Weekly Report

Monday (29 October)

• BTS (Behind the Scenes): Today I gathered all the gifts for Launch Pad graduations, and put bins together for each class. I also wrote the names on all the certificates and had each class teacher sign their certificates.

Tuesday (30 October)

• Hope House planning: For our last term of the internship I have been on the planning team for Hope House. We plan out the lessons, games, crafts and music for each week. I’m in charge of the craft. This week we’re making friendship bracelets.
• BTS (Behind the Scenes)- Today for BTS I finished putting Launch Pad graduation gifts together and filled out the remainder of the certificates. Then the power went out so I couldn’t do any of the computer work I needed to get done, so Char and I went to the resource room to see what we could use for Women’s Camp centerpieces.

Wednesday (31 October)

• 
  Today we took ministry photos before our weekly prayer meeting. We took some with all the staff and interns and them some with just staff and just interns. It was fun to get all dressed up.
• Launch Pad: Today was graduation day! I can’t believe this term is already over! In order to graduate, learners must attend 8 out of the 10 lessons. There were 23 graduates with 10 who had perfect attendance in our class! I’m so proud of them! Here are some pictures of the learners receiving their certificates… Here is a picture of most of our graduating learners…
  Most of our learners brought their families and friends with them today for the celebration, and I think we had about 120-130 people in attendance. Here is a picture of Ashley and I with everyone who came to the celebration…Some of our learners shared testimonies about what God has done in their lives and what they have learned through the course. One lady said that she never knew that she could have a relationship with God, another said that she learned the importance of having a quiet time with God and how to find strength in Him, and another told us of how she is learning to have Jesus in every part of her life. It is always a blessing to hear what God is doing in the life of my learners, and it was encouraging to see just how much God had touched each of their lives through this class. Here is a picture of Lina sharing her testimony… As I was beginning to clean up, I noticed some of the older ladies setting up 4 chairs in the front of the church. Soon after I was being led to one of those chairs, where Kelly, Ashley and Esther (our interpreter) soon joined me. Then the older ladies formed a line in the back of the church and stated singing and dancing towards us with gifts in their hands. It was so touching. As they handed us the gifts, each lady gave each of us a hug. When they had finished their song and handed each of us our gift, they told us to open them. Each of us received a candle. It was so touching that they were so appreciative of us teaching them about the Bible and Jesus every week that they got us gifts. Here is a picture of us with the ladies who gave us the gifts. We are all holding the gifts they gave us…
  I feel blessed no only to have been able to teach this wonderful group of people but to have been able to develop relationships with many of them. Here are a couple of the students I had an opportunity to build stronger relationships with at youth camps…I will miss every one of my students greatly and Wednesdays just won’t be the same without Launch Pad.
• Halloween (AKA Candy Day) Party: Tonight for dinner we made pizza, which was delicious. Then we all dressed up (I was a football coach) and went trick-or-treating down at the staff housing. We went to Niel and Alece's first. They gave us AMERICAN candy like Jolly Ranchers, Twizzlers, and Tootsie Pops. And, they gave us a box of Cheerios to share! Mmmm! Then we went over to the staff party where we were greeted with silly string. Then, in order to get candy, we had to sing a song about who we were. I made up a football song to the tune of "O Christmas Tree". It was lots of fun. I enjoyed dressing up and just being goofy. Here is a picture of all the staff and interns who dressed up for "Candy Day"...

Thursday (1 November)

• Town Time: Krista and I met a man at the Daily Grind (our quaint little coffee shop we go to every week) named Wynand. As we were sitting outside at a table, Dan walked by. If you remember from previous posts, he is the man that Krista and I have been ministering to. Anyways, we found out that Wynand is the guy who led Dan to the Lord and gave him the Bible. It’s amazing how God works. We met Dan three weeks ago and then today, we met the man who has also been ministering to him. It is good to know that when we leave, Dan will not be left in the dark, but that he has someone who is committed to helping him grow and change. Praise God! Here is a picture of me, Krista, Dan, and Waynand…. (I will put this pic on later today)

Friday (2 November)

• Hope House: Today we told the kids that we only have one time left with them. It broke my heart to see them trying to hold back the tears. Teboho looked at me in tears and simply said, “Don’t go.” I love these kids and it will be extremely hard to say goodbye to them. Today’s lesson was about how we are a part of God’s family and how every time we get lonely, we can pray to Him. We also made friendships bracelets with them today and told them that every time we see the bracelet, we can think of each other and keep them in our prayers. I love these kids and part of my heart will always be with them! The first of the following pictures is me and Tumelo and the second is me and Teboho...

Saturday (3 November)

• Today Josh and Josh asked us if we wanted to go exploring with them, so Cassie, Hannah, Becca, and I decided to join them. The four of us girls jumped in the back of the Bantam and Josh drove us over to the back side of Mooihok (the biggest of the three mountains on base). Since we hadn’t explored the back side before we decided to climb the mountain and find a new way to the top. It was really fun. I enjoyed it. The only way to get up the last 30-40 feet was to rock climb (w/o ropes). Only the boys and Cassie decided to go up but Hannah, Becca and I decided not to as coming down would be extremely tricky. I was quite satisfied with where we made it to. The view was amazing. While Cassie and the boys were up top, they encountered a puffader, a poisonous snake. It struck at Josh but the boys stoned it to death and cut of its head to ensure that it was dead. (We kill all the poisonous snakes around here, so that they don’t hurt (or kill) anyone.) Anyways, here is a picture of my and the dead snake… Here are some other pictures from our Mooihok adventure…
  On the right side of this picture, you can see Eagle Mountain and Mount Everest, the other two mountain on base…

Sunday (4 November)

• Today I will be doing some homework, working on a collage for Hope House, and just relaxing.