Monday at St. Hilda's!

Today we spent our first day at St. Hilda's School! We greeted the day with excitement and nervousness, not knowing exactly what we would be doing at the school. Mrs. Ida Bennett, the principal of the school, introduced us to the staff, who were quite happy for us to help the children with literacy. We were so thankful to have had a literacy training session in Fredericton from Julie Maston and Joanne LeBlanc-Haley - thank you! We felt quite prepared and comfortable with our books and games; it all came flooding back once we began!

In addition to our literacy work, God is helping to put us where our strengths are. Peter will be teaching science classes on circuits, Kurt is teaching mathematics, Susan will be teaching first aid to the teachers, and Anne T (who has studied in Mexico) is in a classroom with a girl who speaks only Spanish. We are all enjoying meeting the children (who are exceptionally friendly), and the kids are enjoying having new playmates. There has been a lot of soccer and catch, climbing "the giant" (Lionel), and the kids want us to take lots of pictures! The children are quite amazed by Natalie's long blonde hair (as is Beverly, apparently), and they are keen to show us what they can do.

We look forward to returning tomorrow! The school has several new teachers, and teachers that have been shuffled to take over new classes; please pray for them in their new transitions. Also, we would be thankful if you would pray for us as we visit the school each day this week, that God will lead us to ways to assist the teachers and supplement the great work that they are already doing in their classes. Please also continue to pray for Father Juan, as he rebuilds his strength in the hospital in the USA. 

After we returned to the mission centre, we had a relaxing afternoon of downtime before another wonderful supper provided by our hosts (Belizean chicken, rice and beans, coleslaw, fried plantains and watermelon - Mmmmmm!). Some of us had some reading time, chatting, basketball, and there was a rousing game of [Belizian] train dominoes before supper. After supper we debriefed on our first day at St. Hilda's, and had a meaningful devotional about strengthening positive Christian traits within ourselves, and asking the Holy Spirit to grow the fruits of the spirit with us.

We will write more tomorrow. Good night, and God bless!