Thankfulness to Change

Taonga to Tembenukani

Visiting

The last two months have been full of visits. First of all I did a last minute trip

back to the UK then Mum and Dad came to see me and the school. As usual the

visits were full of fitting in seeing people and getting jobs done. While Mum and

Dad were here Mum heard lots of children recite their bible verses and we

organised books and uniforms, Dad oversaw the building of some garden beds

and a soak away. We also went to look at a new house for me….

A new house

For the last 8 1/2 years I have been living with Don and Christine and their

family as we work with the boys and the school. When I first moved here there

was a core family of 9. Gradually through the last 9 years most people have

moved and just Don, Christine and I have been left. As lots of you know Christine
is very unwell and is needing a liver transplant. This will mean that for most of

the next year she will be in the UK. That leaves just Don and I living in the family

house. It is a big house and some times we don’t see each other for days but as 

Christine will be away for an extended period it is not appropriate, especially in

the culture, for us to continue living in the same house. We have been talking

about this for some time but just before Mum and Dad came I messaged some

friends from church who rent out small flats about 15 minutes away asking if they

had anything available. Initially they said they didn’t, but within a week they did

and we were able to go and see the flat which looks ideal. Mum and Dad also

had a chance to meet Harold and Mary so they have a better idea of where I will

be staying. I hope to move in mid July. There are a few challenges to moving

out but the main one is finances. Rental properties here are fairly expensive and

I have not had to factor in rent to my living costs up till now. I have around £300

to make up per month.

School

School has continued to go well. We have had the usual turn over of staff as it is quite difficult finding people

who live locally and are willing to work in a different way to how they were trained. We have a new teacher

starting next week and another in around 3 weeks time.

I am still working on the registration process for school. It is long and complicated. There is no list of what

needs to be done and every separate piece of registration involves multiple trips to offices with documents and

payments. Normally they start by telling you what documents to prepare,

you do it and go back full of hope only to be told you are missing things

and need to go away to changes bits of it or that previous things you have

done are wrong. So, I needed to re-register the school and wasn’t able to

use the name Taonga School. Taonga means we are thankful and is a

name chosen by the parents. It has been hard accepting the change but

we are now calling school Tembenukani Christian School. Tembenukani

means change or turn (I’m told!) It was really hard to find another name

for the school as you can not have a name that already exists in the

country. I am sure we will continue to be known locally as Taonga for a very long time!

THANK YOU ALL!!

Thank you all for your support through the last 8 1/2 years staying at Old

MacDonalds Farm. As I look to move the work here will still continue and I

will still be here every day I will just be staying in a different place.

Please Pray for:

Christine and Don and the family as they face the next few months which

will hopefully involve major surgery and recovery.

Changes as I move for me and for everyone left at home as they adjust. 

School to continue to develop and for the teachers and children to put their trust in the Lord.

Between February and June the children learnt a bible verse for every letter of the alphabet. 

To watch them recite it click here ---> Bible Verse Challenge