Dear praying brothers and sisters
Time is swiftly passing as we look forward to the Lord’s return.
The Bible studies for the parents of the children from the Christian School are progressing well. The men of the assembly are being stretched as they teach Bible studies in more than 20 homes. Then last Saturday evening at 7:00 pm there was a ladies meeting – basically an outreach for the community ladies who would like to attend. Once a month the ladies meet for a time of fellowship, crafts and a gospel lesson. This past week approximately 15 ladies from the community attended.
We recently had a young girl returned to the children’s home. Cesia is a year and a half old baby who was sent home to her mother in March for a trial period. Her two older siblings remained at the children’s home to see how their mother would fare. Regular assessments were carried out in the home with the result that Cesia was removed from her mother’s care just a few weeks ago. For a tiny baby this time away from proper care has definitely left its mark. The court has said they will terminate parental rights for the children. Once the process is complete the three children will be available for adoption, but jointly as they are not permitted to be separated.
I now have half of my family home, Kim and Jonathan returned safely Aug 10th, while Christopher and Lindsay will return Aug 31st. Jessica will remain in New Brunswick to continue her studies. The people from the assembly were happy to see them back, while the young people are looking for the rest to return.
In two weeks, I will be reducing my time spent studying the language, and begin working each day with the school. My main focus will be on Curriculum and Professional Development. When we arrived I had as my goal to spend until Sept in language study and then move on. I am hoping this will allow more direct language practice as well as allow me to prepare for the next school year.
Today was national earthquake simulation day; we helped transfer the “victims” to the collection point. Ironically we had a 5.0 earthquake two days before, approximately 100 kilometers north of us.
In Him
Mark, Kim DeJager and family
