October 2017

It’s hard to believe we only have one more month of working with our students this year. They have just received their 3^rd 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

working out a problem, i.e. a math equation. I often wonder how in the world they could possibly finish their entire test/exam knowing the rate that homework takes them. Please keep them in your prayers as they start their yearend exams very soon. They are tired and looking forward to their 5-week long December/January break. During this time we will continue to meet with them and pour into their lives, but more on a social and discipleship level.

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)

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