Dearest Friends and Family,

Greetings to each of you in the name of our loving Lord and Savior, who does work miracle after miracle.

Bill and our house guest, Sue Wilson, left for Nairobi this morning at 8:00am. They will have picked up Sue's 19 year old daughter, Megan, a few hours ago at the airport. The three of them will return tomorrow. When they arrive we will eat a quick meal and then hopefully we will be able to drive to Meru Game Park for the afternoon and night and then after an early morning game drive will return to Maua in time for Bill and all of us to attend the Harambee for the Methodist Church of Maua. Thank you to the many people who so generously donated for the new church.

It appears that the rainy season has started as we have had very heavy rains the last two night and it rained all afternoon today. We are hopeful the dirt road to the Meru Game Park will still be passable in our vehicle, which is not four wheel drive.

It has been a great joy to have Sue here. Being from Irving, Plymouth Park UMC, the Assistant Dean of the School of Nursing at TCU and a tutor her stay has been wonderful and helpful. To have another American to share my joys, concerns, challenges, frustrations with and receive her expertise and perspective, well, it's been a lovely gift.

Of the twenty students we had accepted into our new class, Set B, nineteen have arrived. We have just completed the first two weeks of classes. I have had the opportunity to be with them this week and I'm impressed. Today in the Tutor's Meeting we talked about inviting another student to replace the student that has not shown up. Due to our budget, we desperately need to have 20 students. Please pray for that. We usually give the students 3 - 4 months to raise the money they will need to pay for the first year, Ksh 90,000 ($1500). This 20th student would need to come immediately and it is always difficult not to have the money before they start.

This past Wednesday we received our teaching assignments for Set A, Block II, which begins March 22nd. Also, Peter O'Jwang, my dear tutor friend, is at a 2 week workshop from March 22nnd - April 2nd so some of his classes for both sets were given to me. I am trying to be calm and positive. My first reaction was sheer panic but with your prayers and the grace, strength and wisdom of God, I will manage (I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!!!!!)

I am teaching a wide variety of classes from Diabetes, Congestive Heart Failure, Respiratory Problems (which is BIG!), advanced tests like barium enema, IVP and others that are not available here but need to be taught, nutrition, sociology, growth and development, the Nursing Process, anatomy and physiology, breast-feeding, etc. I did receive a morale booster today. Set Z, our junior students just completed their Block IV and did an evaluation of all their tutors. Sr. Mubichi gave me my evaluations this afternoon and actually I was afraid to read them since Bill was gone and I wasn't sure what I'd do if they were negative. Sometimes our students can be extremely cruel. I left them on my desk for quite sometime but couldn't stand it any more and decided to read them. They were very positive, all of them. They thought I had improved considerably which is good news as I certainly have lots of room for improvement. Four of the students said they so appreciated my love and respect of them and all the students marked "yes" to the "Respects the students" question. That was especially meaningful to me. If I can teach them what they need to know and show them respect and love, then I'm right were I need to be. Well, I so appreciate your prayers on my behalf. I could never make it without you.

Please continue to pray for my father's health. His pneumonia has improved but he is having much abdominal pain.

Thank you for your emails, support, encouragement, love and prayers. You are in our prayers.

In His grip,

Jerri and Bill

You can answer this letter at savuto@MAF.org

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