February 9th, 2015

Greetings to all

My calendar tells me it is family day in Canada...so Happy Family Day to all the families in my Blog circle.  It is 9:12 pm here and I am just relaxing after a very busy day.  Classes are going well.  Our student numbers keep growing as students somehow manage to find fees to pay their tuition.
Today I met a couple from the US (from Oregon) who are going to be assisting at the college to do some fixing up and also some fund raising (I believe).  They will be living on campus in a guest house.  Right now there is a team of ten people connected with Africa Works who will be working at our college.  The team are here for ten days only while the couple from Oregon are going to be here for a couple of years providing they can get their work permits.  That, of course, is the challenge.
Our friends, from both Canada and from the US are now appealing immigration's decision to deny their temporary work permits. When work permits are denied, you are never told why, simply notified that your permit is denied.  I'm trusting God for a better result.  I do know that the college want us here and in fact the principal has said if he had anything to say about it, I would have a five year permit.  However, we'll settle for a year at a time.  Our BOA (Board of Administration) of which I am a member ratified the decision to ask for an extension and so now it is up to immigration and God.

Wow! Time does fly by.  It is now Valentine's Day, so happy Valentine's Day to everyone.  Two nights ago we spent a delightful evening where we joined our friends the Allans for dinner and then an evening of fellowship and games.  Tomorrow after church we will join the Wilson's for lunch.  So, as you can see, we are not only busy with the work of being missionaries, but our social calendar is busy as well. We do a bit of church hoping, (Sorry Bethel) but we are trying to fit in as many experiences as possible.  This year I am going to be more intentional about visiting the rural churches.  A number of my students have invited us to their churches and so we are going to make efforts to visit those churches.
Right now we are waiting for an electrician to come to fix some problems here at the property.  We do not have any hot water as our geyser needs repair.  The past week has been challenging with no Zesa (electricity) for most of the week.  We do have this morning so I am trying to get the laundry done before the Zesa goes off again.  With this being Valentine's Day, if the electrician comes quickly enough, we plan to go to a near by golf course and play nine holes of golf.  The rates are very reasonable (no actually make that cheap.)  We can golf nine holes for $5.00.  We can walk the course and it is close by so that means if it rains (it is rainy season) we won't feel too badly having to walk off the course. 
I planted some radishes this past week and so am looking forward to those.  Radishes are not common here and are very hard to find in produce stores but, they are easy to grow and give us a taste of home.
We have managed to connect with a number of family and friends on Skype so that is a special treat to be able to visit in person.  It minimizes the distance between here and there.
I've included a few pictures I have chosen at random for your enjoyment.  The first is a picture of the grounds at our college (Yes, this was taken in January...please take note, there is no SNOW!!!)  The second picture is of the beautiful Bird of Paradise flower that is growing on the property here.  I remember fondly that my mom loved the Bird of Paradise flowers and so my thoughts often turn to my mom.  The third picture is of our little Makanaka (our semi-adopted little lady) and her brother Panashe.  They were at our home for supper and an evening just before Panache went back to boarding school.  Then I have included a picture of a common sight which we see often on the way to the college. We often see wildlife as Mukuvisi Wildlife park is on our way to the college.

Well, that's all folks!!! Till next time.
Love and Blessings
Marj