A Typical Laura Monday

I would have titled this "A Typical Laura Day" but I can't do that with any honesty. It's hard enough to describe a typical Monday. The Faith Academy high school schedule consists (on normal weeks) of three 8-period days and two double-block days-- when you only have half of your classes, for an hour and a half each. Three afternoons a week, I have after-school meetings or activities... sometimes. You begin to see the difficulty. So Mondays will be the representative day-- they are the closest to consistent. :) The idea for this post is absolutely not mine. I stole it from the blog of some overseas-teacher friends of ours. Thank you, Matt and Amanda!  Enjoy this glimpse of sort-of-everyday life. (Click on the pictures to see them larger.)

The dining room, with the lived-in look

4:30- 6:15- The time between the first alarm of the morning and us walking out the door. We run water for showers, heat the water with a water coil, shower, make and eat breakfast, feed the animals, and generally just get ready for the day. Breakfast is oatmeal with fresh fruit (usually mangoes, which are AMAZING here), juice, and coffee. After I am ready, I generally have a few minutes to spend on my Bible study or in prayer.

6:15- Our ride arrives. This couple, also new to Faith and also living in our subdivision, has been very generous as our ride to and from school this year. We gather our things, make sure the outside lights are turned off, pet the dog and the cat, and head out the gate, carefully making sure the dog doesn't get out with us.

6:30-7:10- We arrive on campus, and I prepare for the day. I print out files I have made over the weekend, make copies, find materials, write the agenda and homework on the board, etc. My middle-schoolers start arriving by 7:05 or sometimes before, so I try to be in that room by then and mostly ready so I can be available as they congregate.

The hall outside my middle school class

7:15-8:43- Periods 1 and 2-- 7th-grade English. Right now we are reading a book called Year of Impossible Good-byes, a (fairly autobiographical) novel about a girl living in northern Korea through the last years of Japanese occupation, the arrival of the Russians, the division of the country, and her escape to the newly-formed South Korea. My classes are 23 and 22 students respectively. 19 of the 45 are Korean, which makes this a great novel to read. We have had several excellent discussions. Our previous unit was creating an autobiography (life graph, family tree, memoir stories, cultural background), and this novel will be followed by a film unit before Christmas.

8:43-11:10- Plan time! I generally cross campus soon after my 2nd-period class and work in the French room. I make or request photocopies, organize today's French work, check and respond to email, plan for tomorrow, and grade papers. During the first half of this time, there is a girl doing an independent study of IGCSE French in my classroom. Depending on what she is working on, I might help her for a bit. Sometimes we also just talk. Around 10:15, I go to the "V"-- our school cafeteria-- to buy lunch, avoiding the lines of high-schoolers who arrive soon after. Seth and I often meet up at that time. Sometimes we are able to eat together, but sometimes we both have things to do or students coming in during lunch.

The view from my French room, across campus

11:14-12:00- Period 5-- IGCSE French- These students are in their 3rd year of French. This class follows an international curriculum out of the UK, culminating in a standardized test at the end of the year. I have 10 students in class, plus 2 doing independent studies. It hasn't been an easy class for a lot of them, but it's fun to have students really discussing things in French. We are working with school vocabulary right now, and getting ready for a review of the past tenses and a unit on getting a job.

12:05-12:51- Period 6-- 1st-Year French- There are 11 students in this group-- mostly freshman, a few sophomores. They are enthusiastic and sometimes rowdy. I always enjoy seeing students discover that they can actually communicate in a new language, so 1st-year is fun. They are learning basic school supplies vocabulary, and are working on how to use adjectives correctly in French.

12:56-1:41- Period 7-- 2nd-Year French- This is my big and jumbled class. There are 25 students (ALL the desks in my room), from all four grades in high school, and all levels of ability. As with any large class, it is a challenge to find activities to get everyone involved without leaving some behind in distraction or confusion. Our current unit is on food, stores, and meals. During this period, there is also another senior doing IG French independently, so sometimes I step into the adjacent office where he is at work, to check in with him.

French room- my view as I work

1:41-5:15- Classes are over for the day. I eat a snack from my stash (currently cheese crackers and dried mango). My independent study student might stick around for a few minutes when needed. Other students might come in for make-up work. Mostly, though, this is my largest chunk of time all week where I am at school, with no students. Normally our ride heads home at 4:15, but Mondays I stay late because of Bible study. I grade and plan and organize as much as I can.

5:15-8:15 (or so...)- Bible study- One of the other women picks me up at school, and we head to the condo where the five of us meet. We eat dinner together and talk, and then do our Bible study. Right now we are using Beth Moore's study on the fruit of the Spirit. This has become a really important time to me, and I am so much appreciating these new friends.

8:15 or so...- All four of us who are guests leave together. We go back past the school, dropping one of the women off and picking up Seth (who has been watching an NFL game and working). The woman who drives drops the rest of us at our various homes. As Seth and I get inside (around 9), it's definitely time for bed! Tomorrow, after all, starts early!

October Break - and TEAM Celebration on Cebu

Our first quarter of teaching at Faith Academy ended on October 13. Faith's one week October Break started on the 14th.

TEAM took the opportunity afforded by Faith's October break to have all of the TEAM missionaries in the Philippines get together for our annual conference. So, on the 15th, Laura and I (and three other missionary families) flew out of Manila to the island of Cebu, right in the middle of the Philippines. In Cebu, we met up with two other missionary families with TEAM. Then, after driving for a couple of hours north of the city, we arrived at our destination: a small resort on the north coast of the island of Cebu.

The scenery was beautiful, and we got a chance to relax and unwind, after a very hectic end of the first quarter. We definitely needed the time off from grading and planning and teaching for a little while. It wasn't purely fun and games.We spent part of each day in worship, learning, sharing about our various ministries, and other TEAM Philippines dialogue. However, there remained plenty of time for both fun and games, of various kinds.

Below are some pictures from the resort. Hope you enjoy them!

Oh, and as a side note, another benefit of this trip was that we were not in Manila when Typhoon Megi (aka Juan) hit the north edge of the Philippines. There wasn't much damage in Manila, but we were still happy to have not been here when it passed over.

The beach by our resort. It was about 200 feet from our cabana.

The same beach as above, except during the sunset. So beautiful!

This was a nice little wading pool. It was kinda cold, which was nice at times.

These were the more expensive rooms. One of the families stayed in this part of the resort, but we did not.

We stayed in one of these cabanas. It was nice, mostly, if you ignored all the ants that found their way in.

One of the evenings, we all played a game of Catch Phrase. Lots of fun!
Also good bonding time-- you learn a surprising amount about the other players during a game like that.

Dave and Kathy North, and Grace and Keith McCune.
Both couples are long-time TEAM missionaries.

We also played a few other games during the weekend, such as Settlers of Cataan.
The Persons (in the back) were playing Canasta.

And after it was all over, we gathered for some final prayer, and some praise for our time together.

Intramuros

Two weekends ago, we spent Saturday with the McCunes, fellow TEAM missionaries here in Manila. They are very cool people, and we are thrilled to be their neighbors! 

On this day, the four of us went to Intramuros, the old walled city that used to be the whole of Manila. It is an important historical site, though most of what you can SEE of the history has been rebuilt. The whole area was leveled during the liberation of Manila from Japanese occupation at the end of World War II. (Yes, you read that right; it was the liberation that was most devastating to the buildings.) However, much has been rebuilt, and it was a fascinating area to visit. We visited Fort Santiago, Casa Manila (a home recreated to show life as a wealthy Manila aristocrat), and 2 churches. We finished the day in Rizal Park, very near Manila Bay, but our camera had run out of batteries by then, so we have no pictures.

The rebuilt walls and defenses of Fort Santiago. This looks over the ocean- the main enemy at that time was pirates.

Chatting on a bridge over the moat, with many water lilies. Evidently Manila is named for these flowers. Unfortunately, none were blooming while we visited.

The recreated, decorated gate into the fort.

A pretty Manila flower I found, that had fallen off its tree. The umbrella is for the sun. I have used my umbrella more often here as sun protection than rain protection, and that seems to be common, even during rainy season. Grace and I had our umbrellas up a lot that day.

A statue of Jose Rizal, a vastly important Filipino hero and liberation symbol. This area of the fort is where he was imprisoned before being executed by the Spanish. Just in front of the gate, you can see the bronze footprints that mark his last steps.

Costumes in Fort Santiago of wealthy dress from several centuries ago.

The McCunes at the Casa Manila

The only building left standing after the liberation, the church of San Agustin. It used to have two towers, but an earthquake took one. We visited the church and the accompanying museum of Filipino religious history. Interesting stuff.

A Picture-less Tale

from Laura

So today was Back-To-School Day at Faith. Known under various names around the world, this day is the same thing at every school I've taught in. Parents come, the principal talks, the teachers wave, everybody spends 10 minutes or so with each class period, and parents feel like new students in the building as they try desperately to find their child's next classroom before the bell rings! Oh, and the parents meet the teachers meet the parents. :) For me, this Back-to-School day also included a reminder lesson on perspective, pride, and appearance. 

I am always far more nervous about talking to parents than to students, so every year I over-prepare for this day, especially at a new school. This morning I got up and spent a record length time choosing my outfit. (It needed to be comfortable enough to work in during the open times throughout the day, but also professional enough to impress even the most formal of parents.) Eventually I chose one... And then changed my mind... You get the idea. I did manage to get dressed, was ready on time, and was feeling quite satisfied with myself. 

As we got close to the school, one eye started to really itch. By the time we arrived, I could hardly wait to get to my classroom and remove my contacts. Both eyes itched fiercely for a while and began to feel puffy, but with my contacts out, at least I could function. Which I did, walking around the campus, making copies, and getting organized. I was also getting strange looks, and I knew I was in trouble. Sure enough, a look in the bathroom mirror showed me that my eyes were completely puffy and red underneath, an allergic reaction to who knows what. I looked truly awful! There was nothing I could do, so I just went on with my morning, dreading the arrival of the parents.

As the morning went on, I continued to work, and to explain myself to concerned colleagues, and to get concerned looks from those who don't yet know me well enough to start a conversation with "What's wrong with your face?" The itchiness went away, and the puffiness slowly receded. It was replaced by a deep-red bruised look underneath both eyes. I stopped looking like I had been sobbing and instead looked like I had lost a fight. I mentally threw up my hands and planned my opening line of explanation for each parent group.

By the time the middle school parents arrived and we had our opening meeting, much of the red had also disappeared. At that point I merely looked like I had lost a fight a while ago, like maybe last week sometime. In that general opening session, the principal had all the teachers come up front. We were in a scraggly semi-circle, squished onto a too-small stage mostly in one line, trying to let everyone fit. Somehow, I ended up dead center, pushed forward out of the line about half a step, with everyone packed too tightly to try to move back or go anywhere. And, of course, as the principal introduced each teacher down the line, there was no opportunity to step forward with "Oh, and I just want you to know that I don't normally look like this!"

When parents came, I didn't bother with my opening explanation. Eight hours later, I still look extra-tired from the residual puffiness and red, but no worse than that. I'm sure most of the parents had no idea that I don't normally look like this. Not exactly my best face forward, but c'est la vie.

Which, of course, is the point. God laughed this morning when I couldn't pick an outfit and was so worried about the impression my clothes would give. I'm so often concerned with my appearance, my self-presentation, my hair, my clothes. None of which is ultimately important or lasting or, really, mine at all. In a new place, with so many first impressions to make recently (and still to come), I guess I needed a reminder of how I should be defining myself and my value, and of what I should be concerned with as others begin to know me. I will not be a better teacher because of my clothes. I will not reflect Jesus better on a good hair day. And maybe if I learn this now, God won't have to send an allergy attack next time I'm getting ready for an important meeting... :)

Birds and bugs and lizards and...

from Laura

Our new air con!

Here are some creature stories from our first month in the Philippines. The pictures are unrelated.

We have had just a couple of roaches. Roaches in the bathroom make me squirm—I feel particularly vulnerable there. Also there was one in a desk drawer at school. I don't like roaches.

We had an issue two weekends in a row with maggots in the little kitchen garbage can, the one for food waste. Those two Sunday mornings were very bad ones for me, but the problem has been resolved, and I expect no repeats. But I really hate maggots.

There was a cat who had a litter of kittens above our ceiling. We haven’t seen them (they’re feral and wouldn’t appreciate the intrusion), but we’ve been told that’s what the noises were. The people we’re house-sitting for haven’t yet managed to plug whatever hole she keeps using to get into her attic nursery.

The camp where we had HS retreat

There are mosquitoes everywhere. This is a little scary, as they transmit dengue fever, which can be a serious illness. And to make matters worse, they seem to like imported food - especially me. We’re trying to avoid bites as much as we can, but that’s been a challenge.

The resident caterpillars are called ’itchy worms.' They look innocent and fuzzy, and then they give you a rash. They also stink when squished, which happens often, usually by accident.  You are walking happily along, then suddenly, *CRUNCH.* Yeah, it's that gross.

There are lots of dogs wandering the streets. We don’t talk to them, they don’t talk to us, everybody’s happy, and nobody gets rabies.

Open areas often have cows in them, or sometimes chickens. Or maybe cobras, though we thankfully haven't met any of those yet.

Pretty tropical flowers at the retreat

There are little lizards called "boodikee" that live in our kitchen. (That is a phonetic spelling, not a correct one.) They eat bugs and are therefore very welcome. They are very pale green, almost white. When I come 'round the corner, and one whisks back under the toaster oven, it always startles me and then I wonder if I really saw it. I also watched our cat stalk one in the yard one morning. She didn't catch it, and I got the impression that she wasn't really trying. It was just a fun toy. The lizard may not have agreed with this assessment.

There is a bird that sings loudly every morning just outside our room. He generally wakes up sometime while I'm in the shower. I have NO idea what kind he is, but he's pleasant company.

I could go on, but I think that's enough for one blog post. If you come visit, you can see for yourself... ;)

The School Year Has Begun...

from Laura

...and I have no brain left to make up a creative blog post title.  Sorry.  Also no deep thoughts this time.  Just updates. :)

Monday through Wednesday of this week, we were working at school trying to get our classrooms and our lesson plans ready to go.  We also got to the bank to set up a bank account, which involved filling out many paper forms, but went quite smoothly. 

Wednesday afternoon (the day before school started), the afternoon rain turned really heavy around 3:30.  We were planning to leave campus around 4 or 4:30, but by that time, we were told things would be very flooded on the road home and we should wait.  We finally left a bit before 6; it took a while to get home-- maybe 40 minutes?  Normally it takes about 10.  There was flooding, some deep, and there were many cars and people trying to get through the water, so it was a slow and careful process.  The couple we've been riding with, to and from school, is also new this year, so it was an adventure for all of us.  Back at the house, we found out that a little bit of water had come into the bottom level and then receded.  Our (amazing) helper had already begun cleaning up the mud it left behind, so we helped work on that before eating dinner.  We were grateful to have a gas stove, so we could still eat a cooked meal.  Our neighborhood was also without power by that point, so we didn't do any schoolwork THAT evening!

Thursday morning we started classes.  Seth calculated that he sees almost half the high school, in one class or another.  I have three "big" classes, two small ones, and two students working on independent studies with my assistance.  After two days, I can say that... 1- Faith's definition of big classes is my definition of normal.  I like it.  2- I like teaching!  I'm having fun with the kids.  3- It's not easy to teach in both the middle and high schools.  When your planning materials for one class are on the other side of the school, you have to really think ahead about how to use your plan time.  This is taking some adjustment.  4- This will be a busy weekend.

But we did some relaxing after work, and I think we'll do non-schoolwork work all evening tonight.  We can plan again tomorrow.  For now, here are pictures of us playing with the animals that we get to borrow for this year. :)  Zara, the dog, is a pretty young puppy and cannot get enough playtime and attention from us.  Kitty is the cat, and today I learned that she likes laps.  She acts pretty independent, but it took about 1/2 a second after I sat down for her to be on top of me. :)

Back from Faith Academy Orientation

by Seth

Caliraya Retreat Center

We spent the last week getting our New Staff Orientation at Faith Academy, as well as our all-staff orientation at the Staff Retreat by a lake a couple hours away from Manila, up in the mountains. It has been very good to meet with administrators, meet other new teachers and their families, and to meet staff members who have been at Faith for many years.

We have also met some teachers who live in the same neighborhood as we do, and who are willing to offer us rides to school, at least sometimes. This, combined with the availability of the school vans should be sufficient to take care of our transportation needs for getting to and from school. And the public transportation options are so numerous (and readily available) that we may not need any sort of vehicle at all, at least not for this first year. We may still purchase a scooter if we decide it would be good to have around, but otherwise we do not see a need to have our own vehicle right now.

We also now have a much clearer picture of our classes, our class schedules, some of the students we can expect to see in class (starting on Thursday), and the size of our classes. As a somewhat amusing side note, I will likely have mostly fairly small class sizes for my Physics classes, probably partly because the students do not recognize my name (but also because the school made some changes to the Physics classes being offered this year, compared to last year). In any case, I'm kind of looking forward to having fairly small classes, allowing me the opportunity to really build into the lives of those students.

Well, it's about time for bed right now. We are heading to the mall tomorrow after church to buy some Filipino cell phones (a very important thing for communication around here). Let's hope our shopping goes well!

Time...

from Laura

So during the past two weeks in New York, I experienced one of those strange moments in life when time slows down.  Life has been extraordinarily full recently, and much of June flew by.  Going up to Houghton, though, slowed us down.  We had plenty to do and learn, and spent a number of hours every day in sessions getting our heads and hearts stuffed.  But there was also a lot of time around the edges, and that was where life stretched out. There was plenty of time to sit with new friends and talk over dinner about the stories of God's work in our lives, taking us overseas. There was time to play euchre or ultimate frisbee, or to watch pieces of World Cup games. There was time to make phone calls and really talk with people back home, without feeling rushed. There was time to journal about what we were learning. There were hours spent with family on the weekends, as we traveled around. The slow feel of each day was a huge blessing, especially because of the time we had to build new friendships and to treasure 'old' ones.

A rainbow over the falls at Letchworth State Park, near Houghton

Time has sped back up again. Since getting back home on Saturday night, we haven't really stopped moving, and it feels like it. If we get to leave when we are hoping to leave, we will fly out less than two weeks from today! There are (approximately) a billion things to do between now and then, and I'm definitely feeling the pressure and the temptation to be consumed with stress. However, the perspective that I gained from the slowdown was that each day has a use, in God's view. He's in the busy times as well as the slow ones. So I'm working on taking deep breaths and, minute by minute, turning the worries and lists and tasks over to God. We'll be moving fast and doing a lot over the next weeks, but I want to keep that perspective of resting in God's presence. I want to keep the perspective of valuing each minute with friends and family. I know I will be re-adjusting my perspective multiple times a day, though prayer (and deep breaths), to keep that peace and God's view on my time. So if you think of me, pray for my perspective on TIME-- chances are, I'll be praying for it then too!

Training at Houghton College, New York - PFO

from Seth

Birds singing, trees swaying in the breeze, bright sunlight shining over everything ... such is my experience at the present moment. I am sitting in my dorm room, on a Saturday afternoon of our training conference (Pre-field Orientation, or PFO for short) here at Houghton College in western New York. If you want to find out what sort of place Houghton is, you could probably get a good idea by looking it up on Google Maps. It is about half an hour away from everything, and about an hour or so away from Buffalo, which is the nearest sizable city, so we are really out in the middle of nature for the most part. Presently, Laura and I are winding down and taking a little bit of time to catch up on some things that have been waiting for me to do them (such as making a blog post about our training experience so far).

We have been here since last Saturday, and have spent this first week "drinking from a fire hose" of information. We have had about seven to eight hours of intense information and training every day since Monday morning, and we are feeling a little bit overwhelmed with information, but all of it has been very practical and useful to us as we prepare to go teach overseas. We will continue the intense information overload on Monday morning, and will finish up with our training next Friday.

But not everything here involves working and studying and learning. There are also social times to be shared with fellow trainees, and we have developed good relationships with some of them, relationships that we expect will last long after this training conference is over. I am including a couple of pictures of some of those people below (one of them was taken yesterday evening during an excursion to a nearby state park).

 A group of us learned how to make Arabic Tea, a very popular social event in Africa

Us along with several of the other people with whom we are starting to develop good friendships. (That is indeed a waterfall behind us, just in case you were wondering)

Overall, our experience here has been excellent up to this point, and we hope it continues to be so through the end of next week. 

The Best-Laid Plans...

from Laura

“Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city…’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow!” James 5:13-14

Currently, one of my most important possessions is my calendar. I carry it almost everywhere, and we consult it regularly—generally with an eye to adding something else in. With only a few weeks left in the U.S (and much to do), the calendar has begun to feel like a jigsaw puzzle—with no nice picture on the box top!

Those who know me know that I am a planner. I like to know what’s coming up, and I’m not a huge fan of last-minute changes. By mid-day on Monday, I usually have in mind what I’ll do with Tuesday evening’s free time. I have, over time, learned to be more flexible, at least some of the time, but I still really like my plans.

What I have been learning over the past few weeks is to hold ‘my’ plans more and more loosely. Many of our recent plans have remained unpredictable up to the moment of the event. Things that were ‘completely set’ have ended up completely changed. My task has been to see these changes in a positive light.

Making plans IS important. It’s hard to meet up with people if you don’t pick a time for it! But if my days actually belong to God, which they do, then there is no plan-change that He will not use. If the things I am doing with my time honor Him, then switching the order of activities is neither here nor there, ultimately. I’m finding it challenging to balance this perspective with the need to have good priorities and make good choices with our time. We still need plans, but I must hold them with open hands, be willing to let go of them peacefully, and be ready to drop them entirely for the sake of something more important.

(Seth and niece, catching tadpoles)

I know that as a missionary in the field I will need to be flexible. I know that if our goal in Manila is to build relationships, I will need to put people above my calendar. I know that when my priority is people, plans will change mid-stream because life is unpredictable. So I am grateful for these lessons now, in a less stressful time. I am praying that I will learn the balancing lessons and then apply the lessons consistently—now and as we go—so that my attitude truly will honor God and show love to His people.

Our Filipino House

from Seth

Well, it has been a while since we posted something new on here.  I suppose it has just seemed like there has not been a whole lot to talk about lately, so we have lapsed a bit on the blog posts.

However, since this is a question we have been hearing a lot as we have been meeting with small groups of supporters over the last month or so, we thought we would make a post about the house where we will be staying for our first year in Manila.  Below you will find some photos of the house we will be "sitting" for a missionary couple that is returning home to the States for a year starting this summer.  We are excited about God's provision of this house for our first year, and as you can see from the images, the house is furnished, which makes our lives much easier as we begin adjusting to the culture there.

1.  A view of the front of the house, as seen from the street:

 
2.  A view of the porch:

3. The kitchen:

4. The staircase:

5. And the living room:

The house also comes with an outdoor dog and cat, and an aquarium, all of which will need to be cared for.  But also, we will have a "helper" who will live at the house during the week.  She will help us with cooking, cleaning, and other things of that nature.  God has blessed us with this arrangement, and we look forward to getting to see this house in person when we arrive in Manila later this summer!

War

from Laura

"Life is war.  That’s not all it is.  But it is always that." 

-John Piper in Let The Nations Be Glad!

In the past couple of weeks, I’ve been feeling attacked.  Always in a fight with myself- my temper or my lack of discipline; ambushed by paperwork or management issues or the politics of school; stalked by discouragement or negativity or gossip.

At breakfast, I’ve been working my way through John Piper’s book, quoted above, and last week I got to a chapter on WAR and prayer.  God is very timely...  John Piper’s message is that we do not live in a peacetime world.  God’s kingdom is at war with Satan’s.  We are caught up in this war, all of us.

There are LOTS of implications of this.  But what I needed this weekend was to remember Ephesians 6:10-20.  This is Paul’s "armor of God" passage- very familiar to many who were raised going to Sunday School.  The first key in it for me was this: I’m right!  I am being attacked.  It’s not just my imagination.  I’m in a war against evil spiritual forces; and they would love to destroy my effectiveness for God.

Key #2: I can fight back!  I know the Truth, I am God’s child, I rest in His peace and trust in His power, I have formed habits of righteousness, and I have the Word of God- both in my hand and in my heart.  I have all the armor and weapons that Paul discusses.  By myself, there are problems with all of those tools.  There are habits I haven’t formed, truths I don’t know, and much that I forget.  However, there is one weapon that mends all the holes, and that is prayer.  My takeaway for this week has been verse 18: "Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion.  Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere."  This is how God’s power arrives so that the armor stays on and the weapons work.

So this week I’ve been trying  to take a more active role in this fight.  Staying alert, being persistent, rather than walking along in a cloud and then finding myself flailing around in desperate self-defense.  This week, I have not felt any less attacked.  Quite the opposite, if anything.  But being aware of the fight and being ready with my armor and with prayer- this has made an enormous difference in the outcome of the attacks!  I definitely need to keep this up!

Learning to Trust God More

From Seth

As most of our readers are aware, Laura and I are in the process of raising our financial support for this adventure of going to Faith Academy to teach missionary kids.  We have seen God's hand at work at every turn as we continue to talk to groups of people about our vision for teaching at Faith, what we hope to accomplish there, and the steps of faith that have led us to this point.  We are constantly amazed to see how God works in the hearts of our friends and family as we share with them our call to serve as missionary teachers.

But even as we see God work so powerfully in our lives, and in the lives of the people around us, we have to face the fact that we are only halfway to our monthly support goal.  Our generous supporters have already pledged close to $2,000 per month, but we still need to raise the same amount more before we can leave.  On the one hand, we know that God is FAR greater than $2,000 per month to allow Laura and I to follow His call to the Philippines.  But on the other hand, my own human nature constantly whispers in my ear, trying to get me to worry.  

God has interesting ways of working in our lives.  Even as He demonstrates His power, and confirms His call on our lives, He also makes sure that we cannot pretend that we were able to serve Him through our own power or our own efforts.   He makes it crystal clear that we must depend on Him for everything.  In my case, He is simply telling me to do my part (talking to people about what God has called me and Laura to do) and to let Him worry about the rest.  It requires and incredible amount of trust in God, His goodness, His call on our lives, and His ability to provide the funding that will allow us to fulfill His call.  It is a daily struggle to put my trust in Him, to believe in His ability to take care of everything.  But then, I suppose that is no different from what He has called every Christian to do, every day.

Some Thoughts About Passion

from Seth

I recently re-watched a movie called Gattaca.  In addition to its insightful look into a frighteningly possible future, the movie provides a fascinating perspective of what it looks like for a person to have genuine, single-minded passion.  Vincent, the main character, has just one dream, a dream that he has had since he was a little boy.  His dream is to become an astronaut, to visit other planets, to see what the universe looks like from somewhere other than the surface of Earth. Unfortunately, he finds himself in the disadvantaged situation of having a poor genetic prognosis.  He is expected to die by age 30.  Who would invest massive amounts of time and money into training an astronaut who would be dead that early?  Despite this setback, however, Vincent never gives up on his dream.  He pours all of his heart and soul and life into pursuing this dream, and eventually he succeeds. (If you want more details, rent the movie.) :)  He gave this one dream everything he had.  From the time he got up in the morning, until the time he went to bed at night, everything he did was aimed at realizing his dream. 

After I finished watching this movie, I got to thinking about that kind of passion.  How often do we see Christians who live their lives with this kind of passion?  How often do we see followers of Christ who believe so strongly in the value of obeying Him that they live every minute of every day in pursuit of His will?  And how much more important, how much more lasting, are God’s purposes for each of His children, as compared with Vincent’s dream of being an astronaut?   

Even so, when I find myself waking up in the morning, only rarely is Jesus the first thing on mind.  Only rarely is opening my Bible at the top of my list of things to do during the day.  And even as I engage in matters directly related to my desire to follow His will, I find that I am not always focused on Him and what He wants me to be learning from any given situation.  Shame on me!  I have a thousand times more reasons to pursue God with all my heart and mind and soul than Vincent had to pursue his dreams!  So what holds me back?  Why do I not give him everything I have and more? 

I’m afraid I do not yet have an answer.  But what I can say is this: the past is over and gone.  It cannot be changed.  The future, however, is yet to be seen; it most certainly CAN be changed, by the decisions I choose to make.  I pray that God will give me the strength and passion to follow Him as best I can in everything I do, everyday.  Who knows?  Perhaps one day I will get a glimpse of what it is like to live with the kind of passion that Vincent showed in Gattaca.

History of Missions

from Laura

I just finished reading the book From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya: a Biographical History of Missions by Ruth A. Tucker.  (She is, by the way, a professor at Calvin Theological Seminary, which I found extra cool, being a Calvin grad myself.  She also has a blog about the book.)  The book was recommended to us last summer by the Danylaks, a (now former) missionary couple to whom we turned for wisdom and advice when we began the process of becoming missionaries ourselves.  I got it for Christmas and have been working my way through it ever since, in small chunks.  I now want to pass the recommendation on to you!

In terms of content, this is a great book for anyone who wants to know more about the history of missions.  Tucker writes in short biographies of a wide variety of missionaries, clustered into sections by geography or chronology.  This format means you can read it in chunks, as stories.  The section introductions provide a broad sweep of God’s work in a particular era or area, and the stories flesh it out.  Tucker does a nice job of being both intellectual and understandable for the general public.

Deeper than information, though, are the messages carried in the stories of past missionaries, and this is really why the book is worth your time.  I was struck by the simultaneous frailty and strength of the missionaries God has sent.  Every one of them was human—flawed or annoying or just plain weird—and each was convinced that God wanted more people to know Him.  They did amazing things and dumb things and sacrificial things and disrespectful things, trying to carry God’s Word where it was not known.  And because God is God, He made use of pretty much ALL the things they did to draw people to Himself.  It was so sad to read about how missions work sometimes became a part of the degradation of a people or the disintegration of a culture.  Satan has used openings where he could.  But much more often, things that should NEVER have worked, worked out for good anyway.  That’s the reality of God’s stories.  That’s the kind of Boss we have!  It makes me feel a whole lot better about being human—flawed and annoying and just plain weird—and still trying to do something to bring God’s kingdom to people who don’t have it, or to strengthen God’s hold on the hearts of His kids.  That’s what we’ve all been called to do; that’s what God's people have been doing, all along; and that’s the route God has chosen to do a lot of His kingdom work.  If you don’t believe me, just pick up Ruth Tucker’s book!  The history of missions should be proof enough for anyone and encouragement for all God’s people that He will use a submitted life—yours included—for His glory.

Priorities and promises

from Laura

At the very beginning of this school year, as Seth and I were filling out applications for Faith Academy and starting up conversations with mission agencies, I made a commitment. My commitment was to my students this year, that I would not cheat them of my best work, even though I knew then that this would be my last year at Holmes. At the beginning, keeping that commitment had mostly to do with my perspective. I had to make sure that I didn't get so caught up in the excitement of teaching at Faith that I began to look negatively or grudgingly on the challenges of teaching at Holmes.

Once we were accepted by TEAM and began to have training and support-raising responsibilities, I had to start considering my time. For the most part, I have solved this part of the problem by splitting my life into two quite distinct halves-- Holmes life and Philippines life. I've generally separated these two lives by location. For the most part, school is school. If I have schoolwork to do, I stay late and do it there. At home, almost everything is focused on the Philippines. My commute takes me from one world to the other. It's a little surreal, but it has worked out all right.

This past week those convenient lines have begun to blur, and I'm realizing that keeping my commitment to this year's students is going to take renewed solutions over the next two months.

The first blurring factor arrived in the Teacher's Lounge on Tuesday when my Drama job at Holmes Middle School appeared on the job postings bulletin board there. A number of my colleagues already knew about our plans-- I told the administration at the beginning of the school year and started telling others in January, after we were officially accepted as TEAM missionaries. But with my job officially and on-paper vacant, anyone who doesn't know yet is finding out. I really enjoy the conversations that come up. They mean, though, that my "school is school" focus doesn't work so well anymore. I'm just waiting for the day when my students figure out that I'm leaving...

I noticed another change on Wednesday of this week. At our staff meeting that morning, virtually none of the topics applied to me because almost the whole meeting was about next year. Suddenly, I am an observer in those discussions, not a stakeholder. I truly do care about my school, but some of the planning and paperwork is just not important to me at this point, and I will need to watch out for how that may affect my attitude.

Looking ahead, I know that the balance between my lives will shift even further in just a few weeks. When the musical is over, I intend to use that regained time to brush up on my French and begin learning Tagalog. Also, Seth and I are just starting to set up meetings with groups or individuals who are potential supporters, and that will demand my evenings more and more often. As the school year wraps up, even some of my Holmes life will become future-focused as I figure out what to take away with me, and how best to organize the things I will leave behind for someone else to use. Keeping my priorities straight will get complicated, especially as my students will be increasingly summer-focused themselves.

So, today, I am renewing my commitment to my current students. I see the pressures and responsibilities that might draw me away from them, but I will fight back. I'm not sure what it will take or how it will look over the next two months, but these students are still my job and my calling from now until June 8. My promise remains that I will not give them less than my best.

A week in Belize, Central America

by Seth

Just a few days ago, I returned from a week-long missions trip with a team from my home church, Elk Grove Baptist Church. Our goal for this trip was to build a new house for an older lady named Lucia in a small village in Belize called Gales Point. There is only one church in the village, and a bare handful of the men attend services there. Even fewer of them are committed Christians. Basically, it is a village that very much needs to hear and see the Gospel message at work, which was the main reason for our trip.

Our flight down was … interesting. We flew out from O’Hare at 3 AM on Saturday morning, March 20, and after two stops in Guatamala and El Salvador, we arrived in Belize around 10 AM. Two hours later, we were on the road for the Belize Mission and Retreat, which was our home for the duration of our stay in Belize. The BMR is a beautiful facility on the shore of the Caribbean Sea, but it is very remote. All of their fresh water comes from rain, and all of their power comes from solar panels, meaning that both water and power had to be rationed carefully to avoid running out.

The entire trip was a learning experience for all 9 members of our team. We had to learn to be patient with a very different approach to construction than we were accustomed to, and we had to learn to cope with using lumber that was rather badly warped. One of the most common phrases I heard from the villagers that were helping us build the house was “I can live with that.” Their whole approach to building the house was simply to make the best out of the materials at hand. Overall, the feeling was one of casual acceptance of less-than-perfect circumstances.

For me, specifically, I was humbled by my lack of skills. Let’s face it: I cannot swing a hammer straight to save my life. I bent more nails than I ever thought possible. Nevermind that the wood was tropical hardwood (much harder to nail into than pine). The fact remains that I was terrible at hammering those boards together. Yet somehow, God saw fit to use me, and even to give me some measure of proficiency by the end of the week, which I can only attribute to His grace, because I certainly could not have done it by myself. As a side note, you'll notice that my skin is very prone to sunburn, which is why I look so silly in this picture. Gotta protect the neck and all, even if it is with a pink bandana borrowed from Jessy.

God also challenged me to make some changes in my life back here at home. Being away from all the normal distractions of daily life, I realized that there were some things I tend to spend my time on (internet games, television, etc) that I didn’t even miss when I was away from them in Belize. I also realized that there were far more important things I needed to be doing with my time back home, so I have been in the process of pruning these extraneous things from my life. It is not an immediate change, but I am seeing God help me make these changes, and I have been much more satisfied with how I am spending my time these past few days.

I think that is enough for one post, but I just wanted to share some of the things I did and learned from my trip to Belize. I went down there to inspire change in the villagers there, and I hope I did have an impact on them. But, in the end, I think the person who was changed the most by the trip was me.

Relationships

from Laura
I've said several times recently that my favorite part about the work of raising a support team is that it's my JOB to call all my friends and family, and talk to them, about anything! This is both true and misleading. It is really nice that my To-Do list includes "Call everyone you know." It is also difficult for me, because it is so different from my comfortable norm.

Relationships are the crux of missions work-- both on the field, and between the missionary and his/her supporters. As a highly independent person and a natural introvert, I am used to taking my relationships somewhat for granted, to seeing them as important but not urgent. And I am prone to that universal American temptation of putting the urgent ahead of the important in my life. Friends and family tend to fall by the wayside during the school year, to be picked back up on important occasions, holidays, and vacations. I can't do that anymore.

As I get closer to leaving, I am realizing more fully what people mean to me, and how much I care about knowing how they are and what's going on with them. I am finding out that my relationships are perhaps more 'urgent' than I thought. Not only that, but these same family and friends will soon have an even larger role in my life than they have in the past. Seth and I are headed for front-lines territory in the spiritual battles of the world, or at least closer to front-lines than we generally have been here. (That's a topic for another post, really.) And our family and friends are going to be the pray-ers, the encouragers, the kick-in-the-pants-ers that keep us faithful and pick us back up when we're knocked down. They're going to be financing us too, giving from their salaries to keep us living and working in Manila. The ministry God is giving Seth and me is not just ours, it belongs to every person who prays or gives or writes a note. Each time I hear from somebody "I'll be praying" or "We're going to give...", this reality hits home again. And that kind of shared ministry only works when there is real, current relationship-- give-and-take knowing of one another. Relationships aren't just important, they're IMPORTANT, central, life-giving.

I am also becoming convinced that this priority on relationships is how life should be for Christians anyway. For me, it took becoming a missionary and getting ready to move halfway around the world to figure this out. I think, though, that it's not only true for Seth and me now. It should be just true of God's people, that relationships are what is urgent, because people are the most important part of God's creation, according to God. And I could have TOLD you this 6 years ago, but learning to LIVE like it, in the midst of the other responsibilities that we have and that we choose. . . that's what's tricky for me.

It's good that I'm getting some time to practice this new priority while we're still in the same country as most of my friends-and-relations. I'm not very good at it yet. I want to become good at it, though, and I hope I can learn some of the skills quickly. Because in just a few months, I will be able to see almost everyone I know only by webcam. Going out for coffee won't be an option. Calling someone on the phone will take mathematical calculations and serious scheduling (unless, of course, they LIKE talking in the middle of the night). Knowing and being known will take more work from there, but what I am learning is that the work will be worth every minute.