It's getting colder...

OK, so we are slowly getting better at updates again. This past week was the first week of our school assemblies, so thank you to all of you who prayed for the school on Thursday. Things went well, and though we had a few kinks to work out and some fine-tuning, all went well and the headmaster loved us and invited us back. This was our first time in this school and it was the only one in the area that we didn't have a pre-existing relationship with, so praise the Lord for this new school contact! We have two more schools this week, one on Tuesday and one on Thursday, so please pray that those go well for us and that we continue to develop our relationship with these kids.

This week we will also start our after school tutoring with kids we know in the estates. We will each work one-on-one with a new kid every day this week, and then repeat that schedule for the next few weeks, giving us consistency with those specific children. We also started our Bible study of Hebrews as a HOPE team, and are continuing that, though we only meet every two weeks. This past Friday night, we went out in the estate from about 10pm-2am to try to see who hangs out where and doing what on a typical weekend, so that we can begin to try to minister to these people. We will do this "research" for the HOPE team for the next few weekends, late at night, and then as a team, we will all try to figure out the best way to reach this late-night crowd, such as bringing out tea and coffee and snacks, and then starting conversations. So pray for this developing ministry, that the Lord will guide us interns and protect us as we head out on these late-night excursions, and then also that we would know how the Spirit is leading us to reach these older kids and adults.

I don't think we have written much recently about Colin, so I wanted to give you a quick update with him. A few weeks ago, his granny finally passed away, and though it was long-coming and somewhat of a relief, it proved much harder on Colin than even he expected. Since his granny practically raised him and was certainly the most important person in his life, he took it hard and hasn't known how to handle the pain. In the past few weeks, he has acted out his hurt and anger and confusion in a lot of the same ways he has in his past, rather than allowing this to push him to the Lord. We have tried to be there for him and direct him to the Lord through this, but he recently told us that he's having doubts and trouble believing the things he believed about God before she died. He left yesterday for England, supposedly to move there for a while, and start over, which is probably one of the best ideas for him, because he has so much here from his past lifestyle that he simply cannot escape. He told us bye and how much we meant to him and that he hopes he can believe in God again, so please pray for him as often as you can, and that the Lord will redeem his broken heart and show him the depths of his love for him again.

In other good news, John and I got two new bikes this past week that actually work, which will greatly increase our travel efficiency. We are both trying to join a local gym around here, if we can work out a good price, because we will need it as it turns to winter. The days are much shorter already, as it gets darker much earlier, and the fall weather is turning colder and wetter, which means less physical activity outside. I am already about to go crazy with the prospect of that, and am looking forward to hitting the weights and running this week, hopefully.

Well, I guess that's about it for now. Please keep praying for team unity, among us 4, and also with the greater HOPE team. We look forward to hearing back from you all through comments, emails, letters, packages, messages delivered by pigeons, very very large gifts, surprise visits, and anything else the Lord lays on your heart...haha, only joking. We do love and miss you all and depend on your prayers and encouragement, so please keep them coming. Until next time,
Dwight