Milestones

The beginning of the month began with telling Jenny goodbye. I think our girls have made a friend for life. :) A couple days before she left, we took her around town so that she could make some last minute purchases. Among the stops we made was at a local leather crafting shop, called Shaw's. The owner has been in business for many years. He hires a number of handicapped people, so that they can have an opportunity for employment. While we were there, he gave us a tour of his work area, and it really is fascinating.

August 8 we celebrated a milestone. Julia turned 20 years old! It's so hard to believe that we have a 20 year old, when George and I haven't gotten any older. Seriously, we are so proud of the young woman she has become. She is a beautiful Christian - on the inside and outside.

The ladies had another Teacher's Workshop on the 11th, with 9 ladies present. I delivered a lesson, dealing with the following 2 areas: knowing ourselves (spiritual maturity needed in teachers), and knowing our pupils. I am hoping to encourage the ladies to keep some records about each of the children. It will help them not only learn more about the children in class, but it will provide more opportunities to reach out to various families, and become more aware of who is and isn't attending regularly. The ladies also decided that they want to meet together twice a month, and go visiting, in order to encourage those who are sick, or otherwise in need of encouragement. We are so proud of the spiritual growth of several of the ladies, in particular.

August 12 brought another milestone. Jacob preached Sunday evening. This was his first sermon in Tanzania. He did a great job, and we are very proud of the progress he is making in his studies. He has been a very diligent student in the Andrew Connally School of Preaching, in spite of some extra challenges that most college-aged kids don't face - different culture, different food, etc.

We've enjoyed some cooler weather the last month or so, and along with that we've been enjoying the lettuce and cucumbers from our garden. Lettuce is not always readily available in the market, but we've still been able to enjoy fresh salad almost every day. The other day Julia picked some lettuce, and discovered that she brought in more than just lettuce, as is evident by the picture!

Last week I was scheduled to have another study with the elderly lady with whom I have been studying.
Unfortunately, when Mama Maxi, my translator, and I arrived, we found out that the woman was sick with malaria, and was not able to study. She was not a strong person, physically, to begin with, so please keep her in your prayers.

It seems that most of of blog troubles, caused by the travelblog site, have been resolved. We still have one or two blogs that have been messed up, but thankfully, most of our entries have been restored.

Our love to you all,
Joy

---

---