Aunty Popy and Uncle Josh

Photos from the engagement ceremony on Sunday, 2 August 2009.

From More photos

A hundred and then some

We are just a few days away from the beginning of a new school year at LAMB School. There are many new things to report. One being a new mid level management with a Head of First School and a Head of Upper School.

The changes have already made a positive impact on the school with better division of responsibilities.
When the doors open to a new year on Sunday we expect one hundred and nine children in twelve grades. This is the first time we have more than one hundred children, and the first time we have grade ten at the school.
There is no doubt the challenges are great, and in order to help you know what to pray I have included the list below;
* The challenges of preparing all the children for continued education after LAMB
* Children with special needs
* Teaching to the standards needed for O Level Exams next summer
* Living up to the values of serving God by serving the poor while meeting the specific needs of LAMB
* Government approvals (renewal of existing approval to run the school)
* Visas for foreign teachers
I could continue with more, but will give thanks for all that God has given us in stead;
* Many supporters who pray for the children and the school
* Good national and foreign teachers
* Great office staff working with the government offices to secure needed permits
* Good results from a Grade 8 test (externally validated)
* Sufficient funding for the school year 2008-09
* An unexpected visa in stead of an exit permit in June
* Former students getting excellent results in their Grade 12 exams
It is a privilege to be serving God here - thank you for joining us.

Hope

It honestly doesn't really have anything to do with this photo, but we are trying to create a little shade in front of the school for our Sunday Assemblies when it gets hot on a Sunday morning just before nine.
I have asked our gardener, Johon, whether he thinks it will take, he is confident it will, and I have hope that he is right.

This week the children are sitting their final exams, like the tree they might need support, but there is a lot more hope for them than what meets the eye. Please pray for the children, and for the teachers this week.

Cyclone Aila

Bangladesh and India have again been hit by a cyclone. This time she was named Aila. So far 130 people have been reported killed; I don't know whether this is in Bangladesh alone, or it includes the ones in India.
We had a bad storm, but the cyclonic weather never reaches this far north in the country. Here trees were uprooted and houses broken. Sonkar, the older brother of one of our students, reported that Omika couldn't come in because she had had to help recover bits of the house and work on rebuilding it again after the storm.
For the children the blessings come in the tradition that any fruit that has fallen on the ground may be collected by anybody regardless of where it fell. In this picture two of our students are using the time before the first class to gather mangos.
Like the students in this photo I had to use a towel in stead of an umbrella. A towel is hands-free and doesn't get broken like my umbrella did when the storm blew it inside out.

Infirmities, ailments and bugs

With a total of just over a hundred people, it is quite unusual that twenty people are absent due to illnesses, but that was the case at the school by the end of today. Mumps, fever, diarrhoea and runny noses have laid claim to a lot of us.
Will you pray for us today?
We have a centrally located whiteboard for messages to teachers, this is also where we write the names of children and teacher when they are absent. It started as a game that we chose different words meaning 'ill' for each person. I don't think that was the challenge that made me sick, but I do need to get to bed early tonight.