Greetings from chilly South Africa! The mornings and evenings are quite cold here especially for us Texans who are used to it being quite hot. Houses here do not have central heat or AC so we are left fending off the cold with layers of clothing and blankets. We have been really blessed over the last couple days though as it has the temperature has been into the 70's during the middle of the day which has been perfect for the gardening we have been doing at Mokone Primary School. But, weather forecasts are a bit grim over the next few days with highs in the mid 50's, lots of rain and blistering winds.

Today we had a blast at Mokone Primary School. Kelly was able to help teach a 7th grade math class and will be talking with the 5th and 6th grade teadhers as well and likely assisting in their classes. The rest of us either helped prepare for the afternoon school program with the 5th graders or finished up the garden. We planted some potatoes, beets, and turnips in addition to the spinach and cabbage we planted yesterday. The teacher sponsoring the garden brought out his class and used the garden as an object lesson as he was currently teaching about life and how things grow. A few 6th grade boys will take over watering and up-keep of the garden. The food that comes from the garden will most likely either be used by the families of the children, the school itself, or a combination of the two. We expect quite a harvest from what was planted, God willing the growth.

In the afternoon, we started our afternoon school program with the 5th graders and focused on reading. There were about 40 students that we split up into groups and played word games based on a simple story. The kids had a lot of fun and were very eager to participate. We plan to continue reading tomorrow and math next week. At the end of our time with the 5th graders, we plan to present the Gospel and have the kids make Gospel bracelets (with the colors of the wordless book). Our prayer is that we build relationships with these kids over the coming days and that God will work through those relationships and through the Gospel presentation to bring them to himself.

Tomorrow, we plan to restore broken desks that the school simply locked up in a storage room. Eda will be presenting a message of Hope to the teachers during the afternoon so please be in prayer that God will give her the words to say and they He will move in the teacher's hearts to recognize that Christ is our only hope. Kelly will continue working with the math classes as the rest of us work on the desks. In the afternoon, we'll be continuing our after-school program.

Here are some prayer points to help guide you in praying for us:

• That relationships will be built and that God will move in the hearts of the young people when the Gospel is presented
• Wisdom for Eda as she presents a message of hope to the teachers. Pray that God will move in hearts and will be inspired not only to give their life to Christ, but to truly have the desire to invest in theses kids lives.
• Pray for Kelly as she continues to work with the math teachers and their classes
• Pray for rain. Like us, Cape Town needs it bad. Even though it will dampen our plans a bit, we are trusting that God will provide a way for us to continue doing His work
• Pray for Mokone Primary School, the staff, the West Cape Town school board and the Phambili project as they seek to improve the education and circumstances for these kids. God is doing some pretty exciting stuff with this school!

Until tomorrow!

In Him,

Alan

PS Pictures are tricky at the moment as they are a HUGE distraction to the kids. But, here are a couple that were snagged while most of the kids were in class.