This week has been a little different, since we had 2 public holidays during the week, All Souls and All Saints Day and we decided to do things differently, by taking time off to clear out the 4 rooms we have at the back of the library. It was incredibly filthy and filled with cockroaches running around, which I was spared from, as I had language lessons.

We had lunch altogether and then proceeded to weed out the area with the student teachers, so we could enlarge the drains to prepare for the incoming wet and rainy season. It was quite some back breaking work to realize Iʼm not getting any younger but still nonetheless fun and to realize how hardy those weeds were!

A sink fell on Monday, apparently for no reason and thankfully, we didnʼt have any casualties even though there was a kid inside, moments to give praises and thanks to Jesus for!

Apart from that, we celebrated the birthdays of those born in the month of October, that saw one of the younger students, Bobo praying for Francs, which was quite a sight to behold :)

We played the blanket game too with the kids, which was really fun where the teachers themselves, ended up playing and screaming at each otherʼs name, which really has been building up the bonds and relationships among one another, eating, working and sharing faith together, good stuff!

With things being a little different most of the week, I thought I tried something different from a typical day of cooking, and tried to have some creativity with food too and it turned out somewhat Mediterranean, perhaps with the ingredients used, of long beans, tomatoes and fish and onions, it was gone quick too.

One thing that I have learnt over here, is often to throw away the “old” ways of doing things and to embrace the “new”, to forget about chord sheets when Iʼm worshipping and the recipes when Iʼm cooking, and to learn the art of redoing things either by the work of a vague memory and by refining it by doing it till you get it right, which has been fun in all ways, to realize how I have been limiting myself, not wanting to try new calibrations that at times, forbids me from realizing some pleasant and nice surprises, like this fishy dish:)


The weekend was spent, holding football friendlies with the youths of the Nazarene Church, because of the sheer number of kids who turned up, which was like most of the kids in town, we needed 2 sessions :) There is something about boys and soccer and it is a worldwide phenomenon! They came all decked out in their gears, jerseys and boots.

Just when I thought the “song tiao” was the coolest and funnest transport, come to Dili, and try this pick up that transported about 40+ kids off to the nearby Dili Institute of Technology! Of course the pickup here doesnʼt have as much pick up as the song tiaos, but it was crazy!

Sundayʼs match turned up wet and soggy and all it took was perhaps 30 minutes to an hours of rain to turn the pitch into some mud land! It floods here easily once the rain pours and decides not to stop and this was the result of a couple of hours of rain (the importance of drainage systems!)Yeah, where is the pitch? It is to the left of the tree where there is an entire mass of water and because of the lightning, we had to halt the game and head into shelter, which most of the time was spent feeding them water and with Tiger Biscuits (It is energy biscuits for a reason!)

In all, it is one of those “same same, but different”, another week but one of those week that seems similar, but yet so different (I wonder if that made sense), Iʼll end off with a shot with my beloved, special boy that I always end up smiling at secretly, when I am observing him, I manage to take a self- shot with him - Atito!

Keep the prayers coming :)

-Weʼre thinking or not to proceed on, to take this soccer friendlies up to another notch, where the word of God is infused into the friendlies. We are not too sure about it, so pray for wisdom how this may come about.
-Students/Teachers/Kids: Pray as you are led, Iʼm sure God is doing something in the lives of all of them.

Loves,
Joy Joy