This IS NOT here in South Africa.
This is my family's tempting picture of a beautiful winter snow.
We are sweltering here in temps of above 90, and no air conditioning.
At the mission here, we have moved out of the buildings and are waiting for the word to go.
Negotiations are taking place for the new buildings and we just wait for now.
Keep us in your prayers.

School Photos

This is our learning center students from grade 2 - 12.

These are the boys separately.

And here are the girls separately.

This is the school choir. They have been doing projects to raise money. They would like to go to France and sing.

To the USA and back again

Well, I see it has been a long time since I did anything here. Sorry, but I took a 7 week trip to the USA to visit my family and the people who have been supporting me while I have been here in South Africa. It was a very nice, but short visit. So above is an updated Tim Cooley Family picture, and below is an updated Blignaut Family picture.

Here, the children are listening to a story and keeping warm.
This is the stove - if you remember - that you helped me to buy a few years ago.
It manages pretty nicely at keeping us warm.


My mother sent me a new leather coat, and I had to try it on.
It is wonderfully warm! Thanks, Mom!

The Birthday Month!

Birthdays everywhere!
These two girls have the same name and birthdays in the same month.
They are in kindergarten.

and many more...


and more...

and some more... These three girls say they are my children.
The birthday girl is the one not smiling, figures.

Here is Emihle, the birthday girl, and she calls herself my 'last born'.

Story links

Wow, two more weeks have gone by. Time flies so quickly. These are a few of the things we have been busy with. Sparky is with his friend, Trixy. They enjoy being together.

Here I am working on the 'new theme' for the next term. Two elephants are on the table. The theme will be about God's Promises, and one of the the stories I will use is Noah's Ark.

This is Sparky sleeping in. He stays in bed on cold mornings instead of going to school with me.

This is one of my girls, Tiisetso. She is washing my dishes for me.


Here are two links I have enjoyed recently. You can listen to oddyssey stories and stories from Your Story hour. It is really wonderful, since I have no Christian radio station here.


Oddyssey

Your Story Hour

Out on the Town

This is Aliwal North. We went there yesterday to buy our groceries and other items needed.

We visited KFC.

This is Valerie and Nono (Xoliswa).

Here I am with Siviwe (one of our students in grade 11).


This is Vuyo, she didn't get to go along, but she sent her shopping list.

Now you don't have to pretend anymore, they are airplanes.

WISE UP! some more

Here are some more pictures of the class theme for this new term. The owls add a bit of color, Faith. Also the name tags on the offices have owls on them.

This is the 1000s club. When a student receives ten 100% on his/her tests, then they are entered into the 1000s club. These students have made it in the first term. We hope to quickly add more names this term.

Trip to USA

I will be making a trip 'home' to the USA on June 16-17 until Aug 1-2. It will be just after the 2nd term of school is over. I am looking forward to seeing everyone. I will plan to visit as many churches as possible. I would also like to add that if there is anyone who would be interested in coming to South Africa for a visit, they would be welcome to join me on Aug 1 for the trip back. Seriously, we are in a desperate need for teachers. So some of you I will ask to pray that the Lord will send teachers, and others I will ask that you pray personally if God would want you to come and work here in His work. Below, I have attached a letter with more information about the mission work here. It was written especially to students and graduates, but there are such a variety of places here at the mission to work that really anyone can be used of the Lord here regardless of their education. Below is a photo of our congregation. Gideon Jacobs is the man sitting in the front. He is our mission leader.

Dear Students and Graduates,

I am writing to you with a special appeal because the Diepfontein Christian School, a ministry of the Smithfield Mission, is seriously in need of Learning Center personnel. Gideon Jacobs, the founder and director of the Mission, has asked me to write and see if there are any teachers or high school / college graduates who would be interested in serving the Lord for a year with us in South Africa.

We have a school, that uses the ACE curriculum, of about 60 students in three learning centers. We also have a nice computer room with 12 computers plus 12 computers in the classroom used for scoring. The school also has a boarding house in which 50 students live. All of the coworkers on the mission are busy in many different projects of the mission. Those projects currently include a bakery, a school, and a small herd of sheep.

For more information see our website http://diepfonteinchristianschool.co.za

We are looking for people who are dependable, committed Christians of good report who love children and have a heart for Christian education. They are not required to be education graduates, but will need to complete the ACE training. Thus, if they already have an understanding of ACE procedures, that is a plus, but it is not required. ACE Training would likely be easier to obtain in the US, but can also be gained here.

Here are a few items of interest to share with those who might consider this appeal. The Mission will provide accommodations such as food, housing, transportation, and more. You will be responsible to raise your own financial support for a round-trip plane ticket, personal items, and souvenirs. As little as $150 – $200 a month, would be sufficient for living comfortably.

In South Africa, school starts in January and ends the first of December. We speak English in the school, but other languages are also spoken outside of school. One-year visitor visas are relatively easy to acquire. The climate is comparable to Texas, but the seasons are opposite because we are in the Southern Hemisphere.

We will be praying that the Lord will guide and direct you as you consider our appeal.

His Servant,

Tabitha L. Cooley

Are we in the Jungle?

It has felt a bit like we are staying in the jungle this week.

Smithfield has been a bit crazy this week. We now have scheduled times of no electricity. The power company in South Africa is not able to provide all the electricity needed. So each town or city has to have certain times without electricity. It is as a result of not enough skilled workers and managers. This week we also did not have water during the day, cause they are busy trying to repair the pipes, but no one bothered to tell us why we weren't having water. Then on top of it all, we were unable to get on the internet Mon - Wed. There was a problem with that company. In South Africa those companies are monopolies so there is no competition to keep the service good.