Well, we thought we were back on the internet. Now another month has passed without the internet. I don't know when will the connection be good, but I happened to get on today. It has been a terrifically busy term and now we are resting for a 3 week school holiday (although one week is passed already). It has been cold the last 2 weeks so the heaters have been running. We have been struggling with having enough workers. Too much work and too few workers, but there seems to be a little light at the end of the tunnel. A few workers have been hired and others shifted to cover open positions. Please pray that the Lord will continue to answer pray and send more workers.
Below are some pics of the children, mostly in my class, grade 1.

Greetings to All

We are finally finding our way back to the internet. Our connection is not stable yet, but it is on its way.

These are pictures of our house now after several months of clearing and cutting down. In the previous blog there is a good picture of our house 'still in the jungle'.

The Lord is helping things to make progress all around. Because of being in town we have sold the sheep and started a carpentry business. There is a skilled carpenter who is able to manage that business. This week they got their first order. We are thrilled that the Lord is opening these doors.

The school is also well into the school year after a late start. I am teaching grade one this year. I have 12 students and they are a big challenge. Pray for me as I work with them.

Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support. May God Bless all of you.

Sincerely,
Tabitha Cooley

Move to the Goldfields, Virginia, South Africa

This is a picture of a part of the buildings where we will have school, dormitory, church, cafeteria, camps, and more.

Possible new bakery location

Parking area and small picnic tables and chairs next to administration buildings.


Possible new classroom area

This is the house where I will stay with 2 other ladies, Nelia and Valerie.

Here is a bit from my newsletter:

Dear Friends

The Lord is Faithful. We have seen it proven now with our move. We have finally arrived! We now have a new address: P.O. Box 748, Virginia, 9430, Free State, South Africa. Thank you so much for all your prayers and continued support. This has not been an easy time of waiting. In the move it may take a few weeks before my internet connection is up and running again. I would like to share with you some of the Scriptures God has given us in this time of waiting for His promises to be fulfilled.

So now we are moving in and will be moved in by Feb 2, when we start school. It is so great to see how the Lord has worked. We are all walking around with big smiles on our faces. It is really wonderful to see how the Lord has worked.

We will be able to rent for the first 5 years, because it is complicated to sell everything. It seems one company owns the land and another owns the buildings. We hope that we will be able to buy the buildings, but we know the Lord will work it all out, and in the meantime, we can gather the money needed to buy the land.

Please pray for us as we work to get it all cleaned up, grass cut, some broken things fixed, and school started. It is work, but we are thrilled for the beautiful place God has given us to work for Him. Feel free to come and visit us. We will put you in the best of houses and treat you like royalty. We would love to have you visit.

In His Service

Tabitha Cooley

If you would like to read the whole newsletter, please send me your email address, and I will email it to you.

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.