Hi, it’s me again!
What am I doing every day?
Let’s see. I am keeping busy by doing my best to keep the house clean, cook meals, wash clothes (and hang them) . . . I know, we all do those things no matter where we live. Right? Last May I started home-schooling Felicia to get a head start on K5. It was going well, but we were not doing it full time because she was also attending another pre-school two days a week. Due to our move and the season, we took a break for about three months. Once I felt like we were settled enough to get into a routine, we started up again 5 days a week even though other children were still in their Summer break. She was more than ready and truly is motivated to learn to read. We get more concentrated mommy/daughter time which I think, for the most part, we both enjoy. 
We don’t do a full day, but we are doing Bible, some geography/science, reading, writing, vocabulary, spelling, and math. Naturally, we are still in the very beginning stages of all the subjects. I’ve been tempted to start some music with her too, but haven’t gotten around to that yet. She loves to sing and seems to have the God-given talent to carry a tune. I’ve heard her humming the orchestral accompaniment that plays between the words of some arrangements that we listen to regularly!
I’m also presently teaching a weekly Bible study to two ladies. I began with, my 28-yr-old next door neighbor, the first week of December and, as of January, I also have another laday who is a 68-yr-old hotel receptionist. The days and times that we have our Bible studies vary.
On Sunday mornings, our neighbor’s son, sometimes comes over for a S.S. lesson with Felicia. If he comes, I teach the lesson, if he does not, Paul teaches for our family. Since we rarely know if he is actually going to come, I need to have something ready. At times, the S.S. lesson has been given on Wednesday evenings instead. At this stage we are still trying to get a pattern established. To help with that, I began to keep attendance charts this month. We’ll see if that helps motivate the parents to get their 3-yr-old to his Sunday Bible Class. I figured it was a good time to introduce the idea since the school year began last week.
Sunday evenings at 7 pm we have a Bible study with Victor, a born again believer who lived in the capital for years and was discipled there. At this time, we usually do some singing and periodically we’ll have Victor, our neighbor lady and her son here for this time.
On Wednesday evenings at 7 pm we have another Bible study with Victor with a singing time which may also be combined with our neighbor lady and her son. Paul is doing individual Bible studies with two other men as well, but they are not hosted in our home so they don’t affect me as much.
What have I been doing each month?
Our first full day in Durazno was October 1st (Felicia’s B-day) 2009. The day after Thanksgiving, we hosted a thanksgiving celebration (not necessarily traditional American though) at which we had 13 people. We took the opportunity to invite people who had specifically helped us with our transition to their city. On December 27th, we hosted a Christmas Dinner at Hotel Durazno and invited people with whom we had had some prior contact. Our purpose was to celebrate Christ’s birth and to formally introduce ourselves and our reason for moving to the city. We had a nice time visiting with those who came throughout the evening. Just to give you an idea, we invited around 75 people, prepared food for 50 and only 18 showed up (including us). All the work was done by 6 adults, three of which were family that came from Paysandú to help. I suppose I should give some credit to my nephews and Felicia. They certainly did their share of carrying food and helping with odd jobs!
In January we had an activity at the campground so that all the different ones doing Bible studies could meet each other in an informal setting. Wouldn’t you know it? After we had everything packed in the car and were ready to leave, our car wouldn’t start! This had never happened to us with this car before. Paul ended up going on the bicycle, while Felicia and I waited 40 minutes for a taxi to take us and the stuff. We still had a great time at the park and saw God work as a result of the activity.
The first week in February we did a VBS (1) at a plaza about 5 blocks from our house. We hosted a family of five for four nights that came to help us. It rained a lot, but God graciously gave us about 30 brand new contacts through this outreach. Guess what happened the next week? Pastor and Nan came for about three days! Thank you for sending them to us. Words cannot express what a treat it was to have them here with us all be it very short. It went by so fast that I had to keep asking myself, did they really come? Were they actually way down here in Uruguay with us? Make sure you get Nan to tell you about our encounter with a snake! The ladies here in Durazno ask about you Nan, wondering how you are doing and were very sad to hear that your Mom passed away. Of course, they wanted to know how you ended up getting out of Chile with the earthquakes and all. The third week in February found us in Paysandú helping with their VBS (2). Paul was asked to teach the memory verses and I was asked to teach the Bible lesson and help with counseling. God gave me the privilege of leading 4 young boys to the Lord during that time. We had opportunities to help in other areas as well. The fourth week found us back in Durazno doing another VBS (3) at a plaza that is about 7 blocks from our house. This time we hosted a pastor (my brother-in-law) and two adolescent boys for two nights who came to help out. God granted us gorgeous weather and an average of about 44 children over the course of three days. You can imagine that we have been working pretty hard on visitation now that we have all these contacts. This past Saturday evening we were very pleased that of the twelve children/parents we went to visit, we made contact with ten. Paul and Victor will be going out again in Victor’s neighborhood this Thursday evening.
Well, and March hmmm . . . last week Felicia started K5 at a private school five days a week (1-5pm), we are still doing homeschooling five days a week in the mornings, I had a two hour Bible study yesterday with our neighbor lady and this afternoon I’ve been working on sewing up some curtains for the kitchen. Last, but not least, for those of you who had not heard, Paul’s Grandpa De Kok passed away last week on Wednesday morning and the funeral was this past Saturday in the Rochester, MN area. This was the first grandparent he lost and being so far away was not easy. God’s grace is sufficient and his mercies are new every morning. It seems ironic that both David and Paul lost grandparents recently and that the funeral/memorial service was actually the same day.
More updates forthcoming . . .
In Him,
Jo Anna
Ps. 4:8
Hi, it’s me again!
What you are doing?
Let’s see. I am keeping busy by doing my best to keep the house clean, cook meals, wash clothes (and hang them) . . . I know, we all do those things no matter where we live. Right? Last May I started home-schooling Felicia to get a head start on K5. It was going well, but we were not doing it full time because she was also attending another pre-school two days a week. Due to our move and the season, we took a break for about three months. Once I felt like we were settled enough to get into a routine, we started up again 5 days a week even though other children were still in their Summer break. She was more than ready and truly is motivated to learn to read. We get more concentrated mommy/daughter time which I think, for the most part, we both enjoy. J We don’t do a full day, but we are doing Bible, some geography/science, reading, writing, vocabulary, spelling, and math. Naturally, we are still in the very beginning stages of all the subjects. I’ve been tempted to start some music with her too, but haven’t gotten around to that yet. She loves to sing and seems to have the God-given talent to carry a tune. I’ve heard her humming the orchestral accompaniment that plays between the words of some arrangements that we listen to regularly!
I’m also presently teaching a weekly Bible study to two ladies. I began with Jimena, my 28-yr-old next door neighbor, the first week of December and, as of January, I also have Aurora, a 68-yr-old hotel receptionist. The days and times that we have our Bible studies vary.
On Sunday mornings, Jimena’s son Matías sometimes comes over for a S.S. lesson with Felicia. If he comes, I teach the lesson, if he does not, Paul teaches for our family. Since we rarely know if Matías is actually going to come, I need to have something ready. At times, the S.S. lesson has been given on Wednesday evenings instead. At this stage we are still trying to get a pattern established. To help with that, I began to keep attendance charts this month. We’ll see if that helps motivate the parents to get their 3-yr-old to his Sunday Bible Class. J I figured it was a good time to introduce the idea since the school year began last week.
Sunday evenings at 7 pm we have a Bible study with Victor, a born again believer who lived in the capital for years and was discipled there. At this time, we usually do some singing and periodically we’ll have Victor, Jimena and Matías here for this time.
On Wednesday evenings at 7 pm we have another Bible study with Victor with a singing time which may also be combined with Jimena and Matias. Paul is doing individual Bible studies with two other men as well, but they are not hosted in our home so they don’t affect me as much.
Our first full day in Durazno was October 1st (Felicia’s B-day) 2009. The day after Thanksgiving, we hosted a thanksgiving celebration (not necessarily traditional American though) at which we had 13 people. We took the opportunity to invite people who had specifically helped us with our transition to their city. On December 27th, we hosted a Christmas Dinner at Hotel Durazno and invited people with whom we had had some prior contact. Our purpose was to celebrate Christ’s birth and to formally introduce ourselves and our reason for moving to the city. We had a nice time visiting with those who came throughout the evening. Just to give you an idea, we invited around 75 people, prepared food for 50 and only 18 showed up (including us). All the work was done by 6 adults, three of which were family that came from Paysandú to help. I suppose I should give some credit to my nephews and Felicia. They certainly did their share of carrying food and helping with odd jobs!
In January we had an activity at the campground so that all the different ones doing Bible studies could meet each other in an informal setting. Wouldn’t you know it? After we had everything packed in the car and were ready to leave, our car wouldn’t start! This had never happened to us with this car before. Paul ended up going on the bicycle, while Felicia and I waited 40 minutes for a taxi to take us and the stuff. J We still had a great time at the park and saw God work as a result of the activity.
The first week in February we did a VBS (1) at a plaza about 5 blocks from our house. We hosted a family of five for four nights that came to help us. It rained a lot, but God graciously gave us about 30 brand new contacts through this outreach. Guess what happened the next week? Pastor and Nan came for about three days! Thank you for sending them to us. Words cannot express what a treat it was to have them here with us all be it very short. It went by so fast that I had to keep asking myself, did they really come? Were they actually way down here in Uruguay with us? Make sure you get Nan to tell you about our encounter with a snake! The ladies ask about you Nan, wondering how you are doing and were very sad to hear that your Mom passed away. Of course, they wanted to know how you ended up getting out of Chile with the earthquakes and all. J The third week in February found us in Paysandú helping with their VBS (2). Paul was asked to teach the memory verses and I was asked to teach the Bible lesson and help with counseling. God gave me the privilege of leading 4 young boys to the Lord during that time. We had opportunities to help in other areas as well. The fourth week found us back in Durazno doing another VBS (3) at a plaza that is about 7 blocks from our house. This time we hosted a pastor (my brother-in-law) and two adolescent boys for two nights who came to help out. God granted us gorgeous weather and an average of about 44 children over the course of three days. You can imagine that we have been working pretty hard on visitation now that we have all these contacts. This past Saturday evening we were very pleased that of the twelve children/parents we went to visit, we made contact with ten. Paul and Victor will be going out again in Victor’s neighborhood this Friday evening.
Well, and March hmmm . . . last week Felicia started K5 at a private school five days a week (1-5pm), we are still doing homeschooling five days a week in the mornings, I had a two hour Bible study yesterday with Jimena and this afternoon I’ve been working on sewing up some curtains for the kitchen. J Last, but not least, for those of you who had not heard, Paul’s Grandpa De Kok passed away last week on Wednesday morning and the funeral was this past Saturday in the Rochester, MN area. This was the first grandparent he lost and being so far away was not easy. God’s grace is sufficient and his mercies are new every morning. It seems ironic that both David and Paul lost grandparents recently and that the funeral/memorial service was actually the same day.
More updates forthcoming . . .
Sweet dreams Sheri 
In Him,
Jo Anna
Ps. 4:8
