Dry season is definitely upon us. We wake up surrounded by a misty fog that makes me want to snuggle further down under my sleeping bag and snooze some more. It doesn't help that it has become downright cold. (Where IS the snooze button on that pesky rooster!?!) You are probably chuckling..." Cold?...in Africa?... are you kidding me?". YES, cold! I looked the thermometer the other morning at around 7:30 am and it was 54 degrees Farenheit. By noon it was back up to 96 degrees, so it is quite a jump. Roy was laughing at me the other day because I was complaining about how cold it was. With a snappy comeback I informed him that he should not be laughing because people can die from the cold, you know! For some reason that just made him laugh harder... CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? In the morning we can see our breath...in the afternoon we are sweating. It makes it a little hard to realize that it is the Christmas season, what with the warm weather, green grass and the complete absence of advertisements and promotional sales. What a blessing to be free of all of the materialism and clutter.
The semester is coming to a close, so the students are taking their exams. In fact, even as I am writing this, I am administering my students as they take their English examination. I wonder if we, as americans, truly understand how blessed we are to have a chance for education. Many of my students never got to have formal high school training, and those that did recieved a much lower level of education than you and I did. In addition to that, their education is done almost entirely by rote memory, rather than by comprehension. They did not leave school equipped with the tools needed to gain more understanding on their own. Whatever they managed to memorize in school is all take away with them. As many of them have completed our preparatory courses now, and begin to pursue higher education, they are faced not only with the challenges of going to school what is now their third or even fourth or fifth language, but in addition to that, they are changing from a rote memory method of education, to a comprehension method of learning. What a jump! Please keep them in your prayers as they endeavor, as adults, to learn how to learn for themselves so that they can stay firmly planted in the truths of God's Word. To add to the challenge, most of them are first generation Christians, and thus they have never seen Christianity lived out in front of them. Concepts like integrity, and being above reproach are unknowns to them. In a country and a culture in which right and wrong are based on your position, this is difficult. Abuse of power, and financial corruption are the norm rather than the exception... so much so, that the idea of accountability and honesty are more foreign than dishonesty. Please pray for these students as they attempt to take what they have learned and live it out in a way that goes against the current of their culture and even their own families. That takes courage!