Thankful for family!!

I love the Lord because He has heard

My voice and my supplications.

Because He has inclined His ear to me.

Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.

Psalm 116:1-2

Praise Reports: 

The kid's coloring

1. We are thankful for family! Since our last blog post, LaRae's parents and niece Adel came for a three-week visit. It was wonderful to have them here, despite all of them getting sick as well as a few of those from our family. They got to see some of the nice things that we get to go through and some of the gritty. When we lived in Senegal before LaRae's mother was sick with cancer, with the expenses and health issues involved in her treatment her parents were unable to come and visit us at that time. Since this was their first visit to Senegal we made sure to take an overland trip down from where we live in the capital, to the south where we used to live in Niaguis. We had a pleasant trip and enjoyed showing them a window of what our lives were like for 3.5 years. Family is a wonderful thing, we only wish we could visit more or have more visits our way. 
2. This year we have a full schedule of tutoring and substitute teaching. Boaz has been working more as a substitute for which we are thankful as LaRae has been suffering from boils and also has been wanting to be with the children more. LaRae is working with two students, both sixth graders and Boaz is working with five young men, four of them he tutors in English and one is just general help with homework. We don't always have everything we want, but we have just what we need. God has been good to us and is teaching us to trust Him more. 
3. The children are learning a lot and growing up so fast. On the bedroom wall beside me (Boaz) as I type this I can see some artwork the kids did for school the other day. What an improvement from last year. Lika especially has had a dramatic improvement in her coloring. It has been so much fun to see her grow and change. Her English as well has improved a lot to the point where we speak English more than French in our home now. Litsa informs us often that we should speak more in English which is funny in a way as she many times knows French better than English :) 
4. Our truck has been a constant state of praise and worry. We are thankful for it and it came at a good time and at a good price. God has been good to us and it is working now, though we have been better friends with the mechanic than we would like. 
5. Just before LaRae's family came we moved to a larger apartment. It has been a huge blessing in that we have been able to have more space for the kids to play, and for our things. Also, this new apartment doesn't have the same problem with mildew as the last one did. We have recently found out that the mildew is one of the key reasons why LaRae gets these recurring boils. With the extra space, we have been able to host a Bible study in English on Friday nights and have been blessed by our studies with friends looking to learn English. Our friend Sam, a neighbor from Niaguis days, is living with us and soon we will have three more occupants in our home. We are thankful for the extra space and the chance of living in a community.
6. With the help of friends and neighbors, we have been cleaning the street just down from our house. Our street is made of sand and gravel while the main road just down from us is paved. During the rainy season sand and gravel flows from various feeder streets onto the main paved road and has covered it in 6 inches. We have been going out with our tools to help clean up the mess, it has allowed us to make friends with our neighbors and hopefully will open doors to further work in our neighborhood. 
7. LaRae was blessed to be able to go to a women's retreat at a resort just out of Dakar. She was able to make friends with many other Evangelical ladies and was able to get some much-needed rest! Boaz and the kids made it through the weekend unscathed :) 

Requests for Prayer:

1. Continued prayer for LaRae's health. She has been suffering from boils a lot recently. The boils hurt so bad that she is unable to function. She is allergic to penicillin drugs, which kill this type of boil, thus making treatment harder. Please pray with us that we will have the wisdom and strength necessary to fight this scourge. 
2. We have been discouraged a lot the last few months. We are finding that we are good at creating ideas and not always so good at putting these ideas into fruition. Also with LaRae being sick and more work (for which we are grateful) we haven't had as much time this year to focus on the various projects we had hoped to start earlier. Please pray that we will see how God is working with us and that we would have the energy to accomplish the plans that God has for us.
3. Our prayer is to have a team to work with, partners with whom we can pray and work together. Thus far this dream hasn't come to fruition for various reasons. God knows what is best for us and has amazing timing. Please pray that we will have patience in Him.
4. LaRae is looking at possibly working for a local Evangelical school next year as a teacher. Please pray with us that she will make a wise choice and choose what is best for our family. 
5. Our truck has been a large blessing to us and we have been so blessed to have it. On the other hand, it has not been working well and we don't feel that it is possible to repair everything that needs to be repaired. Boaz is not the best at selling things. Please pray that he will have wisdom and courage to sell the truck and that we will get a good price for it so that we can buy another one that is in better shape. One thing we are learning the hard way is that in Africa things are not always the way they seem at first.
6. While living in Niaguis we were privileged to work with Jean Sambou, a Senegalese nurse trained at the Adventist University in Cameroon. He has since gone to the Philippines to get his masters in nursing with the help of many of our friends and family. He is almost done with his time in the Philippines and will be coming back to work with us, together with his soon to be wife. Please pray for them as they plan their wedding and as Jean finishes up his classes.