“A BIG Thanksgiving to ALL!”

Dear supporters,

The Lord be with you in all your efforts to serve Him in faith and truth. May God's grace abound to you all!

Just a note before dashing off to class... This is the final week for teaching before the students are given an uninterrupted week of "study hall" to prepare themselves for the Annual Exams, which begin on December 12th. Those Pre-Form students who do not do well will be denied the Christmas vacation and attend class...which means we will be with them. We'd toyed with the idea of visiting some students who live in the Rukwa Region, a five hour bus ride from here, but the teaching schedule will likely prevent that adventure.


I wanted to share our Thanksgiving with you. As you know, Thanksgiving is an American holiday, so the stories of travel and family meals, football, harvest and hunting are quite entertaining to our students.





Many of them have hardly left their villages, so the idea of flying across the nation for a weekend visit of family is almost unbelievable to most of them. (I don't think most of them really believe me when I tell them the "little white planes" they see in the sky are carrying a couple hundred people.)

We spent our Thanksgiving evening with a group of students in their ghetto near Idiwili. There was the "always a must" hour or two of UNO cards. Our dinner consisted of a big bowl of rice, a big bowl of ugali, beans and sliced avocado.

ugali

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugali

Abedi (13 yrs old) was our cook and did an excellent job! Peter and Giliam (Abedi's big brother) were the hosts, who have really dolled up their single room, thatched-roofed "apartment," complete with posters and newsprint to cover the bricks and a false ceiling of plastic sheeting. Unlike most, they've also made the effort to decorate the outside with stone-lined flower beds and an enclosed shelter with bench. (I have pictures, but was unable to load them.)

As we walked home that evening, with rain clouds threatening, we marveled at the grace of God to have us here. We thanked Him for the opportunity to be His heart and helping hands to so many young people, and we thanked Him for your partnership with us in this most-needed work.

We really didn't miss the pumpkin pie and turkey and cranberry sauce, but we do miss you.

Love,

Gary and Joanne