The Pressures of Change

Hello everyone,
first, my apologies for the gap between posts. I will try and write more frequently even if it's just a little note. First, I have heard the amazing church news! I'm so glad that Westside has found their new senior pastor. From what I hear, he's a great guy. I'm even more excited that my good friend Jeremy Duncan will be staying on to continue to run Unedited Spirituality and share teaching with Chris!! Glad everything has worked out.
As for Africa, it has been a busy past couple weeks. The students are studying very hard at the moment as they prepare for their upgrading tests at the beginning of October. These tests are extremely important because they need to increase their grades to be considered for university and college. Unfortunately, it seems that the stress of this process may be too much for some. One of our students, Fortunate has been seriously ill for the past week and a half. She has been vomiting and unable to hold any food down. We have taken her the clinic twice this month and once to the nearest town to see a specialist. At this point, the nurses and Doctors can't find anything physically wrong. She is feeling better as of yesterday and the current diagnosis is that the illness is psychological. The nurse who has been working with her believes that stress is behind it. I think we forget the pressure that these students are under. Not only are they studying (or are supposed to be studying) everyday, but they also have the added stress of the coming year. Fortunate has applied, and will hopefully be accepted to a university such as the University of Jo'burg. This means that she will be leaving her community behind. A community she has lived in her entire life. A community where her entire support network is and the only community she has ever known. This is an enormous shift for her. New friends, new culture, new routines, new everything. We are looking at getting her a counselor to start to process some of her feelings around her transition.