Update in the life of Jenny…


Most Exciting NEWS Ever!!!
All of our Learning Center students accepted Jesus into their hearts <3 today! A day doesn't get much better than that. God is good!

Matthew 19:14- "Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.'"

And this is why I came to Samoa :)

LEARNING CENTER:
The countdown is on until the end of the school year. We end on December 10th! Only 3 days away! (This will be our summer break. School doesn’t resume until the very end of January). We have a Parents’ Day/Christmas Program/Awards Ceremony on Wednesday.

Practicing for our Christmas Program

As far as the Learning Center goes, we still have four teachers (thank goodness). We have had a chickenpox outbreak. So our school is filled with spotted children. The philosophy here is let them infect everyone so that everyone gets it over with at the same time. Thankfully I have had it and don’t need to worry.

Exams

Kids are still doing amazing. We just got done giving final exams and the kids did a remarkable job. They are so hungry to learn and are like little sponges. One incredible thing I learned this week is that one of my students is going to go to a regular high school next year! This is huge! She has never been to school before besides the Learning Center- she is quite nervous and has been teary the last few days about leaving us and her friends. But she is pursuing an education and her parents are letting her go- reshaping the priorities- education is important- (this came right after the mom stopped in and I showed her all of her daughter’s work…).

Temukisa and I :)

I am really enjoying my Social Studies class right now. I gave them the choice of what they wanted to study for our last unit.  They wanted to study the world and the countries. We have made “passports” in which they have to draw the flags and write information about each of the countries we study.  We finished Africa last week and began the Americas this week. They love hearing about other countries and seeing the pictures of those places as most of them they have never heard of before nor do they have any understanding of what life is like outside of the island. Their favorite things are the animals.

BEAUTY FROM ASHES:
I found out a few distressing things about the students and their families in the last few weeks. I knew that they were poor, but sometimes you don’t see the full picture. We have a few families that have no electricity. They use candles for light and that is why sometimes the kids do not get their homework done. Another family, the mom goes everyday to collect things from the garbage dump to try to sell. Still another family has moved yet again because she is a widow with many children and they have no money and nowhere to live. Currently, the church is letting the family  live on their land and the mom works as a cleaning lady a few days a week (which is one of the lowest paying jobs in Samoa). A brother and sister are separated currently and every few weeks we pick them up from different houses as they are passed from one relative to another to live. One family has left the school because during the dry season they need the boys home to help haul water as they have no well or water collection tank. One of the girls came to school this week with welts on her chest, arm, and even face from where her mom beat her with a switch for “being cheeky” and refusing to wash the dishes. Her dad had to intervene. These stories break my heart and it is the reality for these children that I love so dearly.

But despite all this, God is good and He is sovereign. We have had huge growth in the kids in every way. A church donated Samoan Bibles for every one of our students! We have written prophetic words in the cover of each of them about their identities and who God created them to be- “little love letters from God.” I was also able to have a sleep over party with a few of the oldest girls this past weekend. We of course did all the typical slumber party stuff like eat junk food, paint our nails, watch loads of movies and stay up too late, but we were also able to tell them more about God and His love for them, that He has a purpose for their lives and is with them always. They have memorized loads of Scripture and are able to respond to questions based on Biblical truth. They are continually growing in their ability to hear the Voice of God.

Slumber Party!

Can't have a girl's slumber party without painting nails.

BASE STUFF:
We have been having problems with our water pipes the last few weeks. The government has been trying to fix it but not very successfully. We have been without water on and off for several weeks and whenever the water goes out, we have to cancel school. We have had seven days off. This is a nice break which I needed; unfortunately, it requires us to get up, check if the water is on, and then drive around to tell the kids no school. It has also has gotten me very behind for what I wanted to cover this year-oh well such is life. (This also means we are quite stinky and have piles of dirty clothes- cooking and washing up are the most difficult- I have taken to saying I am going to take bucket as opposed to going to take a shower as we have to go fill 5 gallon buckets up with water from our water catchment tanks in order to do so.)

This is what happens during rainy season- your bedroom becomes a laundry mat...

While the water was out I got to sit in on the DTS and SOFM lectures :)

The Australian High Commission came two Fridays ago in response to an application for a grant that I submitted. They were incredibly encouraging and said that not only will they probably be able to get us the things that we asked for, but to redo our application in the next few days and add anything we might need. They also recommended a few other places that might be able to help us with some other things like a bus…However, in order to do this we also needed to get a letter of endorsement from the Ministry of Education. I have been trying to register with them since September to no avail- the lady I was working with no longer works there, they lost our paperwork, etc.. Without this, Aussie Aid can do nothing. Unfortunately, they still have not produced a letter for us despite the fact that I have hounded them which means that we will be unable to get the grant monies. At least, they are aware of the need now and what we are doing here.

In the last month, we had a DTS team from Kona, Hawaii here doing an outreach. They were very helpful in the Learning Center- spending time in the classrooms and loving on the kids and giving us help working with kids one-on-one. It was also a blessing for me personally to talk with them and have other palagis around. One day they made dinner for the base- fried chicken, pumpkin, cocoa samoa, rice, and vegetables- for me it was like a Thanksgiving dinner which I didn’t think I would get. So that was really special. I even made those at my table say what they were thankful for :).

Happy Thanksgiving! Anyone hungry?

Training from Kona-At this point we have put a hold on this as we do not know whether or not we will have teachers next year to train. Keep praying in our teachers. We desperately need this training, but unless we have teachers who are committed and with a heart and passion for these kids, we can’t run the training.

Kona DTS helping write in all the Bibles

DTS left for outreach in American Samoa

So long DTS boys

ME:
Thank you to all of you who were praying for me knee. It is feeling great. It was some weird muscle thing. Stretched it, massaged it, danced on it to loosen it up and it is pretty much back to normal.

One of my roommates left for several weeks to go to a wedding and graduation and the one on her DTS moved into a different fall with some of the DTS staff. This left me alone so my good friend Ema moved in with me. This has been such a blessing in so many ways. Our friendship has grown in leaps and bounds and we have just really enjoyed spending time together and sharing our hearts.

Faiuga, my DTS roommate

Ema, my new roommate and I

Ema and I- plain silliness

God has really been so good and so faithful. I was really struggling for a few weeks and in the last month or so God has really restored my joy and redeemed and restored things that had been lost of broken. Relationships have been flourishing, I have been able to start dancing again, I am enjoying teaching and being in the Learning Center. It has been good.

As I have almost completed a year here, I have been praying about the future and what this next year is going to bring- whether I should stay or if it is time to leave. It has been a very confusing and difficult road; however, God has brought a lot of clarity on things and is redefining my vision and purpose. Please be praying for me as I figure all of this out. If you have any words, encouragement, or thoughts, email me :) wendt.jen@gmail.com

COMING UP:
10th December- last day of school- parents come and see what their children have accomplished this year and awards
13th- 30th December- house sitting for a Canadian family who are going home for Christmas- they have a washing machine, real beds, big kitchen, AC, and I get to use their car!
Christmas- most likely in Savaii with some of the base staff who have invited me to come home with them
2nd- 15th January- Kona, Hawaii with my family!!!

A little bit of me time :) and I felt a little like a chameleon- This is what I will be doing in Kona (besides spending every minute with my family :) )

PRAYER REQUESTS:
1. A good end to the school year
       -Smooth Christmas Program
       -Opportunity to tell the kids more about God and His desire for relationship with them
2. Wisdom for me about the future
3. That the thinking and priorities about children and education would continue to be altered and transformed.
4. Support from the Ministry of Education
5. Continued growth in relationships with the staff, students, and families
6. Safe travels to Kona, Hawaii!

Samoan sunsets!