i can't believe how quickly the time has gone! i feel like we were just celebrating Christmas, and now here we are, about to start the school year!! let's get y'all up to date:
we had a really nice Christmas here. it was of course hard to be away from family, but we enjoyed a simple holiday, got to talk to our families on our internet phone, spent some time with the Befus family, and watched fireworks go off all around us. what a difference in traditions . . .
a couple of mission teams came down from the states to help out with some projects on campus here. among the things they've done . . . torn down/rebuilt walls in the library, painted classrooms and desks, built shelves for the classrooms, painted a beautiful mural of the creation story down by the science rooms, and painted the tennis court and gym floor!! what a blessing they were! the school looks great and we had fun getting to know them a bit!
we started teaching an english intro class in january (for students whose english levels were not up to par). we met 5 days a week for 4 hours in the morning (for about 3 weeks). and did you know, it's really hard for seventh graders to pay attention for 4 hours, even with games and breaks?? haha, it was a good experience though, and the kids told us that they feel like they learned a lot. we just finished last wednesday & hope the students will be better prepared to start this new year.
speaking of the new school year, it begins next week, on february 7th. all teachers began on thursday with staff meetings. there are a lot of new teachers this year, and so far we have just been getting to know each other and listening to different talks on all different aspects of the school. tomorrow we are going on an overnight staff retreat, and then we're back on wednesday to really get into planning for the year. we also found out which classes we'll be teaching. we both managed to stay in the high school & are very excited about that . . . bryan will be teaching three level 2 classes & a level 5 class, while i will teach two level 4 classes. our friend kristin, who is another english teacher, will be taking levels 1 & 3. it should be a fun year! i of course am a little nervous to begin, but i am happy to have the classes that i do, and i know that God will help me get through it!! it's also a blessing for the school to know that the kids will have the same english teacher for at least a full year (many years, they've had 2-4 teacher changes). so all in all, it's shaping up to be an exciting year!
we've also had fun getting involved with the church that we've been attending. bryan joined one of the praise teams, and we've been meeting some other young couples from the area. i'm hoping that those will develop into some friendships for us :) on saturdays, we've also been helping out with the ministry across town that feeds and does a bible lesson for disadvantaged children. it's been a good experience, altogether humbling and enriching!
well, that's about all i have for now! we hope everyone has been enjoying this new year! thanks again for your support and prayers, they mean so much to us!! (check out our latest prayer requests using the link on the left of this page.) take care & God bless!
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