“Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord.” Psalm 117
The Lord is faithful. I am finding this to be true each day here. I am finding myself in an interesting position… I am craving the things of comfort from home that I wanted to leave behind and be challenged in. I had a very comfortable life at home that I enjoyed very much, but also felt that the Lord has placed a calling on my heart to GO. Those things of comfort started to seem insignificant to me as I searched out God’s will for the next stage of my life. Now here I am in unfamiliar territory and am longing for the things of comfort from home. When really, the only true source of comfort is our Lord. I probably could have said all of this with “I’m homesick”. :)
Even though I miss home, I continue to feel at peace that I am where God as called me to be. There is exciting stuff happening here and I love being able to share it with all of you. Your letters, emails, packages, and prayers continue to be a source of encouragement for me.
Doulos Discovery School
The past few weeks have been a rich time with my students returning from our camping trip together. The students are more open to sharing and respond slightly quicker than before our three days in the wilderness together. The staff also benefited from a recent visit from Stephen Levy, an expert in the field of expeditionary learning. It was great to see him in action, meet with him one-on-one, and discuss in small groups together. Speaking of expeditionary learning, the second quarter has begun and expeditions are underway. In third grade we are studying Simple Machines, fourth grade Recycling (sound familiar FAers?), and fifth grade Endangered Birds. All so different and I am excited to be a part of each one.
Prayers: the 4th grade class – struggling with respect and authority issues (14 boys and 5 girls makes for a rowdy group)
ACSI accreditation – teachers are feeling the crunch to finish curriculum maps
Young Life
The big news is our Fall Weekend Camp is quickly approaching (November 12-14). The high school kids are excited! If you are interested in sponsoring a kid to go to camp it is roughly $50.00. Let me know via email and I can get the information to you. All kids are asked to pay at least half of the total amount for the weekend and then we are gathering willing sponsors to cover the remaining amount. Young Life weekend camps provide these kids a chance to hang out in God’s beautiful creation in the mountains of Jarabacoa, eat good food, have insane amounts of fun, and hear about God’s love for them. I can’t wait for my first international Young Life camping experience!
Prayers: Fall Wknd Camp – kids to sign up and hearts to be changed
House – a YL ministry house where we can hold meetings
Transportation – we have one car at the moment among leaders and it is a little stressful. Pray for wisdom if one of us should purchase a car to be able to drive kids around, or if there is another option for transportation.
Me
As for everyday life for me, the days go by quickly. I have borrowed a bike for a few weeks from a friend to let a hurt foot heal and am enjoying the ride to and from school each day. It feels good to work different muscles and get exercise other than walking. It will be a sad day when I return the bike, but am thankful for the time to ride it to let my body heal. There have been many families visiting in the recent weeks and it is nice to see into the lives of the people I work with. We all took a trip to the beach last weekend with a few of the families and it was wonderful. I can’t wait for you all to come visit! I’ve included some fun pictures from a birthday celebration for Erica. We enjoyed dinner at a restaurant on the mountain. Beautiful scenery and great food provided a chance to relax and have fun. I hope the pictures give you a glimpse at yet another side to life here. This is such a rich place. The door is open – come and see!
