Saturday, December 29, 2012

Current Opportunities at HOPAC

Anyone interested in joining us at Haven of Peace next year? There are many opportunities for teachers for the 2013- 2014 year!

http://www.hopac.net/opportunities-at-hopac/current-opportunities/

Opportunities

Opportunities (beginning August 2013)

  • Primary Principal
  • Primary Teacher (G3)
  • Secondary Art Teacher
  • Secondary Biology Teacher
  • Secondary English Literature Teacher
  • Secondary Math Teacher
  • Secondary Economics/History Teacher
  • Special Needs Teacher
  • Music Teacher
  • PE Teacher/Sports Coordinator
  • Service Learning Coordinator
  • ICT/Computer Teacher
  • ESL/EAL Teacher
  • Librarian
  • Systems Engineer
 

Friday, December 28, 2012

Online donations & address request!

We are not officially listed on the CRWM donation page, HOWEVER, if you would like to make an online donation, please visit the link below. There is a box you can click that says, "I would like to designate my gift to a person or project not already listed."

When you click that box, it will give you a place to put our name/mission. You can put "Marc & Gretchen Driesenga - HOPAC, Tanzania" as the information.

Thanks for your consideration!

https://secure3.convio.net/crcna/site/Donation2?df_id=5220&5220.donation=form1&JServSessionIdr004=36d2u5i9t5.app305b

Also, we are currently working on our mailing list for our newletters/updates and our first letter If you would like to receive it, please message me your home address at gretchendriesenga@gmail.com.

Monday, December 17, 2012

Spring Break 2013

Marc was able to meet with our Global Engagement Team (GET) from church last week to share our mission & vision for our upcoming move and work in Tanzania. He was very encouraged by being able to share and invite others to join in and partner with us.

The GET approved funds for Marc to take a vision trip to Dar Es Salaam and HOPAC over spring break this year. He will be going for about a week and will possibly be staying with the current Bible teacher and his family. He will get to spend time with Gil (Bible teacher) to go over the Bible classes and curriculum, meet with administrators, look for housing/vehicle and just get a feel for how we can best prepare for our move, including what we need to take and what we can leave behind.

I am so thrilled that he gets to take this trip and equally excited that I can stay home. As much as I am completely excited to move and begin ministry there, the thought of an 8 hour time difference, long, long, long flights and only being there for 6-7 days is not appealing. I'm not a fantastic flier/traveler, so if I'm going to travel that long, I'm staying put for a while. :)

So, who's going to come hang out with me and the kids while Marc is traveling the world?

Friday, December 7, 2012

Craft & Vendor Show SUCCESS!

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who participated in our Craft & Vendor Show! We were hoping to raise $1,000 - $1,500. We fell right in the middle and consider that a huge success!

My first fear: not finding enough crafters/vendors to participate
Reality: I had people emailing me up until the day before asking if there was still room. I had to turn a few people away. We had exactly the number that fit well in the room we were using.

My second fear: no one would come.
Reality: We had a steady flow of people ALL FOUR HOURS! I'm pretty sure the advertising we did was very successful and almost positive we could have stayed open another hour or two and remained as busy.

My third fear: it would be a huge failure altogether
Reality: We feel SO affirmed with how things went. We had AMAZING help by a few key friends and family members - thank you all for your incredible support and help. We could not have done it without you!

Shout outs to:
* Mom & Dad Z
* Mom D
* Sister Em (and boys)
* Bro DeWayne & Sis Leah
* Kelly B
* Reitsma M
* Jun
* Jenna W
* Denise M
* Mark & Rachael VW
* Everyone who made baked goods
* a few of my students and others from church who had booths and/or donated items to be sold or auctioned off
* all the crafters/vendors for participating and donating so many amazing items
* CRWM for getting our brochures/letters ready in time!
* Nancy M for donating jewelry
* Jenny H for donating an autographed book
* Chad K for donating cat scratchers

Really hope I'm not missing anyone!

We are so grateful for all of your support!

THANK YOU!

Stealing a post

The current Bible teacher at HOPAC and his wife have been at HOPAC for 10 years this year. They are leaving after this year for a year in the states and then heading back to Tanzania to work with a different ministry. They (mostly she) have a blog that I've been stalking. :) I read this post tonight & thought I'd share it. She has a way of describing the beautiful, awesome and meaningful aspects of life there, but also the challenging and heart-breaking parts. The rats and humidity parts get me...ugh.

We know we will experience both the good and the bad, the rewarding and the challenging, the beautiful and the ugly. We are confident in the Lord's leading and know he will be faithful through it all.

Enjoy!

http://gilandamy.blogspot.com/2009/08/whatever-circumstances.html