Hospitality Night and Other Things

Sue says:

Graduation will take place in about about three and a half months, but Friday was the night the faculty members invited graduating students and their families for a meal. We hosted this family from the Solomon Islands. They  have added much to the college community through leading in worshiping the Lord through song.

Papa Josiah is a pastor who has been equipped to preach and teach even better than he had before. He was in my Christian counseling class and a number of Jeff's classes. He's in our cell group this year too. He recently was blessed by a class on Youth Ministry that has enabled him to understand the needs of his own kids in a new light.

Mama Esther was in my pidgin class when they first arrived four years ago. Now she speaks pidgin better than I do, and she has also learned to read and write. She sews skillfully too. She sewed all the dresses for the graduating women last year and new curtains for our guest house. Esther will receive a women's ministry certificate.

In other news, Jeff is continuing to work on a water filter. Students have assisted him by sieving gravel to get fine sand needed to filter out impurities from water. This week he hopes to assemble his filter on a permanent  site and begin trying it out. 

Also on the subject of water, the Lord has blessed us with rain two nights in a row. Tonight a heavy rain like we haven't heard in a long time is falling. I have been able to move nursery seedlings of  lettuce to our garden recently. They like being shaded by banana trees next to them. Lettuce isn't available at local markets because nationals don't eat it much. Growing it myself ensures a supply. What a blessing to have this rain on the transplants.

It sounds like our water tank will be full tomorrow. The students must be praising the Lord that they won't need to stand in a central line with buckets to receive their water rations. When tanks are full, the students receive their water supply at their individual villages.