Pretoria

Hi there everyone!
Well, it's not so much Marlene in Motopi anymore as Marlene about Motopi. :) As most of you will know by now, I kind of had to leave the country as I didn't managed to get my visa extended/residency permit/waiver sorted out. It's a bit of a paper work story, but the point is I had to be out on the 19th of May, which, thanks to my parent's visit, was very possible. I kind of cut their holiday in Botswana short though (Sorry again!). Thanks to all those people who have been praying about my visa and for my work. You can stop now for the first, but the second does continue. I must say that I take great comfort in the knowledge that all of this is in God's control and part of His plan, not mine! :)
So yes, After doing a rather rapid sightseeing tour with my parents I evacuated and am now situated in Pretoria. It's a very different world and something to get used to again. We arrived with the cold, making the daytime temperatures around 30 C colder than I was used to! The first week was a bit much. I was really tired and reached a point one afternoon when I just didn't want to see or meet another person anymore. After 3 months (with only short breaks) of seeing pretty much the same 2-3 people everyday, and the few village people, this was a whole new (very crowded) world.
I seem to have gotten past that and was very greatful to go along to a small bible study group of other people my own age (a first in 3 months, not just the study, but the people my own age as well!) on Sunday night at my aunt's church, which was really nice.
Another exciting thing, which gives me some assurance that I'm here for a reason, was that i've managed to organise someone from that same church (Reformed) to translate my lessons into Setswana. It's really great because i know that Mrs Cronje is pressed for time and it would take quite a while to get 92 lessons translated if she had to do it all by herself. I've typed up the first ten lessons and they are being printed today so that he (Seni) can get started. So please pray that this will go well.

I was also very glad to be here yesterday as I seem to have gotten some kind of stomach bug, which left me in a considerable amount of pain. It was really nice being able to come back to a warm home (not a caravan) with power etc and just sleep for most of the day. I'm glad to report that it's almost completely gone now and i'm able to get on with my work.

I have to appologise once again that there are no photos. my memory stick is at my uncle's work as he's printing off the lessons for me, so the photos are temporarily stuck on my laptop. :(
but i'll flick some on as soon as, this time it's a promise!

Well, that's about that for now. Please continue to pray for the work as i finish off the last few activities and it all gets translated. I hope to finish it all in the next 3 weeks.