Fountain Fun and Tournament Preparation

Hello blog followers...I have tried to get someone else to write the blog, but for now you are stuck with me. Today we started with a breakfast of sausage, toast, oatmeal, bananas, and passion fruit juice. Since Pastor Ken and Todd did not go out to Fountain yesterday we went again for another tour of the grounds and visiting students. But our first stop was to a certain grandma...Vicki, we visited your grandma. She is the sweetest lady and so thankful to God for all that she has. What a lovely home she has.  Before we could enter her home she had to sweep it clean. She also showed us her new toilet and bath. My mom gave her a kiss on the cheek and there were many hugs all around. She was so sad to hear about Terry and also had to let us know about her stomach pains (ulcers that Sarah S. gives her medication for). Her back troubles her a lot too, it's hard for her to bend over. But still lives her life with such joy in Christ! We then went to FOH, when we drove up students were picking up leaves that had fallen to the ground. Making sure the grounds were looking good for the tournament tomorrow. Sarah S. gave us all a tour again  and Todd and Pastor introduced themselves to the highschool classes. Of course everyone was so excited to see Todd again. The new boarding house is stacked full. They have now resorted to triple bunks and there is just enough room for a walk way space. It is packed with 128 girls on one side and 115 boys on the other. Their hope for the future is one more boarding house so they can have one building for boys and one for girls. Even though there are so many kids the house mama and papa make sure everything is kept ship shape. It is very clean and all the beds are made and kept just so. The one problem they do have is bed wetters with the younger kids. We are hoping to replace the mattresses that are really bad and then cover them with the plastic mattress covers we brought. They have a list of rules they must follow that are posted on the wall. The one rule I found interesting was that they are only allowed to speak English inside the dorm. I asked Sarah S. why.. and it just helps with the learning of the language and good practice for them. When it was time to go we went to the van and had to wait for the driver. The little kids were out of class so Sarah M. decided to get out the bubbles she had brought and blow them for the kids. It caused quite a commotion and kind of scared Sarah a little. The kids get so excited and everyone is trying to pop the bubbles and they were crowding in on her and kids were falling and caused a dog pile in front of her. She finally stopped so that kids would not get hurt. We will try it again but maybe two of us will blow bubbles and then they have more bubbles to pop. They love just being around us and holding our hands...they are so easy to love. We also handed out sweeties..what they call any kind of sugar candy. The kids love their sweeties! We then went back to the house to a lunch of rice and peas and bananas. Then the women sat down and finished sewing the 250 fishies that are needed on Sunday. There are still many fish to sew, but we will get to them. Marilyn, Sarah, Mo and I then went through all the tournament stuff. Making sure everything was in order and packed for easy loading in the van tomorrow morning. Our dinner was talapia and tartar sauce, mashed potatoes, chapati, pineapple, and beans. The food tastes so good and lovingly prepared by Monica, Irene, and Salivia.  We are also protected by a guard named Napoleon. He guards the house 24/7 and sleeps only from 6am-9am. I don't know how he does it. We asked what he would do if someone tried to enter the compound. He has a bow and arrow for protection. This evening as I sit writing this blog, Sarah and I are in our room and hear a male voice out side our window. Sarah said is someone talking to us? Scared us half to death. I finally said Napoleon is that you? While thinking in my mind...please Lord let that be Napoleon. It was...thank-you Jesus! He was telling us that we left the back door open...crazy Americans! He is so good to us, another gentle, loving person. Well, I will close and hand it over to Sarah, she wants to add some photos...that yes, I had promised yesterday:) Much love to all. Oh yeah, I need to make a shout out to my peeps at The Center for Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery...thinking of you:)

Beth