To all those former Sakeji pupils who have sent a tribute to Miss Joyce Deacon…

I want to say a big thank-you to all those who have sent an E-mail tribute to me at this time of my retirement. I can’t tell you how much they mean to me. I shall be sending to each of you individually, but I am rather ashamed to admit it — your old teacher is not computer literate and to write an E-mail takes me about an hour!

During these busy days of packing and clearing since the end of term I have not had any spare hours! This is just a stop-gap measure to let you know how much I appreciate you taking the time to write. Some of you I have seen since you left Sakeji, but others I have not heard anything about at all. The whole idea came as a delightful surprise. I knew nothing about it until some of the tributes were read out at my farewell.

I am praising the Lord for all the positive things you have remembered about me. I don’t feel proud as I read all the nice things you have written, rather I feel humbled to think that the Lord has shown you something of His character in my life. I know there have been plenty of times when I have failed to show the true Christian character. One E-mail I received indicated that the writer had been able to read what others had written. If this is so, then I am sure plenty who have read them might think, “Well that’s not how I remember her!” I have often regretted my words or actions, thus it is so encouraging to realise that the Lord has been using me over the years, in spite of the many mistakes I have made. Thank you so much for taking the trouble to write.

With love & gratitude, Joyce Deacon