Super Summer Summary!

Hey Guys! It's August already and this summer is FLYING past. We will be heading out to Bamenda next week to take part in a homeschooling co-op for the kiddos, but wanted to update you on the the last few weeks really quickly!

My classes at Ekona on Wednesday night are some of my favorite classes to teach. We have just finished up a series of lessons and will be starting a new one soon. 

My favorite students, I have to admit. :D 

For Carys' second birthday, we invited some of her friends over for a little party. Brittney always does a great job making our kids' special day very special. 

Carys loves to read, so the Bible story books she got for her birthday were much appreciated!

Always a big girl, Carys had fun cutting her cake for her birthday. 

August 2nd marked Carys' second birthday! What a blessing she is, so full of life and sweetness. For our daddy-daughter birthday date, which was the day after her birthday,  I took her to the zoo near us. 

SO BIG! 

Perla Martinez, our volunteer for the past three months headed out on the 6th of August. It was great to have her, and encouraging to see her dive into things wholeheartedly. She was a big help with school and VBS, and made many friends here in Cameroon. Please pray for her as she transitions back to the US of A, that she continues to grow in Christ and is a blessing wherever she may be! Go with God, Perla! 

PTA Meeting! The 1st of August, we met with some of the parents of the kids who will be in school this year. We are expecting there to be 16 kids! Wow! The majority of the kids are from the church of Christ here, with others children coming from friends and neighbors. We met with parents to discuss some of the costs that they will have, the books and materials that they need to buy, as well as our school uniforms. We also thank God for our Non-Profit Association, Hostetter Ministries Cameroon, being approved in time for this new school year. As the school is expanding, there are many expenses and needs for the upcoming year. These include:

A taxi for transportation of kids who stay far away. We are trying to sell Brittney's car so we can help one of the parents and brethren, brother Wilson, to buy a taxi to be using to bring the kids who stay far away to come to school. Some of these kids would have to pay about a dollar a day just for their transportation... this in a country where the minimum wage is around $2,00 a day. This will also be a help for Brother Wilson, as the taxi that he had is so unreliable that he has been spending more time working on it than actually using it- thus we achieve 2 benefits at once. Parents who use the bus service will be spending about $50 per child, but we still need to sell the car, so please be praying about this, as well as for the $600 we will need to add on top. School starts September 7th, so prayers for a swift result are greatly appreciated.

Arranging Classrooms/ Buying Chairs: We've spent about $500 to buy new (to us) chairs for the school this year (you can see them in the picture above). We also spent around $200 on improving lighting, and will still need to spend about $500 on more classroom furniture for the expanding school. Expansion is exciting, but also expensive. We are trying to pass on some costs to parents, such as notebooks, pens, uniforms, transportation, feeding... but don't want to charge fees, as we are a ministry and not a business, and don't want to be viewed as a business. Your continued prayers are always appreciated.

Finally, please pray for one of our students who just lost her father, Brother Celestine to Hepatitis last week. He was a good friend and we are sad to have lost him.

Once again thanks all! God bless and until next time!