November 2. Praise the Lord for a good day! It was another very warm day, and it is raining this evening. It tried to rain this afternoon while we were having our nap. The winds started howling, and the thunder roared, but only a few drops of rain fell. After a while the sun came back out bright and strong.
Shortly after 5:30 this morning, I heard the neighbor’s rooster fly over the fence into our yard right next to our bedroom wall. I knew he was going to give his “rise and shine” call. He did - twice. Time to get up.
Warmed up the rest of my leftover pancakes for breakfast. Had quiet time. Took some pictures of the decorations the students had put up yesterday evening. Made sure everything was ready for the program. Edited pictures that I had put into the computer yesterday evening.
The school kids were all up early too and met at Sosthenes’ house to cook food for their families. 9:00 came and went, but the families hadn’t come yet. It was after 9:30 before the families started showing up and going on 10:00 before we started the school program. I’m not sure what time we finished, but it was 12:00 before everyone had gone out outside to eat.
I thank the Lord for a good morning, a good opportunity to be a blessing, share the gospel in song, and have a good time together with the students and their families. I welcomed the families and thanked them for allowing me to teach their children. I called on Daddy to pray, and he said a few words too before praying. Then the students went up front and said and sang their verses - 9 verses in Owena, plus the books of the New Testament in Pidgin - and then sang five other songs - The Promise Songs (well, actually six songs because there are two promise songs), Isn’t He Wonderful (five verses), Heaven Is a Happy Place, Repent and Believe (tune of Only Believe - chorus) both in English and Pidgin, and Emmanuel Has Come (tune of O Come, All Ye Faithful). How I wish somebody could come and teach these kids music! They love to sing, have good voices, and harmonize nicely (I didn’t even teach them to harmonize - they figured out a harmony themselves). Bonita has a lovely, clear voice and catches on well to the timing too.
After that, I gave out the award certificates. Each one received a certificate for excelling in a particular subject. Bonita received an award for greatest improvement over the year (my, she has come a long way!), and Graham received the excellence award because he excelled in many subjects.
The video was next. We let them stand up and stretch while we got things ready for the video - had to put up a sheet to show it on, cover the windows and also the skylight to make the room dark, turn on the computer and projector. Daddy had to go start the generator too. The video lasted about 20 minutes and was all pictures of various activities the kids were involved in throughout the year. At the end, however, I had put animal pictures. I had cropped the heads of each student and put each one’s face on an animal picture. Everyone got quite a charge out of that.
After the video, I gave announcements and asked for questions. Then Esau gave a little thank you speech to the parents and the kids one by one stood up, called their father to come up, and presented him with his gift.
Then I asked if any of the fathers would like to say something, and Matthew stood up and gave a little speech. Afterward, I asked Amos to give thanks for God’s help throughout the school year and for the food they would be eating.
Before they left, we took pictures of the students as a group, and also each student with their family. They made fast work of taking down all the decorations and then went outside to eat.
I fixed lunch for Daddy and me. Then we went out and talked with David and Silvia a while before we had our nap. David had been here finishing up the short wall he was making to protect the back steps from the rain.
This afternoon, I swept up the schoolroom and took down the school banner, practiced the choir songs, and then put today’s pictures in the computer. I must have taken about 50 pictures last night and today (Daddy took some of them for me) plus several videos. I will have to put the videos in the Acer, however. Have not been able to find any place in this computer for videos.
Made spaghetti for supper this evening. Got dishes done and finished editing the photos I had put in the computer earlier. Had a bath and got a snack.
The men are here for Bible school this evening so Daddy is busy teaching.
“24Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” Matthew 16:24,25