and welcome to the May blog! Rain is back in our lives! It has not, however, come as yet for the longer periods of time associated with the Wet season. We are out of our drought though! Thank you, Lord. Most of the farmers at Belair P.C. are looking for much more rain, as soon as possible, so they may get on with the business of crop planting. Dannie's hedge, bushes and corn at the manse could also do with some good soakings! Needless to say, the heat and humidity are still very high and we would both give a good deal for some old fashioned grey Ontario spring skies with no sun and a cool wind! What else do we dream about? A BBQ with sizzling sirloin, mushrooms lightly poached in butter, new potatoes and fresh sweet corn?The Prime Minister, the Hon. Tillman Thomas came to
MacDonald on the 6th of May to take part in an Assembly. He gave what might be considered an electioneering speech to the pupils and staff. He made the point that a great deal of Grenada's issues were due to the lack of good old fashioned family values and that his Government was going to introduce the teaching of the "virtues" to the school curriculum as soon as possible. (It was worth noting the Opposition Party has been out with loud speaker vans spreading their point of view too!). Would Canadian politicians have been able to communicate with the 11-16 year olds so successfully? He had no notes, no T.V. cameras, a few body guards and aids and was the recipient of respect and goodwill. He asked for questions from the students when he was finished speaking. He got them, and was able to answer them in what might be considered a "model" fashion. He gained more kudos from the school before he finally left for the next school on the list. What did he leave with me? Among other things he left me with an increased respect for the goodness of the man. He also left me with a feeling of some growing incredibility that the "virtues" might be given priority over reading and math on the teaching schedule. How should priorities be assigned?
Belair Primary School is in the process of 
wrapping up its school year too. They may not have as many exams as MacDonald but there is still a bit more tension then usual as report cards go home and the grade the pupil will work in next year is posted. Our eight boys continue to work at the CALS and as we have seen previously four are going to do well, two quite well and two quite poorly. We are looking forward to receiving the Principal's final input to the results and to thinking about what changes we might make prior to the next class in September.
Belair P.C. is preparing itself for its Harvest, our major fund raising event of the year. It will be held on Thursday the 1st of July. Grenadian time is very much at work and thus every minute is important. The latest addition to Christ's family at Belair is Ms. Javida Williams whose baptism took place on the 11th of May. What a joy it is to hold so many Sacraments of Baptism! The Sacrament is way up there as one of my favourite church celebrations and Belair beams and glows whenever we celebrate one.
And so the month of May passed. My Dad also passed away on the 26th of May, peacefully, at home with my brother and sister-in-law in England, just as he had wished to. We are still working through our thoughts and feelings and it's a little soon to hold them out in our public life. Suffice to say in our private life, among many things, the difficulties we experienced in travel (British Airways were/are on strike); the stress of the funeral; Dad's death after a long struggle with cancer; the end of a loving relationship; all of these things and more were balanced by the loving care of our extended family in the U.K., our family in Canada, our friends in Alberta and Ontario and those we work with at International Ministries. No, I did not forget the good people of Belair PC and others of the PCG who have gone out of their way to make sure we know we are not alone. Thank you everyone. The fog is slowly lifting!
