***Disclaimer***Gary & Joanne send updates & "stories" whenever they can. Because their Internet access can be infrequent they will send multiple "timeless" stories when they can so that if their access is down we can still have something to post during this time. The following is an update that I (John) inadvertently "filed away" for later, not realizing that it was "time relevant". This update was sent to us about 5 weeks ago. Our apologies for the tardiness.
John and Kim Williams
********************
Dear Most-Loved Friends and Family,
We are very busy typing, editing, and printing exams for later this week.
The Annual Exams start on Wednesday and run through the following Tuesday. Pre-Form English with Joanne and Gary’s Bible Knowledge exams are always the last on the schedule, except when we beg them to be first in June so that we can score and return them before getting on the truck to come back to America.
Exam time is always an exciting time. Last night some 30-50 of the students pulled an all-nighter in one of the classrooms; not studying . . . they were singing and praying for God’s blessings on the school and exam results. A school’s worth and promotion is based upon the students’ performances. They did very well last year, which is why your mom’s (Joanne's) usual class size of 100-150 shot to 330 this year.
Today, Sunday, the students in mass are involved in a six hour praise and prayer service. I was here at the house printing exams, but Joanne went for a couple of hours . . . got involved with some of the dancing and singing lines, from what she tells me. Now she’s home making rice for dinner and sewing (she’s on her fourth school shirt for just this weekend). While she was gone a bee swarm went over the house; I listened to the roar for a few seconds, but when it didn’t pass quickly, I went outside to watch the stream…amazing. Without ceilings, anything going over or landing on the tin roof is quite noisy. We have a crow that visits every morning, flapping and clawing up the sheeting to find a perch on the peak; it’s pretty comical and very noisy. I always imagine a comic book character bird with NO coordination.
A rain is rolling in, so the plants we transplanted from the river garden yesterday are getting a good drink. We had a good crop of carrots coming on and someone harvested them for us…so we’re moving the garden back near the house where we can get some food from our labors. We’ve extended it to fill the space between the houses and further back toward the corn field behind us. We’re thinking seriously of biting the bullet and paying to have a brick wall built around it; it’s impossible to keep the chickens, goats and cows out otherwise. We have a corn stalk fence, but the cows like to eat on it, so it’s only a matter of time before they get a whiff of what is on the other side and walk “through” the fence.
We had a Pre-Form boy show up at the house the other day who had no food or soap. He must have heard that we give students jobs, because he was very ready and willing to sit and sort through a bucket of dry beans. It will be nice to not be “surprised” by a rock or rotten bean missed in the cooking process . . .
Best get back to work. Write us a note when you can; we’d love to hear from you!
May God bless you richly!
Much love and our prayers to you.
Gary and Joanne Grenell, your hands and feet to Tanzania
We are very busy typing, editing, and printing exams for later this week.
The Annual Exams start on Wednesday and run through the following Tuesday. Pre-Form English with Joanne and Gary’s Bible Knowledge exams are always the last on the schedule, except when we beg them to be first in June so that we can score and return them before getting on the truck to come back to America.
Exam time is always an exciting time. Last night some 30-50 of the students pulled an all-nighter in one of the classrooms; not studying . . . they were singing and praying for God’s blessings on the school and exam results. A school’s worth and promotion is based upon the students’ performances. They did very well last year, which is why your mom’s (Joanne's) usual class size of 100-150 shot to 330 this year.
Today, Sunday, the students in mass are involved in a six hour praise and prayer service. I was here at the house printing exams, but Joanne went for a couple of hours . . . got involved with some of the dancing and singing lines, from what she tells me. Now she’s home making rice for dinner and sewing (she’s on her fourth school shirt for just this weekend). While she was gone a bee swarm went over the house; I listened to the roar for a few seconds, but when it didn’t pass quickly, I went outside to watch the stream…amazing. Without ceilings, anything going over or landing on the tin roof is quite noisy. We have a crow that visits every morning, flapping and clawing up the sheeting to find a perch on the peak; it’s pretty comical and very noisy. I always imagine a comic book character bird with NO coordination.
A rain is rolling in, so the plants we transplanted from the river garden yesterday are getting a good drink. We had a good crop of carrots coming on and someone harvested them for us…so we’re moving the garden back near the house where we can get some food from our labors. We’ve extended it to fill the space between the houses and further back toward the corn field behind us. We’re thinking seriously of biting the bullet and paying to have a brick wall built around it; it’s impossible to keep the chickens, goats and cows out otherwise. We have a corn stalk fence, but the cows like to eat on it, so it’s only a matter of time before they get a whiff of what is on the other side and walk “through” the fence.
We had a Pre-Form boy show up at the house the other day who had no food or soap. He must have heard that we give students jobs, because he was very ready and willing to sit and sort through a bucket of dry beans. It will be nice to not be “surprised” by a rock or rotten bean missed in the cooking process . . .
Best get back to work. Write us a note when you can; we’d love to hear from you!
May God bless you richly!
Much love and our prayers to you.
Gary and Joanne Grenell, your hands and feet to Tanzania
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