Notes from Catherine

July 4, 2008 Happy Fourth USA!
This weekend we pack up, say goodbye to our friends and staff in Oshikuku and head back to our home in Okahandja. There is a bitter sweet feeling about this, because we’ve enjoyed the work and fellowship here, but know that we have other projects to work on. So, even though there’s still so much to do here, we will leave – for now. Tony will return soon for a week or so to complete the projects.

Tuesday, Julius was busy in a nearby town and when Kids Club time came, there was only ME to work it. So, I said a prayer and put my creativity to work. First, I grabbed 4 – large plastic coke bottles, cut them in half. I used the bottoms to hold crayons and colored pencils on the tables. Then I took the tops that looked kind of like funnels and realized that I could make a game with them. So, I quickly grabbed some white fabric leftover from curtains, some rice and scissors. I cut the fabric in 3 in. squares and sewed them on the sewing machine, leaving just enough room to fill them with the rice. The “bean” bags worked nicely as the children tossed the bags from one “funnel” to another. They loved the game.

Then, with the other “bean” bags I made I put a toss game together. Taking a piece of plywood – about 3 feet by 3 feet – I used a marker pen to make a big smiling face in the center and four small circles around it, marking the face as 100 points and the small circles as 25 points each. The smaller children lined up for the tossing game and it kept the whole group busy for some time.

The children began coming in from the neighborhood around 3 o’clock and by 4 there were over 30 children. The “bean” bag games kept them occupied as I counted and put a plan together in my mind. Without an interpreter telling a story would be difficult for them to understand. Tony found me outside and saw all the children and just me and asked if I needed help. Yes, my husband rescued me and I’m so glad he did. We worked together on the games and then moved the children inside, careful to have them make a nice line first. Once inside, I took charge with “circle” time – singing and learning scripture verses and playing clapping games. Tony took another head count (since children kept coming after we started the club), and he prepared the juice and cookies. He motioned to me at one point – we have 46! Wow!

After circle time we laid out coloring sheets and gathered them in groups around the tables. They enjoyed the coloring, making their picture of Jesus and the little children more beautiful than their neighbors. Next was juice and cookies time – one by one they lined up. What’s this? Crumbs on the face, one little boy steals back to the end of the line. No, no! Only one cookie you little rascal. He ran outside with a big guilty smile. Kids! Don’t you just love ‘em?

They didn’t want to leave when the clock turned 5:00. We had to chase them out of the yard. Go home! Go home! You must get ready for school tomorrow. Out…. Out! Come back tomorrow.

If we had more staff, there could be a kids club every day, but as of right now Julius can only provide a program once a week. He also runs two “Choose to Wait” clubs in nearby High Schools – one on Wednesdays and the other on Thursdays. When we have volunteers visit, they enjoy helping with these clubs.

I’m also happy to report that over 40 people attended the “Choose to Wait” training that I taught the last two weeks. That means more trained workers and potential staff help! That’s a great big praise report! We're very exhausted, but it's a good kind of tired. Thanks for your continued prayers. We sure need them.