Where to Begin....

Where to Begin....so much has happened since I last wrote you all. I spent most of the day at the Pemba Beach Hotel with some of the other lady staff. It's right across the street and it's a place for us to get away from everything and have a break (students aren't allowed to go there). We had coffee on the veranda, some lunch and went swimming as well. It was so lovely and refreshing.

Right, so what have I/we been doing??? Well we have class from 8am to 1:30ish every day except Friday, which is a practical missions day. The students sign up for an area here at Iris that's run by a Mozambican or a long term missionary and they get to help out and see what it's all about. They can help with the kids, gardening, the kitchen, finances (only one student gets to help with that), village outreach, babysitting for the base director, etc, etc, etc. Kyle and I are going to the hospital every Friday afternoon to hang out with patients and their families and to pray for people if they want us to. It's the same as in India in that the families have to provide for all the patients needs like washing clothes and bringing them food. We went yesterday, but the paper work that gives us permission to go into the wards hadn't gone through yet and so some of us walked around the property and prayed for people outside, while a few others walked around inside the property. The conditions in the hospital were a lot better then I had expected, but no where near what it's like back home. People only go to the hospital if they're really sick because there's not a lot of beds available. I am excited to see what will happen when we get to go inside the wards. During the last school some people went and prayed for the patients in a ward and then went back the next day to find that the ward was empty. They had all gotten better and went home! Thank you Jesus!

We start off every morning with worship and then have two or three different sessions in the mornings. Heidi speaks for a session on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Rolland speaks on Mondays and Wednesdays. Last Sunday Heidi's mother passed away and so she's been away this week. After she's with her family she's speaking at some conferences and will be back early November. Rolland left on Wednesday or Thursday for Korea and will be gone for a couple of weeks as well. There are some pretty amazing guest speakers as well.

As staff I have to be present for most of the classes and pray for the students during ministry time. My duties to help run the school are organizing all the worship sessions, graduation requirements (which includes making sure students do the required book readings, organize attendance for class and making a schedule for group presentations, etc), and I also have to organize the book reviews for students that can't read the books because English is their second language. It's a pretty full on schedule, but I'm learning to rest more as well. On Saturdays I have to take the full day off and I'm not allowed to do any work!! I really like how Iris is all about our strength being in resting in His love and Christ being strong in our weakness. I couldn't do this in my own strength and it's such a relief that I don't have to!

Well I must be off to bed, I'm going to try to get up early to do some laundry...yeah for hand washing!

Much love to you all,
Ann Marie