Marcel and Kelly Boers: This is what happened in November and December!

"I'mmmmmmm dreaming of a wwwwwwhite Christmas ..."

Just kidding! The weather here has actually been fabulously cool at night and perfectly mild/hot during the day, that I'm actually NOT too upset to be away from the snow! We've already had a few Christmas parties and carol sings, and there's even a giant Christmas tree, Christmas music in the stores, and a SANTA CLAUS in the new shopping centre here in town! Despite the economic crisis, Lubango is doing surprisingly well in the "festive spirit" department!

So, I suppose I should catch you up on all the things that have gone down in November and December. With my blogging at an all time low, I hope to use these holidays to catch up on some communication. Let's start with MAF business first.

A New Family ...

The biggest news by far these past two months is the arrival of a new family to our MAF team! We are super excited to welcome Jez and Carina Simpson, from the land of the Queen (aka. UK) to the team, to fill the role of Program Manager. They are kind, enthusiastic, totally God-focused and bring tons of experience to the team from years in missions and business. They will help on the "non-flying" side of things, including administrative work, meeting with churches and government, and public relations.

... and Flying Discipleship

We also had a pretty cool week of flights in early December. Pilot Brent flew a few church workers/missionaries to the far east of the country, near the Zambian border. They went to go do discipleship training with pastors there, as well as Fistula prevention and awareness. The churches and pastors in the far east are very isolated and desperate for training. Two nurses also went to provide the women of the area with information about fistulas, an unfortunately all too common injury in childbirth here in Angola. Fortunately, organizations exist to help these women and offer them surgery at CEML hospital (see the Fistula Foundation website and Hope for our Sisters).

School Christmas parties ...

At the school, the last few weeks have been very busy preparing for Christmas! We had two Christmas parties to end the term--one for parents and families, and one for just the kids. The highlight for me was putting together a short skit about the Christmas nativity story for the kids to perform for their families. Everyone was very enthusiastic about acting, and it went super well (and was super cute!). The kid's organized their Christmas party with cupcakes, swimming, and a gift exchange.

... and a New Teacher!

The best news in these past few months has been the addition of a new short-term teacher! Elena comes to us from Germany and has helped fill the position we were needing most--a kindergarten teacher! She will be with us until June, and then the search will be on to find another teacher to fill her role. She is a great fit in the school!

And Then There's Family News ...

On the family front, we have passed through a difficult time and are looking forward to Christmas vacation and Marcel's parents visiting in the new year! Emotionally and physically, Marcel's health is much better, although work is still very busy trying to get all three planes up and running (two are up and functional, and the new engine for the Caravan is set to arrive early February for installation).

Ethan is in a very sociable stage, loving playing all day with the various compound kids and school kids. He also loves eating crayons, chasing the dog with his toy lawn mower (no, we don't have a dog, yes, we are dog-sitting one), and yanking the balls of the Christmas tree. He is now sleeping through the night! YAY x100000!