It’s hard to believe we only have one more month of working
with our students this year. They have just received their 3rd term
reports and we are pleased with their results. We haven’t seen everyone’s
reports yet, but of all the ones we have
seen, everyone has passed the term!! This is great news and they are quite proud of themselves. One thing that makes
me sad, however, is that the grading system seems very unbalanced to me. For
terms 1-3, their combined scores account for 25% of their yearly grade. The
fourth term accounts for a whopping 75% of their grade. I somewhat understand
the logic that they should have learned and practiced all of the information for
the whole year and should be able to regurgitate it come exam time, but I also
know our students. They have so many odds stacked against them that it seems
quite unfair to me. In addition to this, none of their homework is graded; only
tests and exams. So they may work extremely hard during the year and finish
100% of their homework, only to fail their exams. Many of our students are
extremely slow when it comes to 
The numbers of students in our program varies from day to
day. Some days we have as many as seven or eight students and other days we have
as few as three. We find that if they don’t have any actual homework, they
really lack the motivation to sit and study. I am praying that through
consistency we can break this thought process.
We also have had space problems which has been a challenge
to our ministry. The government is moving people away from the street due to
their potential development plan for the informal settlement, so Piet’s mom had
to cut a bit of her land. Since this is where we meet for tutoring this means
that we worked outside during the construction. On the positive side, we have
had three more students joining us because they saw us sitting outside!
We are so excited to report that we have finally filed our
paperwork to hopefully receive our PBO status here in South Africa. The PBO
will allow South African donors to receive a tax rebate from the government. Although
the status has only been sent through for approval, this process has literally
taken us six months just to get to where we are now. Once we receive the PBO,
we will then be able to raise funds from businesses and individuals and grant
them tax deduction receipts.
I want to say thank you again to all of those who gave in
the last couple of months towards our ministry expenses. I’ve compiled a “report”
to help you see where we are at.
We were very blessed with $950 in donations from you. We are
thrilled that we were able to accomplish the following:
-school pants and school shoes for the two boys ($60)
-A month’s worth of groceries for Oketsa lunches ($72)
-Car repairs ($698 out of a $755 bill)
-Tables and Chairs for Oketsa ($120)
-A month’s worth of groceries for Oketsa lunches ($72)
-Car repairs ($698 out of a $755 bill)
-Tables and Chairs for Oketsa ($120)
The car repairs to our main ministry car was a bit of a
shock to the system, an unfortunate expense but necessary to continue ministry.
Piet has just sold his personal 2 seater car in order for us to buy a bigger
car to transport our students. As of
right now from selling Piet's car and other money we have set aside for this
purpose, we have just over $6000 (R80,000). The unfortunate thing is that cars
in South Africa are much more expensive than in North America! In order to buy an
older, but reliable 7-seater we need to raise another $2000-3000 (R20,000-40,000).
That being said, we are giving our friends, family, and supporters an
opportunity to give towards this 7 seater car.
As all of you who have one car know, it is a challenge accomplishing
daily ministry and family responsibilities with one car. We are confident that we
can weather this challenge and obtain funding within the next 2 weeks!
The coffee shop is also going well. We are still really
enjoying it and it gives our family a bit of extra income. We are very fortunate
that the coffee shop pays for Harmony’s preschool fees, in addition to our
water, electricity, and property taxes!
In our marriage, we are really making an effort to
prioritize one another amongst our busy schedule. There are definitely harder
days than others, but we know how important it is keeping faith and family at
the top of the list. Though our ministry is extremely important to us, we know
that we must take care of our physical, spiritual and emotional health first in
order to have a healthy and thriving ministry.
Loving Africa
The Bakers Four
The Bakers Four
