We had such a lovely Christmas with Julie and Jeremy here!  Our Christmas was delayed one day since they only arrived in Kaffrine the afternoon of the 25^th, but we coped – and rather well!  They went out for a couple of days in the village with Corey and Katie and the girls, then a few days of all of us just hanging out here in Kaffrine, followed by two nights at a nice resort all together near the beach at Saly, south of Dakar.  We ended up with two days of sightseeing in Dakar.  It was a packed two weeks, but lots of fun with many fond memories of good times and lots of laughs.

All the work on getting my visa completed is done!  I now have…… well, as much of a residence visa as I will probably ever have.  I am registered till the middle of February, and Corey says it will be just a rubber stamp activity for an extension, which will probably have to be renewed every 3 to 6 months.  So, praises to our God and to you for your constant prayer support!

The girls have all gotten back into school after our vacation with Julie and Jeremy with sweet attitudes.  We had such a disjointed schedule last week that we just did some catch-up activities for school and we will start back in earnest tomorrow!  Please do continue to pray for their continued enthusiasm and attention to school lessons.  We have added a simple Bible History survey, and the girls love it!  We are surveying the content of each book of the Bible, memorizing the books of the Bible, doing some activities (from ECC!) to try to help make the information stick, and doing Bible Drills in which we race to see who can find a particular book first.

Another exciting event here is the addition of a used piano keyboard in our school room.  The girls are all keen to learn to play, and have been anxious to get in their practice time each day.  I know just a very little, and so have started them off to see how well they will follow through.  When they get past what I know, one of our teammates is a piano teacher and hopefully may take them on for lessons.  Maybe she will take me on as a student as well!

I had a Christmas break from Wolof learning, and today another prospective Wolof tutor came to the house.  This Senegalese man is an English teacher at the local high school with a master’s degree in English!  He is quite pleasant and we will start classes on Wednesday.  Please pray this tutor will work out, not only for me but for other interns coming in the next few months.

Upcoming, I see an unbroken schedule of school.  No holidays, trips to Dakar or special break days until April!  Corey is going to the Men’s Retreat at the end of January, but Katie and I will stay here and school will march onward.  However, we do have two birthdays in the next little while.

My health seems to be stabilizing with a mild head congestion and occasional cough.  This is pretty standard here with all the dust.  My energy level is pretty good but I have not had much opportunity for regular exercise with our irregular schedule and the fall I had in August that left me with a weak knee and sore ankle.  Those seem to be healing well now.  The post office where we get our mail is a few blocks from our house and I will begin walking there before school to check the mail, get some exercise and contribute to the good of the team.  The girls are welcome to join me, so it could very well turn into an educational experience as well as exercise!

A dear couple who were here in Kaffrine for 28 years but left last March came by on a visit today.  It was so good to get to visit with them, and to realize that I am now a settled member of this team.  I have also just recently had some Skype contact with some of you and have enjoyed reconnecting!  Please email me if you are interested in connecting that way and we can arrange a time to chat!  Also, be sure to look at the pictures (on the Pictures tab) I have posted of our Christmas and recent school activities.

Prayer Points:

Christmas Holiday: Praise that Julie and Jeremy were able to come!  Thanks that we all had such a lovely time together and they had a safe trip back home.

Residence Permit: Praise for the completion of the paperwork and processing of my residence papers.  Please do continue to pray for smooth renewals.

Wolof Lessons: Praise for this new tutor who speaks English!!!  Please pray that I will retain what he teaches and for time and opportunities to reinforce and practice what I learn.

Health Concerns: Praise that my health seems to have settled down.  Pray for continued health and the success of my morning walks.  Please also pray that my skin won’t become damaged from the extremely dry weather that is approaching.  I have dry skin to begin with so cracking and bleeding is a real threat.

Homeschooling: Please pray that I will be a godly example to the girls and we will continue to work together well.  Pray that the long stretch of continuous school will be appealing to the girls and will go quickly with much interest in what we are studying.