the students are coming the students are coming!! ...not yet... :(

9/19/2011

                So, we have been here nearly 2 weeks and not yet met a student,, which is normal b/c the school doesn’t start until the 24^th. I am glad we can early b/c the culture shock and the time difference are great and it really affected me this time compared to Mexico. I think it is b/c I don’t have many people to talk to. As a staff, we are 6, Nolan and I, the British couple that are running the school, a young man about my age (Pierre-elie) and a French woman, Christiane. The only one that lives on the base with us is Perre-elie. So, I am lonely for other people b/c there is a lot to do as far as practical t work and praying for the students, but not a lot of activities going on b/c there are no students yet. Last week, we prayed for them individually, that God would grow them up greatly in this 5 month school, that He would show them things and that they would learn to trust Him and Him alone more fully. All our staff training is centered around this and it is a daily thing for us as staff to pray for them. We have 8 confirmed students, which is amazing b/c last Monday we only had 5. God is really playing with us, b/c we also have 2 more real possibilities for students. One young man from Africa, (Cameroon) and another French man I think. Confirmed, we have a Polish girl, 2 German, 2 Swiss, and a French older man in his 40’s, an American guy (woohoo!) about 18 years old, and maybe the other girl is from France? I can’t remember exactly.  But, I can’t wait to meet them and I really want to get to know them.

                So, my duties as a staff are first of course the students, but the rest is practical work around the base to keep it going. I am the only musician in the staff (well, Ruth plays piano, but she has many other responsibilities too) and so I am the worship leader. We will be starting the students to also lead worship as the school goes on and I am really excited about that.  One of them is 18 and named Stèphanie and is a worship leader too, but I don’t know to what extent.  I am BARLEY capable to lead as that is a lot different than just playing bass, so here I go! In complete YWAM style, just going with it and doing the best I can with what I got. Since the school is bi-lingual, we have to lead in French and English, which I love, but I have a lot of work to do in order to actually be able to do that.  I only know one song in French! Hahahha, anyways- also we have kitchen duty I don’t remember how often, and cleaning duties and that kind of thing. I am also painting the wall for the welcome board, so when people visit the base; they know who the staff is, what the base’s vision is, and who they are.  So, in an hour we will resume our training for the day, pray for a few more students, and learn a few more things,

                                                                      so “tootle-oooh”!