To my littlest on your second birthday,

We seemed to have blinked and already you are two. The memory of your first few moments of life are still so vivid in my mind; laughing at the fact you were a boy…and a bit relieved too…and then instantly holding you in my arms and feeding you for the first of many thousands of times.

You have grown and changed so much in the last year. You talk up a storm when you want to and run all over the place. Your sense of humour is coming alive. You have such a unique little life here. Yesterday I took you to the library and you sat on the carpet with the youngest class as they listened to the story. I smiled as you were the only one sucking your thumb and yet, in just a year you could be part of that class if we want you to be. Then we moved on to visit the computer lab where your brothers were. The teacher guided you to your own computer where you played around with the mouse and laughed at the images on the screen. Then you ran down the the veranda and were greeted by more friends. I felt thankful that we can leave our house and in only a minute, be interacting with people around us. The isolation I struggled with in the early years of raising your brothers, is virtually non-existent here.

Last night as Daddy and I were cleaning up after supper, you wandered out of our backyard to visit your boarding sisters. You sat on the steps and greeted each one of them as they came for bath time. You were laughing and chattering away. Sometimes you need a little space from us to open up to others and as you get a little older, we let you go a little further without us. This morning you visited Titus in the garden like you often do, and then Bertha gave you a ride around campus in the wheel barrow. Daddy and I spied from the office door with smiles on our faces, appreciating one of the perks of living where we work.

You are surrounded by an incredible community of people who have become like family to you. Sometimes I catch you in a beautiful little interaction with someone and I’m thankful for this life that you have. I wonder if you will remember any of it. And one day when you return here, will it feel so familiar…the sights, the smells, the people, the language. Will it feel like coming home?

A few weeks ago I read the letter I wrote to you as I was eagerly awaiting your arrival. I couldn’t really believe you were coming and in some ways I still can’t really believe you’re here. Not a day has gone by over the last two years that I haven’t been amazed by you, the biggest surprise of my life. Like your name means, you truly are a gift from God. Your life is an unlikely story, but one that I am so privileged to be a part of. Being a mom to you and your big brothers is the greatest honour of my lifetime. Thank you for helping me on the journey of learning to be grateful for all of the wonderful gifts I’ve been given. Life is hard but is also filled with beautiful, grace-filled moments if we take the time to pay attention.

I love you my littlest one. Happy birthday! I’m excited to see what adventures this next year brings.

Love,

Mommy xo

It is hard to believe that it was a little over three years ago that we began to share publicly about our plans to move to Zambia. At dessert nights, over coffee, or between Sunday services at church we began to share with people about a little school in rural Zambia and the adventure our family was about to undertake there.

Now, three years later, that little school has become home. Our kids have gotten bigger (and a lot better at soccer). We have added a new member to our family who is, unbelievably, almost two years old. We have taken on new roles at the school. And just as we were three years ago when all this got rolling, we are so thankful for the amazing support we have received from family and friends.

Many of you know that our original plan was to serve here in Zambia for three years. Now, after much thought and discussion and prayer, we have decided to stay a little longer. We will be extending our term by a little more than a year, staying throughout 2018 and moving back to Canada in early 2019.

Although it is hard to be away from family and friends in Canada,  we are excited to be able to carry on the work we are doing here and continue to serve with the fantastic team at MICS.

Of course, our extended timeline means we will need continued financial support from those who have given so generously to allow us to serve here. For those who currently support us financially, we will be in touch soon to share with you how you can continue giving or, if needed, make a change to your support. If you are not currently supporting us but would like to make a contribution, please contact us at joelpercy@gmail.com and we can give you all the information you need.

Thanks again to all of you for your continued prayers and support!

We know there’s been lots of silence on the blog lately. Here we are, halfway through 2017 and we’ve yet to give you a proper update. I’ve written a few posts here and there that I never hit “publish” on for various reasons. Sometimes it’s hard to know what to share. It’s been an interesting season of life and I admit that sharing about it has felt like it required more energy than I had to give.  But we’re ready to engage again. Before we get to anything too profound we thought we’d start by filling you in on some of what we’ve been up to since we returned to MICS in January. 

Term 1 Inservice

We started the year with two days of staff training. Some topics covered were disciplining with love, how to use pocket charts (thanks for your donations!) and reading aloud to students. The teachers did a great job practicing reading to their peers.

 

Curriculum Theme

Our theme for term one was “Join the crowd, read-aloud!” Teachers read at least one book aloud to their class each week and we did a month-long home reading program for students. A large part of the donations I received from baskets while in Canada, went towards purchasing good quality read-aloud books and we just received another big bag from a friend. The teachers have been doing a great job preparing their read-alouds and asking good questions and it’s now a regular part of their weekly lesson planing.

Chapel

This year we are using the kids curriculum from The Meeting House and adapting it for chapel. Various people lead throughout the week including our teachers on Wednesdays and Joel finishes it up on Friday, often with a memorable object lesson and the occasional live animal.

 

 

Rain

We were blessed with a long and consistent rainy season this year. This means a good harvest for our friends, for which we are very thankful. It’s a beautiful sight to see the dry, dusty land transform into a green paradise.

 

New Jobs

Joel has debuted his teaching career, teaching math to the grade 7 class twice a week. It’s no surprise he’s a natural.

Reading Room

Anastasia Mungo has taken over my previous job and has been doing a great job helping our struggling readers. Whenever I stop by I admit I feel a twinge of jealousy as I miss working with students more, but I’m also happy to pass it into her very capable hands. Nathaniel stops by occasionally to brush up on his English 😉

 

Easter Program

I was more involved in our Easter program this year, helping to revamp the music. I taught each class a new song and they did a fantastic job at our two performances. I also led and participated in our teacher choir. 

 

Lake Kariba

Over our term break in April, we joined three other families for three nights away at Lake Kariba. We enjoyed our days by the pool, playing tennis and eating good food. We also got out on the water to explore the biggest man-made lake in the world and see the famous Kariba Dam.

 

Dates

Since having kids, Joel and I have always tried to be intentional about getting out for dates. This has definitely been a challenge living in the bush. But we managed to get away for two nights to Livingstone in early May and enjoy some much needed time without our kids. As an early birthday present, I enjoyed a 15 minute flight over Victoria Falls in a microlight plane. It was an incredible way to view the falls and I also got to see some elephant, giraffe, buffalo and a hippo from above.

Nathaniel

Nathaniel finally started to walk just days before turning 18 months in late January. As we suspected, once he took his first few steps he took off without hesitation. It’s made life more adventurous as having a toddler who walks in the dirt instead of crawling opens up new options. When we are working, Nathaniel is often taken care of by Bertha who helps in our house. They are good buddies. We’ve also been blessed with Amy, a fellow-Canadian who is here for the year. Nathaniel and Amy spend three mornings a week together and have a blast. (Special thanks to Amy who made our kid-free getaway possible!)

Caleb & Micah

The twins started grade two in January and have a very enthusiastic teacher who we hired this year. They turned seven a few weeks ago and it’s hard to believe that this is their third birthday they’ve celebrated on Zambian soil. Life for them continues to exist mostly outdoors, playing soccer, basketball and exploring with friends.

We are now well into term two, but we’ll stop here for now. Thanks for being patient with us through this quieter season on the blog and for your continued love and support!