school this week and back to remedial math and Religion class. I am looking forward to teaching again! I miss my classes. Youth Group and Children's Church start again this week as well and I am looking forward to those times as the groups are both growing tremedously. Linda and I will also be doing once a month Sex and AIDS education at the high school girls hostel. And the house ministry continues to grow and flourish as many kids and youth come in and out and I get to be a part of their lives. It is an amazing feeling. As always, I feel so blessed to be here, right where the Lord wants me and being so happy despite struggles and difficulties that come with life, no matter where it is.

I know this is a long email but thanks so much for all your prayers, support, emails and encouragement. I am so blessed by each one of you and am so excited that you are part of this. God is doing amazing things here in Grootfontein and you are an important part of it. Your emails in particular are a huge encouragement to me in a way I hope you understand. They keep me going sometimes when I have had a really tough day. Thanks again! Below are some prayer requests and praises. Don't forget to check out my blog, their are a lot of new pictures and stories. My contact information is below as well.

Praise
*I am settled and happy and busy, busy, busy!
*The Lord replenished my body and spirit over the holiday.
*Continual blessings by the children and youth I am working with.

Prayers
*Heading back to activities, getting back into things will be a challenge!
*Church Leadership - I will write more about this next time.
*Wisdom - as my relationships with the youth grow, our conversations about life and the Lord have become more intense. Pray for wisdom in the words I say.
*Pray for the Josua family as they have lost their elder sister a week ago. I am really close to the family and am trying to spend time and just be their for them.

Thanks again and God Bless!
Jessica

jessrd19@comcast.net
www.jessicatoafrica.blogspot.com

P.O. Box 1072
Grootfontein Namibia
Africa 9000

Cell Phone: +264 81 32 40 489
Home Phone: 00264 67 24 00 09
(remember, we are eight hours ahead of Portland, Oregon and two hours behind Kenya)