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.