The Good and the Sad

The past weekend was a rather interesting one. It was my weekend off, so after lunch on Saturday I was free to do as I pleased until breakfast on Monday. I have begun working with a group of kids in a village called Kazomba (I think that's what it's called) which is not too far from Kalene Hospital. The parents of the children I'm working with are very good friends with my parents. Hannah Garcia joins me on our Saturdays off and we go out to the village and work on English/ reading and math skills specifically with the two youngest as we would like to be able to get them enrolled at Sakeji next year. However the older 3 are always hanging about as well and enjoy taking part. This week when we arrived it was obvious word had gotten around that we were coming because there was a lot of cheerful youngsters chasing the truck down the lane. They all joined in our "class" which ended up being somewhere around 15 children ages 2 -15+. It's kind of like teaching in a one-room schoolhouse. only this was a very small livingroom. I think next time we'll have to sit outside under the trees! It's a lot more of a relaxed atmostphere then my school classroom and the children come and go as they please. After a few hours there we packed up and headed to Kalene hospital as there was a special "Jubilee Tea" planned in honour of the Queen of England's diamond Jubilee. The hosts had gone out of their way to make it a fun and special evening. Of course when we arrived we were served tea and shown to the buffet table which was full of scrumptious "British" fare such as cucumber sandwiches, triffle and little cupcakes with the Union Jack on them. We were divided into teams based on the Common Wealth country we came from. Hannah felt a little out of place, being American. We had missed the physical games (such as tug-of-war) but were there in time for the 'mental' games. Of course in the end England won (it would have been a shame if they hadn't as most of the questions were about their country!). Sadly Canada came in third, but then, we're used to not winning at Olympic events, so we took it quite well. :) Just as we were preparing to leave a phone call came in with some very disturbing news. A missionary plane was seen floating upside down in the Zambezi River! After much telephoning between mission stations and prayer we got most of the story. A new young missionary pilot, stationed at Chitokoloki Mission Hospital had crashed into the river. This really shook us all up. We didn't get all the details until yesterday evening. I won't write them all now, but if you look on the Chit website http://www.chitokoloki.com there is an update on Jay and Katrina Erickson. Please pray for their family at this time of loss. Although it is a great tragedy for us left behind, they are rejoicing with their Lord and Saviour in heaven and for that we give the glory and praise to God. It was a great reminder to us all that life is short and can be over in the blink of an eye. We need get right with God and make each and every day count for His glory and honour!