Red dirt, white socks, and new books

In the land of red dirt, Monday morning anticipation was high as forty-eight children woke up and forty-eight children put on maroon and white checkered uniforms, freshly pressed white shirts, gray trousers or skirt, white socks and black shoes. They made sure their hair was in order, they had their snack and they were off. Many did not walk far because they live on the same compound as the school. Some walked a mile and even some came on motor bike.  All different ages from three to twenty- four. Some do not know English, some it is their first time in this school, and yet some it is their first time EVER in a school. Forty-eight children sat in the assembly and met their teachers and other pupils. The first day of school went as most first days of school. Crying pre-schoolers, because they miss their parents. Screaming pre-schoolers, because they saw a toilet flush for the first time in their life(they were afraid they would get sucked down). Lunch time came and the children went home to process the events of the day. That afternoon teachers discussed time table mess-ups and number of pencils needed. I would say that the first day of school was a success.

Praise the Lord! We have entered into our second year of school as Emmanuel Christian Academy. Praise the Lord! We went from twenty-two students last year to forty-eight students this year. Praise the Lord! We found a pre-school teacher just in time for the first day of school. Praise the Lord! We have gone from two secondary students to seven. Praise the Lord! We are getting so big now that we need a whole other building. We are using rooms for classrooms that are not supposed to be classrooms. God is good, God is faithful, and God has a master plan for our school.

This year we have senior 1, senior 2, and senior 3 in the secondary school- which, roughly translates as 8^th, 9^th, and 10^th grades.  The next two terms I will be teaching history, geography, business studies, and computer for all of secondary. I also am teaching study skills/library media, which I am actually really excited about. This all translates into nine different preps. Fun, right?!

Please, continue to pray for ECA. We still do not have all of our textbooks; they haven’t arrived yet. Some teachers do not even have one copy of their textbook.  We also are still in need of another primary teacher and another secondary science teacher.  We have two students that are adults, one is 21 and the other 24, please pray for them as they have a lot of challenges ahead of them. We have fifteen brand new pre-school students and most of them do not speak English. Please, pray for these students as they are scared and this will be a tough adjustment and please be with their teacher as she is also new herself. I can’t wait to see what God has in store for ECA this year!