"The ostriches' wings flap joyously with the pinion and plumage of love, for she abandons her eggs to the earth and warms them in the dust." Job 39:13, 14
Dear Family, Friends and Supporters,
"MAWWIAGE...TWUE WOVE:" Jimmy preached a powerful sermon comparing Christ and the church to the marriage relationship (of a man and a woman, mind you). As usual, Trina taught the book of Genesis to the ladies and Abigail taught the children. The building was packed full and a bench from a classroom was brought in. Two first-time visitors (employees of the mosquito net factory) honored us with their presence.
TEEN DAY: Thirteen young people enjoyed games, hamburgers, homemade ice cream and brownies, soda's, (to our fellow Southerners...that means "cokes") a movie, and devotional at our house yesterday. Some teens invited friends also (one girl was a Lutheran and one a Catholic). Our girls are allowed to plan these events for several reasons (the main one being to encourage the young Christians to make friendships among those in the church). Since the girls do 98% of the preparation for the event and conduct the entire thing by themselves, we will continue to let them participate in this good work!
CURIOSITY KILLED THE CAT: During teen day, one of the guys saw the remote security button (normally worn around the neck of our night guard) hanging in the storage room. After pressing it he asked, "What's this for?" Within 8 minutes he knew: the KK Security "SWAT" team arrived in our yard with helmets and billy clubs wondering what the emergency was.
ACSOP: In the Basic English/Writing Skills class, all but three passed the first test (with A's and B's). The students understand written English better than the spoken. All seem eager to learn and are happy to be in preaching school. Elisha, a student in the Swahili program, was admitted to the hospital yesterday due to dehydration (malaria and peptic ulcers). He had not eaten in two days, had a high fever and had been vomiting. Please pray for his recovery.
OUR SYMPATHY IS EXPRESSED to Byron, Wanda, Harold, Barry, Melissa, Hunter, and Hadleigh in their loss of Helen Andrus, a long-time member of the Zachary church of Christ. Four generations of her family attend this congregation in Louisiana (where we served before coming to Africa.)
SLOWLY, BUT SURELY: If all calculations are correct (and the pledges come through), we now lack only $9,000 for our airline tickets. We are very appreciative to all who have given (you should be receiving a "thank-you" note in the form of a postcard in just a couple of weeks)! We thank you in advance for prayerfully considering our needs (56 days or 8 weeks left until our designated departure date but we need to purchase the tickets as soon as possible!)
With Love from Africa,
Jimmy, Trina and the Gee gang