Trust meeting

 Well, I fell off the blogging bandwagon again, but this time I feel more justified.  After all, there are higher priorities than blogging, like feeding my houseguests, keeping up with the ever-present mound of dirty dishes, and keeping my house at least tidy enough that my guests don't feel like they are constantly wading through the flotsam and jetsam strewn everywhere by two energetic children.  :)  And that's what I've been doing.

Last week was one of the busiest weeks of the year here at Covenant College, because it was the Annual General Meeting of our Trust (the board of directors responsible for the College, the Farm, and the Christian Education Ministry).  There is always a lot of 'paper' preparation for this once-a-year meeting, writing up reports and dealing with the budget, etc, facing people like David primarily, but also a lot of logistical preparations, which is where I can find a way to help.  The days leading up to the Trust meeting were busy with extra shopping trips to get food and other supplies for the visiting Trustees, as well as things like plumbing parts for a repair which had to be done on one of the guesthouses at the last minute.  Then arranging to have the guesthouses cleaned (by one of the wives of Zambian staff members here - they really appreciate the little cleaning jobs which give them extra income).  And then stocking the guesthouses with all the 'stuff' to make their stay comfortable.

the Aucamp family from South Africa - Johannes is one of our trustees, and also lectures for the College twice each year. Their family travels throughout southern Africa in an army lorry which has been converted into a 'camper', providing training for rural pastors.

 The visiting Trustees were spread out between the 3 guesthouses, and the student dormitory, and our home.  Our family hosted two Trustees, Rev. Allan from Scotland who is staying with us a total of 3 weeks (he is also teaching a course here at the College), and Pastor Mbewe from Lusaka, who is an internationally-known preacher and speaker.  It was really enjoyable having them in our home, which gave an added opportunity for fellowship between meetings.

There are 11 Trustees on the board, and 9 of them were present this year (1 South African and 1 Zambian Trustee were absent).  There were 3 South Africans, 5 Zambians, 1 Scotsman and 1 Englishman, and then of course the local staff here - Phil (English), Marjanne (Dutch), and David (who knows what? :).  So a nice international flavour!

the meetings ended earlier than expected (Friday night) and some trustees left early, but here's a photo of the trustees who were still around on Saturday morning

our colleague, full-time lecturer Rev. Charles Zulu, and his representative from his supporting church in South Africa

Beyond keeping the 3 men in my household fed as needed whenever they reappeared from the sessions, my main responsibility was to provide tea and coffee to the Trustees during the evening meetings on Thursday and Friday nights.  I did some baking and served homemade oatmeal cookies and banana bread, which was well received.  The trickiest part was carrying over the heavy trays with big pots of tea and coffee, and stacks of mugs, from our house across to the College buildings after dark, balancing my mobile phone (with flashlight on) in my teeth because my hands were full!  At least my kids were sleeping peacefully and soundly, so I could leave them alone in the house for 10 minutes.

me sneaking in mid-session to serve refreshments

We also had extra dinner company on the Friday and Saturday nights, taking advantage of the opportunity to spend more time with visitors who wouldn't be around very long!  So I was really busy keeping up with all the cooking AND all the washing up in these few days.  I am so very thankful for the help of Dinas, the daughter of our staff member Nelson, whom I've hired to come a few mornings each week to help me with housework like cleaning floors and washing dishes, which makes it so that I can get off my feet.  I'm having to be very, very careful not to push myself too much these days, because I'm having a lot of trouble with sciatica and pain in my pelvis and hips.  If I'm on my feet too much, by the end of the day I can't walk.... and I can't make dinner from bed, so I'm learning to limit myself in order to still be on my feet at the end of the day.  :)  I am really thankful that Dinas was able to work an extra morning for me to help out with the extra dishes and hosting-clean up!

Marjanne giving an informal presentation about her work with local village schools

Did you know that Marjanne is a published children's author?  She is working on a series of books about life in Zambia.  This is her most recent one - another is just finished and getting ready for publication.  Unfortunately not available in English yet!

 In all we were blessed by a smooth Trust meeting with a spirit of unity, and we are very grateful for that and for the men who came from so far for this meeting.  We pray that the Lord will bless the decisions that were made and also bless the Trustees as they continue to work through various projects which will extend through part of the year.

trustees and ministry leaders (David - College, Phil - Farm, Marjanne - Schools) on Saturday morning