We are down to our last two weeks of school holidays now.
Last Thursday I went to the beach with the kids along with our neighbours and Ritha, her brother and sister, and the girls. Hugo had to work poor guy. It was a beautiful day of fun in the sun.
Ritha’s mother continues to bother Ritha and her brother and sister. One night she came and gathered together the brother’s stuff and told him to come with her. So he did, but it wasn’t long and he was back at Ritha’s place. The mother keeps telling the siblings that Ritha is a bad older sister and doesn’t treat them well so they should come live with her. Such bunk! To top it all off, the girls are getting money together for the brothers entrance fee to his new school. Please continue to pray for this little family!
Please also remember Ice in your prayers. To tell you the truth, I often feel as though I have a teenage daughter when she’s around. She has received very little guidance in her life and her understanding of our purpose in this life is minimal. I have been trying, when I can as all the kids are home now, to talk with her about life and God and our relationship with God. I’ve also been trying to give her some marital advice...
This morning I went to church with the four oldest kids. Brynnie has malaria so Hugo stayed home with her. As we were making our way down the hill, a drunken fellow suddenly materialized out of the bushes. I saw him look at us and I yelled,”Run!” So we ran and he of course followed us. Marc tripped and fell and I had to go back to get him and at the same time the guy picked up a big rock and was saying,”You understand?” Not sure what that was supposed to mean but I replied,”Mau ke gereja.” Which means, “We want to go to church.” So we ran to the gate of the church yard and went in. He actually followed a bit behind us but the men of the church came out and told him to take a hike. Thankfully, by the time church was finished, he was long gone.
One of the elders in our church, Pak Nara, is very sick. He has gone blind in one eye and can no longer read. I don’t mean that he can’t see the letters, he can see them; he has simply lost the ability to read. We suspect that he has a form of dementia. He is rapidly beginning to look old and frail. He has a son who is about 9 years old. Please remember them in your prayers also.
On a brighter note, Mikah and I made the hike out to Abe yesterday. We both needed to get our hair cut. I know it sounds silly to drive so far for a haircut, but seriously, it is really hard to find a good hairdresser here. Plus, sometimes you find goodies there that are hard to find here. Like yesterday I scored some lovely cauliflower, broccoli and strawberries that were actually sweet (and priced like gold...). And who can pass up lunch at KFC? (Well maybe you folks can, but to us, that’s a swanky restaurant!)
On Friday it was my birthday. I’d rather forget about it really (well, the adding on a year part), but the truth is that God has kept me and blessed me so how can I forget? We celebrated with two families who had supper with us and we all enjoyed the chocolate trifle that I had made.


Can you tell we enjoyed those strawberries? All except Brynnie who claims she doesn't like strawberries and would much rather eat pineapple... Just wait until she tries a strawberry from Kraus brothers farm!