We are sliding into the hot and dry season where the dust creeps in every nook and cranny; you clean and turn around to find a fresh layer of fine dirt all over the items just cleaned.  Temperatures are climbing and the sun beats down hotter.  I am told it will get much hotter, up to 115˚F (46˚C) so I am not looking forward to this season of weather.  We are very fortunate to have a cool and convenient home.  Corey and Katie have learned how to trap the cool night air in their house during the day, so temperatures stay 10 to 15 degrees cooler inside than it is outside.

The two other short termers here are really assisting the team to accomplish their tasks.  Both will be leaving in June or July and we all dread their departure.  Silas works with one Christian family helping their children study outside of school hours.  Josiah goes to the village with Corey and Katie and is building relationships with the young men in the village and hopes to be able to have an opportunity to share the Chronological Stories as well as model a Christian life in front of them.  These young men are also very lively and the girls love to play with Silas and Josiah when they come to the house.

Last week Silas went to the next town, Kaolack, to renew his and my visa for the next three months.  Imagine our surprise and joy when he came back with both renewed until December instead!  Such a blessing it is to not have to worry about this for 10 more months!  Thanks for your fervent and effectual prayers!

We have increasingly experienced more difficulties with our generator.  Corey spent a good part of today working on it as it continued to break down repeatedly.  His motorcycle has also had mechanical difficulties lately, so it seems like something is constantly in the repair shop.  Thankfully, my car just keeps running!

The new English-speaking Wolof tutor has been quite refreshing for me, and has done a great job teaching Josiah.  I have made slow progress and currently am not taking classes.  With my full-time work with the girls, my opportunities and necessity for speaking Wolof are quite limited and so I am taking a break from Wolof and thinking and praying about how to go forward.  We have a French teacher coming for two months to teach members of our team French and our girls will have lessons.  I will be joining them to see if any of the French I learned in high school is still there.  French could be quite useful here in Kaffrine as well as in Dakar.

Last weekend another SIMer, Susie, who is also single and close to my age, came from Thies to visit me.  The journey is about 3 ½ hours by car, and it took her 6 hours on public transportation to get here and longer to get back.  She was here for just about 24 hours.  We had a lovely time together getting to know one another and look forward to spending more time together in the future.

March 30-April 2 we will go to the coast to gather with all the other SIM Senegal missionaries for an annual Spiritual Life Conference.  Speakers are coming from a home church of one of the other missionaries and we are all looking forward to this time of fellowship and spiritual renewal.  Susie and I will be rooming together, so it will also be a bit of a break for me and the girls.

Meanwhile back at the daily schedule, Emma and Molly and I usually get a ride to the post office with Corey when he takes Wheaton to French school and walk home.  This gives us some exercise, and we can still start school at a fairly decent time.  We all enjoy doing this and have wild excitement when a package arrives!

We are enjoying our Bible studies.  The girls thrill me when we finish our reading of Acts for the day and they scream, “Don’t stop!  Read some more!!!”  We continue to learn the books of the Bible and their content.  Both Emma and Molly can identify a book when I read from it.  They also thoroughly enjoy Bible Drills.

Currently we are memorizing long passages from American history.  Emma is learning the preamble to the Declaration of Independence and Molly is learning the conclusion to Patrick Henry’s famous speech to the Virginia Legislature that ends with, “Give me Liberty, or give me death!”  They both know their script and we are now working on presentation and body language and gestures.  We plan to present them on March 22 to our team at our weekly meeting.

We have embarked on a month-long series of experiments with planting radishes, and our radishes are just not responding appropriately.  We must not have enough light in the house, or our seeds are not healthy, or something is making them sprout, grow very tall and then die.  We are still learning lots and the girls are interested and excited about what we are doing but it is disappointing to have our experiments fail because our plants die.

Overall, I can see in the girls discernable progress in ability to do their work, attitude toward their assignments, comfort level with me, and joy in learning.. (Even if Emma does still occasionally declare, “I HATE school!)

Be sure to go to the Pictures tab for more pictures of the last two months!

Prayer Points:

Please pray for a way through this coming hot season, with temperatures hitting 115˚F (46˚C).

Praise for a long renewal on my residence permit – through December!

Please pray for mechanical reliability for our generator and Corey’s motorcycle.

Pray for wisdom for the future of Wolof learning for me.

Praise for a good visit with my friend Susie who came for the weekend.

Pray for God’s blessing on our Spiritual Life Conference scheduled for all SIMers March 30 – April 2.

Pray too for continued progress with school; science projects; Bible learning, and character building for all of us.