Winter is here!

Well June starts tomorrow and winter has already hit the Johannesburg area. It started to get cold here about a month ago. I am prepared for a very cold winter. It is hard to believe that it is cold here when most of my friends back home in Florida are having very hot and rainy days this time of year. It is hard for my mind not to think that Christmas is just around the corner. Then I remember that it is only June and Christmas is actually 6 months away.

The last two months have been busy for us here in Joburg. Last time I wrote I told you of the children having a month long holiday (vacation) in April. It went very fast. At the beginning of the holiday we went to our annual meeting that they call a AMTM (Annual Missionary Training Meeting). We had a team of volunteers come from the States to minister to us through music, preaching and doing VBS with our children so that the adults could go to the meeting uninterrupted. Our meeting was titled For Such a Time as This. I am not sure how much I have shared with you about our company making changes. But our company is making some big changes and that means a lot of change for us specifically living in Johannesburg. We have had people from around the globe moving here to help with support positions for the continent of Africa. So for such a time as this we had a meeting that we could learn more about the changes and how they would effect us. The volunteer team had 2 preachers with them and they did a phenomenal job sharing with us about how to get a grip on our thoughts and actions while we are going through these changes. It seems that flexibility was the word for our family a year ago and it looks like that its not going to change any time soon. A lot of things that we were told were things we have already heard but it is nice to be reminded. We were reminded that God gives us a fresh invitation to the spiritual world. That to be in that world we need to be in the Word every day so that the Holy Spirit can consume us and that we can have an intimate relationship with God so that He can lead and guide our steps. In doing this we will be able to hear God's voice more like a trumpet and not like a whisper. We need to stay in fellowship with God to know His will. We were asked the question is God having pleasure with what's coming out of you? Are we complaining, whining, being a martyr, a cynic or a perfectionist? We need to stop blaming others for the problems and look for God's hand in our circumstances. As I said before these were such good reminders. There was so much more that we learned but you would be reading for forever if I kept going on. We met some really wonderful people in the volunteers and missionaries that we hadn't had the privilege of meeting before. We all had a wonderful time. While at the meeting we celebrated our one year of living in South Africa.

A week later we went with some South African friends of ours to the beach in Durban. It was our first official vacation since living in Johannesburg. We had a wonderful time relaxing on the beach and becoming better friends with the family we were with. We got to see a shark dissected and went to a water park and the movies and did some shopping in one of the biggest malls I have ever seen. A fun time was had by all. There are pictures on facebook if you want to see. The kids returned to school for their second semester at the beginning of May.

May has also been a very busy month for us. While we were at AMTM the home school books arrived for the next year of home school. We support 14 families here and we have been working diligently to get their orders for the next school year complete. It is quite a process. David has been working hard in the Treasurers office and on his school work. He completed a class (and got an A) and two days later started a new class which he has been working very hard at trying to get ahead because he will be having surgery on his right foot on Thursday, June 4th. Of course every one of the children has speeches to give this week and Emily has a major project next week. Murphy's law. You all were such wonderful prayer partners for his last surgery please be praying for a quick recovery and that he would stay healthy so that he can have the surgery.

June brings Micah's 7th birthday and of course winter. We are not quite sure what we will be doing for Micah's 7th but I am sure I will blog about it next time.

Praise/Prayer Requests:

Prayer - That we would be able to stay so close to God that we can hear His voice like a trumpet and not just a whisper in all aspects of our lives.

Prayer - that we would have opportunities to witness to our community.

Prayer - David's surgery June 4th

Praise/Prayer - David finished his last class and has started another. Only 3 more to go after this one.

Praise - kids doing great in school.

Prayer - that we will all stay healthy. With winter comes sickness and every one of us has had some kind of ailment.

Prayer - for me and my colleague Dee Ann that we would be able to get the home school materials finished in a timely manner.

Prayer - for those missionaries that have to leave their homes to move here and for those that are already here during the transition.

Prayer - for Micah on his birthday the 25th of June.

Thank you for your prayers and for your friendship.

David, Tracy, Emily, Leah and Micah Delac

Happy Easter!

Wow have I really not written anything on this blog since January? Sorry about that. So what has happened in the lives of the Delac's since January? In a couple of days we will make it to our 1 year mark in Johannesburg. Crazy stuff. Its hard to belief sometimes and other times it seems like we have been here forever. The children have just finished their first term in school and now are enjoying a month off. We had conferences with all of their teachers and they seem to be doing great. Emily received a diligence badge at assembly yesterday. This is a big accomplishment here. David and I are so proud of all of them. The Lord really blessed us with great kids. Next week we will be going to a conference here in Joburg for the southern section of Africa. We are all looking forward to this for several reasons 1) we missed it last year. 2) we get to visit with other M's that we don't get to see often 3) we get to meet M's that we haven't met as of yet and 4) we get to hear some great speakers and hear what other M's around our region are doing. At the end of April we are going with some South African friends to the beach in Durban for a much needed vacation. We are very excited.

In March, David celebrated his 40th birthday and Leah celebrated her 9th birthday. I get the fun of calling him an old man for about 7 months then its my turn to turn 40. We went to the Lion and Rhino Park for Leah's birthday (there are pictures on facebook). She took a friend and we got to pet a Cheetah and baby lions. It was a really neat experience. In March we also went on a safari in Pilanisburg. It was so neat to see these animals out in the open and know that its Africa and not Animal Kingdom (nothing against Animal Kingdom). You can also view those pics on facebook. I would put them on here but I can't figure it out. We also received several care packages in March. The Watkins family, David's co-workers from Ft. Myers and the Mother's Morning Out program at McGregor Baptist Church all sent us American goodies. We have been enjoying everything and are so thankful to all of those who have blessed our family.

David has started a new class. He is about half way thorough it now. He is taken Personal Evangelism this time. He will be finished with his degree in December. He has enjoyed his classes but I think he is looking forward to finishing. For those of you that have been wondering about David's foot it is doing great. In fact he will be having surgery on the other foot June 4th so you can be praying for that. We can't wait to have all of that behind us. Thank you for your prayers for the left foot.

Around BIMS (where we live and work) things are changing. I think that I wrote that our company is changing the way we do things which for us means that there will be a lot of people moving to Johannesburg and working here at BIMS. All of the Treasurers from across Africa are coming to live here. At this time there isn't enough office space for all of these new people to work so they have moved all of us out of the administration building and are building a second story. I am still working in the Home School room and we have had to move all of our books and things to a new office for the time being. That was quite a job. We are all scattered throughout the compound now. Please pray that the building will be completed quickly. Pray for all of those who are moving here and for those who already live here that are dealing with change.

In April, Emily will be turning 11. In fact in just a few days. We celebrated by taking her and a friend to an amusement park called Gold Reef City. (pics on fb) We had such a great time. She is getting older to fast. Micah learned to ride his bike last week. I know he's 6 but when we were in Ft. Myers we had to sell his bike before he learned and then well we moved to Africa. Anyway, he was so ready to learn and now he rides like a pro.

As I sit here and write this blog I am reminded that tomorrow is Good Friday and of course Sunday is Easter. What a time to reflect on God's sacrifice for me and you and you too. Ephesians 3:19 tells us that Christ's love is greater than anyone can ever know, but I pray that you will be able to know that love. Max Lucado tells us that it wasn't right that spikes pierced the hands that formed the earth. And it wasn't right that the hand of God was forced to hear the silence of God. It wasn't right but it happened. God did nothing while his son cried "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? It wasn't right or fair but it was love. Again, I pray that you know that love. The love that was willing to sacrifice his life for our sins. It is so humbling that God would do that for us. I hope you and your family have a very blessed Easter.

Prayer/Praise Requests:
Praise - The kids are out of school for a month and are doing great in school.

Praise - Micah can ride a bike!

Praise - David's foot is healing nicely. Prayer - for the right foot - surgery June 4th

Prayer - that we would be able to share the gospel with more people. That the Lord would put those people in our paths.

Prayer - That the new office buildings would be finished quickly.

Prayer - For all of the M's that are moving here and for those already here.

Prayer - for the meeting coming next week.

As always thank you for the prayers. You are such awesome prayer partners. We are so blessed by you.

It's A New Year

Happy New Year everyone. Welcome back to a new year of blogs from the Delac's. I hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas. That seems so long ago already. I think that I will start this blog telling you about how we spent Christmas over here. First let me let you in on a little secret. Yes, we live in Africa but Joburg is a lot more like living in the States than most of Africa. We have malls and roads and most modern conveniences. We do not live in a hut out in the bush. However, we do have friends that do, just not us. O.k. that said we had a pretty normal Christmas. The kids were out of school for 6 weeks. A lot of Joburg left the city and went to the beach for the holidays. Remember it is summer here now. It was very quiet here. The kids and I spent a lot of time baking and making Christmas ornaments for our tree. We had a lot of fun. Here they do not decorate as much. Most everyone has a Christmas tree but there weren't a lot of lights/decorations outside. Again a lot of people were gone. We do have malls here and they were decorated. The children call Santa Father Christmas here. He does the same job. Instead of going to church on Christmas Eve they go to church Christmas morning here. We had a lovely Christmas Day. We opened presents in the morning and had Cinnabons for breakfast. yum. Then we went over to some South African friends for lunch. We ate turkey and some meat they call gammon which tasted like ham. We did Christmas crackers. This is a gift that when you pull the strings at each end it pops and there is a small prize inside. That was a fun tradition. I made pumpkin pie for dessert (which they had never had). I think they liked it. We had a great time. The day after Christmas was a holiday here in South Africa called Boxing Day. This holiday is probably not what you think it is. Basically what you are supposed to do is box up your old clothes and give them to the needy. One of the big differences we have noticed here is that they don't have sales after holidays. The stores are usually just back to normal. Not like the States after Christmas. One week later we had New Years. It was amazing to me how many people told me Happy New Years but never said a word about Christmas before Christmas. Again difference in culture. We didn't really do anything for New Years. Pretty much what we would have done at home in Florida.

The day after New Years we held a home school family conference here in Joburg. A few blogs ago I told you that I have been working in the home school room. I got to go and stay out at a hotel with all of the home school families that home school in SA, Botswana, Mozambique, Madagascar and Zambia. We had a volunteer team come over from the States that did workshops with the parents while others were working with the children. Some of these parents have been home schooling a long time while others were just starting. I think it was a great benefit for the moms who were just starting out. I really enjoyed getting to know all of these families that we serve. David stayed at home with our children and on Sunday got a chance to come out and talk to the youth about personal finances. At the end of the month the home school orders will start coming in so we will be very busy trying to do the orders.

On another note David's foot is healing nicely. He had surgery in November to straighten out his toes. He went to the doctor yesterday and the doctor seemed surprised that it had only been 2 months since the surgery because the healing process is going so well. We will know next month when David can schedule surgery to do the right foot. Thank you so much for you prayers about this.

We finally got to go to the dentist here in SA. The kids went in December and I just went the other day. We were happy that no one had a cavity. Yea us. They do things a little differently here. The dentist is actually the one that does all of the work here. He takes the x-rays and cleans the teeth and everything else. There is a dental hygienist in the room but they just help mainly. X-rays were not taken on the children and I only had two. When he cleaned our teeth he used some kind of electric thing that sounded like a drill instead of the hand held instruments. It was a lot quicker and I think less painful. Anyway I just thought that might be interesting to know the differences.

The children started a brand new school year last Wednesday. On Tuesday I took the girls to book day to meet their new teachers. On the way there I asked them who they wanted for a teacher and wouldn't you know that they both got who they wanted. Even better they all three have children in their classes that they are friends with already. What a blessing. Emily surprised us by auditioning for choir. She found out the next day that she had made it and the music teacher wants her to audition for the marimba band. We will see how that goes. Leah also wants to audition for choir and join the Drama club. If you know Leah this is not a surprise at all. Micah is wanting to play cricket for his school this year. I am thrilled that they all will have something to do but it will be difficult to schedule it all.

As most of you know we are on Facebook. While on fb last week I was chatting with a friend who asked me in the last year what do I think is the biggest thing that God has taught me. I really had to think about that. God has taught me so many things but as I thought the one thing that kept coming up was this. Everything around you can change, whether it be your home, family, money, whatever but God never changes He always stays the same. Everything that happens is intended to bring us closer to Him. Amazing. Everything for us has changed this year but God didn't and He brought us here to be closer to Him. This year there will be many more changes. The job that David knows right now is going to change. He will still be a Treasurer but the IMB is making Joburg the Cost Center for Africa so we will have a lot of other folks coming to join us here. Things are changing and we don't know what the changes will be. We are standing firm in the knowledge that God knows what will happen. To Him be all the glory.

Praises/Prayer Requests:

Praise David's foot is healing well. Pray for the right time to do the other foot.

Praise the children are doing so well in school. Pray for their teachers Mrs. De La Rosh, Mrs. Raines and Mrs. Brennar

Prayer for the home school office as we are going to be very busy.

Prayer for the IMB as they make decisions and for the families that will be leaving their homes around Africa to come live in Joburg.

Thank you as always for your prayer support. God has heard your prayers and we have been blessed. You guys are an amazing bunch of people.

Merry Christmas

December already and I have so much to blog. So go get some hot chocolate and sit back, here goes. November was a crazy month. David had surgery on his left foot. For those of you that don't know he has psoriatic arthritis in his feet so the doctor went in to straighten his toes out. This was our first experience with the South African hospital system. Overall it has been a great experience. Before the surgery David didn't have to do any tests. No blood work, no nothing. He arrived at the hospital on the day of surgery and was then told that he would be 2nd in line for surgery. By the way they call the OR the surgical theatre here. I guess David was the star of the show that day. He went through the surgery really well and had to stay over night. By the time I got to the hospital in the morning he was already wanting to go home. After some physical therapy and an x-ray he was released. He has been on crutches ever since. He will be getting the pins out of his toes December 17th. We thank you for all of your prayers for him. We are told that he can get the other foot done in February.

As all of that was going on the kids were finishing there first year of South African school for the year. I am so proud of all three children. They have all done really well transitioning and were all rewarded for their academic achievements. During the last 2 weeks of November we had a very busy schedule. Here the teachers go out with the moms for breakfast or dinner at the end of school. I went to 3. It gave me a chance to meet moms from each of their grades. I am hoping that it will open doors for me to share the gospel with these moms. Here they also do something called Prize Giving at the end of the year. Prize Giving is when the children are brought together and are recognized for their achievements throughout the year, like an awards ceremony. Micah did not have Prize Giving this year but the girls both were recognized for their outstanding academic achievements. I had no idea what to expect so to hear both of them called up was really a treat. The next night Micah performed what they call a concert here with the whole Grade R (like kindergarten). Micah was a giraffe and man was he cute. He said a poem, danced and sang. Micah even had a speaking part. His teacher wrote a part in for him because of his American accent. One of the moms didn't know we were American and thought Micah had really practiced that accent. He was adorable and won every one's heart.

We have been on holiday since November 28th. We are told that everyone usually goes to the coast for December. Remember it is summer here now. We have decided to stay put but to go to places that we haven't been to here. Like the zoo and caves etc. We didn't bring our Christmas tree or decorations with us so we have been making our own. The kids are having a great time with this. Friends let us borrow their tree while they are in the US so that was nice. We have also been watching Christmas movies and today Emily wants to bake cookies/biscuits. She is quite the baker.

Being that this is summer we have a storm practically every day. Last weekend the lightning was so bad that it took out the front gate and the internet for the whole compound. The lightning here is vertical rather than horizontal because of all of the minerals in the ground and we are pretty high up. Every time it rains we have to unplug everything. Crazy.

The kids and I have started to visit a baby orphanage here. This orphanage has about 14 babies. They range in age from 2 1/2 to newborn. They are so sweet and my children are having a great time holding them and feeding them. We have been going for about a month and some of the babies have already been adopted. I want to take them all home.

Yesterday I was reading a devotion written by Max Lucado. In it he used the verse I have learned to be satisfied with the things I have and with everything that happens. Phil. 4:11 I have to tell you this verse hit me square between the eyes. He went on to ask this question. What if God's only gift to you were his grace to save you? Would you be content? Because from heaven's perspective grace is enough. Max asks If God did nothing more that save us from hell, could anyone complain? Having been given heavenly riches, dare we moan about earthly poverty? This put things this Christmas season in perspective for me. Just because I am a missionary doesn't mean that I don't get things out of whack. God came to earth in the form of a baby, so that He could grow up to save me and you from hell. His grace is enough and I have learned to be satisfied. I pray that this Christmas season you don't get so caught up in the shopping and parties that you miss the real meaning of Christmas. Jesus. Merry Christmas from our family to yours.

Praise/Prayer Requests:

Praise - David's surgery went well and his foot is healing

Praise - the children did well in school

Praise - We have met a lot of new friends

Prayer- for the babies at the orphanage to find good Christian homes

Prayer - for the salvation of all of these new friends.

You all have been a blessing to us this year. We can't thank you enough for your prayers. We couldn't do this if we didn't have your prayer support. Thank you and Happy New Year!

Spring Is In The Air

Hi guys. Yes I did say Spring is in the air. Here it is Spring. The flowers are blooming the weather is warmer and we have finally gotten a little rain. Last week I celebrated my first birthday in Africa. I was so blessed by my family and friends in the States, by the missionaries here, by new South African friends and of course by my husband and children. It was a very special birthday. Some people were asking questions about how we celebrate birthdays in South Africa. The answer is basically the same way you celebrate in the States. Children's birthdays tend to be a little more elaborate. I celebrated by having a spa day. With a massage, pedicure and manicure. Very relaxing. These things are a lot cheaper here than in the States. It was great.

Now that it is November we are coming to the end of school. Remember that we start the school year in January. It is very different to end in November. We are used to ending in June and doing all of the end of year stuff then. It is going to be a very busy November. We are trying to get Christmas together in November also, more added pressure. The children are all doing well in school. Emily has made a friend and this weekend she went to their family farm. She has seen impala and other animals that live at the farm. We met the friends dad the other night and he asked us a lot of questions about what we do here and about Christianity. We had a good discussion with him and hope to continue talking to him in the future. Leah has been taking guitar lessons with one of the missionaries that lives next door. She really likes it. She makes the rounds around the IMB offices, talking to all of the adults. A regular chatter box. They seem to love it. Micah is still playing Cricket. He is really quite good. The 3rd week he went to practice he got the trophy for best player. Amazing how fast they can pick stuff up. About 2 weeks ago he kicked a soccer ball through one of the guest house windows and has had to work that off. They really are just normal kids but have done so well adapting here. They have finally stopped telling us everyday they want to go home but we still hear it. We all have our good and bad days.

November is the month for birthdays in our family. Happy Birthday to Abbey our niece, Dad, Grandma Grapes, Andrew and Roy. David will be having surgery on his left foot on November 13th. He has arthritis in his toes and the surgeon is going to straighten them out. He isn't excited about having surgery but he is excited that his foot will be fixed. He will get the other one done in January some time.

A lot of you have been praying for me to find a place where I can minister. Well I have been working in the home school room here and am enjoying it. I have also been given the opportunity to go to Micah's class, all of grade 4 and 2 at the girls school and talk about what Thanksgiving is. It will give me an open door to talk about thanking God for all that we are blessed with. I also have an opportunity to go to a preschool that has poor children with AIDS and minister to them.

Since November in the month for Thanksgiving I would just like to say thank you to all of you that read our blog and that have been praying for us. November 7th is our 1 year anniversary with the IMB. We have been blessed by your prayers and have really felt the presence of God throughout this year. Our God is an awesome God. I know that some of you are going through some trials right now. Know that there is hope. Look to Jesus. He is still there. If there is something specific that we can be praying for you about please write us and let us know.

Praise/Prayer Requests:
Praise - the children are making friends.
Praise - its warm finally and raining.
Prayer - David's surgery November 13th
Prayer - for "W" as we continue talking to him about Jesus.
Prayer - Tracy doing Thanksgiving talks at schools.
Prayer - end of the school year craziness.
Prayer - for our colleagues at home on their stateside assignment.
Prayer - for the IMB leadership as they are making a lot of changes.

Have a very blessed Thanksgiving Day. Watch the parade for us.

Observations and Other Things

Well hello again everyone. Let me first say a big Happy Birthday to my niece Megan who will be 9 on Sunday. I have been thinking about what I was going to write this time. I thought that I would share some observations that I have had about our new home in South Africa. Keep in mind these are from my prospective. Mostly, I have observed that they do things differently here. This is neither a bad thing or a good thing, just different. For instance we were driving down the road the other day and they are putting a round about in the road. In the States we would stop traffic one way and let the other lane go then switch. Here they make you detour through a field. This has happened to us a few times now. Interesting. Also, instead of mowing the grass on the side of the highway they burn it here. David and I refer to this as African mowing. The best part is there is no one around to make sure it doesn't burn out of control. Traffic is very interesting here. You do not stop for a stop sign here. You do a rolling stop in most cases, unless there is someone turning in front of you then you stop. Motorcyclists basically can drive anywhere and however they want too. They are scary. Most all service jobs (waiter, cashier, petrol station attendants ect. ) are black. If there is a white person working there it is usually the manager. Here are some observations I really like. When you go to get petrol (gas) it is still full service. They put the petrol in and wash your windows. That is cool. Also, I haven't seen any nurses in doctors offices. The doctor comes and gets you (on time) and takes you to his/her office where he/she talks to you first then does the exam then talks to you again. He/she will then give you his/her number to call if there are any problems. Very cool. Since our crate finally arrived I have been able to cook more of the things we like to eat. Sometimes there will be an ingredient or 2 that I can't find here. What I usually find out is that they have it they just call it something else. That is a good time to have South African friends. Most of the time they can help me find it. There are still things that we can't find here (Dr. Pepper, Raisin Bran, Pumpkin Pie scent Yankee Candles, Smarties, yellow rice, Kraft mac n cheese - the kind with the velveeta) o.k. I'm getting hungry now. The other day I found a box of Frosted Shredded Wheat in the grocery store. It would have cost me $10 for that box of cereal. No thanks, I think I'll pass. Some things you find at the grocery store that you have been searching for and you buy all of it because you don't know if you will ever find it again. Leah found refried beans for me the other day. I bought 7 cans. I have been searching for those practically since we got here. I'm still searching for plain Fritos. They have every flavor Frito imaginable but not plain. I have been told South Africans don't like plain. Go figure. So I continue my search. I hope this helps you understand a little bit of what goes on around here.

On the last blog I wrote that I was going to start working in the Home School room. Well I have been doing that. There is already a HS room set up in Kenya and now we are setting up one here. It is a resource room where all of our home school families can come to or order their books/supplies from. Right now we are in the process of inputting all of the books that are currently in the room. So right now I am a Librarian. I know there are a lot of home school friends out there. I would love to know more about the different curriculum's. Please e-mail me and let me know what you are using and what has worked and not worked. That would help me immensely since I have never home schooled. The children are in school. All seem to be doing well. Emily has a tutor for Africaans. This is the language the white South Africans speak. She is doing well and I am jealous. She picks it up so fast. She just came back from church camp last weekend. She had a great time and even climbed up a mountain a 5 am. Go Emi. Micah has started Cricket. He absolutely loves it. We bought him a cricket bat yesterday and he can hardly wait for practice on Monday. We are looking into speech/drama lessons for Leah. We think she would do very well at that. David is still plugging along with his schooling. Doing quite well. It is very hard to juggle work, school and a family but he is doing brilliantly. (I'm learning South African lingo). Yesterday was Heritage Day here. No one seems to know what they are supposed to be celebrating because apparently it is a new holiday. I did hear it called National Braii Day (a braii is a bar-b-que) We had a braii with our cell group. It was a lot of fun. They are a great group of people. I was just thinking that writing these blogs is a lot like writing a Christmas letter every month. It is hard to know what you want to hear from us. If there is something in particular you are wondering about please don't hesitate to ask.

Here are some things that you can help us pray about.
Praise: Everyone is healthy and happy.

Prayer: For the IMB leaders and trustees.

Prayer: for a lady named Patrizia. We literally ran into each other the other day and I feel it was a divine appointment.

Prayer: for our family still going through changes.

Thank you for your support. We couldn't be here without your prayers. You are all awesome. Cheers hey!

Happy September!

I can't believe it is already September. Wow, how time flies. The big news is WE GOT OUR CRATE! Can you tell I am a little bit excited? The crate arrived last Thursday. I got it unpacked in about 4 hours. There were no breaks and only one thing was missing. (Micah's comforter). I think the sticker fell off of it and they just didn't put it in the crate. But all is good. I finally got all of my kitchen things so last night I mad homemade spaghetti sauce for the first time. It was pretty good. I even made enough to freeze. The kids are excited that they got their toys. It was like Christmas here. Friday we left for the coast for our clusters Spiritual Retreat. It was so much fun meeting new missionaries working in South Africa. The kids met new friends and a volunteer team came from California to help with the children. After the retreat our family spent some time by the Indian Ocean. It was fun and relaxing but the weather didn't want to cooperate. We did get some time on the beach but it was windy and cold for the kids. We did get to see so whales from our balcony so that was fun. They told us that the whales are migrating to Cape Town for the summer and that is why they are so close to the shore. It was an awesome sight to see God's creation. The Indian Ocean is a lot like I imagine the California coast is like. It has huge waves and rocks. Coming home we got to go back along the coast and then through mountains. It is a long drive but very pretty. It is hard to believe sometimes that we are driving through Africa when you are driving down the highway and then you see the squatter camps on the side of the road and you know that you aren't at home anymore. These houses are shacks made out of tin with dirt floors. They are smaller than the sheds people have in their backyards. There are hundreds of houses together in these camps and it just breaks your heart to think that people actually live in these places.

The children have been out of school for the month of August. We have had fun. I think they are ready to go back to school. They will still be in the same grade until January because that is when the school year starts. The girls are a bit upset that their friends back home got to move to the next grade already. They all had to get summer uniforms for this semester. Unfortunately we just had a cold front come in last night so the girls may freeze. It is 34 F here today. David finished his class (he got a A) and has already started his next class. He is doing so well and I am so proud of him. He is really enjoying his job as Treasurer here. He got to put some faces with names at the retreat so that was good.

I am going to start helping out with our home schooling room here. No, I do not home school but I was a teacher so I offered my services and they need the help. I am very excited about helping. I am trying to find ways share the gospel with the neighborhood that we live around. It is hard because all of the homes have walls and barbed wire around them. We will have to be very innovative.

We miss you all and thank you so much for your prayers. If you have questions or just want to chat with us you can e-mail us tracy_delac@yahoo.com or david_delac.com or get on Facebook. We are both on there. I have just uploaded pictures there.

Praise/Prayer Requests:

Praise - we got our crate.

Praise - Congratulations to the Emory's and the Garner's for the birth of their children.

Prayer - that the children would not tell us every day that they want to go back to America.

Prayer- that we would be able to start a ministry in the neighborhood.

Prayer - for our colleaques that are out on the field in tough conditions.

Prayer - for David as he is starting a new class.