Dentist & Doughnuts

          This past Thursday we took our residential children to the dentist! It was quite the experience. It is located in town, in the Ntcheu District Hospital... not one of my favorite places in the world. But, the kids were beyond excited to get to ride in the car and come into town. However, Stacy and I decided to leave the destination a surprise (or we were to chicken to tell them... one of the two). They were surprised alright! Although we had a few nervous bodies, we didn't have one tear! They are pretty stinking brave. The dentist was very nice and good with the children too. At the end of their check-ups, the dentist's assistant gave the kids a lesson on how to properly clean their teeth. And of course, after we were finished, we brought them back to our house and filled them with Koolaid and cookies- so that they wouldn't hate us! After all, six of them have to return tomorrow for more work :/ We are working to schedule a time for the dentist to come out to EH so that our community kids can get checked as well.

 Looks like a beautiful smile to me!

 Poor Asau was pretty nervous!  

 Even our little Praise got a check-up. 

          In other news, we have had a challenging week as we didn't have water for over a week. We have been experiencing lots of blackouts/ power outages - many leaving us without power for 24 hours at a time. And we were also without Internet last week. These things are definitely convienences, but they certainly help our progress here. This past week has made me thankful all over again for my home! Convenient, as Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Having CONSISTANT water, electricity, and services like Internet is a huge blessing. Despite these challenges, we have managed to stay busy. It is often humorous to us how varied our tasks are each week. People ask me what a typical day looks like in my life here, but the truth is... there isn't one. There is not even a typical week. Last week, for example, we took a trip to Blantyre (to run errands and renew our visas), we did some painting, worked with the kids on their english, treated the entire E.H. campus for Scabies, took the kids to the dentist, bought fertilizer, and much more. We have seen God move in amazing ways during our time here. I am so grateful to have a part in this ministry. This place and these people are so special to me!

          On Saturday we held our third "Reward Day." I think it was a big hit! We played with water balloons, ate homemade doughnuts, and watched "Finding Nemo" to end the day. We were sad towards the end, realizing this would be our last Rewards Day to plan! The kids thanked us and told us how much they have loved our special days with them. We have seen great results in the attendance of our kids since we began this program. Last month we had 17 perfect attenders. This month we had THIRTY-FIVE kids with perfect attendance! We are so excited. 

This week we are traveling to Lilongwe to pick Cindy up! We are so excited that her time is overlapping with ours! However, I can't believe that we are only two weeks away from heading home! The time always goes so fast. Thanks so much for all of you who keep Esther's House in your prayers. We are so grateful for all of the support we receive on a daily basis!