May 31st, 2011 Tuesday

Today I'm reviving my blogging with ya'all! It' s the beginning of winter here in the southern hemisphere with morning and evening temps in the high 60's. Afternoons warm up to 75-80 degrees F. Very dry and pleasant! June and July promise to get much colder, so heaters, radiators, and warm blankets will get plenty of use.

This morning at 9:15 my friend Kaye picked me up at my flat in Chelston to travel Avondale to pray and study with about 20 other Lusaka women: mothers, wives of NGO's, single gals...Zambians, Dutch, South African, British, American, German...all believers seeking a deeper relationship with our Lord Jesus and friendship, companionship, being prayer partners, and just plain ole "buddies."

On my return home, my two cats Esther and Mordecai came bounding from their hiding places outside, running to greet me! They're such great companions!

Here's a look at my weekly schedule:

Mondays and Wednesdays: I travel and hour and a half by cab to give morning devotions and teach a class of 12 adult ESL learners at our school in the south end of Lusaka!

Tuesdays: Ladies Bible Study

Thursday and Friday: Monitor and follow up on the reading program I introduced at a local primary school. Working in conjunction with another teacher who's funding the project, my job is to be sure the primary teachers are teaching the phonics program according to plan and that their students receive extra help.

Every other Saturday: I participate in Ladies Bible study at Bethrapha Baptist, one of our BMM churches.

Sunday: Attend church

Here's how God is using our BALM teachers at our main Lusaka location:

Phestus Mbewe, my partner, teaches every morning then teaches a late afternoon English class for men.

Alice Sithole and Jane Kunda teach daily English classes plus an afternoon tailoring course for women three days a week. Wednesdays and Fridays, Jane travels to N'gombe compound to teach an adult English literacy class at Tico Community School, where I also help out Thursdays and Fridays. Alice also helps me on Fridays.

PRAY for the furtherance of this ministry which is reaching out to southern and eastern provinces with local language literacy classes in Nyanja and Tonga.

Look for news in an upcoming blog about Peter Phiri's literacy trip to eastern province. He's also a teacher, evangelist, and conducts tutor training workshops.