Last days of school!

In case you haven't heard, we are having a baby very soon!  Yes, I'm currently in my 9th month of pregnancy with baby number 4.  What an exciting time it is for all of us!  Since I'm due at the end of January it was necessary for the Academy to find a replacement for me who would be able to take over my 4th grade classroom after the baby is born.  It's bittersweet leaving these precious children.  I love them like my own.  (Well, one of them actually is my own!!!)  In order to thoroughly spoil my sweet class I decided that the last two weeks of school would be a little different.  We still learned a few things, don't worry, but we enjoyed lots of games, arts and crafts, special projects, and candy!! Hey, they were all already on Christmas break in their minds anyway....why not have a little fun!  So here are some pics of my last days as the 4th grade 2 teacher!  Now let me go get the tissues....

 

ABCCA Swim Gala

There is a house system in place at ABCCA.  When you register with the school you are automatically put into one of three houses: Liwonde, Nyika, or Majete. These are representative of three of the nature reserve parks in Malawi.  All members of a family are in the same house.  Throughout the year there are different ways to earn "points" for your house.  Think of it like the houses in the Harry Potter movies.  Anyway, at the end of this term we had a House Swim Gala where people from each house competed in a swim meet with people from the other houses.  It took up an entire school day and the kids were allowed to wear their house colors that day!  What a fun day!  Here are some pictures:

My sweet class on Swim Gala day dressed in their house colors.

Now I told them to act like they were fighting each other!  They had fun with this!!

AJ and her good friend Brianna (also an ABC MK)

Me with Grandma Iris and Scharlie....Liwonde teachers (and ABC Missionaries).

In case you haven't figure it out yet...we are in Liwonde.  We pretty much loose everything each year.  The houses are not quite as even as they should be.  But we have fun!

Majete...the biggest house.  Although they didn't win the Swim Gala.  That was reserved for....

Nyika!  Good job Nyika!

Mr. McDonald, Mr. Kyser, and Mr. Bartlett all watching their daughters swim in the gala.  Yeah, they're a real serious bunch!  If only you knew the humor that these three men can muster up!

AJ swimming back (her favorite stroke).  She is in the blue cap second from the top.

Great job AJ!

AJ swimming Free...she really did NOT want to do this relay.  But she made it and did well!

AJ with some of her good friends: Martina, Charlotte, and Brianna!
What an exhausting day...but fun at the same time!

Jill

ABC Pool and Guest Huts

While looking through some pictures I realized that I (like other missionaries before me) have been guilty of not showing the campus well enough.  I remember the year we spent in preparation for coming to Malawi and the countless hours I spent scouring the internet for any and all info on Malawi and ABC.  I promised that I'd try to do a better job of portraying life here and showing the facilities as well.  I hope to do better at this in the future (now that I'm not teaching anymore).  Well, here is a start.  Below are some pictures that Gidgi captured at the ABC pool followed by some pictures of the guest huts where short term teams can stay when they come here to minister (hint, hint).  Enjoy!

This is a photo of the kiddie pool and the big pool taken from the seating area.

SM about to take a plunge! Directly behind her is the pool house with changing area and rest rooms.

 The pool house

Another view of the pool.  The seating area is to the left and the pool house is to the right.  CJ is after the ball and SM is by the pool.

View from the pool house looking out towards the pool and seating area.

Inside the main entrance to the pool area.  Isn't our country beautiful!!??

Life guard stand with AJ and Jeremy drying off.

There is a huge swim team at ABC.  They practice all the time and even travel to other countries to compete.

Kiddie pool!

The guest huts at ABC!

Beware of the crazy locals!

Another view of the guest huts.

Allison O. behind the wheel....beware!!!!

So who's ready to come visit us in Malawi???

Jill

SM overheard sharing Christ!

     While I was sitting in the living room today I caught a snippet of a conversation that SM was having with her friend Mary.  Mary is a Malawian who lives next door and speaks broken English.  However, Mary and SM are GREAT friends.  I heard SM say the words "Jesus" and "sin" so I got up and went over to the window where I could hear better.  She was telling Mary that everyone sins and that because of our sin we are supposed to go to see Satan when we die. She continued saying that "Satan is where the bad people go.  But if we have Jesus in our heart then we don't have to go to Satan, we get to go to heaven with Jesus."  The conversation was short but direct.  I couldn't believe my little 4 year old was so freely sharing the Gospel with her close friend.  But isn't that what it's all about??  She loves Mary and wants her to be in heaven with her one day.  She's not waiting until Mary is all grown up or until she is all grown up herself.  She is taking any opportunity available to share with those she loves about the salvation available through Jesus. What a lesson we all need to learn from this!  Today is the best time!  Who are you going to share the gospel with today?  If a 4 year old can do it so can we!!!!

Jill

The Parliament Building of Malawi